Allison Bricker

NOTE: This is the second part in a 4 part series. Your questions and commentary are both welcomed and appreciated.

• Part 1 - How to Save the Republic
• Part 2 - Abolish the Income Tax
• Part 3 - Repeal the Direct Election of Senators
• Part 4 - Similarities Between the Great Depression and Our Current Crisis

Few things are more complicated and harder to understand than our income tax laws. Each year Americans lose 6.6 billion hours and spend approximately $265 Billion Dollars¹ just filing their taxes. Imagine what we as a people could accomplish, build, invent; if all this time, money, and resource were not lost slaving over tax forms or paying others to file the forms on our behalf. Moreover, the fear of the tax man consistently ranks as a top fear of Americans.² This fear is well placed, what group other than the Internal Revenue Service can freeze your bank accounts, seize your property, garnish your paycheck, and throw you in jail?

Further, we see the confusion over the tax code illustrated whenever abolition is even mentioned. People often say, “What about the roads?”, “What about Social Security?” or “What about our schools?” To many, it seems logical that the money coercively removed from their paychecks would go to support these types of projects. However, truth be told, the roads are paid for by the gas tax, a tax levied on each gallon pumped into your car, Social Security is a separate tax unto itself withdrawn from our paychecks altogether, and schools are funded by local tax revenues, most often in the form of property taxes.

This logical fallacy perpetuated by the tax code, scares people into thinking that having their incomes pilfered by the nanny state is their “duty” of living in a “free country”. Politicians, beneficiaries of this structure, routinely repeat this fear mongering via soundbites such as Vice-President-Elect, Joe Biden who pompously stated, “It’s time (for the well-off) to be patriotic (taxes).”³ Thus, in the previous eight years we were told speaking out against an imperial foreign policy was “unPatriotic” and now that “change” has come to town, bristling at an oppressive tax structure has also been added to the list of “unPatriotic” actions according to the pull-peddlers in Washington.

Truth be told, every last cent of revenue successfully collected through income taxation is already gone before Congress even convenes to support the bloated ship of state. Even if the Federal government were to tax 100% of all incomes over $75,000, the government would only receive approximately $33 Billion (adjusted for inflation) or enough to keep the government running for an additional 7 days. Thus, everything from waging the war in Iraq to simply keeping the lights on, must be put on the Republic’s credit card in the form of additional borrowing, i.e. debt.⁴ The creditor who lends all this additional “money’ to the Federal government? Why it is our friends at the FEDERAL RESERVE. The central bank who cannot trip over itself fast enough to supply more “money” to the Federal government, ergo the national debt. Furthermore, the private bankers who actually own the stock in the FEDERAL RESERVE do not simply loan the Federal government this “money” out of the kindness of their hearts, they charge a fee for these “necessary” loans in the form of interest.

At the end of the year after Treasury has received the interest negotiated back from the FEDERAL RESERVE, the FEDERAL RESERVE still walks away with about $4 Billion tax-dollars annually solely from payments received on the interest of the national debt.⁵

The sinister nature of this scheme was brought to light for the public to see in 1984 in the final report from the Grace Commission. In their final report they said the following:

Resistance to additional income taxes would be even more widespread if people were aware that:

• One-third of all their taxes is consumed by waste and inefficiency in the Federal Government as we identified in our survey.




• Another one-third of all their taxes escapes collection from others as the underground economy blossoms in direct proportion to tax increases and places even more pressure on law abiding taxpayers, promoting still more underground economy — a vicious circle that must be broken.




• With two-thirds of everyone’s personal income taxes wasted or not collected, 100 percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt and by Federal Government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the services which taxpayers expect from their Government.

Source: Grace Commission Final Report⁴

We must take note that both a heavy “progressive” income tax as well as a centralized banking monopoly are two planks clearly espoused in the “Communist Manifesto”, points 2 and 5 respectively:

[From the English edition of 1888, edited by Friedrich Engels, Section II]

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

Source: Avalon Project - Yale Law School - Lillian Goldman Law Library⁶

It is no coincidence that our government grew exponentially upon the pyramid scheme thrust upon us by the Federal Reserve Act, 16th and 17th Amendments all coming into existence in 1913. These linchpins allowed the state to centralize power and funnel the wealth of our nation into a relatively small group of central bankers, special interests, and politicians while fostering, sustaining, and antagonizing a class war between the American people.

