posted March 27, 2008 06:07 PM            

Now acoustic, this is pure bs. no new entitlement program would be created by the fair tax. People would be reimbursed for the TAX they paid on necessities. Nothing more.

You really are desperate or you just don't read with comprehension.

BTW, to show how brain dead the author of this piece of trash is, he/she doesn't know the difference between a cash grant and reimbursemnt for TAXES paid on necessities. It's not a grant, it's a calculaed repayment for taxes paid. Hahaha, who could consider the taxes paid on food and other necessities a "substantial portion" of their income? In most states food is not taxable now...as it would be under the Fair Tax...with a return of that tax monthly.

"Although a program could be designed to reduce the burden of a retail sales tax on lower-income and middle-income taxpayers by providing cash grants, such cash grants would represent a new entitlement program � by far the largest in American history. Adjusting the distribution of the burden of the retail sales tax through a cash grant program would cost approximately $600 billion to $780 billion per year and make most American families dependent on monthly checks from the federal government for a substantial portion of their incomes. The Panel concluded that such a cash grant program would inappropriately increase the size and scope of government.

posted March 27, 2008 07:29 PM            

You're right acoustic. People can look and see the benefits of getting all their earnings, no deductions and deciding HOW they want to spend it.

What I find endlessly amusing is that you don't care if there's any supporting LAW requiring any individual to even file an income tax return to report their wages and salaries and pay a tax on those earnings. Not exactly my kind of citizen but very much like a sheep.

posted March 27, 2008 08:15 PM            

quote:

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What I find endlessly amusing is that you don't care if there's any supporting LAW requiring any individual to even file an income tax return to report their wages and salaries and pay a tax on those earnings.

---

I merely couldn't afford the attorney(s) to fight the IRS, so I feel safe being on the right side of the law regardless of whether it exists.

posted March 27, 2008 09:35 PM            

Let's see acoustic, according to you Bush has never done anything right before but suddenly, we're supposed to believe you have unlimited faith in the competence of the panel Bush appointed.

posted March 27, 2008 09:39 PM            

Interpreting any limit on public religious behavior (10 commandments displays in the courthouse, required Christian prayer in school, etc) or even recognizing that other religions exist and may have some validity, as "persecution." And when 2 students sued to not to be forced to pray with everyone else and won, Pat Buchanan called THAT discrimination against Christians despite that the others still could pray.

Btw, I've talked to a Californian school teacher. As long as students aren't disruptive over it, religious expression and prayer are fine.

Even better, the Christian Right claimed that by not being allowed to proselytize that they were being persecuted, and "atheism was being promoted." They changed it. And then freaked when the Unitarians also spread pamphlets for a solstice celebration, and then a camp for agnostics and atheists did the same. THEN they said that they were being persecuted because these others were allowed the very same rights they were, which meant the schools were promoting paganism and atheism--but no word on how the schools were promoting Christianity by allowing THEIR leaflets. That is, when they say they love liberty, what they mean is, "Freedom for me, NOT for thee." And it's just one big whine fest of victimization by the Pharisees.

Discouraging rationality and logical thought by teaching creationism and making "It's in the Bible" the ultimate proof of anything, no matter how silly or contradicted by reality. Even when they say they want a fair hearing, you don't hear them standing up for Hindu Theory of Cycles, or the Flat Earth society, UFOlogists that believe aliens made us, or what Scientologists believe.

Let's not forget paranoia by demonizing gays for reasons that are never adequately explained.

Btw, I've seen the victims--including dead victims--of hate crimes. I've been threatened by a Christian myself who swore to track me down and kill me. I don't hear of that happening to Christians, at least not in the USA. At least not done by non-Christians anyway.

The Christian Right love to lie though. For example, when an obviously gay couple walked into the airport, a Christian read over the public speakers a Bible verse that said to put gays to death. He was fired for it, too. And the Christian Right then said he was fired "for being a Christian." Oh, the persecution complex! What do psychologists say about things like that again? Oh yes:

"creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;

augmenting primitive feelings of envy;

rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government."

