[H8DEMS]

Mike Bodine said the sole purpose of the anti-tax rally (called Freedom Drive 2002) is to restore the Constitution to what it was in 1776.

[Fiddlstix]

According to Stanley's website, the million gun march will be held only if at least one million people sign a petition guaranteeing their presence at the march.

Here's hoping a million sign up.

[HEY4QDEMS]

what it was in 1776

Why to 1492, or 10 million BC

Just goes to show you don't have to be a Constitutional Scholar to be a Constitutional Activist.

I'm sure he means well... LOL

[Rytwyng]

to restore the Constitution to what it was in 1776.

Er... minor historical note... the Constitution didn't yet exist in 1776. Noble sentiments, but inaccurate numbers. (Of course, some lefty Bellisiles defenders might make that claim....)

[camle]

uh lemme see, no women's vote. slavery. no drunk driving laws... yep! that's what we need /sarcasm

[steve50]

Why is the ADL painting income tax protestors as crazy right wing extremists? They got a dog in this fight?

[tdadams]

Pitcavage also warned that the anti-tax movement is not confined to protest rallies. "It's also a movement that has been linked strongly to violence; to attacks on IRS agents; to blowing up IRS offices, as well as many other crimes," he said. "There's a great deal of criminal activity associated with the movement."

If that's the case, then bring the sheriff with you and start making arrests. Otherwise, you're engaging in blatant slander and someone should haul your a$$ into court.

It's pitiful how every activist, on either side, is today using the insinuation of terrorism to besmirch those with whom they disagree.

[ancient_geezer]

A spokesman for We The People Congress dismissed the ADL's accusations as "an incredible propaganda campaign." Mike Bodine said the sole purpose of the anti-tax rally (called Freedom Drive 2002) is to restore the Constitution to what it was in 1776.

We were under the Articles of Confederation and the Continental Congress in 1776. The Constitution was not even drafted until 1787.

It was written to correct the problems associated with the Articles of Confederation, primary of which was its inability to provide for the payment of the Nation's Debts do to the inability to collect taxes of any kind.

James Madison, Elliots Debates Vol 3 p128:

• Mr. Chairman, in considering this great subject, I trust we shall find that part which gives the general government the power of laying and collecting taxes indispensable, and essential to the existence of any efficient or well-organized system of government: if we consult reason, and be ruled by its dictates, we shall find its justification there: if we review the experience we have had or contemplate the history of nations, here we find ample reasons to prove its expediency. There is little reason to depend for necessary supplies on a body which is fully possed of the power of witholding them. If a government depends on other governments for its revenues -- if it must depend on the voluntary contributions of its members -- its [*129] existence must be precarious."

• "If the general government is to depend on the voluntary contribution of the states for its support, dismemberment of the United States may be the consequence."

 

---

"Frankly, I don't understand how trying to uphold and defend the Constitution of this nation can be construed to be an extremist event by anybody,"

It would seem their aim is as poor as their scholarship, the remedy written into the constitution was to levy and collect taxes from the citizen, with concurrent jurisdiction:

Hamilton, Federalist #34:

• To form a more precise judgment of the true merits of this question, it will be well to advert to the proportion between the objects that will require a federal provision in respect to revenue, and those which will require a State provision. We shall discover that the former are altogether unlimited, and that the latter are circumscribed within very moderate bounds. In pursuing this inquiry, we must bear in mind that we are not to confine our view to the present period, but to look forward to remote futurity. Constitutions of civil government are not to be framed upon a calculation of existing exigencies, but upon a combination of these with the probable exigencies of ages, according to the natural and tried course of human affairs. Nothing, therefore, can be more fallacious than to infer the extent of any power, proper to be lodged in the national government, from an estimate of its immediate necessities. There ought to be a CAPACITY to provide for future contingencies as they may happen; and as these are illimitable in their nature, it is impossible safely to limit that capacity.

• ``A CONCURRENT JURISDICTION in the article of taxation was the only admissible substitute for an entire subordination, in respect to this branch of power, of State authority to that of the Union.'' Any separation of the objects of revenue that could have been fallen upon, would have amounted to a sacrifice of the great INTERESTS of the Union to the POWER of the individual States. The convention thought the concurrent jurisdiction preferable to that subordination; and it is evident that it has at least the merit of reconciling an indefinite constitutional power of taxation in the Federal government with an adequate and independent power in the States to provide for their own necessities.

Madison Federalist #39:

• "The difference between a federal and national government, as it relates to the OPERATION OF THE GOVERNMENT, is supposed to consist in this, that in the former the powers operate on the political bodies composing the Confederacy, in their political capacities; in the latter, on the individual citizens composing the nation, in their individual capacities. On trying the Constitution by this criterion, it falls under the NATIONAL, not the FEDERAL character;"

Madison Federalist #45:

• "The change relating to taxation may be regarded as the most important; and yet the present [Continental] Congress have as complete authority to REQUIRE of the States indefinite supplies of money for the common defense and general welfare, as the future Congress will have to require them of individual citizens;

[Poohbah]

A cross-country anti-tax rally culminated in the nation's capital Thursday, with several hundred protestors warning all branches of the federal government to "obey the Constitution, or else."

Translation: "Obey what we say the Constitution says, or else."

