By Vin Armani
In this video, Vin Armani discusses a clever new strategy with Dan Johnson to put the government in direct competition with private non-profits to deliver social services. Dan Johnson is the Executive Director of the Tax Revolution Institute. Prior to joining the Tax Revolution Institute, he was the Founder of People Against the NDAA (PANDA), which he grew into one of the largest civil liberties movements in America, and served as President of the Solutions Institute, an activist training center.
Learn more about Tax Revolution Institute at http://www.TaxRevolution.us
Watch the full broadcast here
Live free and succeed outside the rigged system! Join Counter Markets!
Vin Armani is the host of The Vin Armani Show on Activist Post, TV Star of Gigolos on Showtime, Agorist entrepreneur and co-founder of Counter Markets. Follow Vin on Twitter and subscribe on YouTube. Get the weekly podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. Vin is available for interviews at email Vin (at) VinArmani.com.
Only slaves pay taxes.
All of us are slaves to the State !
.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3c44cea6b134b442cb73302437de488fa7585734a215c408ea78d8be4338486f.jpg
The State is slave to the corporations: corporate fascism. Trump, born rich and a billionaires has appointed 6 Goldman-Sachs alumni to run the country; the Secy of State is the former CEO of Exxon; the Secy of Defense went from the military to Defense industry. Hedge fund managers(the top two made over a billion last year, paying lower tax rates than you and I) whom Trump called “murderers” have now been appointed to key posts to run the economy. Fake populists: Hitler, Mussolini, Trump.
Fascism: the marriage of the state the the corporations. Corporate fascism: the state is taken over by the wealthy elites: plutocracy, oligarchy. Wealth is concentrated by privatization,war, and slave labor and debt.
We are slaves to the extent we do not fight back against corporate fascism, which has hijacked the state and uses it to increase its wealth, thru exploitation, war, and transferring public wealth to private pockets. Wake up! The State is not your enemy; the fascist state is!
Fight back to create a democratic Republic based on our founding values of equality and consent of the governed (Declaration of Independence). Become a rebel, not against government but for democratic government and against fascist oligarchy! Rise up against he plutocrats who want you to think the government they control is evil. The two Presidents who ran as “fiscal conservatives’ to shrink government grew it the most: Reagan tripled the debt; Bush II doubled the debt, expanding the Federal workforce.
Only crooks, who use the internet (govt developed),roads, sidewalks, courts, police and fire deparments and workers who were educated mostly in public schools, argue that taxes are for slaves. Slaves paid no taxes because they had no income and no benefits.
When a business uses roads, sidewalks, courts, etc it is renting public property and resources to make a profit. If it thinks paying rent to the public for using public resources is slavery, go to Afghanistan or Somalia or Yemen where there are hardly any taxes or services. let the terrorists and warlords rule.
Businesses which offshore jobs to slave labor, tho like Walmart pay so little that their workers must get SNAP to survive, are stealing from the public. TANF gets 20 billion a year for 4 million needy families; corporate welfare is 200 billion to the wealthiest corporations in history.
It is not taxes that is slavery but property that was taken from the Commons and for which rent is not being paid. See Thomas Jefferson claiming natural bounty, the fertilty of the soil, mineral wealth, water, etc, none of which was “built” or created by anyone should not be private property since it was, at some point, stolen (see the British Enclosure Acts for Yeltsin selling off public assets at pennies on the dollar to his crony friends, or Trump et al advocating privatizing parks, roads, the VA, etc). Those who exploit what belong to all (see Thomas Paine in Agrarian Justice) owe rent. Calling that rent theft or those who pay it slaves is the great criminal calling those seeking to hold him accountable the thieves.
“All great fortunes are built on great crimes.” old French saying.
The biggest rip off artists are the largest corporations which pay politicians to pass laws that transfer public funds to their private pockets. it is not the rent we call taxation that is paid by slaves, but the stolen property of the rich that has enslaved mankind, in a world where 6 billionaires have more wealth than 3 billion people. There is the great theft and the cause of the slavery we call wage slavery or debt slavery.
Wake up sheeple: those picking your pocket to pay for the services and subsidies they receive have brainwashed you into thinking that they should pay lower taxes. Trump is cutting SNAP, which gives $4.20 a day to the needy (2/3 are children, the disabled, and poor seniors) by 25% so he can give billionaires like himself a 16% reduction in taxes and the wealthiest corporations a cut from 35% to 15%, which they will use to buy back stock to boost bonuses without creating any new value, thus creating a bubble for which will burst and we will be asked to bail them out again.
