  |
|
|
|
||||||
|
OVERVIEW OF THE SYMPOSIUM BY DENNIS FEUCHT We are grateful to Mr. David Feucht for helping to prepare the following pieces on each individual participant, and for his excellent work in videotaping the symposium. BILL BENSON The patriarchal panel member was Bill Benson, former criminal investigator for the Illinois Department of Revenue and author of The Law That Never Was. Bill spent a year in the archives of the capitals of each of the 48 states that were part of the U.S. in 1913, and published his first volume in 1985 and the second in 1986. He collected 17,000 notarized and certified documents which demonstrate that the 16th amendment (the income tax amendment) was not legally ratified in 1913, and that Secretary of State Philander Knox acted fraudulently when he proclaimed that it was. He told about an attempt by a senatorial aide to bribe him with an enormous sum to stop speaking out about his research and to turn over all the documents he had gathered. Bill's decision to make the truth known resulted in his being targeted for retribution and being imprisoned, where he was adversely drugged to the severe detriment of his health. He has continued to speak out, declares that he has not filed income taxes in 19 years, and defies the government to do anything about it. Bill's two beautiful volumes are available for purchase; call him at 708-596-3142. LARRY BECRAFT Lowell H. Becraft of Huntsville, Ala., is perhaps the nation's leading constitutional lawyer on the tax issue. He argued and won the longest tax trial in U.S. history (the Lloyd Long case). Becraft and Benson have raised the 16th amendment issue in court. At first, it was dismissed on the basis of the "conclusive presumption" doctrine, an argument which holds that the amendment was legally ratified simply because the Secretary of State proclaimed it to be ratified, and that such a declaration is binding and "conclusive" upon the courts, on grounds that the judiciary is merely a co-equal branch of the government. When Becraft and Benson introduced the charge that the Secretary acted fraudulently in proclaiming the 16th amendment to be ratified, the courts then avoided the issue by saying that it was a "political question," to be resolved by Congress. Congress, in turn, told them that it was a judicial question for the courts to decide. The potato is too hot for either of them to handle. Perhaps it is time now for the people to handle it and resolve the issue that the government won't. Larry gave a legal perspective on the confused state of tax law. He cited a few court cases (such as "Kritzer") that establish that when the government tells you something, you have a right to act upon it. If a court judges in your favor and you act upon that judgment, but the judgment is later overturned, you can't be prosecuted for having acted upon it in the meantime. Larry related this to the present income tax situation. The Constitution allows for two classes of taxes, direct and indirect. Direct taxes are upon persons or their property, and are subject to apportionment. That is, if California sends 10 % of the representatives to Congress, it must pay 10 % of any federal direct tax. The indirect tax is a tax upon events, such as sales or import/export activities, and this category of taxes is subject to uniformity. In other words, if there were a national sales tax, the tax rate would have to be the same everywhere. Is the income tax a direct or an indirect tax? There is a clear difference of opinion in the courts over this basic question. Is income property? Most State courts consider income tax an indirect tax, but most U.S. Circuit courts do not, though they are divided on the question. The U.S. Supreme Court rulings shortly after the advent of the 16th Amendment ("Brushhaber" and "Stanton v Baltic") argue that the income tax is an indirect tax and that the 16th A. did not give Congress any additional taxing power but clarified that the tax was indirect. Later rulings (such as "Eisner") seem to take opinion back in the direction of it being a direct tax and that the 16th A. is the authorization for the income tax. This and other uncertainties in the law (consider the oxymoron, "voluntary compliance") create a major due-process problem, and previous court rulings that provide protection from prosecution when the law is unclear, Larry suggests, is a major legal issue in attempting to resolve the income-tax issue. Larry Becraft's website is www.networkusa.org and his e-mail is Becraft@hiwaay.com JOE BANISTER In 1996, IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Special Agent - an accountant with a
gun and badge - Joseph R. Banister, heard another panel member, Devvy Kidd, on a San
Francisco radio talk show making what seemed to be outrageous claims about the U.S. income
tax that the 16th Amendment was not ratified, that there is no law that compels
people to file and pay income taxes and that none of the revenue from the income tax is
used to run the government -- instead it is used to pay the interest on the national debt.
Trained as an investigator (and excelling in his job performance), he set out to prove
that Kidd was wrong and that she was nothing more than a tax protesting "kook."
