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WTP-TV January 7, 2003
THE
LIBERTY
HOUR
with Bob Schulz WTP-TV
Bob Schulz : Good evening… and welcome to THE LIBERTY
HOUR
We are glad you could join us.
I’m Bob Schulz, Chairman of the We The People Foundation
for Constitutional Education and the We The People Congress.
The Liberty Hour is brought to you by concerned citizens –
ordinary, non-aligned citizens -- who love our country and our
Constitution but who have grave concerns about our government
because our government no longer honors our Constitution.
An arrogant, out-of-control and unaccountable government that
has no respect for the precious liberties of every
American citizen is destroying our sacred Bill of Rights – our
Rights, Liberties and Freedoms.
The People, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
rights, have reached a crossroad. We will either act together to
focus our spiritual and earthly energies toward solving this
problem or we will languish in ambivalence and indecision until
our Republic, our Constitution, our way of life and eventually
our freedom are gone.
We, the People, must not allow the Constitution to
become a dead letter.
Later, during this broadcast, I will outline a bold but
doable PLAN that the We The People Foundation and Congress will
spearhead – a plan designed to bring our servant government back
under the control of the People and our Constitution.
We CALL on all concerned Americans to unite behind the
PLAN. The hour IS late.
At the heart of the PLAN, which I will soon outline, is a
Mission Statement as follows:
"With the grace of God and with malice toward none, and
to force the leaders of the Executive and Legislative branches
of the federal government to respond to each of the four
Petitions for Redress of Grievances that were recently served on
every member of the Congress and President Bush, we will do
everything in our power, including the creation of a Legal
Defense Fund, to get three hundred thousand (300,000) employers,
employees, retirees and self-employed people to immediately
begin retaining and keeping in their possession the money that
they would otherwise have turned over to the federal
government."
Now, Before getting into some of the details of the PLAN,
I believe it necessary to provide the rationale behind the
PLAN and some information about who we are and our philosophy.
We will begin by hearing from one American who has heard THE
CALL. He is one of America’s finest citizens, an Officer
and a gentleman, a successful businessman, a family man, a man
who loves God and Country, a man who HAS served America
well, Charlie Beall. Charlie ….
Charlie Beall: Good evening. I’m Charlie Beall. Welcome
to the first live broadcast of the Liberty Hour from We The
People Foundation. This evening, you are witnessing history in
the making. This live broadcast represents the beginning of an
unprecedented multi-media communications initiative by We The
People Foundation For Constitutional Education.
In the coming months, through regularly scheduled live
broadcasts, we intend to reach millions of Americans with the
truth about our Constitutional form of government; our
God-given, unalienable rights and freedoms; and the sacred duty
that We The People have to support and defend our Constitution
and Bill of Rights.
We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education is a
non-partisan, pro-Constitution, network of patriotic citizens
who love our country, and are dedicated to America’s founding
principles of faith in God, limited government, equal justice,
due process of law, and respect for personal freedom and private
property.
For the past three years, we have been leading the fight to
restore our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and bring our
government back under the control of the People, where it
belongs.
We The People come from all walks of life, and our numbers are
growing daily. We are truck drivers and active duty military
personnel, we are welders and carpenters, doctors and attorneys,
judges and police officers, CPAs and ex-IRS agents,
schoolteachers and religious leaders. We are from every ethnic
background, faith tradition, color and creed. Simply stated--we
are Americans---and we share a Constitution and Bill of Rights
that sets us apart as one nation, under God.
This past week, We The People Foundation delivered personal
notices of tonight’s live broadcast to hundreds of thousands
of people nationwide. Personal notices were delivered to
President Bush, Senior Cabinet Officials, every member of the
U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, State Legislators,
Federal Circuit and Appellate Court Judges, Tax Court Judges,
Supreme Court Justices, the Governors of every state, the Mayors
of our largest cities, Newspaper Editors, Radio Talk Show Hosts,
Religious Leaders, Police Chiefs, County Sheriffs, IRS
Officials, CPAs, Tax Attorneys and thousands of other government
officials.
Tonight, our servant government is being put on notice: Obey the
United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, or We The People
will take whatever non-violent measures that are necessary to
bring you back under our control where you belong.
America’s founders clearly understood and accepted God’s
design and purpose for civil government, and were willing to
sacrifice there lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor
–everything they had--- to be free. They established a
Constitutional Republic that recognized the People’s
unalienable right to their lives, their liberty and their
property, with minimal government interference. Thus, America
was conceived as a magnificent experiment in freedom that was
unique in the annals of human history. And while the journey was
tumultuous at times, the freedom won by our forefathers was
ultimately extended to all citizens regardless of race, color,
religion or national origin---a testament to who we are as
Americans, and what we truly stand for, as "One Nation,
Under God".
What kind of government do we have in America today? Does our
federal government function according to God’s design and
purpose? Do our federal, state and local government officials
defend and protect the most vulnerable among us from evil and
injustice? Are the majority of our highest elected officials and
government leaders in Washington honest, honorable and loyal
Americans who can be trusted to protect and defend our
Constitution? Do our judges acknowledge God’s ultimate
authority over our nation and our nation’s laws, or do they
kneel at a different altar?
Unlike most politicians--who seldom fight the wars that they
start--those of us who have honorably served our nation in
uniform have a special duty to protect America’s future
generations from the deception and exploitation of false
patriots in our government. There is no honor in the slaughter
of innocent, helpless civilians for any political end. Our
forefathers intended America to serve as an example of strength,
justice and liberty to the world.
We must recognize that the powerful political and economic
interests that have dragged America into war after senseless war
over the past 50 years, have betrayed the ideals, the honor and
the values of our forefathers, and have compromised the
sovereignty and independence of our great Nation. Their
perfidious conduct is repugnant to our Constitution and the
principles upon which we stand as a Nation. For over 225 years,
America has stood as a beacon of light and hope to the world.
