Tyranny Busters

Tyranny Busters: The Sham and Shame of the Federal Income Tax, by Michael Benoit ★★★★
Michael Benoit sent this book to me a few months ago, and I finally found some time to read it. He is from California, has run for political office a few times in the past, and remains politically active. Benoit discusses the nature of the difference between direct and indirect taxes (since the constitution defines them as different!). Benoit struggles with the income tax, determining how it can legally be a graduated tax, since direct taxes much be apportioned equally as according to the constitution. He also struggles with trying to define if the law really does say that he needs to pay an income tax.
This is a wonderful book that was educational in many regards to me. I don’t consider it particularly fun struggling with the nature of tax law. Benoit does it quite capably, yet is cautious in his recommendations. I presume that he has a grasp on the rogue, un-constitutional nature of the IRS. His main education in this regard has come from Otto Skinner, who seems to be attacked viciously by the group called Quatloos!, found on www.quatlosers.com. The only argument Quatloos seems to make against Skinner is that it is obvious that all people need to pay taxes and everybody knows that. Actually, the Quatloos argument is self-defeating, since a substantial portion of our population, the 50% “poor” and the filthy rich (George Soros, etc.), pay almost no tax. It seems like some people “know” that you can avoid taxes, or not be legally responsible for paying them.
I defer to my brother’s attempt to define the US tax code. Multiple letters to the IRS were never responded to asking for specific clarification of tax law. Perhaps Quatloos needs to speak with the IRS and inform them as to the precise nature of the tax code. My brother depended mostly on the writings and advice of tax and constitutional lawyers Larry Becraft and Edwin Vieira, who seem to have a grasp at the true morass of our tax system. It is difficult to imagine our current system lasting much longer before the system breaks, leaving us either under anarchy and a new revolution or under a Stalinist-style police state. I’m grateful for those like Benoit with the courage to speak out and attempt to fix the system before it fixes us.