Wake up, all those who pay a higher tax rate than the Gates and Buffets and Kochs, who make you pay for their pollution, etc. Wake up or be crushed by new taxes caused by more war, more tax cuts to the rich, and more pollution for which we pay. The fossil fuel industry according to the World Bank gets 5 trillion in subsidies each year by externalizing costs to the public for subsidies and cost of environmental clean up and damage to human health. For each 8 miners in the US, there is one death from coal pollution. Trump is cutting taxes for coal..,…..who transfer the cost of black lung disease and lethal diseases to the public. This is highway robbery on the road to total elite control of the world. Wake up, sheeple; we need to take back the Commons which belongs to us all and make those who exploit it pay their due rent and share their profits with the owners, We the People. Ok, unload sheeple! Time to kill the messenger!
You would be right IF all taxes went to provide services or facilities to the public. They aren’t.
I didn’t say there were: strawman fallacy. We must elected reps who will stop the criminals wars, subsidies to rich corporations, etc and use taxes for the common good.
I make that distinction you do not. You would be right if all taxes were used for evil purposes but we communicating on a medium created with taxpayer money.
Only in a true democratic Republic would taxes serve those who pay them instead of the .01% who often pay no or little taxes while siphoning off all the profits and getting huge subsidies from the government they have hijacked.
Well, I voted for an awfully long time before giving it up as futile. I didn’t notice, no matter who was elected, that it changed the system of corruption, graft, nepotism, self-serving power hoarding, or mutual back-washing that went on amongst the power elite. And I think, having been rather privy to a number of governmental and corporate dealings due to my prior career, that you might just be surprised how very little of tax revenue actually goes to truly good (or necessary) purposes, and how much of it is just corporate welfare or outright graft wrapped in the pretty cover page of a new highway on-ramp or office supplies for a government office. The stories about the $900 toilet seat are the tiniest tip of a HUGE iceberg.
I did not say blindly pay taxes:
1. Vote for reps not corrupted by Big Money who will support good programs in which to invest tax money.
2. If you are concerned, join tax resisters who went to jail to protest war.
3. Keep your eyes wide open: the same people who are telling you the government is the problem are using the government to pick your pocket through tax breaks and subsidies for the wealthy corporations.
I don’t “blindly” do anything. But as far as paying taxes goes, you don’t really get to say which ones you’ll pay and which you won’t. I pay exactly as few taxes as I can legally without having them show up and take my land and my stuff, and I’ve intentionally made myself low enough in declarable income to pay a lot less than I used to-they don’t tax the hundreds of dollars worth of fruits and vegetables in my garden every month , or the fresh organic eggs my chickens give me every day. I’d love to vote for reps not corrupted–which would those be? And I’d love to see some good programs to invest tax money in–don’t see too many of those either. Even the ones that *sound* good are full of corruption, cronyism, waste, coercion, and even outright fraud. And as much as I’ve been able to tell, BOTH sides are picking our pockets to give tax breaks for the corporations. Been that way for the several decades that I’ve been politically conscious. Don’t see any evidence than it’s changing.
Love of Earth, YOU said I was advocating blindly paying taxes (” And to blindly say that one should just pay taxes because “they” say so and some of them *might* be used to help people is stupid.”) and I said, I didn’t say that.
Then you said, as tho I had made that statement about you, “I don’t “blindly” do anything.” No one said you did; you said it about me. Are you arguing with the mirror?
You can always join the tax resistor’s movement, people who refuse to pay that part of their taxes which go for wars, etc.
This is civil disobedience and offers a way to suffer the penalty in order to make a point. As people are praised for dying for their country, perhaps you would not mind spending some time in prison to make your point.
Otherwise, the best we can do is to elect representatives who will replace our warlike oligarchy with a peaceful progressive government that represents not the profiteers of war but the peaceful interests of the people.
Well, I don’t remember every thread I said something on a month or two ago. And again, I’d love to elect someone who doesn’t represent the warlike oligarchy. Haven’t seen many of them in the last 40 years or so, and most of those who tried are either run out of town on a rail or came down with a bad case of dead. People who oppose the MIC really need to stay out of small airplanes, and wear flak jackets. Beyond that little pipe dream, I oppose the system by playing in it as little as possible.
“The revolt against the NDAA has brought together organizations and activists that disagree on almost every other issue—tea party activists, the states’ rights Tenth Amendment Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Occupy Wall Street protesters. The NDAA is “waking people up to the idea that the federal government shouldn’t have this kind of power,” says Michael Boldin, the director of the Tenth Amendment Center. “We’re seeing this weird mishmosh coalition of people.” In mid-April, Boldin’s group joined a number of other conservative organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in support of liberal journalist Chris Hedges’ anti-NDAA lawsuit against the Obama administration.
Reply to DALE RUFF:
1.) A very limited number of SLAVES actually were paid – that is what they used to buy their freedom.
2.) Prior to 1913 (Federal Reserve and federal Income created), just HOW did the people survive?????? Road and bridges still got built; schools and universities created; libraries and town halls built. The FACT is that ALL of the income tax collected by the IRS goes directly to pay in the interest on the federal debt. NOT one penny goes to buy any good and services for the government or people!
