The government did not have the foresight to tax away the wealth of the wealth. They saw a way to collect money without a popular revolt and they went for it.

The government did not have the foresight to tax away the wealth of the wealth. They saw a way to collect money without a popular revolt and they went for it. And they had to change the Constitution to do it. It seems the founders are the ones with the actual foresight. They knew that government tends to expand its power and consume more and more of the people's resources, so they tried to keep it small and restricted.