And btw, The Left AND the Right in the USA (such as they are) are both adept at ignoring the facts, according to this study:
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060124_political_decisions.html

quote:

---

Democrats and Republicans alike are adept at making decisions without letting the facts get in the way, a new study shows.

And they get quite a rush from ignoring information that's contrary to their point of view.

Researchers asked staunch party members from both sides to evaluate information that threatened their preferred candidate prior to the 2004 Presidential election. The subjects' brains were monitored while they pondered.

The results were announced today.

"We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning," said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University. "What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up, including circuits hypothesized to be involved in regulating emotion, and circuits known to be involved in resolving conflicts."

The test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted, Westen and his colleagues say.

Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix, Westen explained.

The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making.

"None of the circuits involved in conscious reasoning were particularly engaged," Westen said. "Essentially, it appears as if partisans twirl the cognitive kaleidoscope until they get the conclusions they want, and then they get massively reinforced for it, with the elimination of negative emotional states and activation of positive ones."

Notably absent were any increases in activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain most associated with reasoning

---

posted March 27, 2008 10:29 PM            

quote:

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Let's see acoustic, according to you Bush has never done anything right before but suddenly, we're supposed to believe you have unlimited faith in the competence of the panel Bush appointed.

---

First, Bush's convening of this group was likely to explore this very subject. Fair Tax is definitely something I can see Bush getting behind. I believe this panel was supposed to figure out whether his wishes were feasible.

posted March 27, 2008 10:41 PM            

The Iraq Study Group was so obviously wrong...as proven by time and events that you should know better than to bring them up.

You've gone to the Bush is imcompetent, Bush did this, Bush did that..well way too often and in each and every case Bush was wrong in your opinion. Now, because it suits your current argument, Bush was right when he appointed that particular group...who happens to agree with you...and your favorite leftist source for an opinion...facts check dot org.

That's why acoustic what you're saying now is incredible...meaning not credible at all.

posted March 28, 2008 10:19 AM            

quote:

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Nice try but the home boys aren't buying it.

---

Don't you mean home boy? There's no one standing with you.

posted March 28, 2008 11:49 AM            

Deciding on whom the "best minds" in any given field happens to be IS NOT likely to be a competent decision....when...as you say, an idiot is making the decision. Mission impossible is more like reality.

It always tickles my funny bone when people step all over their own argument and destroy their argument before my very eyes.

You do live a very narrow existence, don't you acoustic?

The idea that "home boys" would only be found on this forum, this thread or this site or not at all is one of your more erroneous assumptions. Tens of millions of Americans want the federal income tax thrown in the nearest toilet and for a variety of reasons. They would find your argument...that facts check is against it...and the panel of experts put together by as you say, an idiot IS their and your source..as laughable as I do.

posted March 28, 2008 02:27 PM            

quote:

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Bush is the idiot you say then Bush wouldn't have the intellectual competence to recognize competence when he saw it.

---

Improper premise altogether. Think about what you say before you say it. Anyone who is not an expert in any particular field can find experts in those fields. Doesn't require a genius to put together geniuses, and as President of the United States you probably have much more access than the average joe.

quote:

---

Tens of millions of Americans want the federal income tax thrown in the nearest toilet and for a variety of reasons.

---

posted March 28, 2008 04:28 PM            

quote:

---

Improper premise altogether. Think about what you say before you say it. Anyone who is not an expert in any particular field can find experts in those fields. Doesn't require a genius to put together geniuses, and as President of the United States you probably have much more access than the average joe....acoustic

---

Perfect premise acoustic. An idiot is an idiot, is an idiot, is an idiot as you say Bush is and shouldn't be trusted to get anything right. Yet, suddenly, you trust Bush, the guy you say is an idiot to get it right. Further acoustic, an idiot..as you say Bush is is likely to surround himself with other idiot advisers who would seem perfectly normal to him.

quote:

---

Well, maybe when one of those people show up here maybe you can both make your case together. And you know what? Good luck pushing it through. Maybe the Fair Tax people will get more creative in coming to a more equitable solution...or maybe the expert economists the government calls on will die. Who knows? Anything could happen.

