October 26, 1951: Joe Louis' Last Stand

October 26, 1951: Desperate for money to pay a mounting tax bill, Joe Louis, who stood as Heavyweight Champion of the World longer than anyone (12 years, 1937-49) and defended the title more than anyone (25 times), climbs into the ring at the old Madison Square Garden for a purse of $300,000 – about $3.4 million in 2022 money.

He fights Rocky Marciano, then a rising contender who comes into the fight at 37-0. He idolized Louis: telling the press, "This is the last guy I want to fight." It had nothing to do with his own ability, or whatever Louis had left.

It is a mismatch: Marciano is 28, is in superb shape, and has a sledgehammer for a right hand; Louis is 37, struggles with his weight, and his arms and legs, once the fastest in the fight game despite his being a heavyweight, have terribly slowed. Marciano actually knocks Louis out of the ring in the 8th round. Ruby Goldstein, maybe the best referee in the business and himself a former lightweight contender, wisely stopped the fight at that point.

Marciano went back to his dressing room, and cried over what he had done to his greatest hero, and even went over to see him, and said, "I'm sorry, Joe." Sugar Ray Robinson, then Middleweight Champion, was in Louis' dressing room to console him, and was also crying.

Eleven months later, Marciano knocked Jersey Joe Walcott out to become the Heavyweight Champion. He held the title for 3 years, then retired undefeated at 49-0. Louis, still needing money, humiliated himself as a professional wrestler, and not a very good one.

Both men's lives ended badly: Marciano's in a plane crash in Iowa in 1969, just before his 46th birthday; Louis' in a wheelchair, unable to pay his medical bills, with Frank Sinatra hosting a benefit concert for him in Las Vegas in 1978, which kept Louis afloat until he finally passed away in 1981, at 67.

As a Sergeant in the U.S. Army in World War II, he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, on the order of President Ronald Reagan, and with Sinatra delivering the eulogy. Marciano was interred in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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October 26, 1951 was a Friday. William "Bootsy" Collins, bass guitarist for George Clinton's P-Funk Empire, was born on this day.

The baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. The NBA season wouldn't start for another 6 days. The NHL season had started, but no games were scheduled. So there were no scores on this historic day.

August 18, 1988: George Bush Promises: "Read My Lips: No New Taxes"

August 18, 1988: The Republican Convention is held at the Superdome in New Orleans. President Ronald Reagan, limited to 2 terms by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, could not run again. Vice President George H.W. Bush is nominated for President, and Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana, at 41 the 1st "Baby Boomer" to appear on a major party's national ticket, is nominated for Vice President.

The conservative movement, which had nominated and elected Ronald Reagan as President in 1980 and 1984, had never fully trusted Bush. Among their criticisms of him at the time: He wasn't tough enough -- the words "The Wimp Factor" were sometimes used -- and he wasn't as dedicated to conservative principles as the outgoing President.

So Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan wrote him the best speech of his career, including the promise that essentially won him the election. Comparing himself to the Democratic nominee, Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, who had raised taxes so much Republicans called the State "Taxachusetts," Bush said:

I'm the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he'll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that's one resort he'll be checking into.

My opponent won't rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes, and I'll say, "No." And they'll push, and I'll say, "No." And they'll push again, and I'll say to them, "Read my lips: no new taxes."

It was definitive. And it was tough-sounding. And it made those Delegates cheer.

It was also monumentally stupid, because the federal budget had a pretty big deficit, thanks to "Reganomics." Richard Darman, an economic adviser to Bush who had been Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan, called the pledge "stupid and dangerous."

Certainly, the pledge was better-remembered than Bush's call for more civility: "I want a kinder and gentler nation." After all, that went out the window when he ran an incredibly dirty campaign against Dukakis.

It was also better remembered than another high-sounding phrase Bush used, which Noonan borrowed from a science-fiction story written by Arthur C. Clarke back in 1946: "A thousand points of light":

We're a nation of community, of thousands and tens of thousands of ethnic, religious, social, business, labor union, neighborhood, regional and other organizations, all of them varied, voluntary and unique.

This is America: The Knights of Columbus, the Grange, Hadassah, the Disabled American Veterans, the Order of Ahepa, the Business and Professional Women of America, the union hall, the Bible study group, LULAC {League of United Latin American Citizens}, Holy Name. A brilliant diversity spreads like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.

Bush won the election easily, and, among the Reagan holdovers he appointed, one was Darman, as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Two years later, the Reagan economic policies continued, and the federal budget deficit got seemingly out of control. He realized he had to do the right thing: He compromised with the Democratic leaders of Congress, and raised taxes. The next day's headline in the arch-conservative New York Post:

You'll notice there's a subheadline: "DONALD DOES IT." I don't remember what this refers to. I do know that, many years later, Donald Trump mocked the "thousand points of light" line: At a rally in Montana on July 5, 2018, he said, "Thousand points of light, I never quite got that one. What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? And it was put out by a Republican, wasn't it? I know one thing, 'Make America Great Again,' we understand. 'Putting America first,' we understand."

