Taxes
Ron Paul supports the elimination of the income tax and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He asserts that Congress had no power to impose a direct income tax and has called for the repeal of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified on February 3, 1913.
An income tax is the most degrading and totalitarian of all possible taxes. Its implementation wrongly suggests that the government owns the lives and labor of the citizens it is supposed to represent. Tellingly, “a heavy progressive or graduated income tax” is Plank #2 of the Communist Manifesto, which was written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and first published in 1848.
To provide funding for the federal government, Ron Paul supports excise taxes, non-protectionist tariffs, massive cuts in spending.
Ron Paul discusses the income tax and the “FAIR Tax” in May 2007:
On November 20, 2008 Ron Paul said in a New York Times / Freakonomics interview:
“I want to abolish the income tax, but I don’t want to replace it with anything. About 45 percent of all federal revenue comes from the personal income tax. That means that about 55 percent — over half of all revenue — comes from other sources, like excise taxes, fees, and corporate taxes.
We could eliminate the income tax, replace it with nothing, and still fund the same level of big government we had in the late 1990s. We don’t need to “replace” the income tax at all. I see a consumption tax as being a little better than the personal income tax, and I would vote for the Fair-Tax if it came up in the House of Representatives, but it is not my goal. We can do better.”
On May 7, 2001, Ron Paul wrote the following column:
The Case Against the Income Tax
Could America exist without an income tax? The idea seems radical, yet in truth America did just fine without a federal income tax for the first 126 years of its history. Prior to 1913, the government operated with revenues raised through tariffs, excise taxes, and property taxes, without ever touching a worker’s paycheck. In the late 1800s, when Congress first attempted to impose an income tax, the notion of taxing a citizen’s hard work was considered radical! Public outcry ensued; more importantly, the Supreme Court ruled the income tax unconstitutional. Only with passage of the 16th Amendment did Congress gain the ability to tax the productive endeavors of its citizens.
Yet don’t we need an income tax to fund the important functions of the federal government? You may be surprised to know that the income tax accounts for only approximately one-third of federal revenue. Only 10 years ago, the federal budget was roughly one-third less than it is today. Surely we could find ways to cut spending back to 1990 levels, especially when the Treasury has single year tax surpluses for the past several years. So perhaps the idea of an America without an income tax is not so radical after all.
The harmful effects of the income tax are obvious. First and foremost, it has enabled government to expand far beyond its proper constitutional limits, regulating virtually every aspect of our lives. It has given government a claim on our lives and work, destroying our privacy in the process. It takes billions of dollars out of the legitimate private economy, with most Americans giving more than a third of everything they make to the federal government. This economic drain destroys jobs and penalizes productive behavior. The ridiculous complexity of the tax laws makes compliance a nightmare for both individuals and businesses. All things considered, our Founders would be dismayed by the income tax mess and the tragic loss of liberty which results.
America without an income tax would be far more prosperous and far more free, but we must be prepared to fight to regain the liberty we have lost incrementally over the past century. I recently introduced “The Liberty Amendment,” legislation which would repeal the 16th Amendment and effectively abolish the income tax. I truly believe that real tax reform, reform that so many frustrated Americans desperately want, requires bold legislation that challenges the Washington mind set. Congress talks about reform, but the current tax debate really involves nothing of substance. Both parties are content to continue tinkering with the edges of the tax code to please various special interests. The Liberty Amendment is an attempt to eliminate the system altogether, forcing Congress to find a simple and fair way to collect limited federal revenues. Most of all, the Liberty Amendment is an initiative aimed at reducing the size and scope of the federal government.
Is it impossible to end the income tax? I don’t believe so. In fact, I believe a serious groundswell movement of disaffected taxpayers is growing in this country. Millions of Americans are fed up with the current tax system, and they will bring pressure on Congress. Some sidestep Congress completely, bringing legal challenges questioning the validity of the tax code and the 16th Amendment itself. Ultimately, the Liberty Amendment could serve as a flashpoint for these millions of voices.
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This is from The American Monetary Institute!
http://www.monetary.org
Background: The Fed is a private organization, not a part of our government.