---

acoustic, I don't need anyone to show up here to support me. I already made the case against the federal income tax and for the "Fair Tax"...a national sales tax that is constitutional.

The case for the "Fair Tax" is that it corrects all the problems with the income tax and also picks up the "underground economy" where drug dealers, thieves, con artists and a variety of other criminals escape taxation because "they do not report their booty to the IRS. It also picks up those who work under the table and do not report their wages or salaries. Here's a real laugher. The federal courts have ruled criminals who make their living from criminal acts don't have to file tax returns because to do so would be giving the government information which could later be used against them in a criminal court. Compulsion to file and reveal the source of their "income" would be a violation of their 5th amendment rights to remain silent.

We are going to get rid of the federal income tax. We are not going to settle for a "flat tax"...which is still an income tax.

Now acoustic, you can be for or against the "Fair Tax". You can be for the federal income tax, or taxing fence posts and I don't give a damn. You can believe whomever you wish including the IRS and on a personal level, I don't give a damn about that either.

posted March 28, 2008 04:42 PM            

quote:

---

is an idiot as you say Bush is and shouldn't be trusted to get anything right.

---

I've gotta say, still a bad premise. I've known plenty of idiots who do get things right, who do know or have a sense of whom to contact when an expert is necessary. It doesn't require any genius whatsoever to think to call in a plumber when there's a leak.

quote:

---

Further acoustic, an idiot..as you say Bush is is likely to surround himself with other idiot advisers who would seem perfectly normal to him.

---

On the contrary, most people regardless of intelligence pick the smartest people they can find to counsel them. It's not helpful or practical to surround yourself with people more idiotic than yourself. (Is that what you do? Because if so, you're in the minority.)

quote:

---

Now acoustic, you can be for or against the "Fair Tax". You can be for the federal income tax, or taxing fence posts and I don't give a damn. You can believe whomever you wish including the IRS and on a personal level, I don't give a damn about that either.

---

posted March 28, 2008 05:28 PM            

quote:

---

But acoustic, it's your premise that Bush is an idiot and that hangs your argument out to dry.

---

No doubt no one would agree with you on this.

quote:

---

"Hello Mr President, you're an idiot but I'm smart, smarter than him, smarter than her and smarter than him, smarter than anyone else in this room and all of us are smarter than you. We're all morons and we're the perfect people to put on your panel. Take my word for it Mr President...you idiot, you should appoint us morons".

---

There are a lot of CEOs, managers, and executives who would characterize their employees as smarter than themselves in some capacity.

posted March 29, 2008 10:05 PM              

Now Bush wants to test every American for mental illness--including you! And guess who will create the tests?
By Jordanne Graham

Next month, President Bush plans to unveil a broad new mental health plan called the New Freedom Initiative.� Never mind that it couldn't have less to do with freedom; if you're a thinking American, this initiative should scare the hell out of you.

The New Freedom Initiative proposes to screen every American, including you, for mental illness. To this end, the president established a New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, to study the nation's mental health delivery service and make a report. It's interesting to note that many on the staff appointed to the Commission have served on the advisory boards of some of the nation's largest drug companies.

The commission reported that despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed, so it recommended comprehensive mental health screening for consumers of all ages,� including preschool children because each year, young children are expelled from preschools and childcare facilities for severely disruptive behaviors and emotional disorders.

Children and school personnel will be the first to be screened. The panel concluded that schools are in key positions� to screen the 52 million students and six million adults who work at the schools. By doing this, the commission expects to flush out another six million persons not now receiving treatment. But who will decide the screening criteria? Bush and his people? The drug companies? What are their qualifications?

One recommendation of the commission was that the screening be linked with treatment and supports, using specific medications for specific conditions. It is no coincidence that the treatments recommended for specific conditions are the newest state-of-the-art treatments that will bring in the most revenues for the drug companies. One of these emerging treatments is a capsule implanted within the body that delivers doses of medication without the patient having to swallow pills or take injections. If a government wanted to exert control of its citizens, think of the implications of using this device.

