So, here we have what the "income tax" is not and cannot be-- a tax raised on the capital or revenue of the people. Remember, "capitations and other direct taxes" still must be apportioned, and the "income tax" is neither apportioned nor a "capitation or other direct tax":

If [a] tax is a direct one, it shall be apportioned according to the census or enumeration. If it is a duty, impost, or excise, it shall be uniform throughout the United States. Together, these classes include every form of tax appropriate to sovereignty. Whether the [income] tax is to be classified as an "excise" is in truth not of critical importance [for this analysis]. If not that, it is an "impost", or a "duty". A capitation or other "direct" tax it certainly is not.

"...the duty would arise to disregard form and consider substance alone, and hence subject the tax to the regulation as to apportionment which otherwise as an excise would not apply to it."

SO. IF THE INCOME TAX IS NOT SIMPLY ON REVENUE (or the revenue-producing activity, or the receipt of the revenue, etc.), and yet is measured by the receipt of revenue nonetheless, as the income tax is, then the tax must be falling on some characteristic extraneous to any of those other characteristics.

Such a taxed extraneous characteristic has to be peculiar to only some revenue (or activity or receipt or whatever). If it was universal to ALL revenue or the manner or means by which revenue is produced or received, a tax on it would again be simply a tax on revenue generally, and thus a capitation with the apportionment requirement. So the thing actually taxed under the income tax has to be a special feature of only some revenue, which is subject to the tax only because of that feature, with all revenue not so distinguished being not subject to the tax (which we might also put as not being "income" in the context of the income tax).

What could such an extraneous, non-universal characteristic be? Well, the answer is given to us by the Pollock court, which declares the income tax to be an excise, and the Brushaber court, which declares the income tax to be an excise, and even by the US Treasury Dept., which both on its income tax forms and through its spokespeople declares the income tax to be an excise.

Why do those declarations answer the question? Because "excise taxes" are taxes not on common revenue, but only on revenue that proceeds from the exercise of government-granted privileges.

NOW, HERE'S THE NEXT QUESTION: Is your exchange of labor for value in the marketplace a privilege bestowed upon you (and withholdable from you) by the state?

That would seem to be a very important question, wouldn't it? If your exchange of labor for value in the marketplace is a privileged activity bestowed upon you (and withholdable from you) by the state, then I guess you owe a tax, and should be grateful to the state for whatever part of your earnings is left to you.

But how about if your exchange of labor for value in the marketplace isn't a privileged activity bestowed upon you (and withholdable from you) by the state? Do you still owe that tax? Is it wise and prudent to let your activities be treated as though your work is a privilege?

How is complacency or timidity on that question going to play out into the future? And into the future of your children?

Think about it.

“I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.”

-H. L. Mencken

It will surprise none but the most naive that the tax-collecting state really wants everyone to imagine that all their economic activities are exercises of privilege, and that the state has a claim on everyone's productivity. Such lusts are natural to the fascist impulse to which all states are prone.

Thank goodness our Founders anticipated that depraved impulse, and hard-wired the "capitations" restrictions into the Constitution. All we have to do is educate each other about those restrictions and insist that they be upheld.

Doreen's Appellate Reply Has Been Posted

READ IT HERE. It's a short and simple exposure of the depths of DOJ mendacity and corruption. Please, those of you who know how to write-- use what you find there and/or here for articles and letters to the editor.

*****

The Question For Every Journalist You Can Reach:

DEAR MR./MS. ______________

FOR MORE THAN TWELVE YEARS NOW THE FEDERAL and dozens of state governments have been quietly but steadily refunding billions collected as income tax. This money is being returned to Americans who had previously paid the tax all their working lives, but have now learned that they-- like most Americans-- never actually owed it. The refunds include Social Security and Medicare taxes.

During the same twelve years, agencies in the federal government and a handful of corrupt federal judges have been working to suppress the information about the legal limits and nuances of the tax by which these refunds are being claimed. This campaign has gone so far as to engineer a "judicial finding" in which the contents of the book that first introduced the information are deliberately misrepresented, and two Americans have actually been ordered by government officials to falsely testify on sworn statements, in utter and unprecedented defiance of the First Amendment.

A vast program of marginalization and persecution of the fellow who exposed the liberating truths about the tax has been conducted. The internet is littered with government-sponsored posts intended to disparage and discredit the information and the whistleblower who revealed it, along with misrepresentations of the "official response" to the information. Even many activists who claim to take issue with the income tax spread this disinformation.

And yet, those refunds have relentlessly issued forth, day after day, week after week, year after year, steadily debunking all the oppositional nonsense.