The Federal Reserve System consists of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, with boards of directors, under an umbrella
direction of the seven member Federal Reserve Board in Washington, which has the power to determine major aspects
of banking activity, such as setting interest rates, and the reserve and other operational requirements. There are no shares
of the Washington Fed Board organization; the only “ownership” of the Fed is in shares of each of the 12 regional
banks. They are entirely owned by the private member banks within their respective districts, according to a formula
based on member bank size. The ownership is highly restricted in that such ownership is mandatory; the shares can’t be
sold; and they pay a guaranteed 6% annual dividend.
Thus the stories that the Federal Reserve is “owned” by foreign bankers (the Rothschild’s and other prominent banker
names usually come up) are not accurate and these types of rumors have mainly served to discredit wholesome criticism
of the banking system.
It will be clear from the following facts that the Fed is definitely not part of the US Government.
*The Fed is not organized within the Executive, Legislative or Judicial branches of our government.
*Who pays the Fed’s bills and determines its budget? Not any part of our government. The Fed gets its funding from its
own specially privileged operations. The Fed Board determines Fed budgets.
*Who monitors and oversees Fed activities? Again the Fed itself. While some important elements of proper auditing
have taken place, there has not yet been a comprehensive independent audit, by the Government Accountability Office
as proposed in a recent letter from Ralph Nader to new Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, calling for greater monetary
transparency.
*Federal Reserve employees are not part of the US Civil Service System and are not covered by government
employees’ health insurance or pension programs. Who does the hiring and firing? Except for the highly publicized
Chairman and seven member Washington Board, this is in private, unelected hands.
*Federal Reserve Banks are not listed as government organizations by the telephone companies, a small but telling fact.
The ambiguity surrounding the Fed arises because the U.S. President appoints the Fed Chairman to four year terms, and
the seven member board to 14 year terms. Also the Fed is supposed to implement government fiscal policy, but it has not
really done so. (see Is the Federal Reserve System Part of the U.S. Government, at our website
http://www.monetary.org/federalreserveprivate.htm)
Several structural problems arise from private control: The system tends to be run to benefit those in control rather than
the whole society. This concentrates wealth into fewer and fewer hands. The interest received by the banking system for
money creation flows into their hands. The control over where the money goes determines the direction the society
moves in. Privately controlled money tends to go into speculation to make a quick buck. Infrastructure, health and
education get ignored or short changed.
The private banking system, not government, now creates our money in the form of debt.
Most Americans think our money is issued and controlled by our government. They are surprised to learn that most of
our money is created when people and businesses have to borrow from banks, since this is the main way that money now
enters the system. The banks make loans by crediting the borrowers account. This is fiat money, or “purchasing media”
created out of thin air, thanks to a special legal privilege granted to them called “fractional reserve banking.” They write
a computer credit in the account of those whose needs have driven them to the banking system to borrow money.
This concentrates great power and transfers tremendous wealth to the financial sector.
Under this privately controlled monetary system, it’s not surprising that wealth and power have become concentrated to
obscene levels never before seen in our society, where less than 1% of the population is now claiming ownership of
nearly 50% of the nation’s wealth!
This money creation prerogative, often referred to as “THE MONEY POWER,” (President Martin Van Buren always
capitalized it!) has traditionally been associated with national sovereignty. Alienating the power from government into
private hands has inevitably served to concentrate elements of what should remain national sovereign power into those
private hands, where predictably it has been used to promote the interests of the few in control rather than the society as
a whole. That is clearly unacceptable in both a democracy and a republic. It establishes plutocracy – the rule by wealth
Bank of America rejects SEC claims in bonus suit
NEW YORK, Sep. 25, 2009 (Reuters) — Bank of America Corp formally denied U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims accusing it of misleading shareholders about bonuses it let Merrill Lynch & Co pay employees before the companies’ January 1merger, and said it is seeking an order dismissing the regulator’s complaint. ..
The bank’s response, in a Friday filing, was expected, and came 11 days after U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff rejected its $33 million settlement with the SEC over the $3.6 billion of bonus awards.