People of all nations, creeds and religions have come to our
shores yearning to be free.
The cause of enduring freedom belongs to all Americans. But, We
The People must demand honest, just and accountable government,
or we cannot hope for God’s continued blessing upon our
nation.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a critical juncture in the
history of our Republic. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are
hanging by a thread. America, as envisioned by our founders, and
preserved by the blood of those who have fought to keep us free,
will not survive without constant vigilance by We The People.
Today, the majority of our elected representatives, our judges,
and the heads of our federal law enforcement agencies, are
systematically, and with impunity, violating their oaths of
office.
They have betrayed their sworn and sacred obligation to support
and defend our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Every day, more
and more of our People are being denied equal justice in our
courts, protection of our private property, and respect for our
unalienable rights and dignity as free Americans. We have
allowed career politicians, government bureaucrats and federal
judges to gradually assume vast powers that were NOT delegated
to them by We The People in our Constitution.
If America is to survive as the hope of the world, we must
resolve to bind our government down once again by the chains of
our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Let me give you an example of what has been happening behind
the scenes in our nation’s capitol. On October 3, 2002, in a
public, recorded debate on the floor of the U.S. House of
Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas reminded
Congressman Henry Hyde of Illinois, the Chairman of the House
Committee on International Relations, that the Constitution
requires a Declaration of War before the armed forces of the
United States can be deployed in hostilities overseas. In
response to Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Hyde then had this
to say about our Constitution and Bill of Rights:
And I quote:……": There are things in the
Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. There
are things that are no longer relevant to a modern
society—things that are inappropriate,
anachronistic"…end quote.
To those who love our country, who honor and cherish the
ideals and principles upon which our great nation was
established, we must ask ourselves---how have we come to this
point where our government leaders can openly express such
contempt and disrespect for our Constitution, and our God-given
rights as Americans. To the millions of military veterans, law
enforcement officers and other patriotic Americans who have
taken an oath to support and defend our Constitution,
Congressman Hyde’s comments should be viewed as nothing less
than treason.
But tragically, the majority of our elected representatives
in both political parties---as well as the powerful financial,
corporate and special interests that control them, share
Congressman Hyde’s arrogance and disrespect for our
Constitution. These people have come to believe that our
Constitution is a dead letter. That our sacred Bill of Rights is
anachronistic and irrelevant in our modern times. That
America’s independence as a sovereign nation, and our
tradition of personal freedom should be exchanged for membership
in a New World Order.
A New World Order that despises our faith in God, our
Constitutional form of government and our unalienable freedom as
Americans. I proudly served our country as an officer in the
United States Marine Corps, and like millions of American
veterans, intend to keep my oath to support and defend the
Constitution and protect our nation against all enemies foreign
and domestic---including politicians and government officials
like Congressman Hyde who have no respect for our Constitution
and Bill of Rights.
While average Americans have been preoccupied with earning a
living, raising our children, and trying to be law-abiding
citizens, our government, for decades, has been diligently
working behind the scenes to assume more and more power and
control over our daily lives. Working Americans have been
economically enslaved by a fraudulent income tax system that
steals the fruits of our labor and squanders our financial
resources on unconstitutional government programs, aid to
corrupt foreign governments, and preemptive military
intervention across the globe. It is sad but true--the average
American family today pays more in taxes-- than it pays for
food, clothing and shelter combined.
After years of exhaustive legal research and public hearings
in Washington, DC, We The People Foundation has irrefutably
proven that our personal income tax system in America is
fraudulent in its origin, and illegal in every aspect of its
operation. It is immoral, unjust and dishonest. It is not
required to fund the lawful, constitutional functions of our
government. Our elected leaders are well aware that they have
other, constitutional means, such as excise taxes, corporate
taxes, tariffs, imposts and duties, to raise sufficient revenue
for the legitimate operations of government.
So, why do our government leaders allow this fraud to continue
against the working people of America? Simply stated, it is
nothing more than greed and the desire for absolute political
power and authority over the People. Let’s be clear, the
fruits of our labor do not belong to Caesar, and we are not
commanded by our Creator to kneel before false idols or summit
to civil government that is immoral, coercive and unjust. The
personal income tax system in America undermines everything that
we stand for as a free people.
For the past three years, We The People Foundation has been
fighting to abolish this illegal direct tax on the labor of
working Americans. For those of you have stood with us in our
efforts to restore our Constitution and Bill of Rights, we thank
you for your integrity, your courage and your sacrifice. We must
never forget that, in America, like no other country in history,
the People, not the government, are sovereign. Our right to
life, liberty and property are unalienable rights---natural
rights---God-given rights--- our rights do not come from
government or man.
It is the generous spirit of the American People, our abiding
faith in God, our sense of community, our love of personal
freedom, and respect for our divinely inspired Constitution and
Bill of Rights that set us apart from every other nation in the
world. No other country on the face of the earth has a written
constitution that expressly limits the powers of its government,
and a Bill of Rights that guarantees the People’s freedom.
Tonight, We The People Foundation begins a new chapter in our
vigilant struggle for liberty. In the months ahead, through
weekly live broadcasts of the Liberty Hour, we will share with
America the truth about our divinely inspired, constitutional
form of government---and what we together, must do, to keep it.
Over 200 years ago, the father of our Constitution, James
Madison wrote: "To preserve the Republic, it is in the
hands of the people. We have staked the whole future of American
civilization not upon the power of government, far from it. We
have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon
the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity
of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves,
to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments"
Bob Schulz, the founder and Chairman of We The People
Foundation For Constitutional Education has devoted his life to
the restoration of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. He is a
true patriot. His integrity, honor, courage and love of country,
have been a source of encouragement and inspiration to Americans
who share his commitment to the eternal cause of freedom.