I'm not making any of this up. You can see it all for yourself.

Read http://losthorizons.com/Documents/PressPacket.pdf to see trial transcripts and other documentation exposing some of the worst of the suppression efforts. Go to http://losthorizons.com/BulletinBoard.htm to see more than 1,000 examples of the hundreds of thousands of complete refunds issued over the last 12 years, many with the claims that produced them also posted, and some with documentation of highly-revealing government efforts to resist the claims.

On that latter page you can also see videos made by some of these refund-claimants discussing these events, and excerpts from IRS program information explaining how all these refunds have been thoroughly vetted by the agency before being issued.

Now, let me ask you: Are you seriously able to say you're working on a story more worthy of your attention than this one? Really?

In any event, I'd like to see you write about the story I've just described, and I think I can safely say that many others will be interested, as well.

Sincerely,

________________

*****

Another Batch Of Victories For America' True Heroes

States only obey the law when people stand up to enforce it

ROGER M. IS AN EDUCATED, ACTIVATED and dedicated American hero, standing on his feet to restore the republic and enforce the rule of law. Roger knows that liberty can't exist where the state is unconstrained by the law.

Having learned the law controlling the taxing authority of his servant governments-- even the parts of the law which the state would rather he not know-- and having discovered that his activities and the earnings therefrom are not actually subject to the income tax, Roger invoked the whole law and recovered everything withheld from his earnings and turned over to New York in connection with that tax during 2014:

***

JOSEPH H. HAS ALSO LEARNED and applied the law. By way of this filing, Joseph has established that his economic activities were not of the excisable variety, and has reclaimed everything withheld from him and given to the United States during 2014 in connection with the tax-- Social security and Medicare extractions included:

Enjoy Joe's newly-posted video about this victory and his other efforts on behalf of the Founders' plan for limiting government at http://youtu.be/fgiCrQPQy-g.

***

BRUCE AND NILA DAVIS have reached back a few years and corrected erroneous allegations (and admissions) about the taxable character of their earnings in 2011 by way of an amended return, having since learned the truth about the tax and its limits. The United States has flatly and unambiguously acknowledged the accuracy of their conclusions:

***

AND PAUL B. HAS ALSO RISEN to his all-American grown-up feet and acted to enforce the law. This has special meaning for Paul-- as a military oath-taker, Paul is duty bound even more explicitly and deliberately than most to protect the rule of law from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Paul knows that when Americans enable a state's ambition to be free of the law's constraints, either by falling asleep at the wheel or by letting themselves be intimidated into inaction, the Constitutional design for liberty and the rule of law is in even greater danger than if the country were invaded by external aggressors. Paul isn't having it, not on his watch.

By way of this filing Paul has enforced-- and thereby hugely strengthened-- the law. Paul applied the tax to his 2012 earnings where it is proper, and prevented it from being applied where it is not proper, resulting in this recovery two weeks ago of the majority of what was withheld from him that year and given to the United States in connection with the tax, Social security and Medicare extractions included:

DON'T YOU WISH EVERY AMERICAN was as responsible and upstanding as Roger, Joseph, Bruce, Nila and Paul? Think about what that would do for our once free and prosperous country, and re-dedicate yourself to spreading this file to everyone you can.

Join me in celebrating and honoring these heroes of the republic (and all their fellows)-- real American men and women who know what it means and know what it takes to be free people enjoying the benefits of a legitimate rule of law.

JOIN ME IN ALSO CELEBRATING American hero Paul Eberle for stepping up to the camera and declaring his resolution to act on behalf of the Founders' plan for the preservation of our liberty against the anticipated corruption of the state. See Paul's inspiring testimony here. Other testimonials can be seen here.

Irwin Schiff Passes

A gross injustice ends in the worst way it could: while Schiff still languished in prison.

WORD HAS REACHED ME THIS MORNING that Irwin Schiff has passed. Unfortunately, it is too close to publishing time to for a proper commentary on this sad event.

For now, suffice it to say that though he never actually got to the truth about the income tax, Irwin opened an awful lot of eyes to the fact that what most folks are encouraged by the hungry, corrupt state to believe is true about the tax, isn't. For his efforts, and his admirable resolution in acting as he believed he should out of respect for the law, Irwin was persecuted and abused, ending up dead in prison as an elderly man.

Shame on those who did him injustices.

Rest in peace, Irwin. You've earned it.