> full story http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre58o5r8-us-bankofamerica-sec/
I didn’t get my credit card interest rate decreased to 3.5% like the government workers did……
Your Tax Money…..paying out alot of Government Salaries, and CEO’s Bonus’s. I didn’t think I worked for the government did you….I didn’ get a $5,000 breakfast once a week from a lobbyist. I don’t get a Loan from the Gov. at 3.5 % interest, I don’t get a bail out of my credit cards..the credit card company did but I didn’t. Why is it if I don’t work for the government, but for Corporate America, why is it 40-70% of my income goes to all kinds of Federal Taxes? I don’t get free healthcare like they do either…and an assured 401K. I just don’t understand this system we have allowed to Freely take all of our money…I just thought about this….Does anyone have any answers?
The Department of Energy was created by President Carter in 1977 for the stated purpose of advancing the energy security of the United States. The Department now employs 109,000 people and spends $24 billion of taxpayer funds every year. The accomplishments of those well-funded 109,000 people have been few. We are about to learn in a way that no one will be able to overlook just how few.
Neglect of Infrastructure
The infrastructure for producing petroleum products is rusting away and falling apart.
Not a single oil refinery has been built in the U.S. since 1976. The number of U.S. refineries has dropped to 149, less than half the count in 1981. Because of operating improvements and expansions at the surviving refineries, shrinkage in capacity has been held to only 10%. Meanwhile, however, gasoline consumption has risen 45%.
As new sources of easy-to-refine light oil become harder to find, the world will become more dependent on its abundant sources of difficult-to-handle heavy crude. One-third of Saudi Arabia’s 260-billion-barrel reserves are heavy crude. Worldwide, about 40% of oil resources are heavy or extra-heavy crude, and another 30% are in oil sands and bitumen, which are even more difficult to refine.
The U.S. isn’t ready for heavy crude. Only 30% of U.S. refineries can process it. And the U.S. isn’t doing anything to get ready. It won’t invest in anything that doesn’t look like a sick bank. Refinery capacity is already a bottleneck, and the bottle’s neck is narrowing.
The U.S. is clearly a laggard in refining. Canada, where 95% of reserves are in oil sands, has seen a rush of investment into producing and processing the super-dense resource. Saudi Arabia has promised billions of dollars in the next five years to expand its refining capacity to 6.5 million barrels per day, from the current 3.7 million, which will make them one of the largest refiners in the world. Meanwhile, the U.S. twiddles its thumbs and mumbles NIMBY.
The human element of the energy infrastructure is also in decline. Matt Simmons, the author of Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, warns that the best-qualified petroleum geologists and engineers are now retiring, with no one to take their place.
http://theburningplatform.com/uploads/image/46579971KeyLicensin
http://theburningplatform.com/uploads/image/46581905TotalWorldO
http://theburningplatform.com/uploads/image/46582614FirstTimeEv
Growing Demand for Oil
The world’s population will continue to grow, and developing countries will continue to grow more prosperous. Both trends will add to the demand for fossil fuels.
China and India are sucking up oil at an ever-increasing rate. China has seen oil consumption grow by 8% per year since 2002; it now exceeds 8 million barrels per day. China’s middle-class population is nearing 300 million people. While U.S. auto sales were plummeting in 2008, China’s auto sales rose 6.7%, to 9.38 million units. Sales in the first five months of 2009 are 14% above a year earlier.
India’s automobile sales are on pace to exceed 10 million in 2009. By 2020, the country’s oil imports are expected to more than triple from 2005 levels, rising to 5 million barrels per day.
It isn’t just China and India that are adding to demand for oil. Others, notably Russian and Brazil, are doing the same. The non-OECD countries now have surpassed the OECD countries in energy usage. This trend will accelerate as the citizens of these countries grow wealthier and buy cars, TVs, and refrigerators.
Get ready for some loud but useless noise. When oil reaches $200 a barrel in the next few years, Congressmen will yell, posture, expound, skewer oil executives on TV, and get red in the face. They will do everything but admit the truth. We will be paying for decades of underinvestment in commodity infrastructure, mal-investment in ethanol, and lack of realism in answering the complaints of Green extremism.