Thank you for joining us this evening, and may God bless you.
Back to you, Bob.
Bob Schulz: Thank you Charlie, for your inspiring words.
As our Founding Fathers clearly held, retaining and
keeping in our possession the money that we would
otherwise have turned over to the government, is the only real
practical, non-violent method to corral those that have seized
power from the People.
Power concedes nothing without force. Force is the
application of energy and pressure to achieve movement.
The We The People organization encourages Americans to know
what their Rights are, to pay attention to what the
government is doing, to compare the actions of
government with the requirements of our state and federal
constitutions and to confront the government whenever
it is doing something that is in conflict with the will of the
People as expressed in our Constitutions.
As far as we know, our organization is a unique organization.
Simply put, its members and supporters do not wish to
tolerate unconstitutional behavior by those wielding
governmental power. And, we do not suffer lightly
insulting and contemptuous behavior by our servant government.
Our motto is "ACTA, NON VERBA" – Deeds, Not
Words.
We encourage Americans to confront governmental
wrongdoing intelligently, rationally, professionally and
above all, non-violently.
We are an organization that deals with facts, not
opinions.
We shun political questions. We deal only with
constitutional issues of governance.
We are non-partisan, believing that all political
parties are by their nature corruptive – they cause
individual loyalties to flow first to the Party, rather than
to the Constitution, leading away from the Rule of Law
to the Rule of Man and the Rule of whim.
So much for who we are.
Now a brief word about our Constitutions.
Every state is a Republic, with its own State Constitution.
Our State Constitutions govern the behavior of ALL elected
and appointed officials in the state, far more so than does
the federal Constitution, which hardly ever comes into play in
the day-to-day administration of the state.
Unfortunately, most people do not even know they have a
state constitution.
Take it from someone who knows, most of the problems in our
States would disappear if many more people would hold their
state and local officials accountable to their state
constitutions, in and out of court. I am in my 23rd
year of confronting unconstitutional behavior by local and
state officials in New York State.
However, as I have learned all too well, we can’t depend
entirely on the Judiciary. To my dismay, I have learned that
the judiciary is not as independent as it was designed to be.
It is highly politicized and corrupted. Some governmental
reform that the People are entitled to is simply not possible
through the courts, especially on matters that get to the
heart of the money and power issues.
You can read and download a copy of your State Constitution
from our home page.
As with our State Constitutions, our federal Constitution
is a set of principles to govern our federal
government. It stands above our state constitutions. If
there is a conflict between the federal Constitution and any
provision of a state constitution, the federal Constitution
governs.
It appears most Americans do not know much about
their Constitutions and the history, meaning, effect and
significance of the provisions and underlying principles, such
as "popular sovereignty" and the "separate
powers" doctrine.
Most Americans DO know, that the People are the
source of all political power – they know that the
People have the power to decide who our public officials will
be. (After all, they can’t get into office unless
the People vote them in). However, most Americans do NOT
know that each and every one of our elected Representatives,
including the President and every legislative body in
America, including the Congress, are meant to be chained
down by the Constitution.
Our Constitution is a strongly worded set of principles to govern
the government, not the people. America is the only nation
on earth where the People’s unalienable Rights are
recognized in their Constitution, the People are sovereign
and the government is a servant government.
In throwing off one government and designing for and
instituting another, the founding fathers, wrote it all down
in the founding document – the Declaration of Independence
-- all men are created equal and are endowed by their "Creator"
with unalienable rights; the purpose of government was
to secure/guarantee those rights -- to protect men, one from
another, and from the government itself -- deriving its powers
from the consent of the governed. They wrote
that they were relying on a "divine Providence."
They also gave written tribute to "Nature's God."
If the Creator, in fact, has gratuitously provided,
equipped and enriched the People with unalienable Rights (as
the founding fathers agreed was the case), it follows that
those Rights belong to the People and to the Creator.
It follows that an affront to the Constitution is an affront
to the Creator, as when government attempts to violate an
endowed, unalienable Right.
If our Rights come from the Creator, only the Creator
can frustrate and defeat our Rights. As the founders said, a
fundamental purpose of the Peoples' Constitution is to remind
the government that it (the government) cannot trespass on
the Rights of the Creator's People -- government cannot
break off what God has put in place.
Surely then, an offense against the Constitution is
an offense against the Creator.
If the Constitution does not specifically say some action
by government is authorized, our servant government is not
to engage in that activity. PERIOD.
The People have not only formed their government and
enabled the government to act in certain ways, they have purposely
and markedly restricted and prohibited the government from
acting in certain ways.
We, the People, have the right and the power to
establish limits to the authority of government. When
government takes one step beyond those limits, it takes
possession of a boundless field of power, no longer capable of
definition.
There is a word for rulers who believe they are
unrestrained by law or constitutions -- for those usurpers
of popular sovereignty. That word is "Tyrant."
There is a word for a system of government in which the
rulers have unlimited power. That word is "Despotism."
In the interest of protecting, enhancing and preserving
individual liberty and freedom, the People must pay
attention to what government is doing and Petition (question)
government when they are aggrieved –when the
government steps outside the boundaries the People have drawn
around its power by the written Constitutions, infringing
on one or more of our unalienable Rights.
Make no mistake about this. Government IS the enemy
of freedom. Unrestrained government is not
the benefactor of the people. Unrestrained government ENDS
freedom.
Public education (education by the government), has all but
replaced private education in America and the government has
apparently decided that it is not in its best
interest to teach our children about the essential
principles underlying our system of governance or that they (the
children) have a developing responsibility as they go
through their lives to question governmental behavior
and to confront unconstitutional and illegal actions by
our elected representatives. Instead, generations of children
have been led to believe that the State is sovereign
and that our system of governance is a democracy (rather than
a Constitutional Republic) .
