James Garner Quotes
It is very difficult to run a village just off property taxes alone. I need sales tax.
James Garner, Mayor of Hempstead, NY (Republican), C-SPAN, Washington Journal, August 18, 2001
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The extravagance of Louis XIV caused the conservative Colbert to raise taxes, always an unpopular move. His response: Marquis de Seignelay
This Supreme Court opinion nullified the attempt to have a Federal Income Tax. The constitution allowed the Federal Government to collect import duties and that was essentially the only revenue source for the national government for over a century. If free trade were an objective, then customs duties would be lowered or eliminated and the Federal Govern lost the revenue. The only kind of direct tax that was allowed was a head tax in which every American paid the same tax. This was not a “flat tax” which means a tax where each person pays the same PERCENTAGE of income as tax. This meant that the richest person in the nation could only pay what the poorest could afford and therefore was impractical. It would take a constitutional amendment 18 years later—the 16th Amendment—to make the income tax legal. Many extremist anti-Federal government have refused to pay their income taxes and they argue that “The Supreme Court has declared the Income Tax illegal.” While that is so, after the 16th Amendment, the Court agreed that it was now constitutional. So the implication of unconstitutionality of the Federal Income Tax that the anti-tax forces have used was the law but has not been so since 1913. After that, it was and is perfectly legal and constitutional.
There are two reasons that government cannot depend on the rich for tax yield. First, there are very few rich compared to middle class workers. Although the rich person may pay more on the average in taxes, than others, there are not enough to cover all the expenses of a modern government. Second, because the rich make larger policitcal contributions and have lobbyists, they get legislation that exempts them from many taxes or provides loopholes. So even though the wealthy are theoretically supposed to pay a higher rate of taxes, as a practical matter, most wealthy people pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries or the waiter who will serve them lunch—the Buffet Principle.
This position angered the extreme conservatives and the extreme liberals who both opposed him in 2012. However, the majority of the state supported him and he was elected on this middle of the road platform with most of the activists against him.
James Garner was an American actor and producer. He starred in several television series over more than five decades, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the 1950s Western series Maverick and as Jim Rockford in the 1970s private detective show, The Rockford Files. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, including The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen, Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) with Julie Andrews, Grand Prix (1966), Marlowe (1969), Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971), The Castaway Cowboy (1974), and with Toshiro Mifune, Blake Edwards's Victor/Victoria (1982) with Julie Andrews, and Murphy's Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Garner's career and popularity continued through another decade in movies like Space Cowboys (2000) with Clint Eastwood, and The Notebook (2004) with Gena Rowlands. and his TV sitcom role as Jim Egan in 8 Simple Rules (2003-2005).
