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FreedomFest Attendees Speak Out Against Tax System And Legal Practice

October 1, 2010 by  

FreedomFest attendees speak out against tax system and legal practiceEarlier this summer, the annual FreedomFest — a major libertarian event — was held in Las Vegas, bringing more than 2,000 guests, including Steve Forbes, to discuss ideas such as sovereignty, free markets and the role of government. Now, a survey taken after the event has shed some light on the modern libertarian movement. 

The poll was conducted by Bernhoft Law founder Robert Bernhoft and partner Robert Barnes, who attended the Las Vegas meeting. They are reporting that "the two feelings that rang through loud and clear were a passion for change, and a frustration with the obfuscation of what is fair play on the part of our Federal government's tax laws."

Specifically, the respondents defined the Federal taxation system is "archaic and broken," and expressed their preference for a flat tax.

Some participants were also unhappy with the common practice in the legal community, whereby some tax attorneys — whose job it is to defend individuals accused of tax crimes by the IRS —are former IRS agents or Federal prosecutors. In the libertarians' view, this previous involvement with the system risks clouding these attorneys' ability to serve their clients.

The next FreedomFest will take place in July 2011 in Las Vegas, and will bring more than 150 speakers, 100 exhibitors and an estimated 2,000 attendees at "the world's largest gathering of free minds," according to the event's website. 

Filed Under: Conservative Politics, Liberty News
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  • Bob L

    In 1861, to support the civil war income tax was introduced.Happily repealed in 1872. The 1880s and 1890s,there was a surge in public support encouraged by the “robber barons” backed by idealistic “reform” groups, such as the “Greenbacks”, “Anti-monopolists” and “Progressives” who made the income tax part of their party platform. So, in 1894 Congress revived the tax, a year later the Supreme Court wisely struck it down, ruling that the Constitution required DIRECT Taxes to be levied in proportion to the states’ population. Congress,lashed back in 1909, passing an amendment to change the Constitution,which was ratified by the states in 1913, the 16th amendment gave Congress the “power to lay and collect taxes on income from whatever source derived, Without apportionment among the several states and without regard to any census or enumeration.” Nice swindle job between the robber barons, the naive reformists and the duly elected officials who swore, each and every one to represent the wishes of ALL of the people.

  • MikeN

    Income taxes are illeagal but you will never get a judge to agree because that’s where his or her outragous salary comes from.

  • http://LibertyDigest? Ron

    You are a man of my heart. I decided about 10 years ago to quit supporting the Republicans because their leadership is composed of RINOS and I will never support a RINO again. This includes John McCain etc. If they put someone up for a presidential candidate who is a RINO I will not vote for them. I held my nose and voted against Obama – I did not vote for McCain. The political parties are two sides of the same coin. TO HELL WITH THEM ALL. Vote against ALL incumbents except the true conservatives. Long live the TEA PARTY!!

  • http://gmail i41

    Jimmie Hobby, some people get away with out paying taxes like the Indains on the reservations for businesses and casinos, or these forgien pukes that open up hotels and get 5 years of no taxes. Reservations can sell fuel with out having to pay taxes and make a screwing off of you and I. Sell off all the damn federal lands and parks including all BLM lands, reservations and put it on the tax rolls and then see how fast the USA would kick some marxist asses and get back in to having money in the treasury and kick these welfare rats in the heads and rear with two swipes in to oblivian. Then all of the taxpayers could have a real deep tax cut.

  • Jimmy Hobby

    How about if we eliminate the IRS and the income tax. You tax what you spend, not what you earn. This way everyone gets to pay their fair share of taxes. Drug dealers don’t pay taxes. Illegals don’t pay taxes. But if you put it as a sales tax, there are no loopholes for people to jump thru. Everyone will have to pay taxes when they buy something. You buy a loaf of bread you pay your taxes. You buy a big house with drug money or laundered money, you pay your taxes. Works for me.

    • liv jorunn

      I am all for the FAIR TAX. Let everybody pay, and we would not need thousands of page of tax codes, and we would not need the IRS as it is today.

  • Richard Stripling

    Eliminate the IRS ,flat tax ,repeal the ammentment blab,blab, blab. All you folks with these simple solutions seem to forget that the congress holds the key to any progress to help the american people with the tax situation.
    The billions of dollars made by the tax industry every will insure that no change will ever happen.If every adult in the USA stood up and said ,we want to eliminate the IRS, the congress would huff and puff, then collect millions from lobbist and thumb their nose at the american people.
    If you want to attempt change, buy yourself a politician. Even then, your chance at change is almost nill.

  • slickporsche

    That is why we need to throw all the asswipes out and rewrite history and return our republic to what it is supposed to be.

  • Vigilant

    Re the 16th Amendment:

    There seems to be some evidence that the 16th was never ratified by all the states, that the ratification was fraudulently announced by the gov’t in full knowledge of this fact.

    Any truth to it?

