armed men who are going to take it whether or not doing so is really constitutional.
If it is constitutional, the armed men will it take anyhow. I don't see that as establishing anything at all about the nature of an income tax, other than "Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes" and to make all "laws necessary and proper" to see the power carried out.
Perhaps you can lay out your theory as to how the income tax is unconstitutional, and see how it stands up in debate.
The courts seem to hold a contrary position to that view. A strong case can be made that the income tax, (at least insofar as it addresses taxation with respect to income derived from occupations, trades, and employments) is wholly constitutional, even without the 16th amendment.
The only way I see we will ever be rid of income & payroll taxes is through the repeal of all income and payroll taxes, then their explicit prohibition by constitutional amendment to cure the problem once and for all. There is simply too much legal wiggle room as it currently stands, to sucessfully mount a case to void the income/payroll tax of today for unconstitutionality.
A good moral case can be made to end the income tax and prohibit it via constitutional amendment, However, the moral case does little to provide sufficient ammunition to declare the tax unconstitutional and make it stick.
I wasn't saying the income tax is unconstitutional. I was saying that armed men will collect it whether it's constitutional or not, rendering the point largely moot.