Aaron Russo’s recent documentary America: Freedom to Fascism made me curious about this old movement. The documentary didn’t make a tight legal case against the income tax system, Federal Reserve, and IRS, but it certainly created doubts about the legality of these systems and institutions. It also dispelled my perception that the movement is obscure and paranoid. He interviews former IRS agents, and quotes Supreme Court Judges and former Presidents. He quotes Paul Warburg, member of the Council on Foreign Relations and architect of the Federal Reserve who said:
“We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.”
Ominous, surely. Were I to defend it, the best I could say is it’s taken out of context. I have more questions than answers. Since I began paying attention, I’ve come across the following:
–Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve
–A statement from a juror in an income tax trial
–31 Questions about the Internal Revenue Service
–The Browns of Plainfield New Hampshire are (as of June 2007) taking a stand against what they perceive is an illegal tax. It’s looking more and more like a siege by federal authorities.
–An ongoing legal case, the USA vs. Bill Benson. Bill Benson authored a book about the 16th Amendment called “The Law That Never Was.”
So, is the income tax legal? In Russo’s documentary, you can watch bureaucrats and politicians dodging and convoluting what ought to be a simple question. I don’t claim to know the answer.
The profound implications suggested by the tax truth movement seem much more relevant that the celebrity gossip, and local crime stories which seem to blare from every other television in America. We should take pride in debate, regardless. This issue deserves to be engaged.
Americans should be outraged by the governments reaction to these simple questions put to them (and the outright refusal to honor requests for redress of grievances filed against them by the WTP foundation), surely the reaction indicates something isn’t right. As for the new world order that is generally considered to be a wacky “conspiracy theory” (yes this is the same NWO Bush I spoke of), this is the greatest threat America has even been confronted with, sadly, very few seem to realize or care…
MT-4_RP08,
Thanks for reading. Thanks for commenting. It’s true that few seem to realize or care about these issues, but don’t lose faith. You and I remain free to read, write, and converse about these issues. I often have the feeling there’s more support than it seems, hiding beneath the media’s squelch. I didn’t know about the “WTP foundation,” you referenced in your comment, so I looked them up — yet another organization dedicated to preserving and honoring our constitution.
I recently survived an IRS audit and actually won. I was less than impressed with the whole painful process though. It felt more like I was dealing with the mob than the federal government, harassment phone calls included. Thanks for your informative post on our tax system!