3) Following the passage of the federal income tax amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court
that this amendment did NOT change the status of the income tax regarding individuals: they still were NOT required to pay any federal income tax, since it remained an unconstitutional “direct tax”. “Income” was defined as “capital gains” – that is, profits made on investments such as stocks (aka, :unearned income”). The ordinary wages of workers were NOT considered “income” and were NOT taxed. In fact, it was only during World War 2 that the government asked the people to help fund the war effort by TEMPORARILY and VOLUNTARILY paying an income tax on the wages. After the war, the IRS kept contacting these folks until people felt they were required to pay – which they are NOT!!! In fact, contact ANY IRS office and ask if paying federal income taxes is “mandatory” or “voluntary”. They will say “voluntary” and they are correct!!!! But once you fill in the 1040 form and sign it, you are have signed under oath a contract to pay. Neat trick !!!!
4.) Prior to the 1900’s people held “ALLODIAL TITLE” to their land and home – meaning it was theirs to do with as they wished (without any government permission) and thus they were NOT required to pay “property taxes” In 1936 when the U.S. declared bankruptcy, the Federal Reserve demanded that the federal government seize all physical gold, The agreement also required the federal government to “seize” ALL land and property as COLLATERAL for new loans to the government. From that point onward, when you buy a house (with the land), you are NOT the actual owner. If you examine the deed of title and mortgage carefully, you are listed as a TENANT. .
Very few slaves earned money to buy their freedom.
Today, most slaves are paid, not enough to survive without borrowing, and in borrowing they become both debt slaves and by being compelled to work, wage slaves.
Before 1913, people were very poor. The per capital income, in 1990 dollars, was, in 1900, was $4100 (nationmaster). People often died young. The average age of death in 1900 was 47. (http://u.demog.berkeley.edu/~andrew/1918/figure2.html)
People had to work 10-12 hrs a day and often had to have their children working.
Life was hard for most.
The Courts have confirmed that individual taxes are legal; The leaders in the movement to show taxes were not legal, and who didn’t pay, most often ended up convicted by courts and spending time in prison.
The US did not declare bankruptcy; FDR had bank holidays. By 1936, the GDP has risen to the same level as pre-Depression and the it rose rapidly to new heights, at douible the deep depression level, to 1.1 trillion before the US entered WWII.
I know where you get your inforation; it is not supported by law or history or court rulings. I am not taking a position, just refuting your claims and reporting the realities you wish to ignore.
You are sell-taught in revisionist history.
I personally want to dismantle the private cartel called the Federal Reserve and have all banks banned from casino gambling at public risk and promote non-profit credit unions (90 million clients in US) and municipal and state banks, which have not failed and do not get too big to fail.
I favor progressive taxation with no taxes under the median household income and returning to the tax rats of our economic golden age, with prohibitions against subsidies to profitable corporations and criminal wars. This will require completing the American Revolution and creating a democratic Republic in which the government policies enact the will of the people instead of the oligarchs.
When FDR went off gold, that was not bankruptcy and the years that followed saw the GDP double from the 1933 level. Many scholars have argued that it was the gold standard, in a major way, that caused the Great Depression. For such a case, see econobrower.com:
“I argued in a paper titled, “The Role of the International Gold Standard in Propagating the Great Depression,” published in Contemporary Policy Issues in 1988, that counting on a gold standard to enforce monetary and fiscal discipline in an environment in which speculators had great doubts about governments’ ability to adhere to that discipline was a recipe for disaster. International capital flows became more erratic, not less, as doubts were raised about whether first the pound would be devalued and then the dollar. Britain gave in to the speculative attacks and abandoned gold in 1931, whereas the U.S. toughed it out by deliberately raising interest rates in 1931 at a time when the economy was already near free fall.
Because of this uncertainty, there was a big increase in demand for gold, the one safe asset in this setting, which meant the relative price of gold must rise. If everybody is trying to hoard more gold, you’re going to have to pay more potatoes to get an ounce of gold. Since the U.S. insisted on holding the dollar price of gold fixed, this meant that the dollar price of potatoes had to fall. The longer a country stayed on the gold standard, the more overall deflation it experienced. Many of us are persuaded that this deflation greatly added to the economic difficulties of those countries that insisted on sticking with a fixed value of their currency in terms of gold.”
Gold does not have fixed supply or value and therefore, the idolotry of gold is based on the credibility of nations, which also fluctuates in supply and value. And if a nation has good credibility, there is no need for gold; If it doesn’t, it backing by gold can lead to depression. Been there, done that.
I seem to remember that once a Muslim king who loved his people gave gold away like candy, he devalued gold in Africa to the point that kids played with it in the streets….its only worth what you think its worth, its all a Ponzi scheme…but it still buys potatoes…..just less and less…..
