Caveat Emptor

Let's get it right!

Due to the increasingly common and flagrantly unconstitutional acts of those within our government who are charged with the duty of upholding the law -- yet who continue to willfully ignore its clear, written provisions in order to advance their own agendas and those of their superiors (*) -- Americans in record numbers are waking up and being drawn to the Constitutional Revival Movement.

Here at the Save-A-Patriot Fellowship, it has been our experience that many drawn to our movement are of above average intelligence. As such, they may also be possessed of above average imaginations (and of above average egos!). Newly awakened from decades of media and public school induced slumber and infused with a missionary zeal often fueled by outrage over the newly discovered truth that has been concealed from them (and still rubbing the disbelief from their eyes), these "budding patriots" can, in their newborn enthusiasm, seize upon a newly discovered snippet of fact and truth and proceed to extrapolate and expand it beyond all logic and reason.

Even seasoned warriors in the Cause of Liberty who experience yet more betrayal over the latest unlawful transgression by a bloated government now overflowing its constitutional container can (although they should know better) fall prey to the current "silver bullet de jour." Believe us, we know. They call here all the time, sometimes coming to visit with boxes full of court cases and other materials to support their claims.

Most surprising of all (to us, anyway), even many of the movement's most prominent and visible spokespersons have themselves fallen prey on occasion to a garden variety of erroneous and absurd notions. Many of these individuals (of whose patriotism we have no doubt) have attempted at one time or other to assert their rights and due process only to be A) met by a stone wall of corruption and tyranny in the courts; B) plundered of all possessions by any one of an alphabet soup mixture of state and federal agencies, not the least unrepenting of which is the IRS; or C) both.

These self-styled "constitutionalists", due to their failure to actually understand the Constitution (**), become not just real victims of government abuse, but unwitting victims of one or more popularly circulating "wild theories" as well. Regrettably however, as a result of their notoriety and visibility in the print media, on videos and on the Internet, many "newbies" believe and repeat their every utterance without research or further consideration.

To further spread this fog of confusion, there are now many Pied Pipers within the patriot community (and, no doubt, some agents provocateurs) claiming: A) to be able to lead all followers to the Promised Land; B) to have "The Answer"; and C) that if you follow exactly what they preach, you will be free of the IRS and state taxing agencies.

Wherefore, if someone tells you that (among numerous other examples) if you use the United States postal ZIP code in your return address you will be subject to the federal income tax laws; that an ornamental gold fringe on a flag located within a federal or state courtroom suspends the Constitution and your rights; that if you reside within one of the fifty States of the union you are therefore nonresident to the seat of government (currently situated within Washington, D.C.) and alien to its jurisdiction and, as such, are a "nonresident alien" as defined in Title 26, Internal Revenue Code and therefore immune to the federal income tax statutes; that if you punctuate your first and last names with a semicolon you are suddenly transformed into a true Sovereign whom the courts "can't touch"; that the IRS is a Delaware corporation, "fronting" as a trustee for the Federal Reserve System in receivership to the World Bank (huh?); or, otherwise promotes any of a gaggle of equally preposterous contentions, you should ask the proponent of such a claim to SHOW YOU THE LAW that states the "fact" proposed.

This might sound like a preposterous request; however there are individuals currently crisscrossing the country, giving lucrative seminars (even lecturing on cruise ships!) and preaching such theories so convincingly that they have thousands of new converts believing and flocking to them, like proverbial moths to the flame. And many of these moths are getting badly burned. Henceforth, whenever someone presents one of these erroneous and specious arguments -- what we fondly refer to as "wild theories" -- simply use the acid test of "SHOW ME THE LAW!" Wherefore, as a public service and in order to help you from falling into this state of [in]security; carefully consider the truth of the following.

The United States of America has a Constitutional Republic as its form of federal government (not all republics have a written constitution), therefore it is said that we have a government of LAW and not of MEN. The document called the United States Constitution was ratified by the States of the union and accepted as the supreme Law of the Land, and all acts passed by Congress, treaties made by the Executive Branch and ratified by the Senate, State Constitutions and laws made in pursuant thereof must be in conformance to the Constitution. Any law that is not so in conformity is void and should be treated as though it never existed.