The Department of Energy was created by President Carter in 1977 for the stated purpose of advancing the energy security of the United States. The Department now employs 109,000 people and spends $24 billion of taxpayer funds every year. The accomplishments of those well-funded 109,000 people have been few. We are about to learn in a way that no one will be able to overlook just how few.
Lucky Us
Condoms, contact lenses shielded from tax
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090922/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_everyday_items
One, two, three, four…
Hrmm!
One, two, (one, two, three, four!)
Let me tell you how it will be;
There’s one for you, nineteen for me.
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Should five per cent appear too small,
Be thankful I don’t take it all.
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
(if you drive a car, car;) – I’ll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) – I’ll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) – I’ll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) – I’ll tax your feet.
Taxman!
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Don’t ask me what I want it for, (ah-ah, mister Wilson)
If you don’t want to pay some more. (ah-ah, mister heath)
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Now my advice for those who die, (taxman)
Declare the pennies on your eyes. (taxman)
‘Cause I’m the taxman,
Yeah, I’m the taxman.
And you’re working for no one but me.
Taxman!
Thank you, Sheeple
SRV had it right from the start!!
If the house is a rocken!!
Now is the time to push the FAIR Tax!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dear Representative Paul,
I have been an admirer and follower for over 35 years, beginning when I was with the River Oaks Bank and Trust Company in Houston.
Since you are opposed to the income tax, my idea and comment may be something you have already considered. Anyway, here it is:
File suit against the Federal Government for violating the Constitution. The intent of the amendment allowing for income taxes has been significantly abused. With astute constituional legal minds coupled with successful courtroom attorneys, perhaps this is something that could go to the Supreme Court.
In my opinion, the income tax will never be repealed by Congress or through the amendment process. Only by upholding the Supreme Law of the Land will this onerous situation be reversed.
Respectfully submitted by a Tea Party Patriot and 9-12er.
CAN ANYONE GET THIS TO RON AND/OR HIS ORGANIZATION. Just as we all thought the Federal Reserve was a part of the Federal Government years ago, so to do we think the IRS is a part of it. Turns out it’s not so…
1. Is the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) an organization within the U.S. Department of the Treasury?
Answer: No. The IRS is not an organization within the United States Department of the Treasury. The U.S. Department of the Treasury was organized by statutes now codified in Title 31 of the United States Code, abbreviated “31 U.S.C.” The only mention of the IRS anywhere in 31 U.S.C. §§ 301‑310 is an authorization for the President to appoint an Assistant General Counsel in the U.S. Department of the Treasury to be the Chief Counsel for the IRS. See 31 U.S.C. 301(f)(2).
At footnote 23 in the case of Chrysler Corp. v. Brown, 441 U.S. 281 (1979), the U.S. Supreme Court admitted that no organic Act for the IRS could be found, after they searched for such an Act all the way back to the Civil War, which ended in the year 1865 A.D. The Guarantee Clause in the U.S. Constitution guarantees the Rule of Law to all Americans (we are to be governed by Law and not by arbitrary bureaucrats). See Article IV, Section 4. Since there was no organic Act creating it, IRS is not a lawful organization.
2. If not an organization within the U.S. Department of the Treasury, then what exactly is the IRS?
Answer: The IRS appears to be a collection agency working for foreign banks and operating out of Puerto Rico under color of the Federal Alcohol Administration (“FAA”). But the FAA was promptly declared unconstitutional inside the 50 States by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of U.S. v. Constantine, 296 U.S. 287 (1935), because Prohibition had already been repealed.
In 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit identified a second “Secretary of the Treasury” as a man by the name of Manual Díaz-Saldaña. See the definitions of “Secretary” and “Secretary or his delegate” at 27 CFR 26.11 (formerly 27 CFR 250.11), and the published decision in Used Tire International, Inc. v. Manual Díaz-Saldaña, court docket number 97‑2348, September 11, 1998. Both definitions mention Puerto Rico.
