DO WE, THE PEOPLE PAY TAXES JUST TO BE ABUSED?

What a crazy idea. For Congress to think that We, the People should pay our taxes just to fund our own abuse. And the abuse of others. How absurd is such a notion?

NO, this article is not written to suggest that we can or should stop paying taxes. And in fact, we can’t. But that’s just exactly the point: We are being coerced. And it’s time to turn the tables: We’ve got to hold it over Congress’s heads, that we PAY them to be the implementers of our collective will. They work for us, not the other way around! (And they want to be re-elected!)

Think about it: Would you pay Charles Manson and his gang to do their thing? Of course not! Yet We, the People are not only being asked to, but indeed required and bamboozled with jail in sight if we do not PAY for….

A) WarS based on lies. Is that any different than funding Charles Manson and his gang? Yup. It’s a much more broad-based violent crime, affecting hundreds of thousands if not millions, while also sending an alarm threat to other nations who are concerned about some war-happy criminals who are willing to kill just for a buck. The war on terror is absolute nonsense: Americans, can we please connect the dots? A President and Vice President stated that there were weapons of mass destruction, yet none were found. Now, they are telling us the same story about Iran. So is this really about fighting terror? Even if they had those weapons, don’t we too? Should other countries come running to attack us just because we own those weapons? And why, for heaven’s sake, are we so afraid of them if we ourselves own bigger, fatter, more potent and many more weapons than most countries combined? PLUS nuclear missile shields, fighter jets (that’s a hint) and.…so why are we so afraid of them? Wake up and think, America! Denial is the great enabler, which can and often does take people to their graves. Example: Our soldiers.

B) Peeping Toms spying on our every word, written, e-mailed or telephoned. Should We, the People be asked to PAY for someone to pry into our private affairs like a peeping tom? To open up our letters, read our emails and listen to our phone calls, tracking who we talk to and when? In fact, not only does Congress have this silly idea that we should PAY for such a thing, but further, they even think that we will cheerfully relinquish our every right to sue anybody violating our privacy. And not only that, but to pay DOUBLE for this “privilege”: With our phone bills and our tax dollars. Have they got a thing or two to learn about who we really are?

C) Arrests without probable cause or connection to criminal activity. It’s amazing to read how the ACLU www.aclu.org , Center for Constitutional Rights www.centerforconstitutionalrights.com, People for the American Way www.pfaw.org , Electronic Frontier Foudation www.eff.org, Common Cause, and even the ultra-conservative Gun Owners of America all unanimously agree in their analyses of the Patriot Act:

The Patriot Act side-steps the judiciary as fundamental arm of government to “check” the executive branch, by granting warrantless wiretapping powers to the Executive branch and warrantless arrest powers to the FBI. It grants the FBI agents individually the power to arrest us without connection to wrong-doing, without probable cause, using an “over-broad definition of terrorism” as their rationale for cracking down on first amendment-protected activity. Thus, the term “terrorism” in the Patriot Act is, according to EVERY organization above, drafted in such a way as to sweep up peace groups, religious groups and activists in its net. The ACLU’s website is full of statistics of ordinary, law-abiding citizens being cracked down on. Even bird watchers are being repeatedly grilled by the FBI! http://www.rightsmatter.org/multimedia/

Even Representative Lynn Woolsey, D-CA, ’s auto-response to e-mailed Patriot Act inquiries states that it is religious and peace groups which are being cracked down on. So much for the war on terror and going after terrorists!

D) Torture of innocents “Dubbed” as terrorists, while the President gets a get-out-of-jail free card.

According to the ACLU, the Military Commissions Act (torture bill) grants the President the power to “interpret” the Geneva Conventions and the US Constitution, thus enabling him to define in specific terms what form torture takes. Of his own unilateral volition. Further, the Act gives the current and future President immunity from being prosecuted as war criminal in so doing. www.aclu.org enter “Military Commissions Act fact sheet” into the search box and it will come up.

Charles Manson himself couldn’t be any happier with such an arrangement! The ability to invoke pain of a level “equivalent to severe organ failure and death” is the specific definition of torture in the MCA. And no jail in sight! No way for the victims to be proven innocent! Whoooooppppeeee! Lots of fun for any mass criminal----like Charles Manson and….George W Bush!!