The income tax is nothing but an endless stream of stolen wages used to line the coffers of the plutocratic oligarchs while keeping the masses numb to the scam perpetrated upon them by offering confusing doublespeak and scraps of embezzled wealth via welfare programs. As these same central planners sought to lower tariffs, thereby allowing companies to dump their outsourced foreign products back on to our shores, they simultaneously raise taxes and fees on individuals. This serves two purposes:

1. Makes us as a nation, wholly dependent on multi-national corporations to supply us manufactured goods after they close down domestic factories, relocate offshore, and import their goods back onto American shores. Thereby replacing the American people as “producers” and thus relegating us the singular sad role of “consumer”.




2. Reduces wages and thus spending ability by undercutting good jobs and replaces them with a wholly service-based economy.

This state-sponsored corporatism also leads more into the welfare state as costs rise due to inflation from the deficit spending coupled with a loss of sustainable employment, thereby enticing them to make up their personal budget deficits with the pittance from government social programs. As this cycle continues the amount spent on what are called “transfer payments” to individuals balloons, which then leads to higher rates of borrowing from the FEDERAL RESERVE to the Federal government, which leads to a further erosion of the currency via inflation.

Finally after 95 years of this ponzi scheme, the cycle has spun so far out of control we are on the verge of collapse. In 2007 “transfer payments” to individuals, totaled $1.6 Trillion or 87.8% of all available tax revenues, the other 12.2% went to interest payments on the national debt, leaving a zero balance and thus requiring more borrowing from…you guessed it, the FEDERAL RESERVE.

Fellow readers, while many worry our standard of living would sharply decline without the income tax based wholly on the misconceptions of its actual uses, if we do not repeal the 16th Amendment-Income tax, the vast majority of Americans will become paupers lining the streets standing in bread lines, while the central bankers, criminal financiers, and their cronies revel in their stolen treasure and move on to the next nation to exploit, eviscerate and rob of its wealth.

But why take my word for it, when Chairman Bernake says it so succinctly:

Source(s): ¹Reprentative Michael Burgess (R-TX) Statistics based on figures from 2005 • ²BusinessWire “Americans Say Tax Duties among Most ”Loathesome” Tasks; One Third Fears IRS More Than In-Laws or Outlaws Published April 5, 2006 • ³ Los Angeles Times |Blog “Joe Biden calls it ‘patriotic’ for the wealthy to pay more taxes” • ⁴ 1984 (PPSS) The Grace Commission Report, pg14 • ⁵ 2007 - 94th Annual Report
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, pg371 • ⁶ Avalon Project - Yale Law School - Lillian Goldman Law Library

Rob Obringer

In the madness that is the holiday season in America, one day stands out as the sickest…Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving named because the big businesses offer sales to all of the holiday shoppers in order to get themselves “in the black.” This day used to kickoff the Christmas spending season, has made its mark as the climax of all things gross about American consumerism. To top off the long lines, the 4AM store openings, and the media obsession with this day, we now have another reason to call this Black Friday…the death of a Wal-Mart employee.

At a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, NY on Long Island, Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, died when he was helping open up the store at 5AM Friday morning¹. He was trampled on by a throng of shoppers rushing the store, looking for a deal. Some shoppers were so obsessed with finding their dream TV or $25 vacuum that they were actually upset when the store had to close because of the death of Damour. They weren’t upset because an employee died, they were upset that they had to leave the store². They were upset because they waited a day to shop and wouldn’t be able to get their hands on a “steal”.

This story has disgusted me since I first heard about it yesterday. A hardworking man, comes in to work to help with the holiday rush and dies at the feet of obsessed shoppers. It’s sick, and it makes everything about this day, the day after Thanksgiving, even worse, and more gross.

