Posted on 04/17/2012 11:22:29 AM PDT by IbJensen
A bill that nobody is paying any attention to is sailing through Congress: Senate Bill 1813. It passed the Senate by 74 to 22, and is expected to sail through the House as well. Its an act [t]o reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, and for other purposes.
Its the and for other purposes part of the title that has me worriedspecifically Section 40304: Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain unpaid taxes.
This section would give the IRS the power to keep a U.S. citizen from traveling
and its another example of Executive Power run amok. Its another example of how the United States is turning into a police-state.
The right to travel freely is sacrosanctits not some privilege that the government bestows on us: Its one of our basic freedoms as citizens. In point of fact, the countries that have limited their citizens ability to travelthe Soviet Union, the Peoples Republic of China, North Korea, Cubawere all rightfully called police-states: Its one of their defining characteristicsthe fact that they were keeping their citizens hostage.
In the United States, there are several, clearly defined reasons why you would have your passport either denied or revokedand all of them pass the smell test.
In the case of a passport being denied, according to the U.S. State Department, the reasons are:
a federal warrant of arrest, a federal or state criminal court order, a condition of parole or probation forbidding departure from the United States (or the jurisdiction of the court), or a request for extradition [by a foreign country]. Additionally, failure to pay a court-ordered child-support in excess of $5,000 can also be grounds for the State Department to refuse to issue a passport to a U.S. citizen.
In the case of a passport being revoked, the law (22 CFR 51.72) says very clearly that:
A passport may be revoked or restricted or limited where: (a) The national would not be entitled to issuance of a new passport under §51.70 or §51.71 [the above conditions]; or (b) The passport has been obtained illegally, by fraud, or has been fraudulently altered, or has been fraudulently misused, or has been issued in error; or (c) The Department of State is notified that a certificate of naturalization issued to the applicant for or bearer of the passport has been canceled by a federal court. [54 FR 8532, Mar. 1, 1989, as amended at 64 FR 19714, Apr. 22, 1999] Now, notice how both in the case of a denial or a revocation of a passport, the State Department is essentially carrying out the judgment of the courts.
An arrest warrant can only be issued by a court. A parolee is, again, limited under the aegis of a judicial order. An extradition request will only be complied if a foreign court is making the request, not a foreign law enforcement agency. A court-ordered child support payment is, again, a judicial decision.
In all of these cases, the State Department is acting on the orders of a court. It is the Judiciary that decides to restrict the freedom of movement and travel of a U.S. citizenas is their exclusive prerogative.
According to the Constitution, the Legislature does not have the right to judge the guilt or innocence of a person, be they a citizen or not. According to the Constitution, the Executive does not have the right to judge the guilt or innocence of a person, be they a citizen or not.
According to the Constitutions separation of powers, only the Judiciary has the right to determine guilt or innocence.
Thus, ultimately, only the Judiciary has the right to revoke or deny a citizens ability to traveland only for serious crimes.
But with this Bill 1813, it will now be the IRSwithout any judicial oversightwhich will determine if a citizen can travel or not. Not even the IRS as an institutionjust some random IRS bureaucrat, with no oversight or restraint, will be able to decide to strip you of your right to travel freely.
As written, Bill 1813 states that the IRS must find that $50,000 or more is owed by the citizenbut this is a unilateral determination by the IRS, and it includes penalties and interest. So the alleged amount that you owe could be substantially lessbut you are now no longer allowed to travel.
Notice I say alleged: It is not that the IRS has to present proof of tax delinquency to anyonethey just have to say that you owe back taxes. No proof required, no judicial oversight or restraint.
In other words, the IRSs word is enoughand you do not have the possibility of appeal. Who would you appeal toa judge? Theres no judge in this casebecause no judge supervises and monitors the IRSs decision.
Thats why Madison invented the idea of checks-and-balances: To make sure that no one branch of the government acquired the power to deprive people of their life, liberty or property.
But here is Senate Bill 1813, doing precisely that.
Commentators on tax law are very surprised by this legislation. Over at the blog of R&G Brenner, a large and well-established New York tax preparation company, they wrote:
[I]f the bill is passed you could have your passport revoked merely because you owe say $60,000 and the IRS has filed a notice of lien. Bear in mind that the IRS files tax liens routinely when you owe taxesits just the IRS way of putting creditors on notice so the IRS will eventually get paid In that sense, this you-cant-travel idea seems pretty extreme. [ellipsis in original] So even knowledgeable people are surprised by how extreme this legislation is
because it is extreme. But more importantly, it is yet another example of how the Executive Branch is hollowing out the Judiciary, and taking control of all facets of justice.
We already have an Executive that has taken it upon itself to determine the guilt or innocence of an American citizen overseasand execute him by drone strike. We already have an Executivein the person of Attorney General Eric Holderwho has made the incredible distinction between judicial process and due process, claiming that the Executive can carry out due process without involving the Judiciary.
In other words, summary judgments. The Executive is becoming the judge, jury and executioner. Judgements by the Executive where there is no right to appeal. Judgments made not by a jury of your peers, but by a faceless bureaucrat.
This Senate bill 1813 will in all likelihood pass the House vote, and be signed into law by President Obama. Few people will notice it now, and when the history of this shameful period is written it will not be given much pride of place: Senate bill 1813 will simply be mentioned as one more law that was passed that turned the United States from a free Republic into a closed Police-State.
You do realize that there is no such thing as dual citizenship with another country, if you are a US citizen?
Part of the naturalizing oath a new citizen takes is "renouncing all others".
This is why Obama's foreign parentage is such a big deal. He still has Indonesian citizenship through his stepfather. With that intact, he could in good faith take the oath to be naturalized a US citizen. So I conclude he is a foreign enemy.
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