As Americans, we democratically elect our political
representatives. But America is not a Democracy.
Democracy is mob-rule. In a Democracy, 51% of the
voting population can deny 49% of their fellow citizens their
unalienable rights to life, liberty and property. That is
not what our Creator and the founders intended for us when
they wrote the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution
and Bill of Rights 225 years ago.
In a Republic, such as we have in America, every one of
our citizens -- regardless of his or her race, religion,
political influence, social status, or economic station in
life -- has unalienable, constitutionally protected
rights that cannot be lawfully abridged by a power-hungry
government. And it is those who are most vulnerable to the
abuses of democratic mob-rule and governmental tyranny who are
most protected by our republican form of government.
We remember those occasions in modern history when
democratically elected governments have violated their
citizen's most basic rights to life, liberty and property
because a majority of the population found it acceptable.
In America, there are only two things that stand between
the people and governmental tyranny -- our Constitution
and our will as a free people to protect and defend it.
THE LIBERTY HOUR is dedicated to the defense of our
Constitution and the protection, preservation and enhancement
of our individual, unalienable Rights, Liberties and Freedoms.
Foremost among the tools we have in our possession is the
unalienable Right to Petition an out of bounds government for
a Redress of Grievances.
In America, the right to petition our government for a
redress of grievances is the basis of our liberty. Our
founders explicitly recognized this right in the first
amendment to our constitution -- for they understood that
without it, we could not have a servant government
whose power is defined and limited by the consent of the
people.
Think about it. We have all those Rights we often hear
about – the Right to worship and speak freely, to keep and
bear arms, to property and privacy, to equal protection and
due process, to juries and speedy trials, and so forth. But,
what if government infringed on those Rights and we did not
have the Right to Petition for a Redress of those
grievances. Then, in effect, we would not have those Rights.
Right?? That’s how important the Right to Petition
for Redress of Grievances is. It’s that basic to the
protection of our Liberty.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
states clearly and unambiguously: "Congress shall make NO
law …abridging …the right of the people … to petition the
government for a redress of grievances."
While some Rights are reserved with qualifications in the
Bill of Rights, there are none whatsoever pertaining to
the Right of Redress. There are no limits on the
Right of Redress. Any constitutional offense is legitimately petitionable.
Is it possible that government might choose to ignore
the People’s Petitions for Redress of Grievances?
Yes, of course. After all, government gets down to
people and people suffer from human frailties – like the
love of money and power.
The founding fathers were well acquainted with the fact
that government, as human, IS THE ENEMY of Freedom,
that those wielding governmental power despise petitions
from the People and that the representatives of the People, in
a popular assembly, such as Congress and our state
legislatures, seem sometimes to fancy that they are the People
themselves and exhibit strong symptoms of impatience and
disgust at the least sign of opposition from any quarter.
The founding fathers knew that it was possible for
the institutions of the Congress, the Executive and the
Courts to someday begin to fail in their duty to protect the
people from tyranny.
The founding fathers also knew that unless the
Right to Petition included the right to withhold their money
from the government UNTIL their grievances were redressed, their
grievances might fall on deaf ears and Liberty would give
way to tyranny, despotism and involuntary servitude.
The founding fathers, in an act of the Continental Congress
in 1774, said, and I quote:
"If money is wanted by Rulers who have in any
manner oppressed the People, [the People] may retain [their
money] until their grievances are redressed, and thus
peaceably procure relief, without trusting to despised
petitions or disturbing the public tranquility."
This very American Right of Redress of Grievances Before
Taxes is deeply embedded in our law.
The founding fathers could hardly have used words more
clear when they declared, "the people … may retain
[their money] until their grievances are [remedied]."
By these words, the founding fathers fully recognized and
clearly stated: that the Right of Redress of Grievances
includes the right of Redress Before payment of Taxes,
that this Right of Redress Before Taxes lies in the
hands of the People, that this Right is the
People’s non-violent, peaceful means to procuring a remedy
to their grievances without having to depend on – or
place their trust in -- the government’s willingness
to respond to the People’s petitions and without
having to resort to violence.
Before going further, I’d like to clarify two points:
first, the questions we are faced with today are not
whether the government has the power to tax, but whether the
government is abusing its constitutionally limited power to
tax; and second, there is the question of whether the
government is using the tax revenue to effect other abuses
of its authority.
So, we have the founding fathers, sitting as the
Continental Congress, in 1774, saying clearly that this Right
of Redress Before Taxes was the means by which
"the public tranquility" was to be maintained. Then,
sitting as the Constitutional Convention, the founding
fathers declared that one of the major purposes of the
(federal) government was to "insure domestic
tranquility." Therefore, whenever the Right to
Petition for Redress is violated, the People have a double
grievance: a denial of justice by the government and,
an incitement by the government to general unrest.
Any notion, spurious act of Congress or opinion by a Court,
that taxes must by paid before Redress, is a perversion
of Natural Law, of modern English law, of the American
Constitution and of Truth and Justice.
The reverse principle of "Taxes Before
Redress" is based on the essence of monarchy
and kingly power: the king owns everything under his domain.
People possess property under a monarch by his grace
alone. Since a king owns everything under his domain,
he merely has to speak to lawfully dispose of his
property. Thus, if a king imposed a tax on land he imposed it
on his own land and whoever occupied the land was
obligated to pay the tax to the king’s treasury. A tax,
then, being a part of the king’s property, was
legally presumed to be in the possession of the king before
and after its assessment.
Since the landholder, or landless subject, enjoyed the
privilege of tenancy on the land only by the will of the
king, he could be required to pay over the tax before
he could contest the assessment—or redress a grievance.
Thus, the theory that a tax must be paid before redress
rests on the presumption that society is organized as a
monarchy; that all people living in that society exist by
grace of an autocrat – whether one man or an assembly of
men. This proposition was soundly rejected by the Founders
in designing our unique system of governance.
