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Johnston's Tax Book Another Clever Truth Trap
Last year's revelation that former NY Times reporter Jayson Blair purposely wrote inaccurate and misleading stories was a shock to most people, except for the unlearned. That the major news media can not be trusted to deliver the truth should be axiomatic at this point in time. But while scandals such as the Blair incident gained wide recognition and helped to preserve the notion that “the system works”, even if only eventually, the more insidious disinformation campaigns often go unnoticed. Of particular importance are the kinds of reporting that pretend to expose the truth and make you believe that the writer is on your side. One such journalistic miscreant is former NY Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner, David Cay Johnston.
Those familiar with Johnston's articles in the NY times know that his beat covered Income Tax news. According to his bio, published on the jacket of his latest book, Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich - And Cheat Everybody Else, Johnston had been exposing the loopholes that the rich and others use to exploit the tax system during his eight year run at the “prestigious” NY rag. It is no secret that the rich have been using their resources to shield themselves from the long reach of the law. That's been going on for millennia. Johnston's readers may even be astute enough to know that government and the super rich are not different, disconnected entities, but that might be giving them too much credit. Government has been the elite's public relations tool and secret arm of wealth confiscation, along with banks, since their inception. Those who are looking for more than these obvious truths, in other words, solutions to this problem, will find Johnston purposefully leading his readers to a dead end. In chapter fourteen of Perfectly Legal, dubbed Mass Market Tax Evasion, Johnston “exposes” some major tax scams that people have been using to “defraud” the IRS in recent years. Particular attention is paid to the 861 Source Argument, most prominently advocated by Larken Rose. While it is well understood by this author that the 861 argument is fatally flawed, many of its proponents are not out to seek to defraud the government. They are merely seeking a lawful remedy to the type of abuses that Mr. Johnston exposes in other places throughout his book. Several times in this myopic chapter, Mr. Johnston repeats that 861 users and other tax protestors are “breaking the law”. Never once in this chapter does Mr. Johnston cite for his readers what the law they are breaking actually is. Even if he tried, he couldn't…because there isn't one. According to the IRS itself, the income tax system is one of “voluntary compliance”. To most of us, this sounds like nice Orwellian doublespeak that means “pay your taxes or else”. Rather than taking the trouble to read what the law actually requires, most of us make the fatal mistake of trusting that the government is acting in our own best interests. If anything, Mr. Johnston's book is chock full of good stories about how this is not the case. But Mr. Johnston also seeks to have it both ways, trying to exonerate the IRS for its failings in collecting revenue because of its under funded resources to prosecute tax cheats. In the end, perhaps we'll feel sympathy for the overseers who whip the populace for their hidden masters? Enough already! Luckily, there are true researchers out there who actually do their homework and do have the best interests of personal liberty at heart. One such man is Peter Hendrickson. If you take the time to read his book, Cracking the Code, it will become readily apparent where Mr. Johnston is wrong. According to Hendrickson, only Federal workers, those living in Federally controlled territories, and those who engage in trade or business with Federal entities are legally subject to the tax. This perfectly constitutional tax system, Hendrickson excellently illustrates, became perverted in the early half of the twentieth century through intentional re-writings of Revenue laws that took advantage of masking everyday words, such as “employee”, “employer”, and “wages” with highly specific legal definitions that do not fit the common use. Constructed as such, people have been “voluntarily” declaring themselves Federal workers, citizens of Federally controlled territories, or receiving monies from dealings with the Federal Government. After such declarations have been made, one has become a “legally legitimate” target in the scopes of the legion of IRS agents out for the kill and their share of the booty. Whatever solutions Mr. Johnston proposes in his book, I can guarantee you that they will not include informing the people as to the true nature and reach of the income tax laws. If he and other supposed “journalists” did their job and reported what is true, the abuses he chronicles so eloquently would pale in comparison to the outright thievery and skullduggery perpetrated by the Government and the elite on a daily basis right before our very eyes. Instead of moral appeals to our “duty” to pay taxes, the populace would be better served if he could clearly demonstrate what the law requires and where that information can be found. Some of you may think it a bit harsh to accuse Mr. Johnston of purposefully misleading his readers about the presently warped nature of the Income Tax scam. But seeing that he does work for the New York Times, and spent eight years there researching this very subject, it must be the conclusion of this author that Mr. Johnston, and his editors, are true gatekeepers for the power structure of the super rich that they pretend to expose. As with all major media outlets, no truth that would truly expose the system and collapse the oppressive power structure will be allowed to find a large audience or see the light of day. If you are still timid in your heart, perhaps you will cut Mr. Johnston some slack and rationalize that he is merely uninformed. If such were the case, then Mr. Johnston ought to return his Pulitzer and find a new line of work. Such shabby reporting is a central reson why liberty has been put on life support around the world. But then I forget; The New York Times doesn't seem to have such an excellent reputation for reporting after all, does it? It's not all that odd that “tax day” should fall during the month whose first day is consecrated to fools and tricksters. Spotting fools like Mr. Johnston is easy if you admit that you yourself were once a fool. As fools, we are destined to be suckered again and again until wisdom one day wakes us up. As far as taxes go, this editor is grateful for having bumped into wisdom in the form of Mr. Hendrickson. Perhaps this year you will stumble across him too. Whose Life are You Living? |
