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Constitutionality 

Is the 16th Amendment constitutional? Of course it is, the Supreme Court has made that as clear as it did the issue of slavery. But let us remember that it took the lives of more than 365,000 brave American men and the destruction of the Republic to wrest the matter from the courts and resolve the problem.

In the minds of some good Americans the question of taxation is not clear but in the minds of others it is as clear as the constitutionality of slavery.

The argument that the 16th Amendment is either constitutional or not, to my thoughts, is a mute point. The mere adoption of the amendment did not confer any new power to congress. Relying on both Brushaber v. Union Pacific (240 U.S. 1) and quoting directly from Stanton v. Baltic Mining (240 U.S. 103) the Secretary wrote in Treasury Decision 2303: “The provisions of the sixteenth amendment conferred no new power of taxation, but simply prohibited [Congress’ original power to tax incomes] from being taken out of the category of indirect taxation, to which it inherently belonged, and being placed in the category of direct taxation subject to apportionment.”

There are, however, other issues that place a question of constitutionality on the direct taxation of naturalized citizens residing within the boarders of a state, power for one.

All that Congress would have to do to control every aspect of our lives, including labor and property, would be to adopt a tax upon those pursuits. In 1922 the Court addressed the issue of Congress to regulate, by taxation, those subjects outside the limitations enumerated under Article 1, Section 8: “Grant the validity of this law, and all that Congress would need to do, hereafter, in seeking to take over to its control any one of the great number of subjects of public interest, jurisdiction of which the states have never parted with, and which are reserved to them by the Tenth Amendment, would be to enact a detailed measure of complete regulation of the subject and enforce it by a so-called tax upon departures from it. To give such magic to the word ‘tax’ would be to break down all constitutional limitation of the powers of Congress and completely wipe out the sovereignty of the states.” – Bailey v. Drexel Furniture Co., 259 U.S. 20 (1922)

Our freedoms are anchored in the fact that the government is empowered by the consent of the governed. However, taxes allow the government to control some of the most important aspects of our life such as the right to property, which has never been within the scope of Congress’s authority to control. Taxes also command citizens into servitude by forfeiting the benefits of their labor to finance the interests of others, thus diminishing the worth of some and enhancing the merit of others.

To the Court the concept of slavery involved any involuntary servitude. “The prohibition of 'slavery and involuntary servitude' in every form and degree, except as a [83 U.S. 36, 50] sentence upon a conviction for crime, comprises much more than the abolition or prohibition of African slavery. Slavery in the annals of the world had been the ultimate solution of controversies between the creditor and debtor; the conqueror and his captive; the father and his child; the state and an offender against its laws. The laws might enslave a man to the soil. The whole of Europe in 1787 was crowded with persons who were held as vassals to their landlord, and serfs on his dominions. The American constitution for that great territory was framed to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude in all forms, and in all degrees in which they have existed among men, except as a punishment for crime duly proved and adjudged.” – In Re Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1872)

And where can anyone find within the limits of the Constitution, any authority granted to the Congress or the courts, by the people, to make any determination of my value or the value of my fellow citizen. As with slavery the courts have once again determined that some have more value than others, that some must work for the benefits of others.

Is this truly the case or have we been completely mislead by a misrepresentation of the law? The law must be explicit and the specificity outlined within the statute cannot be meant to extend beyond that which is clearly stated. How are we to abide by the ‘rule of law’ if that law is incoherent to the citizen or changes in the weakness of the moment or to the political dispositions of the Court in contradiction to the original intent of the Constitution? The Court addressed the issue in, Republican Party of Minnesota, et. al. v Verna Kelly, et. al.; quoting Thomas Jefferson, “Our security is in the possession of written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper of construction.”

What is most important to the preservation of this country is the value we place upon our ability to govern ourselves and fight for those freedoms that we hold so dear. To allow those we elect, to represent us, determine our significance is well beyond the concept of this nations original intent. It is imperative that we call upon the courts and Congress to abide by the rules set forth at the outset of this nation.






Author Info:

Nick - has more than 20 years in the field of economics and writes articles for a website www.restoretherepublic.org

 
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