I would hope that this kind of incident would help bring an end to the American obsession with this day. I certainly will be thinking of this man, rather than shopping, for some time. I know the reality is that the store openings will likely happen earlier next year, and that Thanksgiving itself will one day turn into a designated shopping day where deals will be had. However, the more obsessed our country gets with turning holidays into consumer days, I would hope that it doesn’t get worse in our country than this.

Source(s): ¹ http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-limart1129,0,167903.story • ² http://apnews.myway.com/article/20081129/D94OJ4NG0.html

Allison Bricker

NOTE: This is the first part in a 4 part series. Your questions and commentary are both welcomed and appreciated.

• Part 1 - How to Save the Republic
• Part 2 - Abolish the Income Tax
• Part 3 - Repeal the Direct Election of Senators
• Part 4 - Similarities Between the Great Depression and Our Current Crisis

Albert Einstein once quipped that the definition of ‘insanity’ is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This then begs the question; why do so many of our fellow citizens think government intervention into our economy will stave off the coming economic depression? We need only look back to the last group of supreme central planners, ergo Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Company to see that government intervention/interference is both the root cause and sustaining force of large economic recessions and depressions.¹

It is imperative that we look to the not so distant past, educate ourselves to the actual history, and begin a candid discussion of the facts with our friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens. If we fail or refuse this effort, it is my analysis that the consequences which will reveal themselves in short, will be more disastrous than those of the 1930’s. However, where some predict and hope for the fracturing of our union, I see opportunity, regardless of the pending collapse or fracturing. It is my fervent belief that there are many amongst us who will not stand idly by and watch the greatest experiment in human liberty perish from this Earth.

While it most certainly will be an uphill battle, success in our endeavor will secure the blessing of debt free liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Furthermore, the path to reclaiming our Republic from the jaws of the central planners is illuminated before us; if we only take the time to look upon the lessons of history. It is my estimation that three crucial steps are needed in order to right the course of the Republic back onto its Constitutional governance and towards the path of a “more perfect Union”.

The first among these three steps is to seek the complete abolition of the 3rd Central Bank of the United States, better known as the FEDERAL RESERVE. Moreover, we must seek an amendment to our federal Constitution which prohibits the establishment of any future central banking schemes and requires the federal government only produce sound money backed either by silver, gold, or platinum; produced solely by the United States Department of the Treasury.

It is important to note that the three steps will not happen in rapid succession, as it would be naive to entertain such a notion. Instead, with each corrective action we will gain both time as well as more stability in which to continue the restoration of the Republic. It is inevitable that this deleveraging and short run into the FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE Dollar will cease. The FEDERAL RESERVE whether it knows it or not has sealed its fate, a “poison pill” due to its ability to print an endless supply of FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES. There is a reason that every “fiat” currency throughout history has collapsed onto itself.² Thus, it is my analysis that by the Spring of 2009, hyper-inflation will begin to set in and this will allow for the movement to abolish the FEDERAL RESERVE to begin in earnest.

In addition to abolishing the FEDERAL RESERVE and preventing a subsequent reincarnation, we will also examine why we need to repeal the 16th amendment, Income Tax, and the 17th Amendment, The Direct Election of Senators, steps two and three respectively. Finally, this series of posts will conclude with an examination of the parallels of government interference during the Great Depression, and our current economic crisis.

It is my hope that readers of this post will ask questions via the comment section, on their blogs, forums, etcetera. Through an honest and open dialog whereby the free exchange of ideas can take place, we just as those who came before us will see our Republic safely to the other side of this crisis.

Long Live the American Republic!

Source(s): ¹FDR’s Folly - How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression • ² The Financial Organization of Society, by Harold Glenn Moulton-1925, pg93, University of Chicago Press

The Smoking Argus

Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all of our readers. We are very thankful for your continued support and participation. We here at The Smoking Argus Daily, hope all of you have the opportunity today to take a moment to reflect upon the things in your lives that give cause for thanks and appreciation.

We will resume regular publishing on Friday, November 28th, 2008.

