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| | By Made by History / Produced by Olivia B. Waxman | Americans filed taxes this week in the midst of upheaval of the nation's fiscal system. As Ajay K. Mehrotra and John Fabian Witt write in Made by History, Gilded Age protective tariffs caused extreme wealth inequality—until a coalition of interests pressed for a new system of taxation. In 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution authorized Congress to collect income taxes, which created the financial foundations for a modern American state. | And as Betsy Wood explains, paying taxes was once seen as a patriotic duty. During World War II, soaring top marginal tax rates on the wealthiest helped fuel the U.S. military effort; in the postwar period, these revenues funded infrastructure, education, and housing—all of which laid the foundation for a flourishing middle class. But over the following decades, evading taxes was re-framed as savvy rather than unpatriotic—and inequality began to expand again. Historically, taxes have helped make America a more prosperous and equitable nation. But the Trump administration's attacks on the federal government and embrace of Gilded Age tariffs may threaten that achievement. | |
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| | | |  | Trump's Tariffs May Risk Access to This Critical Mineral | Historically, empires have gone to great lengths to secure potash, a mineral critical to agricultural production. |
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|  | How April 15 Became Tax Day | The April date has been "T-day" for 60 years |
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|  | English Spelling Is a Mess. When is Enough…Enuf? | Gabe Henry asks why haven't we standardized English spelling, phoneticized it, and brought it into line |
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|  | The Perils of Upending the World Franklin Roosevelt Created | Roosevelt knew that a U.S.-led order addressed the causes of the Great Depression and also avoid world wars |
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|  | Plans to Mark America's 250th Birthday Were Underway. Then Came Cuts | Celebrations are at risk of being scaled back or canceled because of the Trump Administration's federal funding cuts. |
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| | | This week in 1987: Trade wars |  | The April 13, 1987, cover of TIME |
| TIME |
| "It is the tiny microchip, a sophisticated bit of silicon that is the indispensable heart of the techtronic age, the raw material for everything from talking teddy bears to personal computers to intercontinental missiles. After the Reagan Administration imposed trade sanctions against Japan in an attempt to protect American makers of microchips, it suddenly looked last week as if the U.S. and Japan were headed for what could become a major trade row…Sizable shock waves rattled around the world in the wake of the U.S. action, which was prompted by alleged Japanese cheating in the sale of the useful semiconductors and by Tokyo's alleged intransigent protection of its domestic microchip market. Partially in response to the specter of trade confrontation, the Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks sank 57.39 points as the week began, its third worst plunge in history." |
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| | This week in 1997: Ellen DeGeneres comes out |  | The April 14, 1997, cover of TIME |
| Firooz Zahedi |
| "TIME: 'So, for the record, are you yourself gay?' | Ellen DeGeneres: 'Yes. You're the first person that I've—I mean I knew that I was going to—that was one of the things when I decided to have my character on the show come out, I knew I was going to have to come out too. But I didn't want to talk about it until the show was done. And you know, I watched my friend Melissa [Etheridge] come out, and she became 'the lesbian rock star.' I never wanted to be 'the lesbian actress.' I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever. I did it for my own truth.'" |
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| This week in 2004: The Passion of the Christ |  | The April 12, 2004, cover of TIME |
| Andrea Solario-Scala/Art Resource |
| "The movie, of course, is The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's version of Jesus' final hours on earth–which, since it opened on Ash Wednesday, has been seen by more than 30 million people. It is now Holy Week, and across the country over the next seven days even more people will be talking about Christ's Passion. In the U.S. alone, tens of millions will attend church and participate in services that relive the death and Resurrection of the Messiah. For a certain sector of the public, the seasonal spirit has been further enhanced by the publication of The Glorious Appearing, the 12th book in the best-selling Left Behind series, in which Jesus returns in apocalyptic judgment." | |
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