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Irwin Schiff
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| Irwin Schiff | | |||||||||||||
By: | | Pat Hammond | | ||||||||||||
Date: | | 05/18/2000 | | ||||||||||||
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Irwin A. Schiff doesn't want to BE President. He wants to RUN for President. And if the Las Vegas-based income tax-resister who hopes to be Libertarian Party candidate for President in 1996 had his way the IRS would be running, too? for its life. When Schiff asks New Hampshire Libertarians for their support during a luncheon address in Concord today, he'll do so by telling them why the federal income tax is illegal, a contention he substantiates with references to wording on the 1040A income tax form. Schiff acted on these beliefs by not filing tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service, which landed him in federal prison for four years and cost him his business and marriage. The time he served in Danbury and three other federal prisons intensified, rather than discouraged, his battle stance. Schiff writes books, makes speeches, and spars on radio talk shows, a man driven by the conviction that government illegally extorts income taxes from the people, and gets away with it because federal judges and prosecuting attorneys are corrupt. Schiff isn't the only Libertarian vying to be the party's Presidential nominee. Harry Browne, an investment adviser in Tennessee is running, as are Rick Tompkins and Douglas Ohmen, the two who will not be at the state convention today. Browne's message is more traditional Libertarian than Schiff s. "The principal theme of my talk on Sunday," he said last week will be Americans now want a Libertarian society. Libertarians are now the mainstream. We have won the educational battle. Now we have to win the political battle." Browne, 62, says, "If you ask people?store clerks, barbers, taxi divers, anyone?whether they want more government, less government, or what we have now?at least seven out of ten will say they want less. Their reasons and hopes may be different from ours in some ways, but they want to move in the same direction ... The desire for less government isn't a passing fad." Stiffs major crusade is persuading the public that federal income tax filing is not compulsory. He cites the IRS commissioner's message on page three of 1040A form which begins, "Thank you for making this nation's tax system the most effective system of voluntary compliance in the world." Schiff says the operative word is "voluntary." Schiff offers $5,000 to anyone who can cite a law that says income taxes have to be filed and paid. He says he's made that offer for years and nobody has found such a citation. Schiff, who holds a degree in economics, says the word voluntary is used for a reason. "Voluntary" says the IRS may give the information to the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, as provided by law. So, when you give information to the government you can tell them it's okay to use this information against you? Could the government REQUIRE you to do that? No. The only way is to voluntarily do it." Schiff said you don't have to go far to witness the implications of the IRS providing information to law enforcement agencies. Newspaper files substantiate that a Chester couple was convicted last spring in U.S. District Court. District of New Hampshire, of evading more than $100.000 in income taxes. Stuart and Kathie (Schneider) Tulchinsky had participated in a tax protest by throwing income tax forms into Boston Harbor. The couple also owned a Nashua store that sold drug paraphernalia. Their attorney, William A.Cohan of California, said the case set a precedent, at least in New Hampshire, that the IRS may serve as an information gathering agency for other federal agencies such as the Justice Department. Schiff wants the party to adopt a new platform that includes "pledging ourselves to help expose the illegal, unconstitutional, and tyrannical manner by which the federal government has been extorting income taxes from the American public....so that those Americans who want to pay it may do so, but those who do not wish to pay it will not be illegally prosecuted or otherwise harassed for not having done so." "On Sunday," he said, "I will probably criticize Harry Browne because he talks about abolishing the income tax, and that's a dishonest, hypocritical approach because there is no income tax to abolish." "I don't tell people not to pay," he said several times during the interview. "I just tell them there is no law." Schiff also wants the party platform to demand that the Federal Reserve Board be abolished; declare paper money worthless because the constitution only permits authorization of gold and silver coin; end foreign aid because it is not authorized in the constitution, and remove the immunity from civil suit and criminal prosecution that federal judges now enjoy. In a telephone interview, Browne said his goal as President would be to strip government of all its powers except the "absolute defense of the country, nothing to do with bringing peace to Bosnia or Kuwait. "And I would disentangle us from all foreign treaties and peace-keeping operations. NAFTA and GATT serve no purpose at all. You don't tear down other people's protectionist barriers by treaty, you do so by tearing down your own." Libertarians generally agree on the principle that the least government is the best government In recent interviews New Hampshire Libertarians deeded their own more specific reasons for becoming members of the party. "For me, the central principles are designing a society where fraud and force are not allowed," said Miriam B. Luce, whose run for governor attracted enough voters to assure ballot status for the Libertarian Party. "The major issue for the Libertarians is convincing the electorate that the Republicans are not getting the job done, in New Hampshire or anywhere," said Luce who was appointed to the state liquor commission by Republican Governor Merrill. "Their rhetoric is closer to what the Libertarians are looking for than the Democrats', but their performance falls short," she said. Steven Winter, an American Airlines pilot who lives in Newbury, is a supporter of Harry Browne. "There are people who are not happy with the two major parties," he said last week. "Whether the Libertarian Party will be the party that picks up that disaffection and runs with it, I don't know. We are going to have to field a very exciting candidate who can get media attention. We have a good message. We just need to get the message out." | | | ||||||||||||
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