Patriots in every nation treasure the symbols of their heritage. The salute to the flag snaps them to attention. They hold their founding document in respect. Based upon their reliance upon the integrity of their national leaders they pay taxes and give their sons to fight in wars.

A broken foundation can destroy the walls. If our nation seems broken today, we must look to the foundation to understand why. Our Founders told us they had given us “A Constitution if you can keep it.” Millions of patriotic people in the U.S. have since relied upon the clearly understood words they read in that document. They have been wrong. Any first year law student could tell them they are wrong, but no experienced lawyer dare step forward with the dread news. Any government official taking the oath “to defend the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic” could, if he were honest, add the words, “As interpreted by the latest judicial opinions,” but he dare not.

Patriotism would be at risk.

People believe we are a nation of laws, not men. In fact, the opposite is true, and has been from the beginning. For this to be known would shake the foundations of the patriotic attitude. The opinion must remain in the minds of the simple that our founding document can be read and relied upon. A nation whose foundation is believed to be reliance upon the clear meaning of the words of written law cannot at the same time be ruled by the changing opinions of judges; yet, this is exactly our condition today.

The Founders intended it this way.

For hundreds of years before the U.S. Constitution was written, the definition of all law was crafted by the complicated process known as Stare Decisis. This expression is the lawyer's version of “Keep it simple, stupid,” It means that lawyers have since the days of the Magna Charta wanted to try an issue only once. “If a judge has heard this issue, let that decision rule,” is the way courts operated when the Constitution was written. The downside of this practice, however, is that no statute, no Constitution, can be applied to life unless a judge has issued a decision about the way it is to be applied.

If the Founders had simply added to the Constitution the words, “This document shall be applied on a case by case basis in its ordinary English language meaning, as intended by the signors, without reference to prior judicial opinions,” those words could be trusted. However, those words are missing, so even though a U.S. Supreme Court Justice like Judge Scalia might protest that the words should be looked to for authority, everyone knows that only what judges write about those words actually can be trusted.

Into this context sincere people have studied the U.S. Constitution and they have wrongly respected its words. The Constitution says we are not required to give evidence against ourselves, and we can expect to be secure in our papers and property. That's what the words say. Knowing those words, these people have written the Internal Revenue Service and have made a substantial movement out of their perplexity. They wonder why, even though they can find no written statute demanding the filing of the 1040 form, the IRS still requires it. Even though IRS literature clearly has stated the filing of a 1040 is voluntary, the act is still demanded of us. Patriotic people, trusting the words of the Constitution, continually have asked the IRS to explain these problems. These people are not motivated by greed. They are intelligent enough to know that the U.S. Government spends no money unless the money is borrowed from the privately owned twelve Federal Reserve Banks, through a system of “Oz-like” manipulations obfuscating the simple fact that government can set up any number of checking accounts for its agencies and no deposit ever need be made to those accounts. The accounts can be overdrawn to infinity, the measure of that overdraft currently being nearly $10,000,000.000,000. The interest on these loans is paid by the income tax to the profit of private bankers.

In response, the beleaguered IRS has established a policy. No agent of the IRS is allowed to reply to any question from anyone when the issue touches upon the constitution or anything “frivolous”. What is a frivolous issue? Anything is frivolous that would require the IRS to make an honest statement about the foundational standards of law in the United States. I have the prison addresses of ten intelligent, impressive patriotic people who are serving prison time for their belief that they can rely upon the words of constitution and law. They are in prison not because they are criminals. They are in prison because the IRS fails and refuses to state the simple, obvious truth.

To put to rest all the turmoil over tax protests, to clear the air and to prevent people from harming themselves, the IRS need only issue a public statement saying:

The United States is a nation ruled by men (judges), not by law. If you have a problem with this, take it up with the Founders. There is only one power greater than a judge. That is “the fear of IRS audit.” With that tool, the IRS tells judges what to think. What is the law? Tax law is the fear of audit.

With that honest statement publicized, there would be no more tax protests, there would be complete cooperation. We would stop saluting the flag and we would burn our copies of the U.S. Constitution. The solution is simple. Patriotism is not appropriate.

Patriotism requires respect borne of integrity and honesty. To be a slave and know it allows a person to live his everyday life in order and safety. To be a slave and not know it puts the slave at risk that the “master's whip” could capriciously scar the slave's back without notice. The IRS does not answer your questions because the agency prefers to take you by surprise. In personal relationships this attitude would be called maschochism. In government it is called rule by terror. Wise people who do not control armies cooperate with the terrorist. Out of fear for their lives, they bend their backs and willingly take on the burden of the slave master. Until we have a U.S. Constitution whose words can be entered into court and made a part of the record we are wise to recognize the authority of the ruling master and live in peace with him and his IRS overlords.

Richard Palmquist
December 29, 2005