    • James

      Mr. William J. Benson (1984) has proven that the 16th Amendment wasn’t ratified by three-fourths of the States as required by Article V of the Constitution. However, his mighty attempts to have the “Law That Never Was” repealed have all failed. The Supreme Court’s position on such things is that after a certain amount of time has elapsed (with no one complaining about it) the law stands. This also applies to unconstitutional laws of Congress.

      • wannabe

        The irs, when confronted, can’t even point to the law stating that we have to file and pay an income tax. “Show me the law,” just doesn’t register with these dishonorable thugs. Might makes right in their eyes. Why do we have them deduct their taxes from our wages in a direct manner? We are so brainwashed and their collusion with all levels of government stack the odds against honest Americans. Apportionment will do just fine, thank you.

      • James

        Title 26 of the United States Code imposed a tax on “income.” Section 61(a) of that Title list the types of income that are taxable. However, the Internal Revenue Service regulations, developed to execute that law, now include many other sources of income. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on several occassions that IRS regulations may not go beyond the law that the IRS is supposed to execute. However, the additions to “income” that the IRS has added have been there for decades, and no federal court would dare now hold them void, for lack of lawful support.

      • James

        The income tax is deducted directly from wages and salaries because the 16th Amendment says: “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived…,” and the fact that the IRS, in their regulations, added wages and salaries to the types of income that are taxable. IRS regulations also state that if one has an income over a certain amount, he is required to file an income tax return. It is true that no law of Congress requires one to file a tax return, but the IRS agency, as created by the Executive Branch, is certainly constitutional. The question here is, are wages and salaries ‘income’ within the meaning of that term?

  • Ron Sorrells

    Repeal the 16th Amendment.
    Let the states impose a 10% consumer tax on all goods and serviced. At the end of each year the states can fund the Federal Budget (like it wad done in the beginning of our country. THAT WILL LEAVE ALL THE MONEY AT HOMR INSTEAD OF WASHINGTON.

    THIS WILL ENSURE THAT THE “The power of the purse is in the people’s hands”

    RON S.

    • Doug

      A good idea,I have never been exposed to that idea.

    • James

      Repealing the 16th Amendment would force Congress (as to direct taxes) to impose them through their power in Art. I, Sec. 9, Cl. 4, in “Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.” Before the 16th Amendment was ratified, Congress did that five times, all before the Civil War.

    • slickporsche

      Only if we all get very involved in government and require several years of it in school. It should be a required subject just like English and if you cannot speak English then get the hell out of America.

    • liv jorunn

      That is what the FAIR TAX, but I think it wouldbe a little higher. But at least everybody would have to pay.

  • TIME

    The facts are the IRS is Illegal, and they have commited countless crimes againts the American public – Thus they have to continue doing so to cover their tracks, as once exposed how many countless hundreds of thousands of law suits do you think would be filed in the first year?

    The largest outright SCAM ever aginst the American people is the “INCOME TAX SCAM.”

    Then comes the scam of “Heath Care Reform” as the second largest scam ever.
    And if “Cap and Trade” or by any other name is passed it will become the second largets SCAM ever tied with the HCR Scam.

    #3 on the list is the RAPING of the Social Security Trust by the Democratic Congress’s who gave YOUR money to Illegal’s. Are you Angry yet?

    The facts are that if Barry Soetoro is found to not be a natural born American, that will TIE the IRS as the first largest SCAM EVER.

    What will you all do to PREVENT the Cap & Trade Scam?
    How will you bring forth the Legal efforts to unveil Barry Soetoro?

    Keep in mind folks YOU all pay $175K per year for BO’ to be walked, thats a $125K base salery with a $50K health care and benift package to walk a dog.

    Are you pissed off yet? How much do you pay yourself to walk your dog?

    How about Michie, who has 30 aids who are all paid for by “YOU” the American TAX payer at just a tad over $4 Million dollars per year?
    No first lady ever has had more than 2 aids, and most all were paid for out of the POTUS pocket, but not this special pair.

    Now are you PO~ED – YET?

    • slickporsche

      I bet I’ve been pissed off longer than you been around. THis government sucks and needs to get replaced now, not later.We have been raped, robbed, and pushed around long enough, and now it is time to come out of the corner snarling and fighting. They do not even follow the Constitution of the United States of America. They are working diligently at removing our bill of rights. Lets pickup some guns and ammo, and find some targets of opportunity and declare it a civil war. What are all you sissy’s waiting for?? Communism? Well it is here and its got its evil eye on every single on of us.

    • momo

      I’m 54 and this administration, and yes I use the term usely, is the most screwed up I’ve ever seen, and I lived through Nixon’s and Carter’s administrations. We need another revolution because we need to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC!

  • 2WarAbnVet

    It shouldn’t be too difficult to reform the tax system since it only applies to half the population anyway. The parasite class pays no attention to it .

    • momo

      Unfortunately its more than half, 45 percent of the population pays no income tax, 27 percent get more out of the feds than pay into it. That leaves 28 percent to pay everyone elses taxes, but don’t worry we’ll just tax the rich. The problem is we already are.

