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.