1. It was not “the government” but specifically the Department of War (I mean Defense) which lost trillions, as Rumsfeld said 9/10. On 9/11 the DOD records were destroyed when Bldg 7 was pulled down.
2. All I know about taxes I learned so yes I do listen to people with knowledge and expertise, such as my professors at Berkeley and Harvard, and the hundreds of books read. I don’t listen to idiots on the internet.
The Federal Reserve is not government but a cartel of private banks. They use the government to subsidize their profits and bail them out when their gambling schemes fail. Bush had Goldman-Sachs CEO Paulson, Clinton had Rubin, Trump has 6 Goldman-Sachs alumni running the government on behalf of Wall St.
The Pentagon thru the revolving door represents the private corporations like Boehing, Lockheed, and Raytheon, the merchants of death who profit off war.
Your rhetorical question makes no sense and since you don’t want me to answer it, why waste our time. Ask an intelligent question and let’s discuss it.
You obviously did not learn anything about economics in “Berkley” and “Harvard” and your professors were just conditioning you to be a good Consensus Participant.
“It was not the government but the department of defence”…it remains a department of “the government” which is confiscating your resources
“The Federal Reserve is not government”…but they are totally in control of all government finances and also right at the head of this extortion racket you are so eager to participate in.
But, the senate and congress ARE subservient to the Fed thus, the Fed is part of the “governing” structure.
But everything aside – If the (authentic) “government” can be convinced to reclaim the central bank and begin issuing sovereign money, interest free, then the government can become a powerful driver at the centre of the economy by continuously increasing “the deficit”.
In this scenario the deficit limit is virtually ….limitless, and the state will never ever again need to confiscate resources from the public to satisfy its thirst for “revenue”.
Taxation is the lot of a conquered population as the confiscated finances and resources are funnelled to the offshore accounts of hostile agents.
The “Big Government” is nothing but a grotesque camouflage to obscure this very ambitious, criminal enterprise.
People with poor educations often suggest mine is inferior. Haha.
He toe is a part of the body. It is not the body. The Department of Defense is a part of the government; it wastes trillions on criminal wars and fraud. SNAP is also a part of government and it uses taxes to feed the needy children, disabled, poor seniors, and the minority who are working individuals. You cannot call one part of a whole the whole. It ai’t.
Now get off the goddamned internet; it was funded by tax money.
Big Government is the creaton of Big Busniess and if we take back government from the oligarchs, ti will be smaller and serve the people. The two Presidents who grew government and debt the most were “fiscal conservatives” Reagan who tripled the debt and bloated the Dept of Defense and Bush II, whose 8 budgets more than doubled the debt, leaving Obama with 800K job losses a month and the largest goveernment in History. Under Bush, with 23 million new americans, there was a loss of private sector jobs; under Obama, the federal workforce shrank and 16 million jobs were created. True story.
And if you insult my education, have the guts to say what your education was.
My parents were poor and only attended thru 8th grade; I won a fellowhsip to Harvard and studied with some of the great minds. What great teachers did you study with? I smell hit and run.
I pay for services rendered, taxation is a criminal extortion racket. With all your education you still cannot comprehend the difference.
My critical thinking skills help me see that you repeating the same bullshit does not make it true. Your taxes paid to develop the internet, with no profit taken out; the private corporations are now charging you huge fees for huge profits for something you paid to develop. Wake up, the government provided the technology and the profiteers are picking your pocket. Get offf the goddamned internet if you think taxation is theft. You are using a stolen technology. For shame!
Your…. “critical phinking skills”?…….laughable!
With 8th grade parents and only public school education at a poor town, I graduated PBK from Berkeley with some of the brightest minds sending me off to Harvard Grad School. You do not succeed at the top rated public and private universities in the world without top rated critical thinking skills. What is your educational background?
I was told by a good friend who knew Reagan as a child because her daddy was a agent for the customs department on loan as a driver for Reagan when he was first elected…says her dad was listening as a precaution on the line when he got a call, WE WILL KILL NANCY if you don’t play ball…..and he played ball. I think the man was a good man, but he is caught up in the game of thrones….and so is Trump. I think you need to think really hard about the players here, the stakes and how power corrupts….I agree with a lot of your fiscal government comments, and I agree with some of your points on government of the people for the people….but your way of coming across is combative and superior to others and you will only insult and irritate folks that way. When you learn to make a point by enlightenment you will have succeeded at least in making a point.
That’s absurd. That is not how the Deep State makes threats.
Read Perkin’s Confessions of an Economic Hit Man for details of how these things are handled.
Trump is a good man. A friend who was a driver for his daughter told me he heard Trump say he wanted to fuck her, etc.
Oh really? so my friends statement don’t count, but yours does? oh please shut up already. Dumocratic morons need to get a clue.
