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Taxing America: Wilbur D. Mills, Congress, and the State, 1945-1975
Taxing America provides the first historical study of Wilbur Daigh Mills, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee from 1958 to 1974. The work of Mills, an extremely influential politician between 1945 and 1975, offers considerable insights into the evolution of income taxation, Social Security and Medicare--three policies at the center of today's political debates. Unlike the existing historical scholarship, Zelizer's book focuses on the role of Congress, rather than the executive branch, in the evolution of the welfare state during this seminal period.
- GenresAmerican History
402 pages, Paperback
First published January 13, 1999
53 people want to read
About the author
Julian E. Zelizer
37 books63 followersJulian E. Zelizer is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University.
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December 12, 2011
Historians often don't do well writing about specialized fields. They often lack the detailed knowledge of insiders and most of what they learn about a field comes from self-study, always a perilous task. For historians of tax policy, a subject with much arcana and few mentors to teach it, the danger is even greater. Fortunately, Zelizer displays a comprehensive knowledge of the development of the tax code in the post World War II years, and he uses it to relate the fascinating tale of the rise and fall of a particular breed of technical policy entrepreneur, exemplified by Wilbur D. Mills.
When he arrived in Congress 1938, Mills seemed like he a typical Arkansas Democrat with populist leanings, but, through diligent study, he soon became Congress's acknowledged expert on the tax code, and then, from 1958-1974, the chairman of the seemingly omnipotent Ways and Means Committee (at one point during his reign it controlled almost all of federal taxation, and, through its jurisdiction of social security, about 40% of federal spending, not to mention its ex officio control of all Democratic committee appointments). Some people consistently ranked him as the second most powerful man in Washington, and his now forgotten mug graced every magazine cover from Time to Newsweek to Reader's Digest. He was not hungry for fame or power, though; as far as anyone could tell, he cared about two things, tax policy and social security, and he managed to shepherd historical changes to these two systems through Congress.
His first success was the Social Security Amendments of 1950, which put the system on a pay-as-you-go basis and changed it from a one that was predominantly composed of general revenue "welfare" (Old Age Assistance or OAA), to one that was mainly financed through worker "contributions." His Revenue Act of 1962 lowered corporate taxes and created the investment tax credit that spurred capital purchases. His Revenue Act of 1964 cut taxes from a range of 20 to 91 percent to 14 to 70 percent and, supposedly, managed to expand economic growth while lowering the deficit (it later became a touchstone for the Reagan revolutionaries). His Tax Reform Act of 1969 was the first the introduce the term "tax expenditure" into the public debate and the first to significantly limit loopholes (such as the oil depletion allowance). His 1972 Social Security Amendments created the SSI program for the handicapped poor and indexed social security benefits to inflation for the first time. More than anything else though, the Medicare Act of 1965 will remain his crowning glory, ironic certainly for a fiscal conservative who later lamented the runway spending that it engendered. In any case, it seems that Wilbur Mills was at the heart of every significant change in fiscal and social policy in the US for twenty-odd years.
Today though, if Mills is remembered for everything, its for being stopped by the U.S. Park Police outside the Tidal Basin in DC with a bloody nose and an Argentine stripped who went by the name Fanne Fox. Along with a new found addiction to alcohol and prescription pills, this ended his career. It also ended the reign of one of the last mandarins of the House; one of the small group of committee chairmen, who, through bipartisan negotiation and the control of technical expertise, held Congress captive. He was replaced at the behest of the new, militant Democratic Study Group, a caucus of extreme liberal congressmen who heralded new, more vigorous partisan battles to come. Zelizer manages to wonderfully convey the rise and fall of the previous era of Congress through one of its most important figures.
When he arrived in Congress 1938, Mills seemed like he a typical Arkansas Democrat with populist leanings, but, through diligent study, he soon became Congress's acknowledged expert on the tax code, and then, from 1958-1974, the chairman of the seemingly omnipotent Ways and Means Committee (at one point during his reign it controlled almost all of federal taxation, and, through its jurisdiction of social security, about 40% of federal spending, not to mention its ex officio control of all Democratic committee appointments). Some people consistently ranked him as the second most powerful man in Washington, and his now forgotten mug graced every magazine cover from Time to Newsweek to Reader's Digest. He was not hungry for fame or power, though; as far as anyone could tell, he cared about two things, tax policy and social security, and he managed to shepherd historical changes to these two systems through Congress.
His first success was the Social Security Amendments of 1950, which put the system on a pay-as-you-go basis and changed it from a one that was predominantly composed of general revenue "welfare" (Old Age Assistance or OAA), to one that was mainly financed through worker "contributions." His Revenue Act of 1962 lowered corporate taxes and created the investment tax credit that spurred capital purchases. His Revenue Act of 1964 cut taxes from a range of 20 to 91 percent to 14 to 70 percent and, supposedly, managed to expand economic growth while lowering the deficit (it later became a touchstone for the Reagan revolutionaries). His Tax Reform Act of 1969 was the first the introduce the term "tax expenditure" into the public debate and the first to significantly limit loopholes (such as the oil depletion allowance). His 1972 Social Security Amendments created the SSI program for the handicapped poor and indexed social security benefits to inflation for the first time. More than anything else though, the Medicare Act of 1965 will remain his crowning glory, ironic certainly for a fiscal conservative who later lamented the runway spending that it engendered. In any case, it seems that Wilbur Mills was at the heart of every significant change in fiscal and social policy in the US for twenty-odd years.
Today though, if Mills is remembered for everything, its for being stopped by the U.S. Park Police outside the Tidal Basin in DC with a bloody nose and an Argentine stripped who went by the name Fanne Fox. Along with a new found addiction to alcohol and prescription pills, this ended his career. It also ended the reign of one of the last mandarins of the House; one of the small group of committee chairmen, who, through bipartisan negotiation and the control of technical expertise, held Congress captive. He was replaced at the behest of the new, militant Democratic Study Group, a caucus of extreme liberal congressmen who heralded new, more vigorous partisan battles to come. Zelizer manages to wonderfully convey the rise and fall of the previous era of Congress through one of its most important figures.
Displaying 1 of 1 review