The American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Pamphlet # 322
"The Rest Of The Story.....16th Amendment"
by Beaver Cole
bcole@longview.net
Now You Know The Rest Of The Story
The income tax amendment was pushed through Congress in 1909
by
Sen. Nelson Aldrich, father-in-law of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
and
grandfather and namesake of Nelson A. Rockefeller.
At this time during the Taft administration,
Philander
Knox served as the Secretary of State from 1909 to 1913.
Knox
was for many years the primary attorney for the richest men in America,
including
Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan and the Vanderbilt's.
Just
a few days before he left office in 1913,
to make way for the Wilson administration,
Knox
proclaimed the 16th Amendment to be ratified,
even
though he knew it had not been legally ratified.
The
16th Amendment was not ratified as Knox had fraudulently proclaimed.
Ratified or not, the United States Supreme Court has ruled:
"...[the
16th Amendment] conferred no new power of taxation...
[and]...prohibited
the...power of income taxation
possessed
by Congress from the beginning from being taken out of the category
of
indirect
taxation to which it inherently belonged...
".
– United States Supreme Court in
Stanton v. Baltic Mining (1916)
Article V of the U.S. Constitution controls the amending process,
which
requires that three-fourths of the states ratify any amendment proposed
by Congress.
In
1913, there were 48 States in the American union,
so
to adopt any amendment required the affirmative act of 36 states.
The federal government claimed Kentucky
was
the second state to ratify the 16th Amendment, on Feb. 8, 1910.
However,
the records of the State of Kentucky show that
after
the Kentucky House proposed a resolution to adopt the amendment
and
sent it to the Senate, on Feb. 8, 1910 the Kentucky Senate voted upon that
resolution,
but
rejected it by a vote of 9 in favor and 22 opposed.
Apparently,
the Kentucky Senate never did ratify that amendment.
Federal
officials, who had possession of documents showing this rejection,
nevertheless claimed Kentucky had ratified the amendment.
In
Oklahoma, the proposed amendment was passed
by
the language of the 16th Amendment in such a fashion
as
to have a precisely opposite meaning.
The
California legislative assembly never recorded any vote
upon
any proposal to adopt the 16th Amendment.
And
whatever California did adopt bore no resemblance to what Congress had
proposed.
Several
states engaged in the unauthorized activity of amending
the
language of the amendment proposed by Congress,
a
power that these states did not possess.
Minnesota
sent nothing to the Secretary of State in Washington,
but
this did not stop Philander Knox
from claiming that Minnesota ratified the amendment,
regardless
of the absence of any documentation from the State of Minnesota.
In
February 1913, Knox issued a proclamation claiming that 38 states
had
ratified the amendment – including
Kentucky, California, and Oklahoma.
But
since Kentucky had rejected the amendment,
California
had not voted on it,
and Oklahoma wanted something entirely different,
the
amendment was not legally adopted,
the
number of ratifying States being only 35,
which
Knox said included Kentucky, California and Oklahoma.
Then
a total of 11 states failed to vote on the amendment,
plus
Minnesota sent in nothing.
That
would only leave 33 states,
less
the states that took it upon themselves to change the amendment.
In
the final analysis,
if
the process of the adoption of the 16th Amendment is subjected to strict
legal scrutiny,
the
amendment was never adopted.
Knox
told a boldface lie.
Thus,
Knox had created his clients’
the
largest cartel in the world.
Nevertheless,
the people were not buying into
the
tax scheme, ever so cognizant that a 1894 income-tax was declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1895.
During
World War I, the secretary of the Treasury
explicitly
suggested use of "widespread propaganda"
to
convince the public to forgo their "needless pleasures".
The
Treasury Department implemented what it called a
"campaign
of education" regarding the income tax.
Its
"essential features" included government-supplied news stories and editorials
as
well as encouragement of special cartoons and films.
Perhaps
the most intriguing feature was its use of the clergy.