Someone who told you something is not a fact. I stick to the facts because statements made without facts are mere opinion. BTW, , I am not a Democrat. You are way off.
I am a humble person who does not even claims over animals. I am a vegan and radical egalitarian. My name is NOT Dale Ruff, but dale ruff…….representing no hierarchy no boss letters, all equal.
Donald Rumsfeld is not the “US government.”
Even Bush fired him.
If you do not pay your taxes, you will go to jail. That is not voluntary. Those who argued this an volunteered not to pay taxes ended up in prison. That does make taxes just; what makes taxes just is making those who use the commons (not only roads, courts, police, etc but also the fertility of the land, mineral resources, the bounty of the sea, which no one built and which, therefore, to become private property had to be stolen from humanity somewhere done the line.
A theft that is not prosecuted does not become a property right but even more evil through the compound interest lost thru time. “All great fortunes are built on great crimes.” French saying.
The just tax is one that is an investment in benefits, such as the internet, roads, safety inspections, protection of the environment. Taxes for criminal wars, subsidies to the rich, etc are unjust and should be opposed not as taxes but as unjust taxes.
If you use the internet, the road, rely on the fire department and health and safety inspections to protect your family, you have to pay for it. Otherwise, get off the goddamned road and shut down your goddamned computer. To take without paying is theft. Taxes, when just, are not theft, but using the benefits of taxes to complain that all taxes are theft is just a form of theft. So unless you are willilng to pay for benefits (reserving your right to lobby against bad use of taxes), you are a thief of public funds and the projects build by them.
We need progressive taxation for progressive projects, which benefit the public, not the oligarchs. Taxes used for bad purposes is a form of theft, transferring tax funds to private pockets. All just taxes are used for projects for the common good: clean air, safe roads, etc.
Taxation is the lot of a conquered population as the confiscated finances and resources are funnelled to the offshore accounts of hostile agents.
The “Big Government” is nothing but a grotesque camouflage to obscure this very ambitious, criminal enterprise.
That is true in an oligarchy such as we have. In a democracy, where the reps carry out the will of the people, the taxes are used for benefits, such as roads, schools, etc and not for making rich corporations richer, funding wars, etc. The thing that has expanded government most is war. Big Business created Big Government to serves its interests. A big military feeds the weapons industry and the banks who fund wars and arms races, and the oil corporations for whom the military is their biggest single customer.
In WWII Standard Oil (now Exxon) provided oil to both the Allies and the Axis, making money from both sides. In the 80’s,
Reagan arranged to sell weapons to both sides of the Iraq/Iran war.
“If you do not pay your taxes…” They are not my taxes. See the 14th amendment. I am not a citizen. I am a free born American National. Please note that those who have been jailed and not exonerated had a contract in place. I most certainly benefit from the use of roads that I pay for through gasoline taxes. I do not rely on emergency services or inspectors. Can you provide a link that will show us how the federal government is funding and operating the internet for us?
I would caution against throwing around the term “for the common good”–it’s awfully subjective. Being a Harvard educated critical thinker one would assume you understand what’s good for you and yours may harm me and mine and vice versa
The law says you are required to pay taxes. See the IrS code, which Congress has declared the law.
You are a citizen, which means you are legally recognized as a national of a state.
You rely on food inspectors, building inspectors, government oversight of mechanics and engineers, teachers and doctors), etc at many levels. The very internet you are using to claim taxation is voluntary was invented by the government with tax-payer funding. You rely on courts to protect your rights, etc. This does not justify All that government does but it highlights that you DO use and benefit from programs funded by taxes. Have you ever driven on a Federal Highway? Have you ever used GPS?
“Today, general taxes paid by all taxpayers cover nearly as much of the cost of building and maintaining highways as the gas tax and other fees paid by drivers. The purchasing power of gasoline taxes has declined as a result of inflation, improved vehicle fuel economy, and the recent stagnation in driving. As a result, so-called “user fees” cover a shrinking share of transportation costs” frontiergroup.org
Have you benefited from Federal Courts striking down laws against discrimination?
If there is a tornado that rips apart your community, would you refuse FEMA help?
The government, both Federal and thru state universities, developed the internet and then allowed the private sector to monetize it. I did not say the government runs it but created it.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/yes-government-researchers-really-did-invent-the-internet/
The Constitution mandates that government promote and provide for the General Welfare…..or Common Good.
Rousseau defined it in clear terms; take all that people want and need, and subtract from that all that is subjective or personal, and what remains is the Common Good.
Example; clean air benefits all, clean water benefits all, peace benefits all, just laws benefit all, providing for care of the sick benefits all. The Common good is what is beneficial to all. In no way does my wanting clean water harm you. in no way does your wanting an end to criminal wars harm me. We all want a safe and healthy community for our children to grow up in: that is the Common Good.
