Tag Archive for: Sixteenth Amendment

Florida Senate urges Congress to Repeal the Federal Income Tax by Rudy Treml

secretary-bio

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner

“The current income tax system requires individual taxpayers to prepare annual tax returns using many complicated forms, causing innocent errors that are heavily punished.” 

This is an excerpt from Senate Memorial 118, adopted by the Florida Legislature during its 2014 session and sent to Washington, D.C., urging Congress to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service.

It’s true! The position paper – also known as SM-118 – was sent to our president on behalf of the State of Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner on May 22, 2014.

In his cover letter, Detzner wrote, “This Memorial urges Congress to repeal all taxes on income and enact a national retail sales tax as specified in H.R. 25, the FairTax Act.”

SM-118 has a prose style similar to that of the U.S. Declaration of Independence authored by Thomas Jefferson and approved by the 13 American Colonies in July 1776. That declaration listed grievances against King George III, which justified the demand of the United States for freedom from the British Empire.

SM-118, also, lists grievances placed upon U.S. citizens by the federal income-tax system, to justify the demand for a national sales tax in place of an income tax, as well as the abolishment of the IRS and the repeal of the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The current tax system, according to SM-118, erodes jobs, retards economic growth, has reduced the standard of living for U.S. citizens, forces family farms to be sold so taxes can be paid, unnecessarily intrudes on citizens’ privacy, isn’t complied with at acceptable levels, has a disproportionate adverse impact on lower-income people, and imposes unacceptable compliance costs.

Our 160 elected representatives in the Florida Legislature have urged the United States Congress to enact H.R. 25, the FairTax Act, which was reintroduced into the 114th Congress on Jan. 6. U.S. Reps. John Mica and Ron DeSantis are co-sponsors of H.R. 25, as are seven other U.S. House members from Florida and another 55 co-sponsors from other states.

H.R. 25 eliminates all federal taxes on productivity (income) in favor of a national consumption tax. It also replaces Social Security and Medicare taxes. It eliminates all corporate taxes thereby making the USA the preferred worldwide manufacturing destination, and bringing jobs back to the USA while growing our economy.

With the passage of H.R. 25, the IRS is defunded and April 15 becomes just another spring day. Citizens control their tax obligation via their spending habits, and there is no sales tax on used items.Everyone is treated equally under a progressive national consumption tax. Those who spend the most pay the most tax. Plus, H.R. 25 authorizes the return of the federal sales tax paid by U.S. citizens for the necessities of life, in the form of a rebate.

The FairTax Act of 2015 is about 130 pages long, compared to the current 75,000-plus pages of income tax codes and regulations.

The FairTax is simple to understand, efficient to collect, hard to avoid, and visible, so taxpayers see the true cost of their government.

With its passage, no longer would politicians be able to use the tax code to reward their friends, punish their enemies, and do social engineering.

ABOUT RUDY TREML

Rudy Treml is a longtime proponent of the FairTax, and an activist with the Florida FairTax Educational Association.

In 1776 American Colonists Told the British “To Pound Sand” — Happy 4th of July!

Today America celebrates her 238th birthday. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence whose 56 signers were not professional politicians but ordinary citizens of the day.

Yes, these were simple people including farmers, business owners, lawyers, ministers and physicians and what today we would call grassroots leaders.

People like you and me. The youngest was 26 and the oldest was 70.

Imagine 56 citizens crafting a document as profound as the Declaration without the benefit of the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or a host of political hacks churning out canned ham political spin.

Declaration of IndependenceFor 238 years, historians have analyzed the lives, motivations and contributions of these 56 patriots.

Notwithstanding their incredible vision and articulation, what has always captivated me most about their achievement was how they overcame what must have been overwhelming fear in the face of adversity. Their unflinching belief against taxation without representation seemingly provided the needed fortitude to confidently confront the Crown and its worldwide empire.

Today we find ourselves once again confronting a ruling class that imposes taxation without representation through the federal income tax code. Included in this system is an IRS enforcement arm that, as in 1776, strikes fear in the heart of every American citizen.

In 1776, the colonists had to make a choice. Continue status quo or tell the British to pound sand. Their courageous decision quite literally changed the course of history.

In 2014, American citizens again have to make a choice. They can allow the continued proliferation of a tax code that has now surpassed 74,000 pages and is rapidly eating away the very economic fiber of this nation. Or, they can tell the ruling class “pound sand” and engage in the campaign to enact H.R. 25, “The FairTax Act of 2013”.

H.R. 25 is in essence, the citizen’s Declaration of Taxation Independence.

It is the only tax replacement plan before Congress that sets forth a fair, simple and transparent form of taxation driven by the citizenry and not by the ruling class of Washington.

By its very nature, the FairTax embodies the principles envisioned and codified in the original Declaration of Independence. Declaration signer and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said, “The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation, to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy.”

The FairTax Plan rights the wrongs of the income tax code by providing a tax code that treats every citizen the same – no exemptions, no loopholes for anyone – no prejudice or oppression.

William Burroughs stated this eloquently on the FairTax.org Facebook page yesterday when he said, “The only way to finance government in a free society is by the voluntary choice of taxpayers, and no better way to enact it than by a sales tax. End the income tax, a free people do not have to scurry around proving to bureaucrats how they earned their money.”

If you are not actively supporting the FairTax, we invite you to become a part of what is arguably, the largest grassroots tax reform movement in America. Take one minute to send a message to your Representative and become a part of the greatest tax revolution of our lifetime.

And on this July 4, Happy Birthday America!

RELATED STORY: Found in rare copy of Ben Franklin-owned newspaper, first news coverage of the Declaration of Independence