- Should an irritating, contentious tax protester from
Las Vegas be allowed to sell his book that advocated legally dubious theories
of why you do not have to pay the IRS?
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- There is a new spin to the government's war on the tax
resistance movement, and some say it is putting a chill on freedom of the
press. On March 19, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George issued
a temporary restraining order prohibiting tax protester Irwin Schiff from
selling his book--The Federal Mafia: How the Government Illegaly Imposes
and Unlawfully Collects Income Taxes, And How Americans Can Fight Back.
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- The controversial tome proposes various theories of federal
income tax avoidance or evasion that the courts have long deemed to be
without any legal merit.
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- Several organizations have stepped up in support of Schiff.
They include the Association of American Publishers, the American Library
Association, PEN American Center and the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU).
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- On May 1, the local ACLU filed a "friend of the
court" brief opposing the government's attempt to prevent Schiff from
profitting from the sales of his book.
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- The controversy has not hurt sales of the book. Copies
of Schiff's $38 book are now selling from $100 to $300.
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- "My book is very persuasive," Schiff boasts.
"People have been brainwashed; but after reading my book they see
what a scam the federal income tax system really is." Schiff claims
that he has sold more than 75,000 copies of The Federal Mafia.
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- There are two distinct issues here, which should not
be confused. One is the issue of whether cretain books ought to be banned,
such as "how-to" books for the aspiring hit man or basement atom
bomb builder.
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- But that issue does not really apply to the Schiff case,
since it is not the book itself that is being restricted here, but only
the sale of it by the author himself. Other book dealers are free to sell
the book to the public, and you are free to buy a copy.
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- Then there is the issue of whether an individual has
the right to bilk the public by selling a book that many contend is full
of fraudulent advice. Most people, even civil libertarians, would agree
that it is all right to put limits on such activities. Just as you cannot
lawfully shout "Fire!" in a crowded building, the courts have
seen fit to put some controls on the books that you can read. But who is
to be the judge of setting such limitations? It can be very dangerous,
because it could lead to a ban on books and newspapers that tell the truth
about government crime and corruption, and Zionism.
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- Also, the First Amendment specifically protects speech
that is politically controversial such as anti-government materials and
tax resistance.
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- To date, the Supreme Court has placed no restriction
on speech it deemed foolish or absurd.
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- Schiff not only peddles highly dubious tax resister literature
(which seems attractive at first sight) but also has a radio show and an
Internet site and does seminars to advance his ideas.
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- The restraining order enjoins Schiff and two co-workers
from 13 specific activities, such as holding seminars that promote and
"false or fictitious" tax schemes.
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- In all his outlets, he promotes the notion that the average
Joe does not have to pay income taxes in America.
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- As far as that goes, he may be right, or at least partly
right, but right for the wrong reason, which does not help anyone (except
for the IRS, which eventually "harvests" the hapless tax protesters).
He advocates that the whole tax system is unconstitutional, which, unfortunately,
is not true.
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- It is worth noting that Schiff has yet to achieve any
court victory to speak of. And people who have followed his advice have
gone through hell with the IRS. Even other anti-tax leaders say Schiff
is all wet.
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- The one good thing about the discredited theories that
Schiff and others like him continue to huckster is that if they were to
persuade a "critical mass" of Americans that the income tax is
unlawful, it could lead to major reforms of the rotten system.
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- Schiff has written three books pertaining to Federal
income taxes. They are Anyone Can Legally Stop Paying Income Taxes, which
he published in 1982; The Great Income Tax Hoax (1985); and The Federal
Mafia (1990).
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