And those poor detainees, enduring the equivalent of murder in the absence of actual death, are not only unable to challenge the grounds for their detention (no Habeas Corpus) but further, are actually PROVEN innocent in most cases: The Red Cross estimates 70% in Guantanamo are innocent. The ACLU’s movie “Stop the Abuse of Power” mentions 850+ innocent Guantanamo “terrorists”. Former FBI agent Mike German, now counsel to the ACLU, circulated a message to ACLU members stating that only ONE terrorist has been caught since 9-11 as a result of National Security Letters (FBI-issued subpoenas without court warrant, imposing gag orders on anyone ordered to fork YOUR records over to the Feds or else to suffer the consequences of five years in jail for telling even their girlfriend!)

Please see “My National Security Gag Order”, a letter to the editor published by the Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201882_pf.html

Yes, this can happen to you! Uh-huh. Repeat: Between warrantless wiretapping, FBI ability to arrest without a judge’s review and “while self-certifying that they are acting in good faith” (according to law professor Stephen Schulhofer, in the book “Liberty Under Attack”), that’s more than enough to put Any Citizen at risk. Combine this with the “over-broad definition of terrorism” in the Patriot Act and….University of Berkeley California Students against the Iraq War have been dubbed “terrorists” by the Administration….(www.aclu.org) the forgiveneess-oriented anti-war American Friends Service Committee: Ditto. Greenpeace, the non-partisan Common Cause: Ditto. Bird watchers? Apparently, yes. They are “terrorists”. Do these “Terrorists” deserve the Guantanamo treatment? What is the legal implication of dubbing these people as “terrorists” ?

ALL THIS ON OUR TAX DOLLARS??? THIS CANNOT BE!

Now I am going to assert a very, very radical solution. Ohhhh yes. And I don’t expect anyone to be ready to implement it either. And yet, it must be said:

When the government is undermining of “the (peoples’) pursuit of life, liberty and happiness….it is their right, it is their duty, to alter or abolish it”. Thus says the Declaration of Independence. Time to cut the apron strings and declare our independence anew?

If that sounds “radical”, think of how our country was founded. Just by that exact deed.
Okay, and if that poses some “slight” practical hurdles, here’s another solution:

Refuse to finance criminal activity against others and the abuse of our own selves! Either claim so many legal loopholes on your taxes that you end up paying nada, or perhaps consider the even better alternative: Leave the country.

A) Check out the congressional voting record of Any Candidate you wish to vote for, prior to going to the polls. Publicize that record in letters to the editor, on blogs, by dialing in to radio talk shows, etc: Did they vote for the Patriot Act? Torture bill? FISA broadening?

B) Check out who is funding any Candidate before voting for them, to determine any likely political bias. Publicize that information as above.

C) Consider joining an election watchdog group in your County

D) Write your Congressmen like crazy. They want to be re-elected. According to the ACLU, paper letters are much more effective than emails.

E) Scandals work! Notice how many politicians are resigning to avoid scandal? Here is how we can purge our Congress of any Constitution-trashing offenders! This should be a signal to us that our collective voice Does have power and the greater public opinion Does matter! Take heart: The belief that what we say/think doesn’t matter, is being publicly disproven. It’s not true!

F) In letters to the editor, on blogs or radio talk shows, identify and rebut common public beliefs such as, but not limited to:

“It will never happen to me/you” “They are only after the terrorists” “Just let them wiretap me: I have done nothing wrong, so I have nothing to hide” “So-and-so is on the ball, so there is no need to take action”

G) Write your favorite grassroots organization, using the “Contact us” button on their website, and ask them to get behind any particular cause you are concerned about, showing them concrete facts to underscore your concerns. There is a power in the grassroots, and it‘s getting more powerful all the time!

H) To side-step the warrantless wiretapping, consider switching your phone and/or internet service to the following organizations, which have pledged in writing not to wiretap without court warrant, thus supporting the first and fourth amendments:

Qwest (phone and internet provider in many US States)

Working Assets (now renamed Credo. They will buy out your contract with your phone company and even pay the switch-over costs charged by your current carrier! They do not provide internet service but do provide cell phone and long distance services).

By side-stepping the warrantless wiretapping, not only will you be protecting your privacy, but also you will be upholding the Judiciary as a fundamental arm of government, whose function is to put a check on the Executive branch. No small thing to undermine and no small cause to support!

Thank you for your proactive concern and keep practicing the solution! And be sure to tell others! Depression governs our masses, so to provide hope is key to proactivity. Share the hope in letters to the editor, on blogs and radio talk shows, and the word of empowerment will spread! Thank you, thank you!