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The Income Tax: Root of all Evil
von Mises Institute ^ | 1954 | Frank Chodorov

Posted on 04/04/2016 7:08:53 AM PDT by Taxman

The Income Tax: Root of all Evil by Frank Chodorov

Foreword

THIS WAS, to be sure, "the home of the free and the land of the brave." Americans were free simply because the government was too weak to intervene in the private affairs of the people it did not have the money to do so and they were brave because a free people is always venturesome. The obligation of freedom is a willingness to stand on your own feet.

The early American wanted it that way. He was wary of government, especially one that was out of his reach. He had just rid himself of far away and self sufficient political establishment and he was not going to tolerate anything like it in his newly founded country. He recognized the need of some sort of government, to keep order, to protect him in the exercise of his rights, and to look after his interests in foreign lands. But, he wanted it understood that the powers of that government would be clearly defined and be limited; it could not go beyond specified limits. It was in recognition of this fear of centralized power that the Founding Fathers put into the Constitution it never would have been ratified without them very specific restraints on the federal government.

In other matters, the early American was willing to put his faith in home government, in a government of neighbors, in a government that one could keep one’s eyes on and, if necessary, lay one’s hands on. . . .

The Constitution, then, kept the federal government off balance and weak. And a weak government is the corollary of a strong people.

The Sixteenth Amendment changed all that. . . .

J. Bracken Lee,

Governor of Utah

(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; History; Society
KEYWORDS: 2016election; election2016; fairtax; flattax; incometaxes; newyork; taxcuts; taxreform; trump
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This is a excerpt of the foreword to a relatively short book written by Frank Chodorov in 1954. Wikipedia has a good article about him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Chodorov.

J. Bracken Lee was the Utah Governor circa 1948 - 1956. He was a colorful character, to say the least. His bio can be found at http://historytogo.utah.gov/utah_chapters/utah_today/colorfulandcontroversialjosephbrackenlee.html.

I have chosen to post this excerpt for the simple reason that, since we are all struggling to file and pay our income taxes before April 18, this foreword and, if it captures your imagination, Chodorov's book might influence you to help us replace the income tax with the FairTax and abolish the IRS!

Find out how to help us do that at https://www.fairtax.org

1 posted on 04/04/2016 7:08:53 AM PDT by Taxman
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To: Man50D; Principled; EternalVigilance; phil_will1; kevkrom; Bigun; PeteB570; FBD; Voter#537; ...

FairTax ping!


2 posted on 04/04/2016 7:09:49 AM PDT by Taxman ((H. L. Mencken correctly observed: Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man.))
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To: Taxman

Fair Tax is the way to return power to individuals and out of the hands of out-of-control feds.


3 posted on 04/04/2016 7:16:43 AM PDT by austingirl (Cruz 2016)
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To: Taxman
Thomas Jefferson Quotes: “Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes." "… most bad government results
 from too much government."
4 posted on 04/04/2016 7:17:48 AM PDT by G Larry (ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS impose SLAVE WAGES on LEGAL Immigrants.)
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To: Taxman
When another man owns the legal right to the wages you earn, you are by definition his slave.

"Fair Tax" is still an income tax.

5 posted on 04/04/2016 7:19:54 AM PDT by SeeSharp
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To: Taxman
Forget federal income tax of any sort. Just repeal the 16th amendment. If the resulting federal government income is considered by the Congress to be too small, the States can pay an apportioned amount, like any club. They can decide on their own how they want to do that.

The federal income tax exists to do one thing: monetize the Federal Reserve bank. They can't issue debt unless they can force someone to pay the interest on the bonds.

Guess who the slaves are that have to do that.

6 posted on 04/04/2016 7:20:42 AM PDT by Regulator
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To: Taxman

The income tax and the irs are the means by which money is taken from those who earn it and is given to those who vote for more government.


7 posted on 04/04/2016 7:38:41 AM PDT by I want the USA back (The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it. Orwell.)
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To: Taxman
The Income Tax: Root of all Evil

Render unto Caesar.

8 posted on 04/04/2016 7:39:23 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.)
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To: Taxman

In the Constitution, they referred to this as a “direct” tax.

