Revenues Quotes
This historical quotation is surprising to us over a century later. We are surprised at the very large revenue from the then relatively low tax rates on alcohol and tobacco and many people who did not pay their taxes at the time. Also, the incredibly small appropriation for the military. WWI was only 4 years away. Generally, until the Second World War, the Democratic party did not advocate large military expenditures and the Republicans were more isolationist and opposed almost all defense spending. After WWII, the Republican Party flip flopped and became the champion of military readiness and defense spending.
The Dutch King’s brother, Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte Bonaparte, insisted on Dutch contributions to his war effort in the way of Dutch troops, ships and provisions. Yet there was not enough possible revenue to pay for such a war effort.
The country was in a terrible recession and McKinley and other politicians of the time did not know about or understand the use of a counter-cyclical policy of government stimulus. With the economy devastated and the main revenue for the Federal Government coming only from import customs duty, the Federal coffers were emptying rapidly. Retrenchment was the only possible step that was then known.
He had been told that the Air Force was planning to buy to ne, next generation planes for use as Air Force One for the President and that the price tag was to be $4 Billion. He thought that price exhorbetent, and this quotation came from one of his Tweets.