The
commissioner of Internal Revenue reported that
"Thousands
of clergymen, at the suggestion of the Bureau,
made
taxation the subject of at least one sermon."
As
a result of the "patriotic response" aroused
"dissatisfaction and complaint over the burden imposed by taxation were
minimized."
Government
officials commented that "the groundwork was laid for
securing in ensuing years of prompt and regular response to revenue demands."
To perpetuate its success, the Bureau of Internal Revenue advocated
"the
most intensive cultivation of intelligent public opinion"
(U.S.
Treasury Department 1919: 964-65, 974).
The citizens of America still didn't buy into the scheme of income tax
allowing politicians to coerce them out of their hard earned money.
But
the greedy politicians would not give up.
To
increase public awareness and acceptance of the income tax,
the
government used volunteer public speakers
to persuade the American people that paying taxes
was
their patriotic duty to support the war effort.
One-third
of the cost of World War I was paid for by income taxes.
Additional
funds needed for the war effort were provided through war bonds,
liberty
loans and other government borrowing.
At
the beginning of World War II, in 1939
about
15 % of the people paid income tax.
That's
all!
The
government called on Walt Disney
to
produce a cartoon to support the war effort.
Disney
agreed and made a cartoon with Donald Duck.
The
cartoon urged the average American to save,
not
spend, their money...but to pay income tax to support the war.
(Cartoon):
You don't wanna forget our fighting men, do you laddy?
Donald:
"No, Sir!!!" Then you'll have to meet your tax payments...
Donald
also informed, "that it is Ëœyour privilege,
not
just your duty,
but
your privilege to help your government by paying your tax
and
paying it promptlyâ„¢."
More
than 32 million people saw the film in the first few months of 1942,
and
a Gallup poll reported that "37 percent felt the film had affected their
willingness to pay taxes.
"
Without doubt, such government propaganda
manipulated
political information in ways that raised
the
expected marginal cost of income tax resistance.
Revenues
increased dramatically.
In
1941 the government collected $7.4 billion in taxes.
By
1945, the tax total had increased to $43 billion.
At
the end of the war the government had 80% of American families paying income
tax.
The
willingness to pay income taxes and to buy more bonds
demonstrated
the deep involvement of the civilians caring and support to the military.
Politicians
had at last found the key to the unyielding pocket books of America.
As
the president and Congress imposed ever higher income taxes,
tax
payment was wrapped in patriotism and remains so today:
the
Korean War,
the
Cold War,
the
Vietnam War,
the
Gulf War,
wars
fought on behalf of the United Nations,
Defense
systems, supporting foreign governments
in
the name of freedom, etc.
Sixty years later nothing has changed;
Americans
are still paying taxes and being dumbed down
by
propaganda provided by the governments and the controlled media.
Docile
as we may be, with fluoride in our drinking water,
we are entertained with sports, recreation, movies,
and
just about anything else you can name all for sanctioning taxation.
Public
education being controlled by governments
has
also played a key role in developing a
subservient citizen towards taxation and government.
To prove this point we need only to look at what we are being told today.
The
government says "Budget Surplus,"
a
normal person would say, "No, Excessive Taxation",
or
"Abusive Taxation".
The
government says it's "their money",
a
normal person would say, "No, it's my money!"
The
government doesn't trust you with "your money",
and
therefore must decide on how it will be spent.
And
being a people fearful of the tyrants in government,
we
say nothing.
The National Taxpayer's Union says that taxes have gone up
175,000%
in the last 83 years.
Thomas
Jefferson warned:
"Single
acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day.
But
a series of oppressions,
begun at a distinguished period,
and
pursued unalterably through every change of ministers,
too
plainly proves a deliberate systematic plan of reducing us to slavery."
And
I say that 132 million Taxpayers
CAN
tell 435 Congressman,
100 Senators
and
1 President WHAT TO DO!
Let's make April 15th just another great spring day.
The
truth is there is no Constitutional law for income tax
as it is applied to the masses today.
This"American Wisdom Series"pamphlet
is
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Publishing Co.
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