Mike Bodine said the sole purpose of the anti-tax rally (called Freedom Drive 2002) is to restore the Constitution to what it was in 1776.

There was no Constitution in 1776; there were merely the charters of the 13 colonies (which were engaged in armed revolt against the Crown that granted those charters).

Mike Bodine would be a heckuva lot more credible as a "Constitutional Scholar" if he actually knew when it was drafted and ratified.

[unixfox]

"On that day, we'll be coming armed," Stanley warned. "And then we're going to have rallies at every state capital in all 50 states [happening] at the same time," he said.

Why not organize a tax return burning party at every post office in the United States on April 15th? If enough people showed up and participated, the income tax and IRS could be wiped out in an instant. Take away the money and you take away their power and give it back to the people where it belongs.

IT'S NOT THE GOVERNMENTS MONEY !!!

[Freakazoid]

Who wrote this crappy article? Without explaining the motives of the protesters it jumps directly in to an ADL "response" about how extreme this group and it's views are. Could I at least hear for myself what is so bad before being told what to think about it?

[Republic of Texas]

Although I agree with the goals of this group(s), the people and the execution of their plans seem rather childish. The best way to change the tax code, and spending is for about 100 million Americans to not pay taxes one year. All at once. That would be the 100 million that support the other 200 million.

[MoGalahad]

If these guys are going to raise a rebellion why just focus on the illegal income tax? Our government has been selling us down the river in hundreds of ways for more than 50 years.

[chudogg]

Mike Bodine said the sole purpose of the anti-tax rally (called Freedom Drive 2002) is to restore the Constitution to what it was in 1776.

This comment is not in quotes, so it was not said directly by Bodine himself. It was probably the leftist journalist who wrote it who does not know when the constitution was written.

[VRWC_minion]

I object to associating conservatives to these idiots.

[AUgrad]

Frankly, I don't understand how trying to uphold and defend the Constitution of this nation can be construed to be an extremist event by anybody," Bodine said. Unfortunately, we do question government," he added

AMEN!!!

[Your Nightmare]

Umm...isn't an income tax part of the Constitution? If this guy wants to restore the Constitution to it's founding date (1787, obviously) he wouldn't have a Constitutional right to bear arms, because there would be no Bill of Rights and no 2nd amendment. The Bill of Rights is (are?) amendments just like the 16th.

[cgbg]

Frankly, I don't understand how trying to uphold and defend the Constitution of this nation can be construed to be an extremist event by anybody,

Well, let me explain it to you, then. Violations of the original constitution are responsible for funding every imaginable special interest, lobbying group, industry, and through Medicare and Social Security an entire generation. Each and every one of those individuals would consider such a move a direct threat to their personal livelihood. That is how FDR planned for the welfare state to work, and seventy years later the horse has left the barn, the property, the county, and the state. But you have to know that, right?

So your plan of action is what exactly?

[ApesForEvolution]

Signed, sealed and delivered! Redress of GRIEVANCES?? Go Bob!!

[lvmyfrdm]

U.S. Constitution: Sixteenth Amendment
Sixteenth Amendment - Income Tax


Amendment Text | Annotations
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.



Annotations

Income Tax
History and Purpose of the Amendment
Income Subject to Taxation
Corporate Dividends: When Taxable
Corporate Earnings: When Taxable
Gains: When Taxable
Income from Illicit Transactions
Deductions and Exemptions
Diminution of Loss

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment16/

Who has bothered to read the law for themselves?
How about the IRS.

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html

To determine if you need to file a Federal Income Tax return for 2000 answer the following questions:

Occasionally, individuals have one-time or infrequent financial transactions that may require them to file a Federal Income Tax return.?????? Do any of the following examples apply to you?

Did you have Federal taxes withheld from your pension and wages for this tax year and wish to get a refund back?
Are you entitled to the Earned Income Tax Credit or did you receive Advance Earned Income Credit for this tax year?
Were you self-employed with earnings of more than $400.00?
Did you sell your home?
Will you owe any special tax on a qualified retirement plan (including an individual retirement account (IRA) or medical savings account (MSA) ? You may owe tax if you:

Received an early distribution from a qualified plan
Made excess contributions to your IRA or MSA
Were born before July 1, 1927, and you did not take the minimum required distribution from your qualified retirement plan.
Received a distribution in the excess of $160,000 from a qualified retirement plan.
Will you owe social security and Medicare tax on tips you did not report to your employer?
Will you owe uncollected social security and Medicare or Railroad retirement (RRTA) tax on tips you reported to your employer?
Will you be subject to Alternative minimum tax (AMT) ? (The tax law gives special treatment to some kinds of income and allows special deductions and credit for some kinds of expenses.)
Will you owe recapture tax ?
Are you a church employee with income in wages of $108.28 or more from a church or qualified church-controlled organization that is exempt from employer social security or Medicare taxes?
Do one or more of the preceding situations apply to your filing requirements?

[IronJack]

"It's also a movement that has been linked strongly to violence; to attacks on IRS agents; to blowing up IRS offices, as well as many other crimes," he said. "There's a great deal of criminal activity associated with the movement."

Of course, he offers no proof of any of this "criminal activity," just a lot of inflammatory and paranoid rhetoric.

And in any case, it's got to be less criminal than a government that enslaves its own citizens, steals their property, and murders the dissenters.