When all the evidence is examined objectively, IRS appears to be a money laundry, extortion racket, and conspiracy to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1951 and 1961 et seq. (“RICO”). Think of Puerto RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act); in other words, it is an organized crime syndicate operating under false and fraudulent pretenses. See also the Sherman Act and the Lanham Act.
http://foehammer.net/2008/03/federal-income-tax-is-unconstitutional-irs-is-organized-thuggary.html
Tax his land, Tax his bed, Tax the table At which he’s fed. Tax his tractor, Tax his mule, Teach him taxes Are the rule. Tax his work, Tax his pay, He works for peanuts Anyway! Tax his cow, Tax his goat, Tax his pants, Tax his coat. Tax his ties, Tax his shirt, Tax his work, Tax his dirt. Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink, Tax him if he Tries to think. Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, If he cries Tax his tears. Tax his car, Tax his gas, Find other ways To tax his ass. Tax all he has Then let him know That you won’t be done Till he has no dough. When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more, Tax him till He’s good and sore. Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave, Tax the sod in Which he’s laid. Put these words Upon his tomb, Taxes drove me to my doom…’ When he’s gone, Do not relax, Its time to apply The inheritance tax. Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Excise Taxes Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon) Gross Receipts Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Personal Property Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Service Charge T ax Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax Sales Tax Recreational Vehicle Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge=2 0Tax Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage Charge Tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the hell happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’ ITS TIME TO GET RID OF THESE BASTARDS….CONSTITUTIONAL ONLY !!!! OR EXECUTION !!!!
It seems some people think the income tax is illegal; pretty sure you won’t win with that argument. Instead I think of it as a redundant second property tax.
Uncle Sam places a tax on your property- namely house and vehicle (not sure if anything else is included with that,) now isn’t that house and vehicle your income just in a different form – property? And wouldn’t your income be considered your property, though you haven’t turned it into a house yet?
Quite simply, the income tax is immorally redundant. The government is taxing your income twice and not a whole lot of people seem to really care.
You’ll enjoy these videos. Oh, we care. And we need the end of the FED and the IRS. Progress towards accomplishing this has been too slow.
Adam Kokesh – How to Fight Fascism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exeXzfsZB7E&feature=related
The Spirit of the Founders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nl95T_ND_Q&feature=player_embedded
Greg,
You say in regards to the federal income tax, “Instead I think of it as a redundant second property tax.”
You are wrong.
The federal income tax is an excise tax derived from the activity/privilege of being a federal “employee” or receiving interest, or dividends or the profit from the sale of stock from a wholly owned federal corporation, a corporation where the federal government owns over 50% of the shares of stock, or a federal instrumentality.
The IRC clearly and constitutionally defines who is and who is not liable for the various excise taxes it collects.
Determining your status involves only a hand full of sections of the code.
We private citizens since the early 1940’s have been duped in to thinking that our pay qualifies for the excise tax of federal privilege commonly called “Income tax”
To get the facts go to http://www.howyoubecomeliable.com and/or http://www.losthorizons.com .
Oh, and I can’t wait for the DOJ and IRS stooges to try and dissuade people from verifying the above information on their own or by claiming the information is wrong, misleading and so on. They will mention the(void) Federal District Court case against Peter Hendrickson in reference to losthorizons, but won’t mention the 2 Federal District Court cases brought against Mr. Hendrickson but then withdrawn by the DOJ because Mr. Hendrickson had done nothing illegal.
The truth is, since 2002 thousands of people have filed educated returns to which to IRS returns all property withheld, FICA and Medicare included (they are nothing more than excise taxes on federal privilege).
I read all of these comments from people who are tired of the system just like I am. But the question is, what are we going to do about it? Has everyone on here already wrote to their lawmakers about the unconstitutional taxes? Has everyone already went and changed their W-4 and put down exempt? Has everyone went to http://www.wethepeoplecongress.org/ and signed the petitions for redress of greivances? If you haven’t then you need to.
