A different type of pink slip

I remember reading about this law years ago and had completely forgotten about it until seeing it in this article:

The problem came to light during a Senate investigation of the 1929 stock-market crash: Some of America's wealthiest citizens, including the banker J.P. Morgan and his partners, were legally paying nothing in federal income taxes.

The solution, endorsed by majorities of both parties in Congress: Make individuals' income-tax information public, and shame the evaders into paying their fair share.

Under the Revenue Act of 1934, anyone who filed a federal tax return would also complete another -- pink -- form, with his or her name, address, income, deductions and total taxes paid. Everything on the pink slips was public information, available to reporters, nosy neighbors or former spouses alike.

At the time, only 7% of the population earned enough to file income taxes. So the challenge was how to get those too poor to be affected to help overturn the law. The linked article goes into a little detail on how the lobbying group achieved this. “Regardless of whether they were actually from the 'little' man, the letters provided congressmen with the political cover to vote for repeal.”