Italics are mine – Frank Trejo – Yesterday’s News Today
A. J. Porth. I didn’t get to meet this courageous citizen personally. I got to see him at gatherings. Mr. Porth sparked the tax rebellion. Many rebels began uniting just as the Tea-Party people are doing now. What the Tea-Party people are going through (media attacks) is a piece of cake compared to the “Tea-Partiers” of yesterday. People were imprisoned. People were destroyed. People were murdered. It was hell. And yet, because of love for country and the freedoms we enjoy, they persisted. They effected some change but it was a high price to pay. Things are different now. We have more information available, thanks to the Internet and talk radio. Imagine what little political knowledge the rest of the country had at the time the Tax rebels were fighting the criminals in government. We were an ignorant society, and still are somewhat, but things are improving.
Prosecution of A. J. Porth May Have Cost Government $50,000,000,000. (Copyright 1983 Norman M. Parsons)
In the 1950s in Wichita, Kansas, there was a building contractor named A.J. Porth. Porth’s company specialized in building homes and small business buildings. Like all company owners Porth was required by the federal government to withhold income and social security taxes from the paychecks of his employees. Unlike other business owners, however, one day Porth decided to stop performing these unpaid accounting chores for the United States government. Porth claimed that being required to perform for free all the accounting functions necessary to withhold taxes was a violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of the thirteenth amendment to the Constitution, which forbids involuntary servitude. . . the law follows
13th Amendment U.S. Constitution:
Sec. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Article continues . . . Porth figured that what was wrong for the black slave in the 1850s was just as wrong for Porth in the 1950s. This act of defiance, which started the American tax revolt, (there had been others in years past) was followed by other Porth “firsts” in the tax resistance movement: striking out the words “under penalty of perjury” on the 1040 (federal income tax) form and invoking the fifth in refusing to answer certain questions on the 1040 form. . . I saw ‘under penalty of the law” the last time I filed before retiring in 2002. Fifth Amendment follows. . .
Fifth Amendment U.S. Constitution:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…”nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
When you sign a 1040 form notice the words “under penalty of perjury” under the line where you sign your name. When you do you waive your precious 5th Amendment right and that allows the IRS to stomp on your constitutional rights. When the courts were finally forced to address this, the court ruled that when you sign, that is admitting that you understood the consequences. Remember the propaganda “ignorant of the law is no excuse?” Where were you supposed to learn this? In schools? Yea, right.. .article continues. . .
The early days of the tax resistance movement were not kind to Porth and his small band of followers. Lacking legal experience and unable to find lawyers to help them, Porth and his disciples stood alone against the awesome power of the IRS and the federal courts. While this small cadre of Porth and his followers made otherwise valid constitutional arguments in support of their tax resistance, their lack of detailed knowledge of the law and its many technicalities led to their defeat in the courtroom. It didn’t take long for them to also realize the collusion between attorneys and the black-robed thugs violating the rights of citizens. That also included withholding of evidence and vital information from jurors hearing the case.
For his tax resisting efforts, Porth was sentenced to prison for the criminally insane, where he spent 77 days – something that was supposed to happen only in the Soviet Union! This imprisonment did nothing to stop the tax revolt. Porth’s concept of a nation where it’s citizens were freed from a tax system that systematically and casually violates several sections of the Bill of Rights gave determination to the early tax protestors, whose number was slowly growing.
These pioneer protestors: Austin Flett, John Schmitz, Vaughn Ellsworth, Terrence Oaks, Frank and Shirley Brockway, and Marvin Cooley, to name a few, sustained the tax revolt through the 1960s and early 1970s. I met Mr. Porth in 1976. I talked with him and his wife at their Pasadena home on several occasions. I wanted to hear what a man with the courage to challenge a nation of two hundred million people had to say. Mr. Porth allowed me to tape record his answers to my questions.
Before I continue there were several other people who were making noises for freedom from the International Bankers who own the Federal Reserve. The bankers HAD to have a method of extracting the money from citizens to pay the interest for the money borrowed by the criminals in government. So, the income tax on wages was created illegally and we’ve been enslaved ever since. A name that comes to mind is Charles Reilly. He was another great that beat the IRS in a courtroom in Phoenix, Arizona based on the 5th Amendment plea. The rotten newspaper never mentioned it. The other up and coming super star was Irwin Schiff. He wrote several books but was railroaded into prison several times. In his books he cites many Court rulings and opinions that proved the whole income tax system affecting your labor is a big hoax. You can find his books on the Internet. This giant, I had breakfast with. Imagine me, a tamale maker amidst some of the greats in the movement. They were no different from early Americans who fought the King. The media with their lies and distortions turned the people against the rebels making them sound like evil people – just as they are doing with the Tea-Party people.
Q: “What past teachings influenced you to embark on this path of tax resistance.”
A: “There was nothing that my parents taught me to disobey any tax laws. However, I can truthfully say that the King James Bible and my Christian teaching have influenced me that it would be wrong to pay money to anybody that would use that money to destroy the nation. It is not in God’s plan that His people use money for that kind of a purpose.”
