A proposed change

Unless the 16th Amendment to the Constitution is repealed and a new amendment like the one below is enacted I fear our country will fail, fiscally. The question is having got to this place: have we already failed culturally?

Congress shall pass no law that obligates spending beyond the term of the current Congress and may not intentionally expend revenues greater than were receive in the previous fiscal year because to do so except in the most urgent national emergencies is grievously injurious to the freedom of future generations. In the case of a formal declaration of War the Congress may, by a two thirds vote of the sitting members, dispense itself from this prohibition for costs directly related to the prosecution of a legally declared war.

In order to fund the federal government the Congress of the United States may tax imports and exports, levy tolls on federally maintained roads, bridges, tunnels and transportation infrastructure, charge fees for federal licenses to do interstate business, and tax the individual states of the union at a rate not to exceed 50% of their annual income. The Congress may not levy any direct tax on the citizens of the States as this direct form of taxation is harmful to the individual freedoms which this constitution was adopted to ensure.