*****

I Stand With Doreen

ARE YOU JUST LEARNING ABOUT the crime against your rights and the rule of law by means of a heinous crime by which Doreen Hendrickson is being victimized? Get up to speed with this and this, and this film:

Free Speech On Trial: IRS v. Hendrickson

(Find and share this on YouTube at http://youtu.be/IagZzFIIymw)

The longer but much more comprehensive and question-answering backstory (the "why" history leading up to this unprecedented assault on the First Amendment and principles of due process) can be found here.

There's a good article on Doreen's ordeal here.

***

DOREEN'S ADDRESS: Doreen Hendrickson 48564-039, FPC Alderson A-4, P.O. Box A, Alderson, WV 24910. She would love to hear your encouragement, uplift, appreciation and solidarity, and she can even be sent paperback books, as long as the envelope in which they are packaged has clearly written at the top: Paperback Book Enclosed.

Anyone wanting to send Doreen a few dollars for her commissary account (with which she can get better food, soft drinks, clothes and other amenities) can do so by mailing a money order made payable to Doreen Hendrickson 48564039. Mail to:

Federal Bureau of Prisons,

Doreen Hendrickson

48564-039

Post Office Box 474701

Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

DO YOU NOTICE THAT MESSAGE ON THE T-SHIRT being worn by the lovely model of the 'I Stand with Doreen' care-bracelet? It reads, THINK. It's not illegal yet!

But you know what? The charge against Doreen is an effort by the state to make it so.

Doreen was charged, remember, with criminally-refusing to cede control of her expressions to the state. Now, I'll grant you that technically her thoughts would remain her own, but if the state can dictate what everyone says, then pretty soon that atmosphere of controlled expressions will result in first influencing, and then ultimately controlling what everyone thinks.

If the State gets away with establishing the precedent that every written expression-- even just those on testimonial instruments-- can be required to echo the state's preferred view of things, the fate of free thinking and liberty is obvious (and it's not good).

Think about it, while you still can.

Would You Do It?

(By the way, I would very much welcome videos of any of you or your friends, acquaintances or random strangers on the street answering this same question, which I would then incorporate into this film in order to make it even stronger.)

***

Doreen's Principal Appeal Brief Has Been Filed

 You can find it at http://www.losthorizons.com/Newsletter/DoreenAssault/AppealBrief.pdf. I encourage everyone to download it and read it through. It's an easy read, and not nearly as long as it will appear from the page count. Many pages are taken up with non-argument uses, and the argument portions are double-spaced and wide-margined, meaning that it doesn't take much text to fill a page.

You will see-- beyond any doubt, and completely contrary to the troll and wormtongue community that have been trying to spin Doreen's "conviction" into some kind of attack on CtC-- that the "conviction" of Doreen was only achieved by reliance on deep corruption to overcome the complete lack of merit to the government's case.

As such, the prosecution of Doreen-- which IS meant to be an attack on CtC, or at least, on people's perception of CtC-- is actually an acknowledgement of the truth about the tax, as can be seen by the following simple reasoning:

There is no valid case against Doreen. Yet the government proceeded with its "prosecution" anyway, deliberately taking a series of law-defying steps in order to contrive a "conviction". This can only have been done in order to try to make an argument that cannot be made on legitimate grounds.

This is axiomatic. Deceit, evasion and corruption are only resorted-to when truth, forthrightness and integrity will yield unwanted outcomes.

The outcome wanted here by the deceivers is the furnishing the trolls and wormtongues with a press-release saying that, "The wife of Pete Hendrickson, author of 'Cracking the Code' was convicted..." (Needless to say, no mention is made in such a release of the shenanigans by which the "conviction" was accomplished-- only a fraction of which are included in this brief due to length-limitation rules and a few other factors.) The hope is that you would be somehow discouraged from spreading the word about CtC's revelations, or find it more difficult due to having one more thing to have to explain and clarify to a skeptical listener.

But this brief is the perfect answer to that corrupt effort at fog-generation-- from it you can distill a bullet-point list of what the government actually had to do to contrive this "conviction" that it wants your listener to believe is reason for them to not examine CtC. By this you can make clear, in a nice bit of intellectual judo, that the effort is really the best evidence that your listener really, really needs to study CtC and learn what the government is so fearful of him or her discovering.

See Doreen's Appeal Reply brief here-- it's a wonderful, short little exposure of the corruption and mendacity to which the DOJ was forced to resort in attempting to "respond" to the principal appeal brief.

 ***

AS IT STANDS NOW, Doreen is stuck in captivity until next year. However, there is a possible hope from a different direction. Right now the momentum for reform of the outrageously abusive federal sentencing and imprisonment practices is very high.