Q: “You were a building contractor in Wichita, Kansas at the time of your original tax protest. What professional and financial sacrifices did you make in pursuing your tax resistance?”
A: “I would say that the losses were great, because at the time I commenced the tax protest movement I did not know it would grow into the proportion that it has finally grown into. The financial sacrifices can be best stated in terms of my unwillingness to work at a gainful occupation. I wanted to pursue the tax protest movement, and in the early days there were none that would finance the movement. Therefore, the burden of finance fell on Mrs. Porth and me.”
Q: “How were you treated in prison?”
A: “ I was well treated with the exception that I was placed beside a mental patient That I learned later had been in there for 17 years. One instant he could quote long passages from the King James Bible and in a split second he would go to using profane language. This disturbed me a great deal, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there was no need of putting me aside of that man unless it was for the purpose of breaking me down. The way he carried on! If there is anything that would cause a person to lose his mental balance, that was it. I believe I was unjustly subjected to that kind of treatment.”
Q: “How many tax protestors have you counseled, and what is your estimate of the cost to the federal government in lost taxes/”
A: “ I have counseled more tax protestors in various IRS offices in the United States than any other individual. The cost to the government might be in the figure of fifty billion dollars.”
Q: “How are Porth return taxpayers doing in court now?”
A: “Tax protestors who are advancing their cases in the courts are presently students. They are doing a lot of research. They are coming up with points that are amazing the judges themselves. So the tax protest movement is not dying; it is now advancing to the stage where frivolous contentions are being discarded and everything has got to be in line.”
Law students then and now are not taught the fundamentals of the Constitution – just case law and precedents. I have read when they are tested before graduating not one question about the Constitution is asked. Many in politics are ignorant of the Constitution. Even the President of the United States – and he was a constitutional lawyer – but learned the “establishment way.”
Porth also stated that individuals licensed by a government – physicians, lawyers, contractors, etc. – might owe a tax to the licensing government for their franchise, but the federal income tax does not apply to individuals. From this interview and what has occurred in the tax resistance since 1976, some points become clear:
1) The tax revolt indeed is not dying, nor are efforts on the part of the government to suppress it. The tax revolt is constantly changing to counteract these efforts by the IRS and federal judiciary. Whenever a jury found a tax rebel not-guilty the judges would go bananas “because it happened in his courtroom.” The courtrooms belong to us!
2) Tax protestors are coming up with points that are amazing the judges and the IRS . Marvin Cooley, who was imprisoned for asserting rights on federal tax returns, has since devised a method whereby one can legally claim fifth amendment protection from answering most questions on a 1040 form.
Cooley maintains that the 1040 form is a subpoena calling for testimony against oneself. Being forced to testify against oneself is forbidden by the fifth amendment to the Constitution. Unlike Porth, Cooley states that one must obey the subpoena by filing a tax return, but that a person is under no legal obligation to answer questions about income on a tax form, because such information on a tax return can be, and is, used against the individual as a basis for indictments and convictions for non-tax crimes. Cooley publishes a newsletter and gives seminars throughout the country giving the details of this “fifth amendment return.” Cooley has thumbed his nose at the IRS for years, legally, using his “fifth amendment return.” (I believe he also ended in jail for a while.)
3) Those who embark on a path of tax resistance take a risk of great financial loss and even imprisonment – risks similar to those faced by our country’s founders, but it boils down to just how much more harassment and manipulation by government a person will take before resisting, regardless of risk.
Talk to any resistor, and he or she will tell you that the tax revolt is not just about money. The revolt is about ideas – ideas that the fruits of a person’s labor belong to that person, that the productive citizen, and what the citizen does and is, is not part of someone else’s rights, regardless of that other person’s misfortune, or supposed misfortune, that taxes must be lawfully assessed and that due process of law must prevail in the administration of the tax system, and, principally, that our tax system, because it poses such an immediate threat to our constitutionally guaranteed liberties, must be discarded.
Yes, what was wrong for the black slave in the 1850s, what was wrong for A.J. Porth in the 1950s, is now just as wrong in the 1980s for all hard working Americans. . .end of article…
This was recorded in 1983. Mr. Porth and wife had retired. Mr. Porth was 81 years of age. Many of his followers armed with new found information had much to do with federal legislation which made it a little better fighting for rights. Do not attempt to challenge the IRS because of what you’ve read. You would have to be an expert and then you would have to take on the criminal federal government. I recommend the following:
www.beatirs.com. The name is Don MacPherson. He was one of the most popular tax rebel lawyers’ then. He has all the answers and numerous victories in the courtrooms. Click on to his web and read about him.
There is no doubt in my mind that today’s Tea-Partiers have the same patriotic fervor of the heroes of the past. You must support candidates endorsed by the Tea-Party. Never mind the scurrilous attacks by the communists in our society. The Chaoscrats have nothing to offer except attacks and lies. It is sad to see Americans behave in this manner. What our country would be like if they were honorable people. What a waste of citizenry. May they rot in old age. . . I love you, America.
Quote of the day:
“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.” (Jean Baptiste Colbert)
I AM SORRY I HAVE ONLY ONE BAT TO SWING FOR MY COUNTRY
