Topic: Taxation
Ron Paul, Wesley Snipes, and Other Tax Honesty Heroes Some people believe strongly enough in the Constitution and the rule of law that - like Ron Paul - they devote their life to it, and some are even willing to go to prison. Others are indolent and deluded enough to gleefully send them there. Which side are YOU on?by creator
(libertarian)
Friday, April 25, 2008
"What?" you say? "Heroes? These guys are deadbeats, losers, unpatriotic, tax cheats, they don't pay their "fair share;" evaders, dishonest, lawbreakers. I pay my taxes, why shouldn't they? How's the country going to run without taxes, anyhow?"
Ron Paul has made it abundantly clear to anyone willing to listen: our country need not run on taxes. The IRS can be completely eliminated merely by cutting back federal spending to the level of about a decade ago. Why then do we still have an income tax? It is a means of control, of keeping the population "in line" and in unreasoning fear of government.
"Confiscating the fruits of our labor through the income tax is crucial to the health of the state." - Ron Paul, Who are the Patriots?
We allow the IRS leviathan to continue on its merry way, destroying countless lives, rattling its saber brazenly, and intentionally terrorizing the average working Joe. A few of countless instances are documented in America, Freedom to Fascism, one of filmmaker Aaron Russo's last gifts to his fellow countrymen. Yet a voice in the wilderness, Ron Paul, continues to tell us the truth about the destructive, wasteful, and completely unnecessary nature of the income tax.
"Abolishing the IRS altogether would trigger an avalanche of real growth in the economy." - Ron Paul, The Double Trouble of Taxation
In the same way that the mass media ridicules Ron Paul and his ideas, the IRS, echoed sycophantically by its media shills and parroted by the brainwashed and brain-dead, marginalizes and demonizes some of the finest patriots and heroes of the modern-day American revolution.
What is your reaction to Wesley Snipes, after being acquitted of all felony charges, sentenced to three years in prison for misdemeanors? It's a good thing that the IRS isn't empowered to enforce jay-walking statutes, isn't it? I've heard of rapists and murderers being treated with more compassion, but we can't allow the frightening facade of the IRS, the world's largest organized crime syndicate and terrorist organization, to be tarnished, can we?
"Prosecutors said Snipes' case was important to send a message to would-be tax protesters not to test the government." - Yahoo Movies
Yes, and what sort of message is that? The same un-American -- no, inhuman -- message echoed in comments responding to previous articles [linked below.] It is the perennial message of the bully and his entourage, the message that says "Bow your knee to the Almighty State, the federal government owns you and will have no other gods before it."
Meanwhile, unheralded, underreported, and unappreciated, a growing list of men and women can be found to have nobly stood against the tide of tax tyranny. While some observers think the tax honesty movement is dead, others insist that it is just now reaching critical mass. Thanks to the patriots listed here, and many others perhaps less prominent but honorable nonetheless, the Tax Honesty movement presses on. You would do well to Google these heroes of the movement and learn from them. Presented in no particular order:
What could possibly make them believe strongly enough in their cause to be willing to suffer, to have their lives destroyed by the deceitful, unchecked, and inhumanly oppressive power of the IRS?
I urge you to learn not only from their successes but from their failures, their strategies and their mistakes. These are patriots, tried and true. They have stood firm against federal tyranny in America. Many of them have paid a heavy toll for their efforts, some have paid with their lives. Many are still paying the price, and deserve our financial support, our encouragement, and our undying gratitude.
Will you bow the knee to the IRS and condemn your fellow citizens, or will you honor them along with the other great American heroes in whose tradition they walk?
The views expressed in this
article are those of creator only and do not represent
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I think the best way to protest and protect 'tax protestors' is from the jury box.
If one person on the jury in the snipes' trial had absolutely refused to find him guilty, It would have set an amazing precident and brought an entire new level of publicity to the matter.
If Jury's acquiting people that refuse to pay income tax becomes the norm, what's the IRS to do. Suspend jury trials to collect taxes? Expect all the judges to just throw out the jury's decisions?
Indeed, we must become aware and informed and protect our fellow citizens from renegade, runaway government power. The jury box is certainly an excellent place to do that, and I refer readers to http://fija.org as an excellent resource for information on your power as a juror.
Ron Paul didn't break any laws (AFAIK), he advocates less government, same as our country's founders. In fact, rebellion against excessive taxation and other unlawful abuses of power helped create the conditions and principles on which the country was founded.
While I share Mr. Snipes personal distaste for taxes, along with many other Americans. I don't agree with breaking the law (under normal conditions). And I think his behavior was motivated by greed, not activism or "truth-seeking" as his pal Woody might have it.
Steevo, you are right about the founding of our country as a response to excessive taxation; however, when it comes to judging the motivation of Wesley Snipes or anyone else who has stood up against the beast, you are doing nothing more than parroting the media and climbing on the IRS bandwagon of media-incited envy.