A lot of people have long recognized the evils of the feds' "lock 'em all up" mentality, which is a feature of its obnoxious and lawless "we can do no wrong" institutionalized narcissism coupled with its concerted effort to transform the legitimate legal structure of this country-- any power not granted to the state is withheld from the state-- into its dark and illegitimate opposite: anything not prohibited to the state is permitted for the state (and the state will "interpret" those prohibitions, too...

So, calls for reform of a system that has the United States dramatically leading the world in prisoners per capita have long been out there, and right now, they are coming to fruition. Among the bills currently making their way through congress is one with provisions that would provide for the release to home confinement of non-violent prisoners of a certain age, a category in which Doreen squarely falls.

Therefore, I ask everyone that cares to write their congresspeople and urge support and rapid passage for James Sensenbrenner's and Bobby Scott's 'SAFE Justice Act' H.R. 2944.

***

OF NECESSITY, I AM ASKING FOR HELP with Doreen's legal expenses. It is my experience that when the name Hendrickson appears on the caption, courts find themselves under pressure from their clients to creatively misunderstand arguments or authorities. Thus, my requests for oral arguments in the appellate court have always been denied whenever I have handled my own cases. I am sure the same would be true for Doreen. But I believe it is harder for the courts to refuse such requests when put by a licensed attorney admitted to practice before a given court.

Partly for that reason, and partly to enjoy the benefit of his many years of experience and excellent quality of work, we have retained a lawyer I know well and deem to be an honorable man, and who is committed to working closely with me on Doreen's appeal. All his good qualities notwithstanding, though, Mark is not free, or even cheap.

Thus, I am asking all those who can and care to do so to help as much as you can. Donations can be sent to Peter Hendrickson at 232 Oriole St., Commerce Twp., Michigan 48382. Mark "legal expenses" on the memo line or an accompanying note and you'll get back a specially-made "care bracelet" bearing the message "I STAND WITH DOREEN" and an icon of an American Eagle (pictured at the beginning of this commentary), which will help you engage in conversations with others about just what is going on here, and will ultimately become a treasured remembrance of your participation in important events, as well.

Donate $100 or more and get this T-shirt (be sure to include a note indicating preference of S, M, L or XL, and your mailing address):

WARRIOR BRIAN WRIGHT has set up a 'GoFundMe' account for legal expense donations from those preferring to contribute using plastic. Find his article and the link to the GoFundMe page here.

***

MY HEARTFELT THANKS TO EVERYONE  who has been helping get the word out to journalists. Here is the latest piece for distribution to news organizations (and my thanks to the most excellent Tim O'Brien for putting this one together). Here is the one calling for interposition by Michigan (which is still a viable issue, even with Doreen presently in custody-- the state can still make a presentation to the federal appellate court upholding the First Amendment and demanding that it be fully respected and obeyed in Doreen's case, which would result in her release and the dismissal of the outrageous charge against her). The entire backstory and drill-down on what went on in Doreen's trials can be found here.

MY SERIOUS FRUSTRATION AND DISMAY to everyone who continues to fail to send the video testimonials I have asked you for over and over again. This is a collapse of dignity, self-respect and good sense that I am astonished to see in this community.

Let me put this issue to you in a way that might resonate where my earlier entreaties have apparently not:

You want judges, bureaucrats, CPAs, lawyers, the HR people where you work, your pastors, your neighbors and everyone else to acknowledge the truth about the tax openly and straightforwardly. How and why would these folks do this if YOU won't?

You want these folks to learn the truth. Why would they even recognize that there is a truth to be learned if you won't attest to having learned it yourself? You've got to stand up, face forward and chin up and tell these folks that you have studied and checked and verified and seen the evidence and seen the government evasions and you know that the tax is not the capitation that the beneficiary government wants everyone to think it is but a benign, but strictly limited thing, and that they need to study and learn that, too.

If you have victories to show, that's nice, and powerful, too. But you don't have to have victories to display in order to declare your knowledge of what the law says. I've never flown around the world, but I've seen the evidence and considered the arguments, and I'm not hesitant to declare it a sphere...

Even those of you who haven't yet studied CtC have surely read this short document, and have verified everything in it for yourself. You should therefore be declaring its veracity and its message, loud and proud. Again, if you won't say it, how can you hope that others will ever even bother to look at the facts?

Be the change you want to see in the world, or there won't be any change.

Finally: Fear nothing but God. And God demands from you truth and the courage to speak the truth. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The day we see truth and do not speak is the day we begin to die."

*****/a>

Set Your Church Free

Ignorance of the true nature of the "income" tax has gagged, gutted and seduced-into-disgrace America's ministerial community. This must change.