Congressman Ron Paul: 'Abolish the Income Tax'
Calling it necessary for the promotion of individual liberty and limited
government, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has introduced what he hopes will be
the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution: HJ116, the Liberty Amendment.
According to Congressman Paul -- who was the 1988 Libertarian Party
presidential candidate -- the Liberty Amendment will prohibit the federal
government from
participating in activities not specifically authorized in the
Constitution, thus strengthening the Ninth and Tenth
Amendments. More dramatically, it will also repeal the 16th Amendment. The
16th Amendment allows the collection of the income tax.
The Liberty Amendment has been introduced in Congress several times during
the past few decades. Congressman Paul says it now "has a chance of
success..." in part because of the "mood of the country in favor of a more
limited, constitutional government which respects individual liberty."
"The income tax is the most regressive tax imaginable, allowing
government to take first claim on our lives. The income tax assumes
government owns us, as individuals, and has a sovereign claim to the
fruits of our labor. This is immoral. But government has been compelled
to levy this economically damaging tax because government has grown so
big. By reducing the size of the federal government to those functions
strictly enumerated in the Constitution, there will no longer be a need
for the income tax," said Paul.
Congressman Paul introduced the Amendment Tuesday, April 28, in the midst of
a new round of hearings documenting IRS abuses.
"Once again, Americans are being treated to hearings on
the abuses of the IRS," Paul said. "For as abusive as the IRS is, it is in fact
simply the predictable result of the underlying income tax. By
eliminating the income tax, we will go a long way toward eliminating
these abuses."
(Source: press release from Congressman Ron Paul)
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