Happy Holidays,

The Staff of the Smoking Argus Daily

The Smoking Argus

This week’s picks of insightful posts from other bloggers scattered across the blogosphere.  If you enjoy reading “The Smoking Argus Daily”, please consider visiting some of the following for more insightful, witty analysis. We believe that through varying opinions, reason might yet prevail over hyperbole and vitriol present in today’s mainstream media.

Kurt Wallace
Breaking the apathy perpetuated by the Mainstream Media and politics as usual.

Divided We Stand
Divided & Balanced ™, now that is fair.

Peter Schiff
“The Truth About Bailouts”

Grown Ass People
Science, Politics, Biology, Robots, Talking Heads, Economics, International Relations, Music, Human Behavior, The Environment, Space, Movies, Cynicism, Urban Education, Sustainability.

The Smoking Argus

The Free & Independent People of Lakota announced today the introduction of the world’s first non-reserve, non-fractional bank that accepts only silver and gold currencies for deposit.

“Today is a great day for us, a day that we begin to exercise our rights as a sovereign people with strength and pride,” comments Canupa Gluha Mani, Tetuwan Council Judicial Member of the Cante Tenza “Strong Heart” Warrior Society. Mani’s 2500 member warrior society has contracted to provide private security services for the Free Lakota Bank.

Mani, also known as Duane Martin Sr, is a member of the delegation that declared Lakota independence on December 17th, 2007. In a statement he said:

“We invite people of any creed, faith or heritage to unite in an effort to reclaim control of wealth. It is our hope that other tribal nations and American citizens recognize the importance of silver and gold as currency and decide to mirror our system of honest trade.”

The People of Lakota invite depositors to establish accounts and invest in the Free Lakota Bank’s General Investment Fund, the fund it uses to develop profitable free-market enterprise inside Lakota territory. Mani comments that the nation despises donations and charity, and instead insists instead on “earning our wealth by creating value for those that place their faith and trust in our system.”

The Free Lakota Bank issues an American Open Currency Standard Approved currency, making it readily accepted for trade by over 10,000 merchants and businesses across the continent.

Source(s): Free Lakota Bank

Rob Obringer

I want to like a holiday. I really do. I want one holiday to be mine.

Thanksgiving is that day for me. I really like it.

I like the time of year. I like the turkey, and I like all the football.

I like it because there is no exchange of presents, and no pressure, unless you are cooking a feast for many relatives. I also enjoy it because the religious themes are minimal. It’s got a simple theme, and that is to be thankful.

But every year, a damper is put upon the day by those who bring up the atrocities that were committed when the European settlers invaded North America and took the land, and many lives, of Native Americans. Should I feel guilty as I gobble down that final piece of pumpkin pie? Well, I don’t. That being said, I don’t think the history of our country or this holiday should be ignored.

I think there’s a way to think about Thanksgiving as a way to honor those great people who had great nations, where our nation sits now. Honor them, tell your kids about them, and tell them about how our country was formed and founded. Take the guilt away and tell the truth. That’s how things happened, that’s how we are where we are today. And be thankful.

Celebrate this day as it is meant to be celebrated. Give thanks for what you have, who you have, and what you want to have on the many different levels of life. Think about the history, think about everyone who suffered so that we exist as we do today, and say “thank you”.

Rob Obringer

In general I am against what we have been doing in Iraq and that it is despicable that we went in to that conflict under false pretenses. Whatever else we’ve done there since the initial invasion causes me to have a mixed reaction that falls somewhere between: A.) I don’t want any more violence to happen to our troops or innocent people and B.) Hopefully that country will be able to rebuild itself eventually.

These feelings were complicated further when exactly a year ago my older brother, Will, deployed with the Army to Baghdad. He is a lawyer in the Army in the 4th Infantry Division out of Ft. Hood in Texas, and is now a Captain. Being a lawyer, he has mostly been on base and in an office out of harms way, from what I know anyway. The communication I’ve had with him about exactly what his duties are has been sparse. However, I was recently forwarded an article that will likely be published in an Army newsletter or government publication that describes exactly what he is doing.