In America, such presumptions constitute grievances. The
first duty of any officer is to uphold the Constitution –
the entire Constitution, without reservation and without
bribery or blackmail.
Petitioning the government for a Redress of Grievance
naturally includes the ability to compel admissions –
the production of information and answers to questions.
Jefferson wrote, and I quote: "The right of freely
examining public characters and measures, and of
free communication among the people thereon,…has ever
been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of
every other right."
According to the Right of Redress, as the Founders
described it, we have a right to withhold taxes if
government violates our Rights. But, as American courts
describe the Right, we must suffer the injury, pay the taxes,
and only then, sue for Redress against an adversary with unlimited
resources.
The idea that taxes are to be paid before
redress is asserted by Congress in the Internal Revenue Code
at Section 7421, which states, "no suit for the purpose
of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall
be maintained in any court by any person …."
How repugnant! American government is supposed to be
organized to protect American citizens; but section 7421
authorizes the IRS to destroy them with impunity and the
judiciary is cooperating with the executive and legislative
branches in a collective decision to deny the People their
constitutional Rights. Such acts of government are
unconstitutional and must be stopped.
In America, the right to petition our government for
redress of grievances is at the Foundation of our liberty.
Our founders explicitly recognized this right in the first
amendment to our constitution -- for they understood that
without it, we could not have a servant government whose
power is defined and limited by the consent of the people.
In America, the right to petition our government for a
Redress of Grievances is an unalienable right. It
derives from our faith in a supreme being - an ultimate moral
authority from whom we gain our understanding of equality,
justice and the rule of law. Implicit in our first
amendment constitutional right to petition our government for
a redress of grievances, is the government's absolute moral
and legal obligation to respond, honestly and completely, to
the people's petition.
This is the essential cornerstone of Popular Sovereignty --
a government of the People, by the People and for the People.
In 1791, the right to petition became primary among the
Rights of the People of the United States of America, as
expressed in, and guaranteed by, the First Amendment.
Some would have us believe that our First Amendment right
of petition is nothing more than a guarantee of free speech;
that this vital constitutional protection -- the very basis of
our liberty -- is simply a right to voice our grievances to
the government. Some would try to convince us that We The
People do not have the absolute right to an honest and
complete response to our petitions -- or the authority to
demand that our government correct the abuses and violations
of our liberties that result in our petitions. Some would even
go so far as to say it is merely a Right to complain,
with no expectation of response.
This is nonsense! This is dangerous talk to a
free people. We will not listen to those who would
denigrate our Constitution, and undermine the principles of
liberty and justice that gave birth to our nation. At best
they are imbeciles, and at worst they are tyrants -- or
"sharing bedrooms" with tyrants.
We must guard against this nonsense. We must harden our
hearts to these false notions that government is God. We must
recognize that even in the long run government can never be
rational, without a principled Constitution firmly rooted in
Liberty. Government has but one legitimate purpose
-- to serve and protect all of the people equally. Government
is not God. It is our servant. It is accountable to the
People.
The right to Petition for Redress of Grievances is the
final protection -- the final, peaceful check and
balance in our system of Constitutional government in
which the government derives its limited powers from the
consent of the sovereign people. This is the right which
publicly reveals and reiterates for all, who is Master and who
is Servant.
The way the system is now working, however, is in sharp
contrast to the way it was designed to work. The servant is
taking over the House: the government has brought
us to the brink; the Constitution is hanging by a thread.
Not only is the government neglecting its duties, it is
operating outside the boundaries the People have drawn
around its powers.
The following are just some of our grievances.
First: In violation of the War Powers Clauses of the
Constitution, the President has colluded with the Congress to
pass legislation that transfers to the President the power to
apply the armed forces of the United States of America in
hostilities in Iraq without a congressional Declaration of
War.
Second: In a hasty response to widespread fear and panic
following 9/11, our elected representatives voted on the
"U.S.A. Patriot Act" (with many having not read),
which by the plain language of the Act, violates and seizes
a number of the unalienable rights of the People.
Third: Our government has relinquished direct control of
the monetary system of this nation to a privately owned
central bank and has transformed our money into nothing but
limitless debt. And, a significant portion of the Federal
Reserve stock is held by foreign entities.
And Fourth, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal
Revenue Service reneged on their July 2001 agreement to appear
at a recorded, public forum to answer the People’s Petition,
with its well documented legal charges, relating to the
fraudulent origin and illegal operation of the federal income
tax system.
These are tyrannical and despotic acts.
Are they to be tolerated by the People of the United States
of America -- a free People?
We say "NO." We say, "NEVER."
On October 7, 2002, we posted these four Petitions for
Redress on our web site.
We urge everyone to read, and if so moved, to add their
names to the thousands that have already signed them.
On November 8, 2002, the four Petitions, signed by
thousands of American citizens who reside in all 435
Congressional Districts, were hand delivered to the
offices of each member of the House of Representatives and
each member of the Senate.
On November 12, 2002, the Petitions were each formally
served on President Bush.
To repeat, the Petitions address specific constitutional
grievances relating to: 1) the War Powers Clauses of the
Constitution and the Iraq Resolution; 2) the privacy, due
process and free speech clauses of the Constitution and the
USA Patriot Act; 3) the money clauses of the Constitution and
the Federal Reserve System; and 4) the tax-related clauses of
the Constitution and the federal Income Tax system.
With the exception of the Income Tax Petition, the
Petitions for Redress include specific questions, which We,
the People have rightfully expected to be answered. We, the
People have an unalienable Right to freedom FROM a government
that does NOT RESPOND to proper Petitions for Redress.