Here is an example of services you may be freeloading on, forcing everyone else to pay for: “he Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a space-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Air Force. … The United States government created the system, maintains it, and makes it freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.”
Have you ever taken a commercial flight: they use oversight for new planes and maintenance by the Aviation Safety Bureau and gps. Gas taxes do Not cover all these services which are essential to your safety. If you do not ever fly, I am sure you have family and friends who do, so their safety is a benefit to you.
I do know what is good for us: to support the Common Good and demand that the government promote and provide for it…and to oppose, thru free speech and assembly, through civil disobedience if justified, and thru revolution if necessary, government when it is illegitimate and is not based on equality and consent of the governed.
That is why I advocate non-violent revolution to complete the American Revolution and create a society based on equality, liberty, and the Common Good.
i wish you the best but must reject your arguments on many levels…….tho we have the same concept of the Common Good; the end of criminal wars, the end of corporate welfare, human rights, a clean and healthy environment, the end of oligarch rule.
Nearly every one of your presumptions about what and who I rely on are quite wrong. This is the problem with your statist approach. You think everyone is as dependent on government as you and since you have to bow down and be subservient so do the rest of the People in order to fund your government oppression.
The internet was developed with tax money? Then why do I have to pay so much to use it? You are obviously talking stupid shit again!
Because the government which developed it then handed it over to the private sector, which comericialized and monitized it. The corporations have taken over the government and that is why something you paid taxes to develop now costs so much.
Educate yourself and join the struggle to end corporate fascism and create a democratic Republic where tax money is only used for benefits for the public.
This guy is no activist. Here is the concept I follow, from Frederick Douglas:
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.
If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.
The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. Frederick Douglass
In 1989, ten Eastern European totaltiarian regimes collapsed in the face of persistent activism, strikes, and mass protest. Without violence.
and they are soon to become Islamic caliphates at this rate, nice end don’t you think…for an athist this must really bother you…hmmm?
So is murder or speeding but you WILL pay for it.
Not if your rich..you will appeal and appeal and appeal until they deal…and you get off on probation and a few years maybeeeeeeee….be real. I have seen justice in this country, its better than Russia or Turkey, but its pretty one sided if your too poor to pay for a lawyer. Period.
You make a good point: for 99% of us, we will pay.
The Game is rigged. The bankers are in control of everything. They create/print the money, money controls the world. The President is a puppet/mouthpiece of the real power … the bankers!
If you don’t want to pay taxes, stop making so much money. Anyone who makes enough to pay taxes also gets a lot in return, roads, internet, gps courts, police, firemen, schools to educate the workforce, etc. The real involuntary servitude is that young men have to register for the draft, which can be ressurrected at any time.
I would rather be arguiing that we are wasting tax money on criminal wars, corporate welfare, etc instead of listening to you whine..
Interesting response. We are certainly on common ground over criminal wars and corporate welfare.
In 2008 I became aware of irrefutable evidence that our government was committing war crimes and other crimes against humanity. The internet allows us to see the rest of he world holds We the People accountable for the US governments actions. I will not be a party to these crimes by funding them, period. I went in to the IRS office in the federal building in Spokane to inquire how I could deduct the amount being used for these crimes. A very nice lady spent time calling superiors to get real answers. The final answer was “taxes are an all or nothing proposition. We don’t get to choose.” My simple response was “Well then nothing it shall be.”–and has remained so ever since. I’ve been subjected to no threats, no liens, no garnishments because there is no contract or law subjecting me to the IRS’s authority. It really is that simple when you know who you are. Are you one of the sovereign people with rights or a citizen with mere privileges bound to pay for war crimes and the national debt you didn’t approve?
Is it correct that you have owed federal taxes and not paid them for the past 7 yrs?
Are you self-employed? There IS a law that makes you subject to the IRS taxes.
The law does require tax compliance and the courts have upheld it, whether we like it or not.
Taxfoundation reports; ” the Secretary of State proclaimed the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment on February 25, 1913, 26 U.S.C. § 1 imposes tax on taxable income, 26 U.S.C. § 63 defines taxable income as gross income minus allowed deductions, 26 U.S.C. § 61 defines gross income as all income from whatever source derived, and 26 U.S.C. § 6012 requires the filing of returns by every individual with gross income for the year (with some exceptions). Dozens of cases have upheld the federal government’s power to collect income taxes against just about every argument.
Judges have little tolerance for tax protestors, particularly ones who convince other people not to pay taxes while being deceptive about the enormous legal consequences. Adherents who practiced what they preached are in jail for tax evasion, many for dramatically hefty sentences.”
You are taking grave risks. Perhaps your income or taxes are so negligible they don’t want to waste money taking you to court.
