“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
—THOMAS JEFFERSON
“I would suggest the taxation of all property equally, whether church or corporation.”
—ULYSSES S. GRANT
“I can’t make a damn thing out of this tax problem. I listen to one side and they seem to be right and then—God!—I talk to the other side and they seem just as right, and here I am where I started. I know somewhere there is a book that will give me the truth, but, hell, I couldn’t read the book. I know somewhere there is an economist who knows the truth, and I don’t know where to find him and haven’t the sense to know him and trust him when I find him. God! what a job!”
—WARREN G. HARDING
“Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery.”
—CALVIN COOLIDGE
“Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.”
—FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
“The present tax structure is a disgrace to this country; it’s just a welfare program for the rich.”
—JIMMY CARTER
“[T]he number of votes available to the sponsors of a tax bill [is] almost exactly proportional to the number of loopholes added to the legislation.”
—JIMMY CARTER
“I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible.”
—DONALD TRUMP