With respect to the Income Tax Petition, we were further
along. Our questions have already gone unanswered by the
government following its receipt of an earlier Petition for
Redress regarding the fraudulent origin of the income tax
system and its illegal operation. The current, our second,
Petition on the Income Tax Grievances moved the petitioning
process to the next level with its list of demands. There is
more to the petitioning process than the mere submittal of the
Founders referred to as the "despised" petitions.
The People’s Petitions respectfully requested each
congressperson and the President to send a representative to
meet with a very large delegation representing the People from
all 50 states and all 435 Congressional Districts at 2 P.M.,
on November 14, 2002, on the National Mall, to either answer
the questions OR to tell the People when the questions will
be answered. Hundreds of people from nearly every state in
the union were there, most having driven in caravans, to await
the government’s response to the Petitions for Redress.
With the government’s failure to respond, we can see a
clear pattern. Our elected representatives do not feel
compelled to honor their oaths of office, to respect the
Constitution, to respond to the People.
We must now take the appropriate next step.
As of November 14, 2002, the government has left us no
choice but to engage in civil action – a pro-active,
non-violent mass movement, with the explicit goal
of restoring the Republic by bringing the government back
under the control of the People and our Rule Book – the
Constitution of the United States of America.
We appear to have reached the point where the institutions
of the Court and the Congress and the Executive have failed in
their Constitutional duty to protect the people from tyranny.
The government is refusing to answer the People’s
allegations of governmental wrongdoing. Unless the People
withhold their money from the government their grievances will
continue to fall on deaf ears and Liberty will give way
to tyranny, despotism and involuntary, economic servitude.
Every adult in this nation has a personal duty and a moral
responsibility, that stem directly from our heritage, to repel
the tyrannical acts of those to whom the People have granted
well-defined and limited powers.
The right to Petition is the foundation of Popular
Sovereignty and is the direct vehicle for the peaceful,
non-violent resolution of matters involving errant government.
This right is the procedural mechanism that enables the People
to call any branch of their servant government before
them.
To repeat, in America, there are only two things that stand
between the people and government tyranny -- our Constitution,
and our will as a free people to protect and defend it.
These petitions are about us – We, the People of
America. They are proof of our resolve to correct our
government’s abusive and unlawful behavior.
As a People, who are we? And who do we want to be? What
kind of country do we want to leave to our children and future
generations of Americans?
We must not tolerate tyranny merely to be comfortable.
Again, we ask: What does a free People do when confronted
with a government that refuses to honor, and systemically
schemes to evade the boundaries and limitations established
for it by We, the People?
We stand at the brink of a Constitutionally unauthorized
war and the meltdown of a monetary system based on the endless
conjuring of debt.
Under the guise of "protecting" us from
terrorists, our government is attempting to seize our most
fundamental rights and deprive us of their protections.
To finance it all, the IRS and the Department of Justice
use intimidation by, and the power of, what is fast becoming a
police state, to enforce and prosecute offenses of tax
"laws" --- yet they continue to refuse to cite the
specific legal authority that purportedly allows them to
enforce those laws.
If the People fail to act, we will end forever the chapter
in human history when a People reigned sovereign, and the
chains of a written constitution limited and bound their
government to their service.
We have a choice. YOU have
a choice.
The nature of our resistance is clear. It is not an act of
anarchy or rebellion; rather it is an act of resistance to a
government that is violating the purposes for which the
Creator -- through the People and the Constitution -- has
ordained civil government.
We are not "anti-war." We are not
"anti-tax." We are not "anti-government."
We are "pro-constitution" and
"anti-fraud."
Thus far we have pursued peaceful reconciliation and
petition. It is the President and the Congress who have
refused to respond to our Petitions for Redress of Grievances,
in violation of the 1st Amendment.
We did not initiate this conflict. We have been fully
committed to peaceful reconciliation and have pursued that
course for decades.
We have no desire for resistance or violence of any kind.
However, in the People's peaceful reconciliation attempts, the
People's petitions and appeals have been met with force, and
in some instances with near- military force.
The defense of our homes, families, properties and
possessions is a most important point to us. It is our
heritage. It is our Right.
There is not the most distant thought of subverting the
government or of hurting the interest of the people of
America, but of defending our personal Rights, Freedoms and
Liberties from unjust encroachment.
There was not the least desire of withdrawing our
allegiance from the leaders of the branches until it became
absolutely necessary -- and, indeed, it has been their own
choice.
Our political leaders know that our cause is just.
They know that we, the People, struggle for that freedom to
which all men are entitled -- that we struggle against
oppression, seizure, plunder, extortion and more than savage
barbarity.
We are not moved by any light or hasty suggestion of anger
or revenge. Through every possible change of fortune we adhere
peaceably to this determination.
Our property and happiness have been attacked. Our
self-defense against an aggressor government is righteous.
Our civil action is for the cause of civil justice -- a
righteous struggle, undertaken in defense of our property, our
happiness and our families. It is to oppose the invasions of
usurped power.
We will bravely suffer present hardships and face future
dangers, to secure the rights of humanity and the
blessings of freedom for generations yet unborn.
It is our obligation, as responsible citizens of this
country, to set a proper value upon, and to defend to the
utmost, our just rights and the blessings of Life and Liberty.
Without this personal commitment, a few unprincipled
individuals would tyrannize the People, and make the passive
multitude the slaves of their power. Thus it is that civil
action is not only justifiable, but an indispensable duty
to correct these wrongs.
It is upon these principles that we are resisting
the government and will oppose force with non-violent force.
Any wage earner or retiree who gives money to the
federal government and any employer who withholds money from
the paychecks of working Americans is undermining the
People’s Rights, Freedoms and Liberties. Under the present
circumstances, their behavior must be considered to be un-American.
As our Founders said so clearly: "If money is wanted
by Rulers who have in any manner oppressed the People, [the
People] may retain [their money] until their grievances are
redressed, and thus peaceably procure relief, without
trusting to despised petitions or disturbing the public
tranquility."