The Wikipedia page shows all the arguments against taxation and the court cases that have rejected them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_protester_statutory_arguments
“Arguments about the legal obligation to pay tax[edit]
Some tax protesters argue that there is no law imposing a Federal income tax or requiring the filing of a return, or that the government is obligated to show the tax protesters the law or tell the protesters why they are subject to tax, or that the government has refused to disclose the law.
The Internal Revenue Code as a statute enacted by Congress[edit]
A New York Times article on July 31, 2006, states that when filmmaker Aaron Russo asked an IRS spokesman for the law requiring payment of income taxes on wages and was provided a link to various documents including title 26 of the United States Code (the Internal Revenue Code), Russo denied that title 26 was the law, contending that it consisted only of IRS “regulations” and had not been enacted by Congress.
The version of the Internal Revenue Code published as “title 26” of the United States Code is what the Office of Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives refers to as “non-positive law.” However, according to the United States Statutes at Large, the original version of the current 1986 code was enacted by the Eighty-Third Congress of the United States as the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, with the phrase “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.” The Code was approved (signed into law) by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at 9:45 A.M., Eastern Daylight Time, on Monday, August 16, 1954.”
Like it or not, income taxes are the law of the land and have been upheld by the courts.
I sympathize with your desire to refuse to pay for criminal wars, etc but your refusal falls under civil disobedience, and the concept involves willingness to undergo legal punishments in order to challenge the law.
i have reached the point where i pay no federal income taxes (do you pay payroll taxes which specifically fund Medicare and Social Security)? But I do not accept that an individual has sovereign rights; the people collectively have rights, and in a democracy (which we are not), the People would be served with just taxation and not forced to pay for criminal wars and subsidies to corporations which benefit only the rich minority.
You may be setting yourself up for big trouble, which, unless that is your plan thru civil disobedience, could ruin your life.
I have spent a lifetime protesting for civil rights, against wars, against the oligarchy, but I would not wish to spend years in legal battles, have my home seized, face prison, etc because I DO love my freedom.
The fact that you have escaped punishment so far may be due to owing so little it is not worth it….or simple a case of harsher penalties yet to come. I applaud your reasons but you are dead wrong on the legality of taxes. Being legal doesn’t make something right (“Everything Hitler did was legal.” MLK) but it also cannot be denied as the law, and I wish you the best but warn you, you are taking grave risks and by urging others to refuse to pay taxes, the courts have always increased the punishments.
Good luck. You may need it.
Not paying taxes is not simple: many have gone to prison, had their property seized, etc etc. It’s one thing to refuse to pay, quite another to encourage others not to pay with false arguments about how it’s legal and ‘nothing will happen.”
I am truly puzzled that you do not understand that I have no obligation to pay federal income taxes.
You say I am dead wrong. Show us the law that makes paying federal income taxes mandatory. There isn’t one. Administrative codes only have the force of law when you contract with the agency. The only argument anyone ever comes up with is that paying taxes is because of the threat and use of force.
I already did: here it is again
” Secretary of State proclaimed the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment on February 25, 1913, 26 U.S.C. § 1 imposes tax on taxable income, 26 U.S.C. § 63 defines taxable income as gross income minus allowed deductions, 26 U.S.C. § 61 defines gross income as all income from whatever source derived, and 26 U.S.C. § 6012 requires the filing of returns by every individual with gross income for the year (with some exceptions). Dozens of cases have upheld the federal government’s power to collect income taxes against just about every argument.” taxfoundation
“The version of the Internal Revenue Code published as “title 26” of the United States Code is what the Office of Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives refers to as “non-positive law.” It is one of a number; titles 2, 6–8, 12, 15, 16, 19–22, 24–27, 29, 30, 33, 34, 40–43, 45, 47, 48, and 50 are “non-positive law”.[29] However, according to the United States Statutes at Large, the original version of the current 1986 code was enacted by the Eighty-Third Congress of the United States as the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, with the phrase “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.” The Code was approved (signed into law) by President Dwight D. Eisenhower at 9:45 A.M., Eastern Daylight Time, on Monday, August 16, 1954,”
The IRS Code was signed into law in 1954. All arguments that it is not law have been rejected by all courts. Congress and the President 60 years ago made the IRS Code the law of the land. That is indisputable, and those who have disputed it in court have lost and paid the price, often a higher price because of bringing frivolous law suits. You have asked twice for the law, and I have twice documented it. i suspect you will will dismiss this documentation……the argument about paying taxes is based on it being the law of the land, and yes, that is backed up by the threat and use of legal action against you including prison, seizure of property, fines, etc. but the threats are not the reason but the way that the enforcement of the law is backed up. The reason for taxes is that it is the supreme law of the land, authorized 60 years ago by Congress and the President. It’s a fact, whether we like it or not.
Administrative codes have force when Congress declares them the law of the land.
Your argument is incorrect.
