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Apparenly the spanish-American war was so expensive...
we still pay for it every time we use the phone
Quote:
Historically, we've been a soft touch ever since that whiskey tax rebellion in the late 1700's. The infant government sent soldiers and cannons to blow the heart out of a political cause. And so soon after our glory years of tax abhorrence when we revolted over a 3-pence tax on a pound of tea. Three pence on tea! And we turned Boston harbor into a giant cup of instant tea, lit the fuse of revolution, and turned the world upside down.
But evidently by 1898 we had lost our passion. Uncle Sam wanted to fight a comic opera war with Spain. Safe and short. A nobody-gets-hurt war. But in those years credit was not yet enthroned. You couldn't put the Army payroll on a credit card. So, first you get the money — then you fight the war.
Like today, the government looked for pockets to pick. Ah, that new-fangled instrument that jangled your nerves at suppertime. Why not burden it with a flat tax to cover the costs of the war? Maybe telephone talkers, so busy yapping wouldn't even notice. The tax was initially a penny a call — a single cent. And here's the ultimate puzzle: there were only 1500 to 2000 phones in the United States. Operating under the premise that any tax is a great tax, regardless of income, Congress imposed this penny levy. Gross income, 1500 pennies a month? Evidently a bargain-basement war was in the offing.
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http://www.mises.org/story/2082
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Some people are against capital punishment, because they say that it turns the state into a murderer. I'm against imprisonment, because it turns the state into a gay dungeon-master.
When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord, in his wisdom, doesn't work that way. So I just stole one and asked him to forgive me.
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Apparenly the spanish-American war was so expensive...
Thanx A LOT Predator14 
