There's only one small obstacle with regards to your expectations, the Constitution of the United States of America, specifically the 16th Amendment which excepted income taxes, from whatever source derived, from the apportionment clause in Article 2.  That it was championed by the Socialist Labor Party, the Populist Party and, oh yes, the party of Democrats which controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency at the time, is informative as to the purpose of carving out that exemption.