The Constitution actually created a federal government and gave to it ONLY those powers granted and enumerated therein, reserving all other powers to the States and to the People respectively. The ONLY enumerated powers given to the federal government are foreign affairs, interstate commerce and the post office (if you haven't read the Constitution since the 6th grade, read it again!). The federal government also has the power to lay and collect indirect taxes in the form of duties, imposts and excise taxes, but all direct taxes must be apportioned to the States of the union according to their respective representation within the Congress.

Because we are subject to these written laws, and because ignorance of the law is no excuse, all laws must be written so that any citizen (or resident alien) of average intelligence can understand them. Any law not so written is void because of vagueness. This established doctrine of American jurisprudence is explained in Black's Law Dictionary thusly: "Under this principle, a law which does not fairly inform a person of what is commanded or prohibited is unconstitutional as violative of due process."

Wherefore, because all our laws are written in plain English by a legislature which understands the rules of statutory construction, and must be written in such a manner so as to be clearly and readily understood by any person of average intelligence, any person making a claim that A) you do not owe the income tax because you are a nonresident alien to Washington D.C.; B) that you DO owe the income tax if you use the ZIP code; or, C) any other such ludicrous claim, should be able to SHOW YOU THE WRITTEN LAW that clearly says (and thereby proves) that that his contention is so.

Please take careful note that, when we speak of Law, we are not speaking of "case law", but of the written law as enacted by the Congress. Article 1, Section 1 states that "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United states ..." Note that it does not state "Some legislative Powers ..." or "Most legislative Powers." It states "All legislative Powers ..." All means all. Period. Wherefore, what comes out of a judge's mouth (so called "case law") doth not law make. Here at the Fellowship, we teach people to read, in many cases ... all over again!

One vendor on the Internet, who claims great knowledge and all manner of victories over government tax agencies, states within his web site: "It is not always what is in a law that is important. Frequently what is not stated in a law is equally important." (Need we say more about such a notion, which is transparently ludicrous on its face?)

For years we have heard such charlatans making claims of victory and found them to be false. Every time we asked to see the paperwork, it could not be produced. On those occasions when the paperwork was produced, it turned out to be that the case was won because of other extenuating circumstances and not due to the reason(s) given. On one occasion, victory was claimed yet the court order clearly stated otherwise. The individual was so caught up in the particular wild theory that he could not even understand that the court ruled AGAINST him!

Some of these vendors have Patriots believing that they "won" because the respective taxing agency has not answered within six months or so. Our experience has been that we occasionally receive a response from tax agencies up to a year later. On other occasions, we have had the tax agency drop the investigation altogether, but for reasons known only to that agency, and with no bearing on the way we phrased the law. We've tried and tried but, alas, magic punctuation seems to have no effect in the real world.

Use your common sense. It is well documented that the taxing agencies and the courts are not following the tax laws. So do not be taken in by the latest Truth Vendor (with his Pouch of Magic Beans) who claims that he phrased the law in such a magical manner that it was acceptable to the IRS, and for that reason he "won." Our recommendation is that you leave "Imagineering" to Disney. Like microwave dinners, wild theories are quick to prepare and just as easy to digest. And like a cheap date, they require little effort to embrace. Getting back to the Law, on the other hand, takes time and study. As long as there are those inclined to replace logic with a Silver Bullet, we will not be able to stop these wild weeds from propagating entirely. However, we can each be a good gardener, for that is only Reasonable Action.

Remember: CAVEAT EMPTOR!!

(*) "I was only following orders" didn't work at Nuremberg.

(**) Because Liberty cannot exist without private property being protected against unlawful plunder by government (see the 5th Amendment), it can accurately be stated that if one does not fully understand the taxing clauses within the Constitution, one cannot possibly understand the Constitution itself. Nor can one possibly grasp the truth of the fact that socialism as dreamed of by Karl Marx in all of its forms, including such government sponsored wealth redistribution as "social security," can only be 100% voluntary in our constitutionally limited Republic (and is). Many of our movement's most outspoken leaders and supporters, including those who speak of modeling themselves after such heroes as Paine, Adams, Jefferson et al, continue to make use of a social security number (not required by law of a citizen living and working within the States of the union), to file tax returns (not required by law of a citizen living and working with the States of the union), to fear the IRS (not becoming of a citizen living and working with the States of the union), to look forward to receiving federal benefits (not even contemplated by those who CREATED the States of the union), etc. Such (to us) odd and fundamentally un-American behaviors can only be imputed to ignorance of the principles of Liberty as evidenced by the intent of our nation's Founders as contained and embedded in our foundational documents, including the Constitution.