Amendment 16 - The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Amendment 17 - The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.

Let me get it out of the way that this is not a tax protester argument. Repealing the 16th Amendment doesn't end taxation, as a matter of fact, your taxes may actually go up depending on what you do and where you live. This article is not about taxes, this article is about our form of government. These two amendments to our constitution fundamentally changed our form of government for the worse.

Prior to 1913, there was greater separation of powers, the federal government did not for the most part interact with the people. Instead we interacted with the state and local government and the federal government interacted with the state.

The people were represented in the House of Representatives by persons they elected by popular vote within their districts, but the senate represented the state governments, and was elected by the legislature thereof. Article 1 Section 3 stated this "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote." This was changed by the 17th Amendment, and now we elect senators by popular vote within the states.

On the subject of taxes, prior to the 16th amendment there was no federal income tax. The federal government would lay direct taxes upon the states, Article 1 Section 2 outlines this "Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons..." and in Article 1 Section 9 "No capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken." The federal government would tax the states, and the states would then tax the people. We changed this with the 16th Amendment when we created the IRS.

So many may be thinking, "who cares?" or "We're going to pay the taxes anyway, why not to the federal government?" and "Isn't it good that we elect our senators democratically?". Well, if you think that, you have a point, but we disagree and I will try to explain why.

The issue, as I mentioned before is about the form of government. Some people believe in a national democracy, and a strong central government, which is closer to what our current system represents, while I and others like me tend to believe in the founders intention, a federalist republic.

What is the difference you ask?

Let's start with Democracy vs. Republic.

Democracy is Mob Rule, Tyranny of the Majority, it has been called, whatever the majority wants. 51% of the population can vote to destroy 49% in a democracy, so it doesn't take long to realize that the minority always gets the shaft in a democracy. There are no rules, and the rights of the individual are not protected. James Madison wrote about this concept in Federalist Paper #10 "Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."

In a Republic on the other hand, the individual has rights, there are certain things you don't get to vote on. The government has rules to follow, in our case, the Constitution. The Constitution guarantees us this form of government "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.". Additionally, the Pledge of Allegiance implies this "I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands"

Now lets go to National vs. Federal

We (theoretically) have a federal government. The federal government is granted certain powers through the constitution, and all others are retained by the states and the people. This is what the constitution provides for and with good reason. When we govern locally within our states and localities, we make the rules we feel are right for us. And if we don't like the laws we can move to another state or locality without leaving our country, our flag, our constitution. "Vote with your feet" as Ronald Reagan called it. If you use the word "State" outside of the US, you are referring to a country, after the revolutionary war, we signed the treaty of Paris and the world recognized 13 sovereign countries (the states) which just happened to be in a club, a federation.

In a national government, the powers are with the central government and laws will be more uniform throughout the nation, in order to leave the laws, you have to leave the nation.

Any combination of these are valid forms of government, but only one works under the Constitution, a federalist republic. The 16th and 17th Amendments were passed in 1913 under the Woodrow Wilson administration, along with the Federal Reserve Act, fundamentally transforming America forever. They made us start acting more like a national democracy, because, in order to get elected, the senators appealed to the wants of the people at the federal level, instead of standing up for the rights of the states. Since the people in large part have not been educated in the public school system to the benefits and detriments of the different forms of government and the constitution, they don't care much for states rights, and as a result neither do the senators. The people cannot resist the federal governments taxes, whereas the states most certainly could. If you or I fail to pay our taxes, men with guns will come and take our property and have us locked up, whereas if the states didn't want to pay taxes, then there would be some negotiation since the only way to compel payment would cause a civil war.

Repealing the 16th and 17th Amendmendments would have us well on our way back to constitutionally limited government. With the states represented in the Senate, bills which originate in the House of Representatives that violate the rights of the states would be more likely to be struck down in the Senate. Additionally, with all federal tax liability on the shoulders of the states, the Senate would be unlikely to approve pricey bills that redistribute wealth throughout the country.

It would not end your taxes, it would just change the form in which you were taxed, as I said in the beginning, it may even raise your taxes depending on what you do and where you are. But if your state has unfair taxation policies and you leave as a result, pretty soon the state has more money going out than coming in and will likely start to rethink it's policies. States will compete with eachother for taxpayers, just as businesses compete for customers.

In short, federalism promotes free market government, and just as free markets cause businesses to be more responsive to the concerns of the customer, the same principle can be applied to government, bringing government which is more responsive to the concerns of the people.