The gap between the rich and the poor is wider than it's ever been in American history.

And the rapid pace of technological change is further widening that gap.

Some people at the bottom of the social ladder are seeing their jobs disappear.

We're placed by new machines that can do the work faster and cheaper.

A handful of people at the top, bankers, heads of industry, are making more money than the rest

of the population combined.

And a really important tax bill that has implications for every American's income,

rich, poor, middle class just recently passed Congress.

One New York Times report called the bill, quote, odious and unpopular. The year is 1894.

I'm Lillian Kenningham with the Washington Post, and this is constitutional.

We the people at the United States, in order to form a more perfect union,

establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare,

and secure the blessings of the city. Do our souls, Marcos, do ordain and establish this

constitution for the United States of America.

Taxes have always been a feature of America. They power the government by helping to pay

its operating costs, whether those are external, like financing wars, or internal, like constructing

highways. But the type of taxes that Americans pay hasn't stayed the same over the country's history.

It actually wasn't until the early 20th century that the United States established the tax

system it has today, an income tax system. That's where every year the federal government takes

a certain percentage of money from each citizen based on his or her income. The income tax is

considered a progressive tax, because the tax rate progresses. People with lower incomes tend to

pay a lower tax rate, and people with higher incomes tend to pay a higher tax rate.

...