We the People must get Redress of Grievances before
payment of income taxes.
No Answers. No Taxes!
Remember this. The United States Government has failed to
respond to the well-founded charges of the People. Their
failure to respond to the People’s critical questions of law
and Constitution can only be interpreted as complete
verification that the charges are TRUE.
Just as in a court of law, if a defendant does not respond
to a specific allegation of fact, it may inferred, as a matter
of proper judicial procedure that the allegation is true.
Our government’s administrators and elected
representatives have an explicit legal duty to respond to our
Petitions for Redress. Unless, and until, these officials
respond to our charges they will be properly assumed to be
true and the People may proceed accordingly to secure their
Redress.
Our campaign to stem and restrict the funding of this
government is based on several core and extremely defensible
legal bases:
1) The 1st Amendment secures the Peoples’
Right to Petition for Redress. This Foundation has dutifully
documented the US Government’s repeated failure – indeed
outright refusal – to respond to our Petitions. For
this alone, the People are justified to act.
2) The US Government patently refuses to cite ANY specific
statutory authority to assess income taxes against the
ordinary wages and salaries of this nation’s People. For
this alone, the People are justified to act.
3) The US Government patently refuses to cite ANY specific
authority giving them bona fide legal jurisdiction to enforce
US Income Tax law inside the geographical boundaries of the
fifty states. For this alone, the People are justified
to act.
4) The US Government refuses to cite the specific authority
that MANDATES that employees submit to withholding, that
employers must withhold and that citizens of this nation are
in fact, in any manner, LIABLE for these taxes. For this
alone the People are justified to act.
5) The US Government continues to administratively enforce
US tax law in a manner that plainly violates many aspects of
the Constitution including gross violations of the Right to
due process, privacy, property and the right to a court order
resulting from a bona fide judicial hearing before property or
wages may be seized by our government. For this alone
the People are justified to act.
6) The Department of Justice, in collusion with the federal
courts have acted broadly to deny justice, fairness and due
process to those accused of so called "tax crimes,"
resulting in a de facto two-tier system of
justice – one for "real criminals" the other for
so tax so-called tax "criminals." For this
alone the People are justified to act.
7) The US Government has imposed upon the People, for the
purposes of deceiving them and to engage in unconstitutional
social and economic manipulation, a system of tax law that is
so complex and so incomprehensible -- it violates the most
basic precept of a nation that claims it is built squarely
upon the "Rule of Law and the Void for Vagueness
Principle" – that the People need to be able to know
what the laws says and understand WHAT IT MEANS. For
this alone the People are justified to act.
8) The US Government immorally and unlawfully converts
monies collected from the income tax system to fund operations
of government that are not authorized by the plain, written
language of the US Constitution. For this alone the
People are justified to act.
Not only are the People now justified to act, but these
reasons constitute a complete umbrella, a shield of legal
defense to any such civil or criminal charges the federal
government may bring to halt the tide of businesses,
employees, retirees and ordinary citizens that will now act to
enforce our Right to Petition and in defense of our
Constitutionally protected Rights..
The exercise of a Right can never be construed, or
interpreted to be a crime. We have the Right of Redress before
taxes.
Indeed, not only is the right of "Redress of any grievance
before the payment of any taxes" a proper
justification to retaining tax money LEGALLY OWED to the
government – but in the case of the individual income
tax – these taxes --- BY THE GOVERNEMT’S OWN SILENCE --
cannot be lawfully "forced" from most Americans –
because there is NO LAW, no legal authority, for this tax.
Therefore, the People’s Right to retain and hold onto the
fruits of their labor until their Petitions for Redress of
Grievances are answered by their servant government is
completely defensible, morally justified, ethical and
patriotic under any cannon or construction of law.
As our Founding Fathers explicitly noted, retaining and
keeping in our possession the money that we would otherwise
have turned over to the government is the only real practical,
non-violent method to corral those that have seized power from
the People without the People’s consent. Power concedes
nothing without force. Force is the application of energy and
pressure to achieve movement.
There is no middle ground. Each citizen, business owner and
employee will commit to, and support the noble cause of
freedom or we will witness its all-but-certain demise
We urge all Americans to move beyond the fear and anguish
of confronting these truths and move to help us restore our
Republic and our Constitution.
We urge all Americans to not judge what our nation is today
– but imagine what it might become tomorrow.
Do not accept the images you see on the network news as the
only reality that is possible for this nation and, indeed for
this planet.
Do not set your benchmark for your personal standards of
freedom and liberty upon the ghastly abuses of mankind that
are lived daily across this Earth.
The standard is not what IS, in Mexico, or in
Central America, or in the Pacific Rim, but what WAS in
America.
Believe in the Constitution and the ideals of freedom that
were once taught in schools. Consider in your heart WHY our
forefathers committed to sacrifice their lives, their fortunes
and their sacred honor… to surrender it all for God and
Country.
Believe that regardless of what the future holds -- the
spirit of the People, the Blessings of liberty and the Light
of our Creator, can -- and will -- deliver this nation to a
place where the true promise of the America can be lived by
all in our land and offer itself as beacon of hope for all
mankind.
We have the law on our side.
We have right on our side.
We have the Constitution on our side.
We have each other to join with to become an army of "Davids"
-- each with power to bring down "Goliath".
Tonight it begins. Tonight the People act – peacefully
– legally and Constitutionally to restore order, justice and
freedom to our nation and for our posterity.
With the assistance of concerned citizens everywhere, here
is what WE will do to successfully complete our
mission.
1. We will broadcast THE LIBERTY HOUR every Tuesday at 9:30
P.M. (Eastern), 6:30 P.M. (Pacific).
