I understand that, but to end up with the EXACT same amount 3 years in a row - to the penny? smell that? somethings fishy.

Something stinks and it ain't the litterbox. :D

God help me. It's late and I'm delerious.

Bullshit. They were fighting to keep the government from taking what they earned for themselves. The idea that they fought the tax policies of the King because they wanted people to NOT keep the fruits of their labor is a little bizarre don't you think?
Yes, the establishment who was taking their money, without giving them a say in the matter. That is quite a bit different than fighting the establishment so the government could decide how much money a person or family was allowed to create and keep.

Classic, I see what you are saying and it very well could be fishy, but it also might be perfectly legal. Neither of us knows. Let me put it this way. My company's income has been all over the place in the last few years, but my personal income for my taxes has been the exact same down to the penny - because that is the magic number I need to pay only the the smallest possible amount of taxes I can legally do. The rest is all just money games. Which is why I'm a huge fan of the flat tax, but that is for a different thread.

Good grief. The Constitution was written AFTER we won independence.

:headsmack:

You got me there. and they were separated by a few years too, so they must be completely unrelated, right?

10 years. The first plan, which let the states handle pretty much everything, didn't work out.

Many of the same men who fought for independence were involved in the constitutional congress. Are you suggesting that ten years and a false start means the struggle and the final chosen form of government are unrelated?

No, not at all. Those 10 years were ample time to prove the old was wasn't going to work and they had to come up with a whole new system.

The Bill of Rights, which is paramount to our system, was written to bring the people mistrustful of a central government on board.

Copyrights weren't 95 years long in their version.

From Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution: To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

Seems pretty clear to me.

Maybe these links will help put in perspective exactly what that clause means.

A Brief History of the Patent Law of the United States
http://www.ladas.com/Patents/USPatentHistory.html

Copyright Term, Retrospective Extension, and the Copyright Law of 1790
in Historical Context
http://www.dklevine.com/archive/copyright1790.pdf

Ooooo great a discussion of what the Constitution means. :D