Yes, yes, blah, blah, blah, you expose yourself as an agent for the corrupt. First and foremost, you can’t define a word with itself. You fail to acknowledge the Supreme Law of the Land and US Supreme Court case law that the 16th amendment created no new tax–no tax on labor. This is why we are badgered into contracting with the IRS by signing W-2’s and filing 1040’s. When you are honest you will admit that the definition of income is profit by some capital gain. We do not profit from our labor–labor is required to stay alive.
1. I am an agent for no one: ad hominem smears are unworthy.
2. I have defined no word with itself; taxation is legal because IRS codes were made legal by Congress
3.The Supreme law of the land is what Congress passes as legistlation and ratified treaties.
4. The 16th Amendment legalizes taxation: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.”
5. You do not sign a W-2:
“Form W-2 (officially, the “Wage and Tax Statement”) is an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax form used in the United States to report wages paid to employees and the taxes withheld from them.[1] Employers must complete a Form W-2 for each employee to whom they pay a salary, wage, or other compensation as part of the employment relationship.”
Income, according to the 16th Amendment is “from any source derived.”
I agree labor should not be taxed, but that is the law so let’s work together to change it instead of inventing fictions about what the lie is and hurling pathetic insults.
I do apologize for my intemperance. I am frustrated by your knowledge but failure to critically examine the actual foundation of the tax laws not applying to our labor. When you drill it down to what income is actually defined as it is some form of capital gain. I respect your awareness of the rot in our government system and view us as allies. I am sorry for my unwarranted smear.
Apology accepted.. The 16th Amendment posits “income from any source” so that is the law of the land, tho we both agree labor should not be taxed. Legaltiy does not confer moral correctness but it does imply a price for disobeyiing it. I support civil disobedience based on an understanding that violating the law, recognized as such, may be the only non-violent way to challenge its correctness.
i prefer to stay out of jail so i have paid my small taxes and used my freedom to struggle against the current taxation system, which favors the rich at the expense of the working class. At the present time, I have managed my finances so that I no longer pay any taxes, having earned my right to Medicare and Social Security.
In my view, only profits based on exploiting the labor of others should be taxed, and labor itself should not be taxed. That is NOT the view of the 16th Amendment, the law, the courts, and the government. The struggle for democracy is the struggle to end this exploitation of labor. You can read my articles, all from this perspective, at quora.com and opednews.com. I advocate non-violent revolution (if possible) to replace the current oppressive system with a democratic Republic based on equality and consent of the governed, as promised in our founding document.
i have studied with top scholars in the world, my friend. What is your education that gives you the privilege of mocking mine?
Are you referring to this part of the 14th Amendment? ” nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
1.. This refers to the states, not the Federal government
2. All this is required is due process.
3. There is no prohibition against bitching.
or do you mean the section 4,where the public debt shall not be questioned.
This is not a prohibition against private citizen speech but a mandate that officials of the government may not challenge the obligation to pay the debt.
i urge you to stop paying income tax, since it is voluntary. Just ignore the lies The government will be happy to provide for your upkeep for at least a few years.
And while you may be greedy, selfish, avaricious (aren’t those all the same), many of us, while not perfect are generous, liberal, sharing, and kind and live without fear..
I advocate fair taxation which means that those who benefit the most from government, its laws, its programs, its infrastructure, its courts, etc must pay the most As
Thomas Paine said, those who profit from the commons, which belong to all since no one built the fertility of the soil, the bounty of the sea, the mineral wealth,the forests, rivers, etc, (AND the social infrastructure of roads, schools, courts, fire departments, etc), must pay ‘ground rent’ to the community in the form of taxes to support schools, hospitals, roads, etc.
You can read of this in Agrarian justice, and Thomas Jefferson also agreed that natural resource, which along with labor, are the source of wealth belong to humanity as a whole, to the entire community.
My proposal is that anyone who makes less than the median income pays no taxes, and for every 1% more you make,you pay 1% more in taxes fir every 10K over the median up to 80%. If the median is 50K, and you make 49K, you pay nothing. If you make 60K , you pay $600, if you make 200K, you pay 1% x 15 or $15,000. If you make 1 million you pay 80% on $950,000, or $760,000.
This will create a nation of relative equality, with less incentive for greed and avarice,and provide ample funds to have the world’s best roads, hospitals, schools, research, and a high standard of living for everyone. This formula is based on Paine’s philosophy in Agrarian Justice. it would create a nation with none rich, none poor, since there could be a basic income for those unable to work. Without equality, freedom is a sham. Inequality is the mark of a society with masters and slaves. Equality would create our national promise that the Declaration of Independence proposed, based on equality and consent of the governed….and it would give us the joy of ‘brotherhood from sea to shining sea.’
This was the vision of America on which our nation was founded.
This is true Americanism: equality, liberty, and brotherhood.
“You may say that I am a dreamer
but I’m not the only one…..” John lennon, Imagine