IRS: Hunger Strike - Robert Schulz - Will he be heard?

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7/4/01 The Post Star (NY)

Schulz fasting his way to Washington D.C.

IRS: Hunger strike won't force tax discussions

By JOHN GEREAU gereau@poststar.com

GLENS FALLS -- Looking noticeably weakened three days into his hunger strike -- and moments before setting out to Washington, D.C. -- citizen activist Robert Schulz reiterated his vow to subsist only on water until the government agrees to debate the legality of the federal income tax.

At the same time, however, an official with the Internal Revenue Service said that Schulz's promise to starve himself will not goad the agency into a debate over an issue that has already been upheld on more than one occasion by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pausing in front of The Post-Star offices in Glens Falls -- his first stop on a trek that will ultimately take him to the nation's capital -- Schulz said at age 61, he is willing to give his life to draw attention to the fact that the federal government has lost touch with the people it represents.

"I can't imagine that the federal government would allow me to waste away rather than answer a few questions," Schulz said. "If they are -- and if that's the kind of government we have -- then the people need to know about that."

Schulz of Fort Ann began his hunger crusade after an evening meal on Saturday. He has vowed not to eat until the IRS provides a list of government experts willing to meet in a public forum in Washington on Sept. 18 to debate the constitutionality of the federal income tax.

Schulz is chairman of the taxpayer reform group, We the People Foundation For Constitutional Education Inc., and has for the past two years maintained that the federal government does not have the statutory authority to withhold or collect income taxes from most of its citizens.

The group even spent more than $250,000 on full-page advertisements that appeared in USA Today and has organized four symposiums in Washington to present their income tax research to federal officials.

To date however, the group's plea for a face-to-face meeting with federal officials has fallen on deaf ears, prompting the hunger strike, he said.

But Laurie Ruffino, an IRS spokesman for the northeast region of New York, said the move will not result in a response from the agency.

Ruffino said the courts have consistently ruled against citizens who refuse to pay their taxes and said the U.S. Congress believes that the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1913, gives the government the authority to collect taxes on incomes.

"Their battle is not with the Internal Revenue Service; it's with the courts and the U.S. Congress, they make the laws," Ruffino said. "But courts have consistently ruled over the decades that there is no merit to these arguments."

On Tuesday, Schulz said his campaign is bigger than just taxes, but about the various rights of citizens being stripped by government.

"This is not just about taxes, I pay all my taxes, always have, always will," Schulz said, speaking in front of large wooden billboards on a 16-foot dual-axle trailer he plans to park on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Lincoln Memorial.

Schulz said he has a 21-day permit to park on Pennsylvania Avenue and will live on a customized van used to tow the trailer. Traveling with him are a few supporters, including Roland Croteau, a successful Oklahoma businessman who also is fasting over the cause.

"I'm doing everything short of breaking the law and killing people to bring the government back inside the boundaries we've drawn around them," he said.

If the federal government doesn't start talking to the people and answering charges like the legal authority of the Internal Revenue Service it will only lead to citizen standoffs that could turn violent, Schulz warned.

"I'm trying to prevent violence," he said.

Tom Wade, a former Glens Falls councilman who turned out Tuesday morning to show his support for Schulz, said he believes Schulz's anti-income tax fight is just.

Wade said he's seen what can happen when the people are left out of the decision-making of government leaders. He pointed to decisions to build the civic center in Glens Falls and the trash plant in Hudson Falls as judgments that were made without being duly-debated with the public.

The federal income tax issue is a similar folly, he said.

Schulz said he will hold press conferences in several major cities along his route to Washington and said he will produce a video along the way that supporters can view at the We the People Foundation's Web site www.givemeliberty.org



-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), July 05, 2001

Answers

Just a few things to peruse...it could take years!

http:www.thereisnolaw.com/

http:home.HiWAAY.net/~becraft/References.htm

http:www.teamlaw.org/

http:www.devvy.com/irsindex.html

-- (bisquit@here.com), July 05, 2001.


Better get out the caskets. Our governemnt would sooner let this man and many others die before they talk about how they are doing business illegaly.

St. John’s Church, Richmond, Virginia March 23, 1775.

MR. PRESIDENT: No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves, and the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these war-like preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask, gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable–and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace–but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Happy Independence Day!

Little Bit Farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littleBit@compworldnet.com), July 05, 2001.


"I can't imagine that the federal government would allow me to waste away rather than answer a few questions".....? Is this guy serious? Of course they'll let him waste away. And you can be sure there will be no major news coverage of it either. Remember Bobby Sands? 86 days I think it was he lasted on his hunger strike. Then they boxed him and that was that. The Brits were not going to budge an inch to Bobby Sands and the IRA, and the power brokers in Sodom on the Potomic aren't going to give Mr. Schultz the time of day on this issue either. If he were aligned w/ Jessie Jackson and starving for some meaningless, feel good cause, (For the Children!) He'd be eating well (on some congressional expense account) by tomorrow night.

Sure hate it for him. He's gonna get hungry.

-- John (zippythepinhead1@hotmail.com), July 05, 2001.


Just zippin' by and this caught me... I wish the guy would do something other than possibly end his own life - we need people with ideas such as his, and it will be a waste.

IRS, Congress, etc etc will never listen to people like him - why should they? They will die, their message and questions unanswered, because nobody will back them up. How many questions can one dead man ask, anyway?

Better that he'd have tried to lead a march, protest, etc... Though, in this wonderful country of ours, how many of us are willing to even spend a couple nights in jail, let alone die as our Revolutionary counterparts over two centuries ago? Not enough... So we resort to killing ourselves off. How sad.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), July 05, 2001.


It would appear that Mr. Shultz would like to see people like you and I take up and take action in regards to the predicament the IRS, and Congress has levied upon the populace. One man demanding answers to questions is like a voice in the wind, millions is a raging storm.

-- XP (xp@allydocious.net), July 05, 2001.


Hmm. Well, I guess ole' Patrick Henry sums it up for me. I know that one of the tax truth sites is trying to rally ALL of them together to get a larger voice to get someone to take culpability for the farce, but it seems people are too concerned about self and what "their group" has done and that causes a lack of a power base. These politicians live by the poll and die by the poll, they just forget that the vast majority of people are never polled.

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), July 05, 2001.

"It would appear that Mr. Shultz would like to see people like you and I take up and take action in regards to the predicament the IRS, and Congress has levied upon the populace. One man demanding answers to questions is like a voice in the wind, millions is a raging storm."

Bingo!!

Please let us not forget to pray for this man as well.

-- Wendy@GraceAcres (wjl7@hotmail.com), July 12, 2001.


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