Tariffs were the main source of all Federal revenue from 1790 to 1914. 'Free' Trade is UnAmerican!

[Ghost of Huey Long]

Tariffs were the main source of all Federal revenue from 1790 to 1914. At the end of American Civil War in 1865 about 63% of Federal income was generated by the excise taxes which exceeded the 25.4% generated by tariffs. In 1915 during World War I tariffs generated only 30.1% of revenues. Since 1935 tariff income has continued to be a declining percentage of Federal tax income.


year % of Budget Paid by Tariffs

1792 95.0%
1795 91.6%
1800 83.7%
1805 95.4%
1810 91.5%
1815 46.4%
1820 83.9%
1825 97.9%
1830 88.2%
1835 54.1%
1840 64.2%
1845 91.9%
1850 91.0%
1855 81.2%
1863 55.9%
1864 38.7%
1865 25.4%
1870 47.3%
1880 55.3%
1885 56.1%
1890 57.0%
1900 41.1%
1910 34.6%
1913 44.0%
1915 30.1%
1916 27.3%
1917 20.1%
1918 25.8%
1920 13.2%
1925 14.5%
1928 14.0%
1930 14.1%
1935 8.4%
1940 6.1%
1942 2.9%
1944 0.9%
1946 0.9%
1948 0.9%
1950 0.9%
1951 1.1%
1955 0.8%
1960 1.1%
1965 1.2%
1970 1.3%
1975 1.3%
1980 1.4%
1985 1.6%
1990 1.1%
1995 1.4%
2000 1.0%
2005 1.1%
2010 1.2%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariffs_in_United_States_history

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I'd really like to see a system of SMART tariffs.

One in which tariffs are levied against exporting countries in proportion to the degree by which they maltreat and underpay their workforce, thereby adjusting the prices so decently paid American workers can compete on a level playing field.

I'd also go for a tariff on products from countries that have poor environmental standards.

We could do well by doing good.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

7. yes, it made no sense for Al Gore an 'environmentalist' to push for free trade agreements

Now all our goods are made in China where they ignore environmental standards, and all the crap in the air still drifts over here. And Global Warming in a Global thing....you can't just let them pollute the air...over there.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

2. Absolutely right. Economic treason by people rich enough to buy their own islands and politicans.

[Ghost of Huey Long]

5. Economic Treason

yes

[4th law of robotics]

3. I wouldn't mind seeing a tariff system

that is entirely fair.

In other words if country X has a variety of tariffs that amounts to 10% of whatever we're exporting to them being collected in taxes than we tax all imports from country X at 10%. If country Y has absolutely no tariffs on our goods then we don't tax their imports at all.

And so on. Free trade for those who actually trade freely.

/also would be nice to include subsidies in this although that would be a bit more tricky.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

6. Nobody anywhere really disagrees with this

The problem is there are two independent but parallel trade regimes that have the same agenda but are completely out of sync and both are persistently bogged down.

The standing problem for the US is many goods we import have fallen into a favored status as part of the WTO process while those goods we export have not. (the opposite is also true), for no other reason than the WTO process has been at a stand-still for more than a decade. The solution, but also the other problem is to pursue bilateral agreements with those countries. That has its own pitfalls and bring out poorly informed demagogues left and right who are completely disinterested in the content of the agreement or its impact on the balance of trade and instead just use it as a soapbox to spout their isolationist or anti-globalization nonsense. Consider the free trade agreement with Korea, there is no down side to this agreement - indeed it is essential as the EU has a free trade agreement with Korea and allowing US exporters to be at a permanent trade disadvantage with a trillion dollar economy is insane. Yet morphed into a battle for the ages by idiots.

[Mnemosyne]

4. K&R

[Ghost of Huey Long]

8. where is the tea party on this? Our founders were PRO CORPORATE TAX!

who do these people expect to pay for all the wars and Big Government that they want?

[rdking647]

9. if were going to go back to that type of system

i suppose your also infavor of getting rid of the income tax.......

[Ghost of Huey Long]

10. Our Founders intended that Corporations pay the taxes, not individuals

Corporations use all of our public roads etc, make the most of the labor of the public, hell yeah, I think they should pay all the taxes.

If we returned to the tax rates of Eisenhower, most of us would not need to pay income tax. Corporations have been making record profits for decades, I say we have a retroactive tax and get the money back they have stolen through their dirty deals, wars, etc. They are just hoarding all this money, for what? So they can use it to buy off our media??

This is bullshit, and it has got to stop.

[jwirr]

11. I have always thought we should have a tariff on items that are non-essential. Junk stuff that

just sets around the house until it ends up in the dump.

[HooptieWagon]

12. And corporations paid about 2/3 of income tax revenue until Reagan.

Individuals paid about 1/3. Now, individuals pay 2/3 and corps 1/3.