Taxation is Robbery Part 2

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Ludwig von Mises Institute :

Taxation is Robbery Part 2

 

Mises Daily:Monday, April 15, 2013 by Frank Chodorov

[From Out of Step: The Autobiography of an Individualist, by Frank Chodorov; The Devin-Adair Company, New York, 1962, pp. 216-239.]

 

A basic immorality becomes the center of a vortex of immoralities. When the State invades the right of the in­dividual to the products of his labors it appropriates an authority which is contrary to the nature of things and there­fore establishes an unethical pattern of behavior, for itself and those upon whom its authority is exerted. Thus, the income tax has made the State a partner in the proceeds of crime; the law cannot distinguish between incomes derived from production and incomes derived from robbery; it has no concern with the source. Likewise, this denial of owner­ship arouses a resentment which breaks out into perjury and dishonesty. Men who in their personal affairs would hardly think of such methods, or who would be socially ostracized for practicing them, are proud of, and are com­plimented for, evasion of the income tax laws; it is con­sidered proper to engage the shrewdest minds for that purpose. More degrading even is the encouragement by bribes of mutual spying. No other single measure in the history of our country has caused a comparable disregard of principle in public affairs, or has had such a deteriorating effect on morals.

It is not true that the services would be impossible with­out taxation; that assertion is denied by the fact that the services appear before taxes are introduced. The services come because there is need for them. Because there is need for them they are paid for, in the beginning, with labor and, in a few instances, with voluntary contributions of goods and money; the trade is without compulsion and therefore equitable. Only when political power takes over the manage­ment of these services does the compulsory tax appear. It is not the cost of the services which calls for taxation, it is the cost of maintaining political power

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Keep Shouting: “Taxed Enough Already”

 

By: Chairman Reince Priebus (Diary) | April 15th, 2013 at 09:14 AM

It’s Tax Day, and across the country as hardworking Americans surrender a chunk of their paychecks to the federal government, many are also standing up to give the government a piece of their minds.

In Washington, D.C., in state capitals, in big cities and small towns, Tax Day Tea Party rallies are sounding a refrain that we must keep shouting: “Taxed Enough Already.”

That cry began four years ago when everyday Americans finally had enough with Washington liberals’ tax-and-spend ways and wanted to do something about it. They got attention and gained a following.

Since then, they’ve helped refocus American politics on the principles that matter: a constitutionally limited government, states’ tenth amendment rights, and less government spending.

http://www.redstate.com/reincepriebus/2013/04/15/keep-shouting-taxed-enough-already/

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Your Money or Your Life

 

Mises Daily:Monday, April 15, 2013 by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.

 

April 15th is a horrible day, because it sums up all the wealth destruction called taxation that we are subjected to all year long.

 

As Murray Rothbard pointed out, taxation is the worst method of looting us. Inflation is destructive, of course, and it might make a loaf of bread cost $10. But at least you get a loaf of bread. With taxation, you get nothing—except theft and other violations of our civil liberties.

 

Society, as Mises noted, is divided into two competing classes by interventionist government: the taxpayers and the tax consumers. If you are a payer, you are automatically demonized as greedy. On the other hand, those who want the fruits of your labor involuntarily transferred to themselves and their favored pressure groups are the compassionate.

 

At the Mises Institute, we have a different view. You have a right to what you earn, and those who use the threat and reality of government violence to take it from you are muggers in expensive suits. As Murray said, the State is just a gang of thieves writ large.

Then there are the attacks on tax “loopholes,” when you are allowed to keep some of your own money.

http://mises.org/daily/6410/Your-Money-or-Your-Life

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Every day is Tax Day

 

 

By: John Hayward | April 15th, 2013 at 02:59 PM

 

April 15 is upon us: Tax Day, our national day of introspection about the burden of government. It has been said that if elections were held right after Tax Day, we wouldn’t be in this economy-crushing fiscal mess.

 

But is that really true any more? Half of us aren’t paying any taxes on April 15. Many Americans receive a tax refund, which they understandably but mistakenly view as a “gift” from the government – a bag of coins tossed from Uncle Sam’s sedan chair to the cheering peasants as he passes among them. People grow positively ecstatic about their tax refunds, which they generally claim long before April 15. Some of them borrow money against the anticipated refund amounts. Retail outlets plan advertising campaigns around the appearance of those magical government checks in our mailboxes.

Thanks to the special sauce of tax credits http://www.redstate....day-is-tax-day/

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Taxed Enough Already: A Brief History of U.S. Taxation

 

The power to tax is the power to destroy.

 

by Larry Greenfield

April 15, 2013 - 10:12 am

 

As the American colonial economy grew, the British Crown imposed duties on molasses, rum, sugar, wine, newspapers, legal documents, licenses, and playing cards.

 

Even more taxes were then imposed on glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea, leading to the Boston Tea Party, resulting in the closing of the Eastern port and imposed British military command.

 

The American Revolutionary War cry went out: Taxation without representation is slavery!

 

The founders of the new United States limited federal taxing power. Early 19th century revenue was based on import tariffs and some internal taxes on distilled spirits, tobacco, refined sugar, auctioned property, corporate bonds, carriages, and slaves.

 

The War of 1812 brought the first sales taxes on gold, watches, jewelry, and silverware.

In 1817, Congress revoked most taxes, with tariffs on imported goods sufficient to run the government.

 

In 1862, the Civil War effort led to sales and excise taxes, and the nation’s first income tax — with a progressive rate of 3% for most earners. http://pjmedia.com/blog/taxed-enough-already-a-brief-history-of-u-s-taxation/