In an article written by Major Lorraine Januzelli titled, “MND-B Rule of Law Team: Striking a Balance”, she describes a two person Army team in Baghdad who are part of an assignment to help re-write and update the Iraqi legal system. The system is still based on the Code of Hammurabi from ancient Babylonia and involves everything from marriage to slavery. The tablets that describe this law, according to the article, are on display at the Louvre in Paris and date to 1792 B.C. The goal of the partnership that this “Rule of Law Team”, according to the article, is working towards modernizing the legal system “so that it is a sustainable part of the current legal infrastructure, respects the historical context, and is accepted by the culture.” One of the people working on this team is my brother, Captain Will Obringer.

I don’t know if I would have been made aware of this particular partnership that the U.S. and Iraqi’s are working on if my brother was not involved. I received the article as a forward from my brother’s fiancee. Upon reading it, I felt really good about what my brother is doing over there. Working with the theories of laws of an ancient people is I’m sure a rare opportunity for those in the Army. I’m sure they must have studied up on the history of the land and history of the laws. They are trying to make sense of two different legal systems, Common Law (U.S) vs. Civil Law (Iraq). It’s a big issue to work with. One that will help modernize the Iraqi legal system. According to the article, they are mostly working with the “initial stages in the legal process” which involves due process to ensure evidence and suspects that enter the legal system happens fairly. They are also working to preserve the traditions and history that exist in Iraqi law because, according to the article, the Iraqi people are proud of their legal system for the most part.

I don’t know if it is being proud of my brother, or finding something out that we are doing in Iraq that is good, but I am happy to hear about our activity with this type of partnership. If we could work with the Iraqi’s to make their legal system a bit more fair, a bit faster and more streamlined, I think it would be a good thing for them.

I’m sure there are many other good stories going on over there that involve our troops. Some people have closed their eyes and ears and won’t recognize anything we are doing in Iraq after finding out our motives for going into that country were fraudulent. I was close to that point, and then my brother was sent in. Talking to him before he left, he was proud of what he was doing and was looking forward to his experience in Iraq. I’ve been proud of him, and now knowing what he is doing is encouraging to me. Hopefully there are other stories happening in Iraq that we can all be proud of. I encourage all who might have closed their eyes to our troops there to open them up and find a good story. You may not even think that this is a good thing that our government is doing, helping Iraqi’s with their legal system. I understand. But I do know that there are good people in our military, who are working hard. I respect that, and am proud of what one soldier is doing, and I’m sure there are others.

Allison Bricker

“Change” was the cornerstone of President-Elect Obama’s campaign. Often spoken and vaguely defined, his hypnotic lip service to a nation weary of the “Bush Years” was enough to sweep him from the well of the Senate straight into the White House. The problem here is that as the days since the election become weeks, the individuals President-Elect Obama is selecting to fill out his staff and cabinet are more of the same old career politicians who have spent their lives sucking from the public trough. As the chart below illustrates, these are the same scoundrels which through their love of central nanny state planning, helped ensure the current economic crisis and erosion of inherent liberties.

This list reads like a veritable “Who’s Who” of beltway Washington Aristocrats, and these are just the sourced appointments to the Obama White House. Unconfirmed reports are also circulating that James Steinberg former Clinton Administration deputy national security adviser is on the short list to be President-Elect Obama’s choice for National Security Adviser.¹ How is someone to believe that President Elect Obama will help fix an imploding economy and divided nation when the same people who helped cause the mess are elevated yet again to positions of power?

The answer of course is that they will not. Moreover, a closer inspection of these filthy power hungry individuals yields even less hope for rolling back the massive unconstitutional powers decreed to the Executive Branch under President Bush. The truth is, the face of the puppet may have changed from bumbling dote to articulate persuasive figurehead, but outside of that it is business as usual.

