On this day in Labor History the years was 1935.
That was the day that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Revenue Tax Act, more popularly known as the “Wealth Tax.”
The act reformed the federal income tax to raise rates on the wealthiest in the nation.
Those making over $5 million could pay taxes up to seventy-five percent.
In a speech to Congress that summer, Roosevelt had explained his thoughts on wealth and taxes.
The President said,
“Wealth in the modern world does not come merely from individual effort;
it results from a combination of individual effort and of the manifold uses to which the community puts that effort.
The individual does not create the product of his industry with his own hands;
he utilizes the many processes and forces of mass production to meet the demands of a national and international market.
Therefore, in spite of the great importance in our national life of the efforts and ingenuity of unusual individuals,
the people in the mass have inevitably helped to make large fortunes possible.
Without mass cooperation great accumulations of wealth would 'be 'impossible save by unhealthy speculation.
As Andrew Carnegie put it, "Where wealth accrues honorably, the people are · always silent partners."
Whether it be wealth achieved through the cooperation of the entire community or riches gained by speculation—in either case the ownership of such wealth or riches represents a great public interest and a great ability to pay.”
Although President Roosevelt tried to win over the nation's wealthy by quoting industrialist Andrew Carnegie, he did not gain their support.
Not surprisingly many of the national’s wealthy lobbied for and used tax loopholes to evade paying the new rates.
December 15 - Troops Put Down the Mother’s March
December 14 - Another Hard Fought Victory
December 13 - The Beginning of the End of Apartheid
December 12 - We Disaffiliate!
December 11 - Right to Work is a Lie!
December 10 - August Spies is Born
December 9 - The Cordiner Doctrine
December 8 - The American Federation of Labor is Founded
December 7 - Strong Arming Goldminers
December 6 - Breaking Through the Racial Divide
December 5 - Striking in Solidarity
December 4 - Organizing to End Slavery
December 3 - Learning & Labor at Oberlin
December 2 - 21st Century Corporate Greed
December 1 - Standing Up for Themselves and Their Patients
November 30 - Angel of the Stockyards is Born
November 29 - The Fight for $15 & A Union
November 28 - Disaster in the Mines
November 27 - Death Trap in Newark
November 26 - The Birth of William Sylvis
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Navigating Life After 40
Teaching Learning Leading K-12
Regenerative Skills
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast