Posted on 07/25/2002 11:28:52 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
A noted "tax honesty" activist has begun a journey across the country to generate support for a protest movement set to begin on Veterans Day.
Robert Schulz, chairman and founder of the We The People Foundation, is making personal appearances and giving talks to garner support for "Freedom Drive 2002," an event designed to draw attention to what Schulz regards as routine unconstitutional behavior by the federal government.
Organizers say plans for the event call for supporters to begin an automobile caravan in a few major West Coast cities Nov. 11. As the caravan moves east, organizers hope other supporters will join until vehicles – and participants – number in the thousands by the time the caravan reaches Washington, D.C.
The caravan will make planned stops at predetermined cities along the way.
Event officials describe the Freedom Drive event as "a mass civil action in direct response to the U.S. government's failure to respond to the citizens' repeated petitions for redress of grievances regarding the federal income tax system."
Schulz, who says this event is about more than just taxes, has tried to bring government officials together in a forum to answer key questions about the income tax.
A year ago he ended a three-week hunger strike after the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service agreed to send representatives to a hearing-like forum. The hearings were initially scheduled for late September, but the 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., forced him to postpone the event.
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., had also agreed to appear – the only lawmaker to do so – but backed out before the rescheduled hearings in February, claiming Schulz had improperly urged supporters not to file their income tax returns.
Eventually, Schulz settled on sponsoring an informal forum, and invited other tax activists and experts to "testify" and provide answers to an exhaustive list of questions. No government officials or lawmakers showed up.
"I don't know why anybody would pay this tax after seeing the sworn testimony of former IRS agents, attorneys and CPAs," said Schulz. "The legal documentation is substantial, startling and incontrovertible. To this moment -- it has gone unrefuted by the U.S. government.
"This is not how the Constitution was designed. This is not freedom," he said. "It is time to expose the fraud of the income tax system and to 'pull the plug' on the unlawful financing of an unconstitutional government."
Among other arguments, Schulz believes the 16th Amendment, which authorizes Congress to levy and collect an income tax, was not properly ratified in 1913. And he believes the federal government "is using our own money, via the income tax system, to systemically finance the sale and seizure and destruction of our rights, wealth and freedom."
Though no government officials showed up at WTP's February forum to directly refute his allegations, in the past the IRS, Treasury Department, Justice Department and various members of Congress have defended as legal and proper Washington's right to levy and collect taxes on all income, "from whatever source derived."
Other tax reform organizations say there is no way the federal government will ever voluntarily stop collecting income taxes, so the best Americans can hope for is to elect members of Congress who will reform the nightmarish tax code, pass simpler tax laws, and reduce government spending by cutting the size of government.
One attempt launched Wednesday by Citizens for a Sound Economy is typical of many reform efforts. CSE officials said they delivered more than 15,000 postcards this week to members of the Senate and House opposing an effort by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., to roll back a series of tax cuts passed last year.
"Since this tax cut was passed into law, various components have been under attack by legislators who would like to use the revenue for increased government spending," said CSE president Paul Beckner, adding that he hoped the number of postcards would be "a sign of the broad-based support for these tax cuts."
CSE said that, on average, taxpayers must work one-third of every year to pay their tax burden.
Schulz's itinerary through July includes stopovers in Arizona, California and Texas. Next month he travels to Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Absolutely. I send the IRS twice what they ask for.
Seriously, I was just providing some counter arguments for the benefit of other FReepers.
Although, I can tell you from personal experience, if you get into a pissin' contest with the IRS, they'll win, whether you're right or not.
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