ABSTRACT
The United States Constitution provided that taxes might be imposed, with the authority of the Congress, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare. New interpretations of the Constitution have allowed regulatory taxes, but the scope for difficulties remains. It is now considered perfectly normal to budget deliberately for a surplus or a deficit in the nation's accounts for the good of the economy as a whole, though forty years ago the dominant opinion would have condemned any such policy as constitutionally improper. Concern with taxation and the expenditure of public money has been central to constitutional development, and was a major factor leading to the turmoil of the seventeenth century. By 1902 the attempt even to discuss the financial details of proposed expenditure had been largely abandoned, and the supply days were recognised simply as a fixed number of days in the session on which the Opposition chose the subject of debate.
