The War on Income Tax
by Robert Russo
Lp.org reported yesterday that a Louisiana lawyer has won a successful case against the federal government on the issue of income tax being unconstitutional. Although his acquittal for tax evasion could be interpreted as mercy or something else unrelated to the core question, he presented his case as a manifesto challenging the constitutionality of income tax and is making the most of his victory.* This is an unprecedented issue to sway a court on, considering the almost total lack of merit most legal histories give the argument, with Cheek vs. United States being a precedent to many losses.
A month ago when tax protestor Ed Brown gave a press conference from his fortified New Hampshire home, saying to the IRS, law enforcement and those who convicted him and his wife of tax evasion "We either walk out of here free or we die" (in reference to the state's motto), wearing a pistol in his belt, flanked by Randy Weaver who previously survived a shootout with law enforcement although his wife and son did not,** some libertarians thought "These people are not like us. Survivalists like the Minnesota freemen are a far cry from responsible libertarians, and even those who agree taxation is illegal still abide by the law.". (Being atheists and anti-masonic certainly doesn't make them appear less extreme either.) And at the same time some libs thought how remarkable, brave and self-respecting their words were. A citizen shaking his fist at government saying that by his personal authority they are not permitted to rule him, and that he will die to defend his liberty. So out of place in today's society, not a trace of the subservience we have all come to live with.
New Hampshire and Vermont are not big tourist states and like all "last frontiers" have become holdouts, for freethinking/self-reliance/sanity. This past weekend the Browns held a public concert on their property which supports authorities' insistence that the land is not blocked off or patrolled by agents, and that an incident is not desired. So for the time being they are successfully resisting the taxation and incarceration they oppose, and people are flocking to them with little or no government interference.
The point on which Tom Cryer made his case is that income tax is supposed to be a percentage of profit/gains, profit meaning surplus, not gross. A contract between employer and employee is an exchange of service and payment, much like a sale. If a consumer product sells for $3.99, it's only a figure of speech to say the seller has made $3.99 profit. There is plenty of precedent for consideration of everything that goes in and out of a person's income to gauge their true liability (or endless speculation with the conclusion there is no liability). A paycheck is the physical proof of a person's labor and therefore their property, much like a diploma, but those who print diplomas are now saying it is theirs to withhold or dispense as they choose, and likewise the government that approves paychecks is enforcing the "jurisdiction" of its seal.
Government sees taxes as a necessity to fund their needs with no other two bits about it. They pursue funding like any private marketing dept. and this view has been spread to blatant fines and deductions throughout our state, justified only with "we need the money". The ownership of pay has been transferred from us to them. Hopefully instead of each state adopting an isolated militant faction with its own compound and ultimately war zone, the question of taxation's legal standing will spread throughout the nation until it can't be shut down. Consideration will grow as it did on the day congress cut off the IRS at the knees. Perhaps the responsibility of paying taxes will no longer be disputed when every citizen can choose where their money goes in one huge write-off. On the other hand, why be "exempted" from something they have no right to take from us in the first place? Here are some links to various educational sites on this issue…
http://www.lp.org/yourturn/archives/000661.shtml Article on court victory with responses from libertarians.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/13519156/detail.html Video of the Browns' press conference.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protestors Info on the history of tax resistance.
http://www.gcstation.net/liefreezone/THEMEMORANDUM.pdf Tom Cryer's court manifesto.
http://www.newhampshireunderground.com/wiki/tiki-index.php Homepage of the New Hampshire Underground.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005921.html Info on the history of income tax.
*http://www.lp.org/yourturn/archives/000661.shtml
**http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/180607Conference.htm
Question 1: If a militant wing opposing taxation and other government instrusions like those in Montana and New Hampshire were to make its stand in Virginia, would you take interest and consider standing with them? Should the LP? If not what kind of relationship should we have?
Question 2: Is the result of United States vs. Cryer just a red herring or does it have real implications? Send your opinions to henrico@richmondliberty.org.
If you have topics of interest to Libertarians please let us know. We welcome your input!