“To lay with one hand the power of the government on the property of the citizen, and with the other to bestow it upon favored individuals to aid private enterprises and build up private fortunes, is nonetheless a robbery because it is done under the forms of law and is called taxation. This is not legislation. It is a decree under legislative forms.”

Taxation must be transparent. Government expenditures must be transparent. The citizen should know the reason and logic of the tax system and the expenditures. And in this country we do if anyone is interested. Go to IRS.gov. etcetera. All of the info is available. Many on this site thing these things are all secret and covert operations. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The quote says it all.

great quote: Can anyone remember when the Supreme Court ruled more often than not on the side of law and justice? I'm not that old.

Taxation at other times in history was called slavery, which is exactly what it is. The IRS is transparent? So what? They do whatever they want and there isn't a damned thing any one can (will) do about it. The Mob is pretty transparent too for all that it matters....

Beautiful quote. The federal government was given the power to tax imports (income) for their revenues -- called excise taxes. They were explicitly NOT permitted to place a tax on individuals (sovereign individuals, I might add) or their property. The idea that we owe annual taxes on our property is un-American. And the Founders would not stand for taxes on our labors either. Lest we forget that for over a hundred years, colonial Americans lived well, were in many cases better educated than we are today -- they didn't have health insurance, or nationalized social services -- they didn't even have electricity when the Constitution was signed! So what makes us think we need our government to take care of us? I do believe it is fear and specifically fear of death that drives people into a socialist collective raiding the Treasury. It is only justifiable by majority rule, because no matter how you slice it, it is theft.

Amazingly candid statement, "do you want to go back to the old days?" ABSOLUTELY!

Waffler robbery is robbery. Being covert has nothing to do with it.

"...those who are groverned at the will of another, or others, and whose property may be taken from them by taxes or otherwise, without their consent and against their will, are in the miserable condition of slaves." Stephen Hopkins - Providence -1764 - We have transparency into the tax system, still if I don't agree with how it is spent and refuse to pay we can be penalized our property and liberty are taken, and Stephen hopkins is still correct.

Here is my info on the source and date of the quote: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel F. Miller; 1874; Loan Association vs. Topeka, 20 Wall (87 US) 664.

Call it a tax or anything else, robbery is robbery any way you slice it.