OPENING REMARKS BY BOB SCHULZ
AT ARLINGTON MEETING, 2/17/01

Good morning. My name is Bob Schulz, I'm the chairman of the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education, and I want to welcome you all to our conference. It's wonderful that we have so many here today for our program concerning the federal income tax.  We The People Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation based in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State. This is the fifth conference we've held here in Washington over the past 19 months, and this is our largest group yet - so large that we had to move this meeting out of our original site at the National Press Club, where we've had our four previous meetings.

The primary purpose of our meeting today is to introduce you to, and talk about, Project TOTO, our plan to conduct a massive, large-scale, nationwide educational program to inform millions of Americans about the findings and conclusions arrived at by numerous tax researchers around the country and the allegations and questions resulting from that research, including allegations that: 1) There is no law that requires most Americans to pay federal income taxes or have tax withheld; 2) The 16th amendment was fraudulently declared ratified in 1913 by a lame-duck Secretary of State; 3) Congress in 1913 created the Federal Reserve System, a cartel of the biggest banks in the U.S. and, by 1933, gave it the power to create money out of thin air, charge the government interest for the use of that money, to be paid back with the American peoples' gold and silver; 4) Those who file a 1040 "voluntarily" waive 5th amendment rights not to testify against themselves; 5) The IRS routinely violates 4th amendment rights against illegal search and seizure; 6) The IRS routinely violates citizens' due process rights in its administrative procedures.

As a sort of preview or initial installment of Project TOTO, we published yesterday a full-page ad in USA Today, somewhat along the lines of the one we published last July 7th. It contains the above allegations, some of the documentation of supporting legal points, and other related information. We did this so you can see an example of the kind of method and the kind of message we want to employ in Project TOTO to disseminate our information across America. Incidentally, this same message will be in Monday's Washington Times, which goes to all members of Congress, the White House and other high-level government officials, as well as being distributed all over the country. Obviously, we hope this ad will stimulate you and get you into an enthusiastic mood to support Project TOTO.

I'd like to review how we got here, that is, the trail that led us to this fifth meeting and the unveiling of our master plan to educate American citizens about problems related to the income tax system.

LETTERS THAT SHOW THE CHRONOLOGY OF EFFORTS TO GET THE GOVERNMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN PREVIOUS CONFERENCES. CLICK HERE for May 5, 1999 letter to President Clinton, Speaker Hastert, Senator Lott and IRS Commissioner Rossotti. CLICK HERE for June 4, 1999 letter to Messrs. Clinton, Hastert, Lott and Rossotti. CLICK HERE for October 13, 1999 letter to Messrs. Clinton, Hastert, Lott and Rossotti. CLICK HERE for February 1, 2000 letter to Messrs. Clinton, Hastert, Lott and Chief Judge William Rehnquist. CLICK HERE for April 13, 2000 letter to Messrs. Clinton, Hastert, Lott and Rehnquist. CLICK HERE to read the Remonstrance which was delivered to Messrs. Clinton, Hastert, Lott and Rehnquist on April 13, 2000. CLICK HERE for free download of full-page ad published in the Washington Times on June 19, 2000, with open invitation to Messrs. Clinton, Lott, Hastert and all members of Congress. CLICK HERE for free download of full-page ad published in USA TODAY on July 7, 2000. CLICK HERE for February 14, 2001 letter to IRS Commissioner Rossotti. NOTE: These links to be provided on or before March 5, 2001.

In consideration of the fact that the government has refused and ignored every invitation and every opportunity to discuss these most serious findings and allegations in a public or even private forum, we must assume that they cannot rebut them, and that the allegations must, therefore, be true. This is our justification for proceeding with Project TOTO.

We did, however, get an indirect response from the government for our efforts. As many of you know, the NY Times reported last Saturday that the IRS has announced it is planning a crackdown on employers who have stopped withholding and on their employees who do not file. The Times has called these employers "tax cheats" and the IRS has called their arguments "frivolous" and said those arguments had been rejected by the courts. In view of that report, we did feel compelled this past week to invite IRS officials to today's meeting, even though we had not originally planned to invite any representatives of the government to this meeting. Again, we did not get any reply, but if anyone shows up, we'll stop what we're doing and put them at the top of the agenda so they can explain to us their position and rationale as published in the NY Times. I want to ask at this time if there's anyone here employed by, acting on behalf of, or representing the IRS, BATF, FBI, either house of Congress, the White House, or the Federal Reserve. If so, we'd like to sincerely welcome you and ask you to identify yourselves. [Pause] So, not a single person in this room is from the government?

One of our frequent correspondents e-mailed us a few days ago with a translation of the IRS phrases: he says that "frivolous" means "We're not going to tell you why our operations don't comply with the law, and you can go to [you-know-where]." "Rejected by the courts" means that the judge refused to allow evidence to be presented, did not address the issues, and dismissed the case on a technicality if it was brought by a citizen or clobbered the citizen if the case was prosecuted by the IRS.