Any direct tax would be disallowed unless imposed in the same proportion to every citizen - meaning FLAT tax.


9 posted on 04/04/2016 7:40:15 AM PDT by fruser1
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To: Taxman
A colorful character who didn't know jack squat about the truth of the 16th Amendment. You wrote...

Fair Tax is the way to return power to individuals and out of the hands of out-of-control feds

How so? My spouse & I apply the 16th Amendment income “excise” tax to all the revenue our business generates and since we quit participating in privileged revenue generating activities as defined by 26 USC, we have not paid a penny in income or FICA “excise” taxes for over 10 years. So I am wondering how you feel this ‘fair tax’ as you call it, how it will free the unprivileged business/employee from the same corruption and abuse that is going on today with the current 100% constitutional income “excise” tax? You can read the TRUTH at the following links to the tax discussion from yesterday... The tax is not the problem, it is the tax illiterate public at large that is the problem.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417026/posts?page=27#27

As defined by the Supreme Court as well as the IRS’s Legislative tax Attorney, the income “excise” tax is a tax on certain privileged activities and the amount of tax owed is determined by the dollars produced by participating in those privileged activities. The vast majority of Americans, business owners as well as their employees, are not engaged in privileged activities or very little if they are. (cont. reading at above link)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417026/posts?page=50#50

Unfortunately the 16th Amendment allowed an income tax

...and there you go, spewing myths. The income duty (tax) and the Dept. of Internal Revenue, as we know them today, were created by the Internal Revenue Act of 1862. This statute is the core foundation of the IRS Code, only the numbers have changed in regards to withholding (yes, there was withholding back then), deductions & the base amount one can make before having to pay income taxes. (cont. reading at above link)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417026/posts?page=51#51

While I advise everyone to pay taxes

... and I advise everyone to educate themselves and only pay the taxes they owe. (cont. reading at above link)

10 posted on 04/04/2016 7:44:33 AM PDT by patlin ("Knowledgee chosen to participate inthat is - 2nd to none but God" ConstitutionallySpeaking 2011)
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To: Taxman
IMHO, possibly the most egregiously unconstitutional aspect of the federal tax code is that individuals pay tax on revenue and businesses pay tax on earnings.

That flies in the face of the equal protection clause.

Repeal the 16th Amendment ASAP!

11 posted on 04/04/2016 7:46:53 AM PDT by CapitalistCrusader
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To: Regulator
Why would one repeal a 100% constitutional means by which the government is to support itself just because the American citizenry at large is tax illiterate? Tax illiterates who think the term ‘wages’ means all that is paid to them without regards to the activity that produced them. ‘Wages’ is a legal term of art that is specifically defined by the tax code and it refers to remuneration from the participating in privileged activities. It is not the money that is taxed, it is the activity that is the subject of the tax and the amount of tax owed is determined by the dollars produced from those privileged activities. 26 USC 3402 & 3121.

26 U.S. Code § 3402 - Income tax collected at source

(e) Included and excluded wages

If the remuneration paid by an employer to an employee for services performed during one-half or more of any payroll period of not more than 31 consecutive days constitutes wages, all the remuneration paid by such employer to such employee for such period shall be deemed to be wages; but if the remuneration paid by an employer to an employee for services performed during more than one-half of any such payroll period does not constitute wages, then none of the remuneration paid by such employer to such employee for such period shall be deemed to be wages.

U.S. Supreme Court, United States v. County of Allegheny, 322 US 174 (1944)...
“The Government is an abstraction, and its possession of property largely constructive. Actual possession and custody of Government property nearly always are in someone who is not the Government but acts in its behalf and for its purposes. He ma be an officer, an agent, or a contractor. His personal advantages from the relationship by way of salary, profit, or beneficial personal use of the property may be taxed...”

F. Morse Hubbard, Treasury Department Legislative Draftsman. House Congressional Record, March 27, 1943 page 2580
“The income tax is, therefore, not a tax on income as such. It is an excise tax with respect to certain activities and privileges which is measured by reference to the income which they produce. The income is not the subject of the tax: it is the basis for determining the amount of tax.”