In the 1992 election, with 12 years of Reagan-Bush in the books and the nation in deep trouble, Bush ran a campaign for re-election, not on the economy, which was deep into recession, but on "character" and "trust." The nation decided Bill Clinton was worthier on those scores, in large part because Bush had failed on the economy and, in the process, broke his promise.

Eight years after that, the 41st President's son became the 43rd, running on a promise of, "This is not just, 'No new taxes,' This is, 'Tax cuts, so help me, God.'" Five years after that, Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, and the very building where the father had accepted the nomination, the Superdome, became the most obvious domestic failure of the son. Until the Crash of 2008, when the Bush Tax Cuts made it obvious that conservatism doesn't work.

*

August 18, 1988 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. Chuck Finley, who usually pitched well against the Yankees, outpitched 45-year-old Tommy John, who had also pitched for the Angels. Mark McLemore and Brian Downing hit home runs for the Halos, while the only Yankee run came on a solo home run by Dave Winfield. He went 2-for-4. Don Mattingly went 0-for-4. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 4-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Mike Krukow held the Mets to 5 hits, 2 by Keith Hernandez, while Bob Ojeda only lasted 4 innings. Matt Williams hit a home run.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Mark Langston outpitched Mike Boddicker. Jay Buhner, newly acquired in a trade from the Yankees, hit a home run for the M's.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 0-for-1 with 3 walks. Cal Ripken went 3-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 2-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. The Expos tied the game in the top of the 9th, on a home run by Andrés Galarraga. But in the bottom of the 9th, Carmelo Martínez singled Stan Jefferson home with the winning run. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mike Schmidt did not play.

* And the Kansas City Royals, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.

February 3, 1913: The 16th Amendment Is Ratified

February 3, 1913: The 16th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is ratified, permitting Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the various States or basing it on the U.S. Census.

On April 8, 1895, in the case of Charles Pollock v. Farmers Loan & Trust Company, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an income tax was unconstitutional. Therefore, an Amendment to the Constitution was necessary to produce an income tax in America.

As required, it was ratified by three-quarters of the States then in the Union. As New Mexico had become the 47th State, and Arizona the 48th State, in 1912, this was the first Amendment ratified with at least that many States: 36 out of 48.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue was set up by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, to collect taxes. In 1953, its name was changed to the Internal Revenue Service, taking up the name of the agency that was set up to college the nation's first income tax, during the American Civil War. Usually, it's shortened to its initials: IRS. Some people call it the Infernal Revenue Service.

There are people who say, "Taxation is theft." But Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., then a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and a Republican, wrote, "Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society."

In 1961, the black comedian Dick Gregory was filmed doing his act, saying, "At the rate my people are going, one day, we might have a black President. So laugh at my jokes, or I'll raise your taxes!" The audience laughed, having no idea that this was the year that Barack Obama, who became the 1st black President, was born. The audience laughed a bit more gingerly at Gregory's next line: "I wouldn't mind paying taxes, if I thought they were going to a friendly country!"

During the Vietnam War, some people refused to pay taxes to support it, and got in trouble for it, including folksinger Joan Baez. On March 2, 1970, with the war still having no end in sight, comedian Danny Kaye was a guest on the TV variety show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. He used the IRS' old name, and (despite being from Brooklyn) a Southern accent, and said, "According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, we can deduct $600 for everybody we support. Well, this year, I'm claiming the government of South Vietnam!"

There are people who point out that the American Revolution was fought over taxation. This is far from the full story. The slogan was, "Taxation without representation is tyranny," and that was hardly the only reason the Revolution was fought. The 16th Amendment provided for taxation with representation. That's often no prize, either, but at least we have a say in it, unlike people living in America in 1776.

One more note: With an income tax established, the federal government no longer needed to collect so much tax on alcohol. This freed up many members of Congress to vote in favor of Prohibition, which became the 18th Amendment.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is headquartered at the Treasury Building, at 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, to the east of the White House. Built in 1842, it is shown on the back of the U.S. $10 bill. A separate headquarters building for the IRS is a few blocks away, at 1111 Constitution Avenue NW. It opened in 1936, and Holmes' quote is engraved on its facade.

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February 3, 1913 was a Monday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. Professional hockey had the National Hockey Association in Eastern Canada, and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association in Western Canada, but neither league played any games on this day. Therefore, there were no games on this historic day.