He soon encountered other panel members Bill Benson, Bill Conklin, Devvy Kidd and Larry
Becraft. He studied the issue on his own while continuing to work his IRS job, and as the
situation became increasingly clear to him, he found an increasing conflict between his
work in enforcing the tax code and the truth of the tax situation. Joe's 95-page book can be viewed on his website and can be purchased for $20. The book contains names, addresses, publications, and telephone numbers for many individuals who have been active in the tax resistance movement. BILL CONKLIN A former teacher, now a tax consultant, Bill told about how he became immersed in the tax issue. He has half-a-dozen court decisions in his favor against the IRS. His focus has been on the 5th amendment as it protects citizens from being forced to witness against themselves by answering questions that could be used as testimony in proceedings brought by the IRS in civil or criminal cases. His most significant decision came from a case in which he submitted an unsigned return and gave the IRS power of attorney to sign it for him if they could do so without waiving his 5th amendment rights. Eventually, the judge was placed in a real dilemma about how to rule, since it created a situation in which Bill could claim a victory no matter which way the decision went. The court finally ruled (after five years) that filing a tax return does not cause a violation of 5th amendment rights because it is not compelled testimony - in other words, it's voluntary. Bill has offered a $50,000 reward to anyone who can tell him how he can file a return without waiving his 5th amendment rights. No one, including at least two famous attorneys, has been able to do it. Bill helps non-filers deal with IRS bluff and bluster, harassment, and administrative and legal procedures. Conklin’s 65-page book can be downloaded for free at www.anti-irs.com. He said at the symposium that everyone has his permission to download it, make as many copies as they want, and give it to everyone they can. His phone number is (303) 455-0837; e-mail is willieco@aol.com. DEVVY KIDD Devvy Kidd ran for Congress in California twice and, with husband John, has had her own conflicts with the IRS over these issues. She now is a talk-show guest and speaker on the issues. She has joined Larry Becraft as a founder of the new (William) Wallace Institute (from the movie "Braveheart"), which has been formed to deconstruct major incursions of the federal govt. that rest on questionable legal foundations, including the income tax. Has published two reports both in 1996: Blind Loyalty and Why a Bankrupt America? Her e-mail is devvy@jps.net; website www.devvy.com. CONGRESSMAN JAMES TRAFICANT Rep. James Traficant (D-Ohio) was the luncheon speaker. A former sheriff from Youngstown, he is an interesting and independent in nature, although a member of the Democratic Party. He is pushing, along with Rep. Tauzin (R-La.) to eliminate the income tax and replace it with a national sales tax. You can visit his website at www.house.gov/traficant/speech.htm. PRESS CONFERENCE A press conference was held after lunch. Bob Schulz spoke about the purpose of the symposium, and brought up the prospect of follow-up activities, such as a September summit conference at the National Press Club for leaders of many groups and others concerned with tax issues to discuss and decide on a course of future action on a larger scale. THURSTON BELL After the press conference, the symposium continued with a presentation by Thurston Bell, founder and executive researcher with the National Institute for Taxation Education (NITE). Thurston has many years experience fighting on the front lines against the IRS on behalf of NITE members who are involved in disputes with the IRS. He discussed issues of due process violations by the IRS in their conduct of their own administrative procedures, stressing the need for citizens to understand their due process rights and to be familiar with IRS procedures. He also described the elaborate maze of statutes and regulations that lead to the conclusion that most citizens are not required to file returns and pay income taxes, nor to pay Social Security taxes. Thurston gives credit to Larry Becraft for many of the ideas and concepts he has pursued. NITE's website is www.taxgate.com, where one will find over a thousand pages of information and numerous articles. His telephone number is 717-633-1933; his fax is 508-632-6645. C-SPAN At the end of the afternoon of the first day, word was received from C-SPAN that they planned to broadcast the second day of the symposium. Speakers prepared presentations for the Friday morning session, which also included Dan Mitchell, a senior economist from the Heritage Foundation, who spoke about the virtues of an alternative system of taxation. You can check his website at www.heritage.org. C-SPAN2 replayed the broadcast during prime time on Friday evening from 8:25 to midnight, and again on Tuesday, July 6th at 10:00 am. We are very gratified that the symposium thus was given national coverage, and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people, and perhaps over a million, all across the country. Our e-mail is reflecting this exposure in an overwhelming way. |