Remember that the IRC, and IRS tactics, can’t possibly apply to us, average working americans, unless we voluntarily let it apply and give them permission to withhold. To do so, take federal income tax, without us giving them permission would place us in Involuntary Servitude which is illegal according to the 13th amendment. Illegal means illegal and any Judge or lawmaker should understand that if they’re worth the oath that they took in the first place. I’m just surprised that the NAACP hasn’t jumped on to this and brought up the fact that the government is illegally mis-informing and taking money from the hard working african american families and placing them once again into a form of slavery, and how it(Involuntary Servitude) is taking hard earned money away from their lives, families and educations. We need some big organizations to start standing up and get involved so that more of this illegal activity can be made known to the public. This fight isn’t about color because we are all becoming government slaves. Remember that we are all in it together. If it wasn’t for the NRA then we all know that the 2nd amendment would be a thing of the past.
There are 535 lawmakers and 305-310 million people in the U.S.
Now how dumb would we have to be to let 535 lawmakers, which don’t live by the rules that they make or the U.S. Constitution, take our lives from us.
Any and all comments are welcomed. Have a great day…
Remember that God doesn’t want his children as slaves..
Most Americans are under the impression that Pres. O “inherited” a tremendous debt from the former Pres. Bush. With this slight in twisting the actual truth, Pres. O is given a trust that is unearned. He has just been put in place in the midst of a much longer plan and way of life we have assumed. A kind of forgiveness for the wrongs that have been done over time to the American people is implied and a false new hope is the elites way of glossing over what actually has occured in the lives of every American household and abroad.
No one has been held accountable for the crimes against humanity and fraud they have committed.
If all Americans knew that with each new president, it is just a continuation of the same plan being worked out towards the same end, requiring the work, income and cooperation from every American household, Americans would not be so forgiving and trusting of our government and the corruption would end.
Those who operate behind the curtain in secrecy, who actually control our monetary policy and our government are not cited as the source of our woes in this country. Most don’t even know these secret societies even exist, nor how they orchestrate and negatively impact our lives and the world.
If they knew the real reason behind all the continuous wars with other countries, how the elite use military force (our lives to do the unnatural) and monentary maniuplation and theft of the American people (our paychecks, savings, wealth) to execute their global goal, I believe Americans would ban together in one voice and say, we are no longer cooperating. Without our cooperation, they have no way to do what they are and have been doing.
This truth must be made known and be evident to the majority of the population before we will see real change. Thsi is the wake up.
Most Americans are born, get up and go to school, work to fulfill their life goals and dreams – have a family, own a home, college education, start a new business, etc.
But while we are doing that, the government operates in colusion with the elite behind the scenes and with corporations towards another plan that requires mass human cooperation, our money and our lives, if known to all of us, would never even get off the ground. Unbenounced to ourselves, we have been contributing all along to a plan that (1) greatly inhibits us from fulfilling our own personal dreams (2) increases stress and turmoil around the world and our ability to be financially responsible (3) has made us into little more than worker bees for the elite.
Geithner Won’t Rule Out New Taxes for Middle Class
http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/08/geithner-wont-rule-out-new-taxes-for-middle-class.html
If it moves, Tax It !!
The government has used the income tax as a door into every aspect of our personal lives. The IRS needs to have access to information about practically every aspect of our personal lives, to insure that we pay the correct amount of taxes. If we do certain things that the government likes, we pay less taxes. If we do things it doesn’t like, we pay more taxes. There has to be a fair system which doesn’t intrude so deeply into our privacy and liberty. I would accept a national sales tax that exempts basic food items, basic utilities, and rent/mortgage payments of less than $1,000 per month. That way, the truly poor wouldn’t be unfairly punished by a regressive tax. Alternatively, a national property tax would be acceptable. Or both, for that matter. But I would only agree to either IF the agreement included a repeal of the 16th amendment, and a binding resolution that there would never be another income tax imposed on individuals without the approval of 90% of all members of both the House and the Senate, as well as a newly ratified constitutional amendment. The last thing we need is a new source of Federal revenue without a binding agreement that the current one won’t be brought back in a couple of years.
“I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country.” -Thomas Jefferson