John R. Luckey, Legislative Attorney with the Library of Congress, “Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Federal Income Tax” (C.R.S. Report for Congress 92-303A (1992))
“When a court refers to an income tax as being in the nature of an excise, it is merely stating that the tax is not the property itself, but rather it is a fee for the privilege of receiving gain from the property. The tax is based upon the amount of the gain, not the value of the property.”

12 posted on 04/04/2016 8:18:26 AM PDT by patlin ("Knowledgee chosen to participate inthat is - 2nd to none but God" ConstitutionallySpeaking 2011)
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To: DungeonMaster
Render unto Caesar.

I'm not exactly sure of your point but just because citizens have a moral (and Biblical) obligation to pay taxes, it doesn't necessarily follow that all forms of taxation are just. I doubt that a perfect tax system exists but I believe that an income tax system is one of the worst systems ever designed.

13 posted on 04/04/2016 8:30:31 AM PDT by CommerceComet (Ignore the GOP-e. Cruz to victory in 2016.)
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To: CapitalistCrusader
IMHO, possibly the most egregiously unconstitutional aspect of the federal tax code is that individuals pay tax on revenue and businesses pay tax on earnings

That has got to be the MOST illiterate response I have read thus far in regards to the 16th Amendment income “excise” tax. The “income” is NOT the subject of the tax, it is the activity that that produces the income that is the subject of the tax, not matter is one is the employee or the business owner.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417332/posts?page=12#12

also see comment number 10 in this thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417332/posts?page=10#10

14 posted on 04/04/2016 8:34:17 AM PDT by patlin ("Knowledgee chosen to participate inthat is - 2nd to none but God" ConstitutionallySpeaking 2011)
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To: Taxman
The income tax is the biggest threat to freedom in any society. It automatically turns everyone into a government slaves who must submit to a minute financial examination that strips the 4th Amendment away. The 4th Amendment in the Bill of Rights was never repealed from the Constitution so essentially most tax reporting requirements are illegal in their construction and application.

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus "false in one thing, false in everything", A Roman legal principle

15 posted on 04/04/2016 8:34:41 AM PDT by WMarshal (Trump 2016 (and 2020)!)
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To: DungeonMaster

The Founders led by Natural Law/Social Contract told Caesar to go pound in sand and fought for liberty. I guess you would rather go back and embrace a totalitarian rule controlled by one infallible tyrant.


16 posted on 04/04/2016 8:37:30 AM PDT by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians.)
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To: patlin; CapitalistCrusader

Correction, bad grammar...

The “income” is NOT the subject of the tax, it is privileged activity that that produces “income” that is the subject of the tax. I does not matter if one is the employee or the business owner, it is the privileged activity that is the subject of the tax, unprivileged activities that produce wealth are not subject to the income “excise” tax.


17 posted on 04/04/2016 8:39:59 AM PDT by patlin ("Knowledgee chosen to participate inthat is - 2nd to none but God" ConstitutionallySpeaking 2011)
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To: DungeonMaster

Sorry, should be “infallible”; quoted for effect/perverted sense of “divine right”


18 posted on 04/04/2016 8:40:57 AM PDT by rollo tomasi (Working hard to pay for deadbeats and corrupt politicians.)
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To: WMarshal
The income tax is the biggest threat to freedom in any society. It automatically turns everyone into a government slaves

Another tax illiterate voter speaks

19 posted on 04/04/2016 8:43:30 AM PDT by patlin ("Knowledgee chosen to participate inthat is - 2nd to none but God" ConstitutionallySpeaking 2011)
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To: CommerceComet
I'm not exactly sure of your point but just because citizens have a moral (and Biblical) obligation to pay taxes, it doesn't necessarily follow that all forms of taxation are just. I doubt that a perfect tax system exists but I believe that an income tax system is one of the worst systems ever designed.

I think that soldiers/collectors just came and took what they decided was right at many points in history.

I like what Limbaugh said a few weeks ago. "Why do they even bother to collect taxes since they are going to print and spend whatever they want?".

20 posted on 04/04/2016 8:53:21 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.)
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