COMMENTARY| Politicians are known for twisting the facts to support their current views, but in some cases it is quite a bit more than a twist. Often, I have to wonder whether the GOP candidates are actually incredibly misinformed or just completely dishonest.
In either case, it doesn't look very good for a man who wants to run our nation.
At the GOP debate in South Carolina, Texas Rep. Ron Paul said that prior to 1913 the United States had no income tax whatsoever. The citizens who were alive in the second half of the 19th century might strongly disagree with his assessment. In reality, the first income tax was imposed more than 50 years earlier. In 1862, there was a 3 percent income tax paid on incomes between $600 and $10,000, and 5 percent paid on incomes higher than $10,000.
According to historian Cynthia Fox at the National Archives, the tax was increased two years later and continued until 1872.
Paul says he would like to bring the income tax rate back to zero percent, yet he tries to support his argument based on incorrect information. Sure, most of us would like to pay no income tax at all, but does this even make sense? A progressive tax system is actually the central aspect of a society with equal opportunities.
Our country is supposed to be all about the land of equal opportunity, but it is currently under threat of extinction. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Republicans may argue against this fact, but the majority of Americans see this in our daily lives all too often.
Mitt Romney is another Republican candidate who could benefit from a history lesson. According to the Associated Press, during the debate on January 8 in New Hampshire, Romney said John Adams wrote the Constitution. He remarked, "I was in a state where the Supreme Court stepped in and said, marriage is a relationship required under the Constitution for -- for people of the same sex to be able to marry. And John Adams, who wrote the Constitution, would be surprised."
Adams would be surprised, and there are many times I've wished that the founding fathers would come back to the United States just for a day and tell some of the GOP members what they really thought and said back in the early days of America. In reality, when our important document was written, Adams was a minister to Britain. He was, however, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence.
Aren't these basic American history lessons that most of us learned in elementary school? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but the inaccuracies that come out of the mouths of the potential leaders of our country never cease to amaze me.
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