If we look at the public statements and actions of those listed above, we see that their motivation comes solely from attaining more for themselves while throwing scraps to “we the people”. Eric Holder, who is on pace to be the next Attorney General for example, said in a 1999 interview:

“The court has really struck down every government effort to try to regulate it. We tried with regard to pornography. It is gonna be a difficult thing, but it seems to me that if we can come up with reasonable restrictions, reasonable regulations in how people interact on the Internet, that is something that the Supreme Court and the courts ought to favorably look at.”²

As we reported weeks ago, it is almost a certainty that an Obama Administration will seek to end the free flow of ideas exchanged across the internet vis-a-vi the “Fairness Doctrine 2.0″. Do we as Americans need the government to tell us what is “reasonable” or”safe” to listen to, read, or view? The Founders knew that allowing government to dictate what was “reasonable” was guaranteed to lead to one thing and one thing only, censorship.

Further complimenting President-Elect Obama’s socialist plans for our healthcare industry, are his picks for Chief of Staff and Secretary of State, Rahm Emanuel and Hilary Clinton respectively. Both were lead architects of the failed “Hilary Care” during the Clinton Administration.³ Rahm Emanuel as we reported is also the architect and ferverent supporter of forced unpaid labor via his “Compulsory Civil Service” program. Between Hillary Clinton and Rahm Emanuel they have received over $15.9 million in campaign contributions from healthcare industries, central bankers, criminal financiers, and bailout recipients.⁴ Care to guess which healthcare companies/individuals will receive government certification to administer and oversee the universal healthcare program?

Next, continuing President-Elect Obama’s perverse definition of “change” is his choice for Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner. Mr. Geithner is currently the President of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve. This guarantees that an Obama Administration will continue this debt based fiat currency system that is to the sole benefit of the private Central Bankers who own the Federal Reserve. The obvious conflict of interest in having a Federal Reserve branch President in charge of the U.S. Treasury, relying on his fellow Federal Reserve Central Bankers to loan the government money via Reserve Notes, should go without saying, and most likely will thanks to a mainstream media intoxicated by President-Elect Obama.

Additionally, many of us would love to be a fly on the wall during the times when Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury under the Clinton Administration and Hillary Clinton are in the same room. It would be most interesting to see how Hillary Clinton interacts with Mr. Summers, the former President of Harvard who resigned in disgrace in 2006 after remarking that “issues of intrinsic aptitude” could explain underrepresentation of women in the fields of science and engineering.⁵ Nice to know “Change” in Obama’s mind means appointing a misogynist who feels women are just too stupid in comparison to men.

In conclusion, during the next four years we will see campaign promises fall by the way side, massive government programs designed to fix the last batch of failed government programs, central planning and intervention into our economy which will exacerbate and prolong the coming depression; while benefiting central bankers, as well as a further shredding and trampling of our liberties and Constitution.

It is my opinion, President-Elect Obama’s definition of “Change” reeks of 1984 “doublespeak”.

Source(s): ¹Business Day - “Contenders for Key Posts in New Cabinet” • ² May 28, 1999 NPR Morning Edition • ³ Slate - “Obama’s Muscle” • ⁴ OpenSecrets.org - Hillary Clinton Record/Rahm Emanuel Record • ⁵ The Economic Times - “Lawrence Summer to become Obama’s Top Economic Adviser”

Sherri Davis

Autism affects numerous children and families, including my younger brother. This article is from the Chicago Tribune print edition by Monique Garcia and Ray Long. It immediately caught my attention. http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2008/11/autism-bill-goe.html

According to this article, the Autism bill anticipated will be passed by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. It is an ample bill with some serious repercussions. Illinois has about 4,500 families that would qualify. Each family would be eligible for benefits up to $36,000 per year up to the age of 21. This money would cover the early interventions, like speech and behavior therapy, that have resulted in improvements in children with Autism. (I’m not sure if this would cover the families with more than one child with Autism.)

Although I think this is a bill worth consideration, the article also mentions the strain on employers, especially those who are self-insured. I did the math on the approximate cost over 21 years for the estimated 4,500 families in Illinois and the cost runs about 3.4 Trillion dollars! Illinois is already in a budget deficit as is the rest of America.

While I am all for remedying this situation, I think this bill needs more consideration. I wonder what other families with children that have disabilities think? Will people take advantage? Will the insurance companies drop people or take advantage of the bill? Let me know what you think.