'Tax Honesty' Movement Steps Up Rhetoric

Says next move is openly encouraging
citizens not to pay IRS

By Julie Foster

Some participants and sympathizers in Monday's march
around the IRS building Washington, D.C., have grown
weary of the government's silence in response to questions
about the federal income tax and have begun discussing
their next move: openly advocating that citizens stop
filing tax returns.

Although members of the loosely organized tax-revolt
movement believe most Americans do not owe income
taxes, it should be stressed that no major tax organization
is yet officially recommending that people stop filing
returns and paying taxes.

Organized by the We The People Foundation, Monday's
march could be characterized as the final line drawn in
the sand; the group has sent invitations to government
officials, including IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti,
for about a half-dozen events -- all of which have been
either ignored or rejected.

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Pointing to various statutory arguments and to research
suggesting the 16th Amendment was not properly ratified,
income-tax opponents say they have made their case, but
that the government has not responded. Several courts
have thrown out legal challenges based on the income-tax
opponents' assertions, but no decision has ever been made
on the merits of their arguments. Frequently, courts
determine that discussion of the validity of the 16th
Amendment's ratification is a "political question,"
meaning the judicial branch is precluded from
answering it.

"If it's a political question, then let's start a political
discussion about it. But they don't want to talk about it,"
said Mike Bodine, a volunteer with We The People.

Bodine characterized the debate as a civil-rights issue.
"What kind of government refuses to answer basic
questions about interpretations of laws that allow
them to confiscate up to half our income?" he asked.
"How many more invitations do we need to make?"

Some in the tax-revolt movement are ready to do more than
send invitations that continue to go unanswered. They
believe the next step could be telling people not to file
tax returns. But for now, WTP will keep requesting an
explanation from the IRS.

"The government and the people are on a collision course,"
remarked Bodine.

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Asked what would happen to the tax-revolt movement
should the IRS finally respond to their invitations and
explain point-by-point where the "tax-honesty" arguments
fail, Bodine replied, "If they do that, we'll go away."
Then he added, "If it was that simple, why haven't they
done it already?"

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