2. We will provide "How to Stop Withholding"
instructions and forms for employers. These instructions will
be readable and printable from personal computers, without
charge.
3. We will provide "How to Approach Your Employer to
Stop Withholding" instructions and forms for employees.
These instructions will be readable and printable from
personal computers, without charge.
4. We will provide "How to Stop Filing Tax Returns and
Paying" instructions and forms for employees. These
instructions will be readable and printable from personal
computers, without charge.
5. We will provide "How to Stop Filing Tax Returns and
Paying" instructions and forms for retirees. These
instructions will be readable and printable from personal
computers, without charge.
6. We will provide "How to Stop Filing Tax Returns and
Paying" instructions and forms for the self-employed.
These instructions will be readable and printable from
personal computers, without charge.
7. We will advertise the availability of these instructions
and forms on the Internet, in the print and broadcast media
and on billboards across America.
8. We will establish a Legal Defense Fund. We will retain a
team of attorneys. Should any government representative
contact any participant in the Fund because the participant
took any of the actions recommended to in 1-7 above, the
participant need only contact the Fund. The Fund will
represent the participant as appropriate, including filing an
action against the government representative in his or her
individual capacity for violating the Rights of the
participant under color of law.
9. Using the We The People Congress, we will organize the
People and institutionalize citizen vigilance in all 435
congressional districts in the country, sending a strong
message to the government, " An act of tyranny anywhere
is a threat to Freedom everywhere -- if you come after one of
us, you come after all of us." Picking up on one of
Jefferson’s ideas, we will develop "Internet Ward
Republics."
10. We will reorganize the We The People Foundation and
Congress to broaden the geographical representation on the
Boards of Directors and to establish a presence across the
Potomac from the District of Columbia, with a full-time paid
staff. We need to Improve our Database and Information
Mgt Systems. We need administrators. We need public communications
people.
11. We will schedule national strike days, national
boycotts, and national days of prayer and fasting.
12. We will seek Gifts and Bequests, Donations and
contributions, WTP Congress Membership Dues ($ 25/yr, unless
you tell us you can’t afford to pay the dues, in which case
we will add you to our membership list for $1.00), Legal
Defense Fund Dues ($ 300/yr), and donations for our
educational tapes, CDs, DVDs, Reports, Jackets, Flags, Bumper
Stickers, and so forth.
Additional details on every element of the PLAN will be
posted on our web site and discussed during our Tuesday
broadcasts of THE LIBERTY HOUR.
We will make things happen and get things done as quickly
as we can. Remember, there are tens of thousands of you, but
only a few of us. Please be judicious in the number and
content of you e-mails and phone calls to office. Rely,
instead, on our web site and on THE LIBERTY HOUR for
information and answers to your questions.
Many People continue to ask, "What can I do to
help."
We need all of you:
Everyone should consider joining or renewing your
memberships in the We The People Congress. See our home page
on our web site.
Everyone should consider becoming a County or State
coordinator for the We The People Congress.
Those with special resources and skills to offer, please
contact us by e-mail.
Those of you able to send money, please do so. You can
donate to the Foundation. The details are on our website.
We hope to install soon, a subscription page, allowing for
the automatic monthly transfers of designated amounts of money
to the Foundation and for the donor to select which of our
projects he or she wants the money to be used for.
In closing, let me say this. We love our country, but a
growing number of people have grave concerns about our
government, which is promoting anarchy, rebellion, and
lawlessness, which we oppose.
All individuals on American soil are party to the
Constitution. The Constitution begins with the words, "We
the People..."
Neither the Government nor the Constitution gives us the
rights essential to Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We
claim them from a higher source -- our Creator -- He who is
referred to in the founding document -- the Declaration of
Independence. They are not annexed to the People by paper and
votes, but by the decrees of Providence, which establish the
laws of our nature. They are born with us; exist with us; and
cannot be taken from us by any human power without taking our
lives. In short, they are founded on the unchangeable maxims
of reason and justice. It would be an insult on the Creator to
say that he has given or allowed any man or body of men
a right to tax our labor and to make us miserable.
Our property and happiness have been attacked. Our
self-defense against an aggressor government is righteous.
The People’s purpose in this civil action is to convey to
the government a five-fold message:
First, the Constitution is more than a piece of paper and
the People will not let it become a dead letter;
Second, none of the unalienable rights of the People are
subject to modification or seizure by the government;
Third, the government is limited by the words of the
Constitution;
Fourth, there are legions of People who are willing to
stand and defend their Rights, Liberties and Freedoms and the
essential principles of "popular sovereignty" and
"government of by and for the people" and
Fifth, the People now realize it is their duty to meet
force with force to defend against the government’s
unconstitutional attempts to seize power from the People.
Our civil action is for the cause of civil justice -- a
righteous struggle, undertaken in defense of our property, our
happiness and our families. It is to oppose the invasions of
usurped power.
It is our obligation, as responsible citizens of this
country, to set a proper value upon and defend to the
utmost our just rights and the blessings of life. Without
this personal commitment, a few unprincipled individuals would
tyrannize over the People, and make the passive multitude the
slaves of their power. Thus it is that our civil action is not
only justifiable, but an indispensable duty to correct this
wrong.
It is upon these principles that we now encourage
widespread resistance to the government. We must oppose
force with force.
We do NOT rebel. Ours is NOT a Rebellion. We
do not seek to overthrow the government in order to place
another in its place. We are not against government. We are
against government that has gone bad or wrong. We seek only to
have our government serve the people under bona fide law
within the limitations of the Constitution.
Our purpose is a non-violent defense of our natural
rights, which it is the business of civil government to
protect, not to subvert, and the exercise of which it is the
duty of civil government to enlarge, not to restrain.
Man does not exist for the sake of government, but
government is instituted for the sake of man.
Thank you, and blessings to all of you and your families. |
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