![]() An excerpt from Wikipedia sums it up nicely (if somewhat dispassionately): Quite possibly the single most despised piece of modern legislation since the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, this law basically allows the US government to do whatever they want with regard to citizens and foreign nationals. ![]() In one of the few prescient quotes from an American politician, Senator Wayne Morse exclaimed, “I believe this resolution to be a historic mistake.” His feelings were vindicated, but only after thousands of lives were lost and American international credibility was drastically tarnished. The Act never was reviewed by the Supreme Court, but many legal scholars believe that it never would have withstood constitutional scrutiny. Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence (and all around pimp), passionately opposed the Act and even wrote state nullification legislation rejecting the bill as unconstitutional. These acts were promulgated at a time in America when the ruling party was embroiled in a Quasi-war and felt the need to repress dissension among both Americans and “undesirable aliens.” Sound familiar? The most repugnant portion of the legislation made it a criminal offense to publish “false, scandalous, and malicious writing” against the government, its agents, or officials. John Adams signed the bill into law at the behest of is Federalist comrades (keep this in mind when fawning over the late second President in the form of Paul Giamatti). The Patriot act of its time, the Alien & Sedition Acts were actually enacted by the original Patriots in an effort to stifle domestic opponents to the sitting Administration. trade and one of the main precursors to the Great Depression. Contemporary economists argue that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff was the driving force behind the steep decline in U.S. At the time, more than 1,000 economists signed a petition denouncing the Tariff and, subsequent to the Bill’s passage, many European countries responded by drastically hiking tariffs on products manufactured in the USA, as a result, American imports and exports declined by nearly more than 50%. Its purpose was to raise US Tariffs on over 20,000 imports to unprecedented heights. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill was signed into law on June 17, 1930. Smoot and Hawley: An Economically Deadly Combination As it turned out, this economic reasoning was a tad shortsighted, to say the least. Apparently, the idea was that if the US raised its tariffs, then all other nations would simply be content to have no foothold in the American market, but not petition their own governments to enact the same tariffs in their countries. In 1929, the prevailing wisdom regarding economic stimulus was something akin to an ostrich firmly planting its head in the sand. (In its defense, the Federal Income tax has decreased the massive disparities between rich and poor that caused much upheaval in the Early 20th Century, so it has had some positive effect, I just hate paying taxes). Keep in mind the next time you pay your taxes that apparently at one point in America this seemed like a good idea. “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.” The pertinent language in the Amendment reads: This Amendment made it legal to levy a direct federal income tax upon the American Citizenry. At some point around the 1900s some brilliant politicians decided that it was time this was remedied and put forward the 16 th Amendment to the US Constitution, also known as the Federal Income Tax Amendment. Who enjoys paying their income tax? Well at one time in the United States federal income tax was unconstitutional. The next time you are frustrated at filling out your tax forms, just thank the American people at the turn of the century for voting in the Federal Income Tax Amendment. Either that or I was trying to be funny (and probably failed), that being said, judge the following US Laws for yourself… It should be noted that many of these laws have had positive side effects, but overall, I felt that whatever benefit they conferred was outweighed by the harm they caused. The following list is composed of laws that have been controversial over the years. However, on the weekend we like to write something that feels a little less like work. The Five Worst Laws in US History Posted by : adminĭuring the week, this blog is dedicated to providing legal information about both Thailand and the USA. ![]()
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