That same correspondent (many of you know him as "ICE") reminded us that we do not want to have the mentality of being "guilty until proven innocent." Our position is that the burden is on the IRS (and now the NY Times) to show us the law that requires citizens to pay the income tax. It's not up to us to have to prove a negative. If someone takes you to small claims court claiming you owe them some money, they have to prove it to the judge; you don't have to disprove the claim unless your adversary has some evidence to support his claim. Same with the income tax -- or should be.

The IRS announcement and the New York Times article were obviously timed to try to subvert this meeting, throw us off balance, and perhaps frighten off those who are faint-of-heart. That makes me all the more confident that the people here in this room today possess brave hearts and indomitable spirits. That is what we need; you are what we need.

I want to take a few minutes to recognize and introduce some other individuals who have brave hearts and indomitable spirits. I'd like for them to stand up, or at least raise their hand, as I speak their names and say a word or two about each. Some of them will be addressing the group later in the program, and all will be available for conversations at convenient times during and after.

[INTRODUCE THE GUESTS AND SPEAKERS]

Certainly numerous individuals and organizations have goals similar to our Project TOTO. What makes TOTO different? The answer is that this project has ambitions to be much bigger in scale. We want to be of greater magnitude, much more massive, to achieve nationwide exposure, and to keep repeating the message nationwide. Repetition is the heart of education as it is of advertising. The Foundation has not done the research behind the allegations about the income tax; we study, digest, and disseminate the research findings of others. And we try to find common ground and serve as a unifying nexus for a movement that suffers from a lot of internal disagreements. That's not really surprising, as those engaged in this cause are, by nature, not sheep; they have minds willing to be rebellious and to upset the apple cart, especially if the apples are rotten.

You have heard me say in meetings past that our tax researchers are like the several blind men who bumped into an elephant and got into an argument with each other about the nature of the beast, each describing it in terms of the particular part of its anatomy he had bumped into. We want to describe the nature of the income tax beast to many millions of Americans, and we think there are enough points of agreement among most researchers and gurus that we can present a consensus picture to America. Certainly one point of unanimous agreement is the fraudulent character of the beast, no matter which part of it we're talking about. It's a giant hoax.

If we can educate millions of people about the fraudulent nature of the elephant, then we'll try to figure out how to resolve the problem. We're not sure we'll want to shoot the beast. Perhaps we can reform it and train it to behave as it should - after all, the actual legal and correct application of the tax code is not what we would oppose. We're concerned about the illegal and incorrect applications of the Code that are being conducted by the IRS and not brought under control by the courts or by Congress.

We see the situation as having more of a political solution than a judicial one, since the courts have shown themselves to be part of the problem. If the courts were the solution, one person or a few could take matters to court to challenge the IRS's behavior and misapplication of the laws, and the courts would rectify the problem for everyone. But that hasn't happened. The courts have abdicated their duty, so it's not possible for a few people to solve the problem in court. That's why we need to educate people by the millions; that's how political action can happen. Indeed, the Supreme Court has said it's a political question. Congress, of course, has said it's a question for the courts. Unfortunately, we don't have an independent judiciary, and the fact that the IRS-CID maintains criminal files on all the federal judges doesn't help, either. Not the FBI, mind you, but the IRS-CID! [The reference for this is Privacy Act of 1974 Material Document #6372, Treasury Dept./IRS 46.002]

This tossing of the issue back and forth between Congress and the courts like a hot potato is well illustrated by an e-mail we received on December 12th from a correspondent in Kennebunkport, ME. Kelley Taylore Ryan wrote: "Dear Bob, I had written Senator Collins (Maine) telling her of the frustration that the government will not address the concerns We The People have brought up concerning the legality of the income tax. Her response was to quote the 16th amendment. She stated that if I have a grievance...the judicial branch is responsible for ruling on questions of this nature." Kelley goes on to say that her senator also sent her a copy of CRS's Luckey Report. I should mention that Kelley tells us she taught a short course at a local college last fall titled, "What Your High School Civics Class Didn't Teach You." I'll bet that course was an eye-opener.

All this also reminds me that one of the great worries of the founding fathers was a concern over sophistry of the courts. Sophistry refers to deceptive and specious reasoning or argumentation. Jefferson was especially critical. He said (1820); "The Judiciary of the United States is the subtle corps of sappers and miners constantly working under ground to undermine the foundations of our confederated fabric." [He was apparently referring to states' rights.] He also said, as quoted in Bill Benson's rebuttal to the 1985 Congressional Research Service Ripy Report, "To permit judges to be the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a dangerous doctrine. I know of no safe repository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform them." Jefferson embraced the concept of the jury as the great counterbalance of the people against governmental abuse. The vote of an ordinary person on a jury or a grand jury can overrule and offset the misuse of power by judges, constables, prosecutors, and any high-level government official. We'll be presenting information about informed juries in Project TOTO. Educating Americans about the income tax laws will make them better jurors in future tax cases. A few hung juries or outright acquittals, as in Whitey Harrell's case last year, can put a stop to phony prosecutions based on non-existent laws. All depends upon enlightened citizens.

