In outlining the history of U.S. taxation, Norquist begins with the lapsed constitutional principle of “uniformity”—the idea, set forth explicitly in Article I, Section 8, that all people should be taxed at the same rate. Norquist notes that the Constitution specifies that taxes can be collected for only three purposes—”to pay the Debts” of the country; to provide for “the common defense”; and to foster the “general welfare.” And he argues that this limitation on legitimate expenditures and the taxes required for them should be seen as a “powerful constraint” on federal spending and tax policies. “Any legislation aimed at the redistribution of income or forcing Americans to buy insurance or pensions is hard to square with this clear language,” he writes.

The Founding Fathers apparently agreed. Both James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, in separate Federalist writings, touted the concept of uniformity, which precludes majorities from taxing minorities at special or punitive rates (and thus precludes, in Norquist’s view, progressive taxation). Madison warned of the danger of majorities imposing special taxes upon minorities (presumably more wealthy people), and suggested that “there is, perhaps, no legislative act in which greater opportunity and temptation are given to a predominant party to trample on the rules of justice.” Hamilton, in touting the uniformity principle, put the word in capital letters for emphasis.

In Norquist’s view, this principle has been consistently violated by liberal politicians in their rush to exploit economic envy and class animosities in behalf of “soak the rich” tax policies.