I recommend that you read Fredrick Bastiat's timeless essay on "The Law" - widely available, for example here: http://jim.com/bastiat.htm - and think about what is true and what is just and what, if anything, that may have to do with anyone's personal response to IRS "laws."
"For nearly a decade Snipes has engaged in a campaign of criminal tax conduct combining brazen defiance with insidious concealment"
talk about hipocracy, for the last 10 decades the IRS has engaged in a campaign of criminal tax conduct combining brazen defiance (of constitutional law) with insidious concealment...
It is articles and anarchistic rants like this that give Ron Paul a bad name by association. I agree that 3 years sounds excessive, but I didn't follow the trial and don't know the intimate details. I agree with Ron Paul entirely about taxes, but if it comes it will be by working within the system, not by flaunting it. After Rosa Parks, the black people struck back LEGALLY by boycotting the bus line, not by stealing from them. Any "yes", according to the laws on the books, Snipes was stealing -- and almost certainly knew it. If he felt so strongly about the unfairness of paying federal taxes, why didn't he go public with it like all the other stars and celebrities do with their favorite causes? I don't see any altruistic motive here, just selfishness and ego.
"The original American patriots were those individuals brave enough to resist with force the oppressive power of King George. I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist oppressive state power. The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility, and out of self interest -- for himself, his family, and the future of his country -- to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state. Resistance need not be violent, but the civil disobedience that might be required involves confrontation with the state and invites possible imprisonment." - Ron Paul
Three years incarceration "sounds excessive" because it is excessive, punitive, and entirely intended to cow the nation into servile and mindless "compliance" with the IRS's corrupt administration of tax law.
"I agree with Ron Paul entirely about taxes" - Do you really? Ron Paul says "A free society rejects all notions of involuntary servitude whether by draft or the confiscation of the fruits of our labor through the personal income tax." Do you agree? It doesn't sound as if you do.
You say "I didn't follow the trial and don't know the intimate details ...according to the laws on the books, Snipes was stealing -- and almost certainly knew it." - Really? How convenient to confess your ignorance of the details and then condemn Wesley Snipes from ignorance anyway. How would he - or you - or anyone, for that matter, KNOW he was stealing? Please enlighten us as to the "law" of which you speak that makes this so clear, or are you just expressing your opinion derived from the court of "everybody knows" and glibly imposing your imaginary "law" on Wesley Snipes?
You ask "How would he - or you - or anyone, for that matter, KNOW he was stealing? "
I suppose you could argue that the government is stealing our money, and Snipes just stole his back ...
;-)
Regardless of semantics, in my opinion Snipes is no more of a patriot (let alone a "tried and true" one) than Al Capone. I most definitely do not consider him to be a "great American hero."
Ron Paul is both.
You said that Ron Paul said (and I presume you are paraphrasing here) "our country need not run on taxes". You are bending the truth. Ron Paul stands behind the Constitution and the right (or in this case, the lack of right) of the Federal Government to take our hard-earned money via an income tax.
I haven't heard that Ron has ever advocated abolishing state and local taxes, but I may have missed a speech or two. But assuming that I am right, and given that Snipes has evaded state and property taxes as well as income tax, it appears that Snipes isn't being patriotic after all. Or am I just imagining that too?
Sorry. This is the type of discussion that really needs to be made face to face, because the printed word -- especially in this abbreviated format -- seems to provoke confrontation and indignation more than an open exchange of ideas and opinions. Heck, I can even discuss religion with my polar opposites over lunch without anyone getting angry or insulted, but using email with these same people usually starts a flame war.
I hope you will be merciful to this admittedly ignorant Ron Paul fan.
p.s. Oh yeah, the last time I heard someone say "glib" was when Tom Cruise jumped down Matt Lauer's throat. But since I accused you of making an anarchistic rant I will give you a pass.
Posted By: On behalf of: Ron Moss
Date: 2008-04-26 20:26:35
Dann; I can't seem to qualify to comment but I would certainly like to comment on your article about the tax honesty movement. The fact, as I see it, is that the original income tax was only meant to tax Federal sourced payroll, thereby it was lawful according to the constitutional limitations on taxing. Then during world war 2 when most men were in the military and their income was taxable, it was an established fact. When I was discharged nobody said "your income from private source is not taxable, Private income from personal labor trade is property and therefore not taxable."
So one can see how their silence on the subject served to convince men to not question "fair" taxation. Hence today there still exists that confusion. Therefore the only way it can be resolved is to send IRS leaders such as Sheldon Cohen to jail for misleading the public. Along with any IRS employee who deprives citizens from claiming protection of their rights, also to jail say 30 year terms. That might have some effect on the trend. Thanks for the exposure. Ron Moss
creator: Thanks, Ron, for your valuable historical insight!
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