      • Disgusted

        That is the truth and it baffles me. How can you get something out of it if you haven’t paid anything into it. I truly do not get that about SS – I have paid in all my working life and will get totally screwed when I am old enough to collect – it won’t be there for me because the money will be gone. Where did it go? I paid into it just so I could have what I paid into it as benefits when I retire. What a PONZI scheme! The government has tapped into that money like it is their piggy bank savings account and not mine. Pisses me off. The government is out of control and way too big!

      • http://?? Joe H.

        disgusted,
        I know what you mean. I’m 59 and my wife is 56. How do you think we feel?? We’re still paying into it!!!

  • Paul R

    America needs to secure its borders, put really high tariffs on imports from China if not banning them all together for harmful reasons,start production plants again, throw out the Obama administration, make a smaller government, and maybe,just maybe,
    the America that we know and love will survive. Why can`t they understand that. Maybe we sould make a coloring book for adults!!!

    • Robin from Arcadia, IN

      Paul R…
      You couldn’t be more right! I agree with everything you posted. We need to get rid of the IRS and all its ‘rules’ that even they can’t figure out. We need to go with the KISS method…. Complicated is not working!

      • Doug

        The IRS is really not in touch with it’s own rules. If you talk to two different IRS employees you get different. If you would happen to use the wrong advice the taxpayer is responsible to the error not the IRS. Talk about a broken system. Imperative that we rid the country of this menace.

      • http://?? Joe H.

        Robin,
        It’s working swell. For the government that is!!!

    • slickporsche

      You see Paul they do understand very well what they are doing and that is why they all must go, and we install a new government run by the people and for the people and by the United States Constitution.

    • Meteorlady

      Until government realizes that they are strangling business, mine included, there will not be a return to manufacturing. Even if you put high tariffs on stuff it only raises the price of goods that people now need. Try buying anything Made in American – I have been unable to find much in the way of electronics, computers, cameras, clothing, etc.

      The federal government needs to down size, stop all the wild spending and put more money back into people’s pockets. I moved my small business from Washington state because they were taxing and regulating me to death. I moved to Texas where they are business friendly and have been able to hire two more people with just that move. I still do business the same and my quality has not changed. But…. the two people that I hired two years ago are now in jeopardy because of the health care reform bill and the repeal of some of the Bush tax credits.

  • dan az

    Ron Paul once said that the very first thing that he would do was get rid of the IRS and the Federal Reserve and have a flat tax 10% straight across the board.At first I thought we would all be in big trouble if it where done, but now It seems that its the only way to reduce big government less money less government employees.If you cant fund it then it wont happen.And to bring ALL of our troops home we are not the police of the world let them figure it out for them selves.So with less government how would the NWO ever get off the ground?The UN was needed back in the day but it is not what we need now so get the he!! out of our lives,We dont play well with others so leave and dont come back!

    • newspooner

      You are on the right track, except for your last sentence. The United Nations was NEVER needed, that is, unless one is a communist who wants to enslave everyone. The UN was conceived by communists, started by Communists, run by Communists, and gorified by communists who believe that government is the source of rights, not God or just a natural existence. All political leaders who supported the UN were either fooled (Hoover, Truman, etc.) or evil (Roosevelt, Hiss, Dulles, etc.). One of the few bright spots in politics today is the huge increase in the number of political candidates who recognize that the United Nations is detrimental to our freedom. The best ones also understand that the UN was never good. Get the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US! (And send Juan Peron Obama along with it.)

    • Walter

      All of this is moot, totally irrelevent. Ron Paul said he would get rid of the IRS and replace it with nothing, not a flat tax. I haven’t filed in 18 years. There is no law that requires the average American to file. See http://www.freedomabovefortune.com, and http://www.truthattack.com.

      • dan az

        Walter
        thats not something to post here there are plenty of people just like you that are in prison as we speak that believed that they could do that and has lost everything even the guy that put it out there is still in jail and now has no access to the internet or phones.Be careful!

  • s c

    It should be obvious by now that just because the IRS has thousands of pages of ‘guidelines’ to use against us doesn’t mean that they understand their own system. In effect, they often get the wrong answer on tax returns and yet they expect us to pay, regardless of the high odds that two IRS agents can’t come up with the same answer(s). What a system!
    In effect, Uncle Scam uses a complex set of rules for political purposes, and doesn’t hesitate to let Americans know that Uncle Scam always ‘knows best’ and NEVER makes a mistake.
    When a casino [aka Uncle Scam] is allowed to make the odds and control the “game,” you’re in the wrong place. When Uncle Scam demands to be seen as infallible, you have to be many varieties of stupid not to know you’re already a slave.

  • DaveH

    What could be more “archaic” than the Income Tax? Freedom maybe.

    • slickporsche

      I m not sure how to take that comment!!

    • Carole Howell

      DaveH,
      How is the government going to pay for all these wars???????

      • James

        Simple, stop fighting them.

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