The "American Wisdom Series"
    presents
  Pamphlet #533

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 30, 2003
 

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Liberty Amendment, which repeals the 16th Amendment, thus paving the way for real change in the way government collects and spends the people’s hard-earned money.  The Liberty Amendment also explicitly forbids the federal government from performing any action not explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution.

The 16th Amendment gives the federal government a direct claim on the lives of American citizens by enabling Congress to levy a direct income tax on individuals. Until the passage of the 16th amendment, the Supreme Court had consistently held that Congress had no power to impose an income tax.

Income taxes are responsible for the transformation of the federal government from one of limited powers into a vast leviathan whose tentacles reach into almost every aspect of American life.  Thanks to the income tax, today the federal government routinely invades our privacy, and penalizes our every endeavor.

The Founding Fathers realized that “the power to tax is the power to destroy,” which is why they did not give the federal government the power to impose an income tax. Needless to say, the Founders would be horrified to know that Americans today give more than a third of their income to the federal government.

Income taxes not only diminish liberty, they retard economic growth by discouraging work and production. Our current tax system also forces Americans to waste valuable time and money on complacence with an ever-more complex tax code. The increased interest in flat-tax and national sales tax proposals, as well as the increasing number of small businesses that questioning the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS)  “withholding” system provides further proof that America is tired of the labyrinthine tax code. Americans are also increasingly fed up with an IRS that continues to ride roughshod over their civil liberties, despite recent “pro-taxpayer” reforms.

Mr. Speaker, America survived and prospered for 140 years without an income tax, and with a federal government that generally adhered to strictly constitutional functions, operating with modest excise revenues. The income tax opened the door to the era (and errors) of Big Government. I hope my colleagues will help close that door by cosponsoring the Liberty Amendment.

 THE LIBERTY AMENDMENT

                                      The United States existed for nearly 140 years without an income
                                      tax. During that time, the federal government generally adhered to
                                      its limited constitutional functions.

                                      The federal income tax, authorized by the Sixteenth Amendment
                                      in 1913, fundamentally changed the role of the federal government
                                      in American life. Income tax revenues enabled government to grow
                                      wildly beyond its legitimate functions. Today, the massive federal
                                      bureaucracy regulates virtually every aspect of national life. The
                                      federal income tax has resulted in a tragic loss of liberty for all
                                      Americans.

                                      H.J. Res. 15 (The Liberty Amendment) is very simple. It would
                                      abolish the Sixteenth Amendment, thereby eliminating the federal
                                      income tax. It would also abolish the federal capital gains and
                                      estate taxes. The federal government would get less of our money.
                                      The Liberty Amendment would also prohibit the federal government
                                      from engaging in any business activity that competes with private
                                      business (except provided by the Constitution) and require the
                                      federal government to sell properties that were used in those
                                      business activities.

                                      Is eliminating the federal income tax impossible? No. Millions of
                                      Americans still believe in liberty. They, therefore, question the
                                      validity of the federal tax code, the I.R.S. and the Sixteenth
                                      Amendment itself. They understand that the federal leviathan is out
                                      of control. The Liberty Amendment can serve as a flashpoint for all
                                      of those voices.