Other points of general agreement among most students of the income tax subject are that: 1) the 16th amendment was fraudulently declared to be ratified in 1913, and 2) regardless of the ratification issue, there is no law that requires most Americans to file returns and pay the income tax or to have taxes withheld from the money they earn, and 3) the operations of the IRS and the income tax system violate several of our Constitutional rights, including the 4th, 5th, and 6th, [and 13th?] amendments.

And the point of greatest consensus among tax researchers and "gurus" is about the need for a massive educational program to inform America. Many of you are aware that a meeting was held in California last November to strategize for the "income tax movement." The NY Times article last November reported it, albeit inaccurately (which seems to be characteristic of that particular reporter, David Cay Johnston). So I'd better tell you a little bit about the meeting - and any of the several people here today who were at that meeting can add their own remarks, if they so desire. It consisted of about twenty individuals - tax researchers, gurus, and employers (not 60, as stated by the Times). The primary result of the meeting was overwhelming agreement that what is needed is for a large-scale educational and informational program - and that's what Project TOTO is all about. That's what this meeting is all about. That's why we're all here.

So our goal for Project TOTO is to educate many millions of Americans about the true nature of the federal income tax - the limited application of its laws and regulations; how the operations of the IRS exceed and violate those laws, the Constitution, and, indeed, the IRS's own Internal Revenue Manual (the set of volumes that instruct IRS employees how to interpret and implement the laws and regulations); and how the income tax relates to the Federal Reserve System. This meeting is being held to convene a group of people who want to see all this happen. We'll be doing a more formal presentation of our proposal for Project TOTO a little later this morning.

We are not proposing any particular "action" goals yet, beyond our large-scale educational goal. It's too dangerous for individuals to take direct action against the system, even if they're very, very knowledgeable. There's no sense in people individually going "splat" against the castle walls, one by one. However, the old saying is that "education without action is for naught." It's wasted. The implication is that education on a massive scale will lead, either spontaneously or by deliberate design, to some kind of action in the not-too-distant future. It might be a combination of natural and planned actions. An increase in jury nullifications of tax cases could be one result. Effects on legislative elections could be another. Simple awareness by judges and people who are involved in judicial proceedings could be yet another. We, of course, would like to see more employers get involved in the cause, and undertake to learn the laws. At some point, there might be an organized effort to take some action on a massive scale. For example, Bill Conklin has a method that he proposes, fairly risk-free, that would be especially effective if done on a big scale.

I must say for the record that We The People Foundation does not advocate that anyone disobey any law. We do not advocate that anyone not file any returns or pay any tax for which they are legally liable or responsible. We do not give legal advice, and nothing we say here today should be construed as legal advice. For legal advice, one should consult an attorney. What we are doing is educational and informational, to teach about the income tax laws and regulations, using documentation of those laws and regulations, the Internal Revenue Manual, IRS publications, IRS delegation orders, and letters from the IRS, Social Security Administration, and Congress, etc. In fact, far from advocating disobedience to tax laws, we are insisting on obedience to and respect for our tax laws, not just by citizens, but especially by the IRS, the government, and our judges. We have heard Dave Bosset say that we are advocating civil obedience; it's the IRS that is guilty of civil disobedience. And one of the best-known tax gurus, Irwin Schiff, refers to the IRS as the "federal mafia." In view of the researchers' findings and the recent threats in the Times article, it's not easy to dispute that label. They appear to be an outlaw, rogue organization. We would say to them: Don't show us your guns and your power; show us the law and your legal authority. We'd like to see the IRS display a little less brawn power and a little more brainpower.

The genie is out of the bottle now. History shows that tyrants don't have much luck eliminating ideas, no matter how much they may try to suppress them. In fact, suppression makes a forbidden item more attractive. King Louis of France demonstrated this in a benevolent way long ago when he wanted his people to have the nutritional benefits of the potato, which had recently been introduced into Europe. He grew them in his royal fields, and issued a decree that anyone caught stealing the king's potatoes would be executed. But the fields were only lightly guarded. Soon the potato was growing all over France. Threats of severe punishment did not stop the people (even if the threats were reversely manipulative. In this case, of course, they're not, they're real).

It has occurred to us that publishing our list of complaints against, and in the face of, a powerful adversary is somewhat like Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the cathedral door. He started something big and caused a huge commotion on an international scale. That's not unlike what we want to see happen in regard to the income tax, but without the bloodshed. Unfortunately, we already have something like the Inquisition in the form of IRS administrative procedures and court proceedings.

We might even say that we could see an analogy here with the publishing of the complaints against the Crown in the Declaration of Independence. And, while the slogan of the founding fathers was that taxation without representation is tyranny, to us taxation without legislation is tyranny.