The Texas Medication Algorithm Project, or TMAP, was named by the commission as a model medication treatment plan that illustrates an evidence-based practice that results in better consumer outcomes.� Medical algorithms are a decision-tree approach to treatment. If symptoms A, B, and C are evident, use treatment X. In 1995, TMAP began as an alliance of individuals from the University of Texas, the pharmaceutical industry, and the mental health and corrections systems of Texas. This plan was trumpeted by the American Psychiatric Association even as it asked for increased funding to implement TMAP. When an employee of the Inspector General's office revealed that state officials with influence over the plan had received money and perks from drug companies who stood to gain from it, the plan came under severe criticism.

Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, wrote a whistleblower report in which he stated that behind the recommendations of the New Freedom Commission was the political/pharmaceutical alliance that developed the Texas project, which promotes the use of newer, more expensive antipsychotics and antidepressants. He further claimed that this unholy alliance was poised to consolidate the TMAP effort into a comprehensive national policy to treat mental illness with expensive, patented medications of questionable benefit and deadly side effects, and to force private insurers to pick up more of the tab.�

In an article in the British Medical Journal, Jones shows that many companies who helped launch TMAP are also major contributors to Bush's re-election funds. For example, Eli Lilly manufactures olanzapine. This is one of the drugs recommended in the New Freedom plan. Lilly has numerous ties to the Bush administration according to the British Medical Journal. It says George Herbert Walker Bush was once a member of Lilly's board of directors. Our current President Bush appointed Lilly's chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, as a member of the Homeland Security Council. Eighty-two percent of Lilly's $1.6 million in political contributions in 2000 went to Bush and the Republican Party.

Now don't get me wrong. The medical algorithm approach used in Texas shows promise as a treatment tool for mental health and other illnesses. But make no mistake; this initiative is not really about treatment tools. Masquerading in the lamb's fleece of providing mental health treatment to needy folk is the greedy wolf called Big Pharma. Helping out Big Pharma in the form of the TMAP has nearly bankrupted Texas. So why would our president want to do that to the rest of the nation?

To understand this, one must look at the big picture.

At the recent Inequality Matters Conference, Bill Moyers illuminated listeners on the front of a new class war being waged against us by the wealthy leviathan corporations. Their stated and open aim is to change how America is governed, to strip from government all its functions except those that reward their rich and privileged benefactors. Their leading strategist in Washington, the same Grover Norquist, has famously said he wants to shrink the government down to the size that it could be drowned in a bathtub. More recently, in commenting on the fiscal crisis in the states and its affect on schools and poor people, Norquist said, "I hope one of them" --one of the states-- �goes bankrupt." So much for compassionate conservatives!. The White House pursues the same homicidal dream without saying so. Instead of shrinking down the government, they're filling the bathtub with so much debt that it floods the house, water-logs the economy, and washes away services for decades that have lifted millions of Americans out of destitution and into the middle-class. And what happens once the public's property has been flooded? Privatize it. Sell it at a discounted rate to the corporations.

On a website describing the Take Back America conference in June of 2003, Moyers is paraphrased: "[The Bush Administration] would privatize public services in order to enrich the corporate interests that fund campaigns and provide golden parachutes to pliable politicians. If unchecked, the result of these machinations will be the dismantling of every last brick of the social contract. I think this is a deliberate, intentional destruction of the United States of America."

The destruction of America is evident in many ways. Do not be fooled; the Bushites intend to control all they can, and if that can include your brain, they will do it. If Big Pharma benefits, all the better. The New Freedom Initiative is an early step toward both, and $20 million has already been set aside to implement the initiative.

Work now to maintain your grip on your first great freedom, the power to control your own thoughts. Work now to maintain your grip on your secondary freedom of being able to control the approval for your own medical treatments. Ask your congressmen and senators today to put an end to the New Freedom Initiative.

August 8, 2004

posted March 29, 2008 10:26 PM              

Bush To Impose Psychiatric Drug Regime

Plans to screen whole US population for mental illness

According to a recent article in the British Medical Journal, US president George Bush is to announce a major "mental health" initiative in this coming month of July. The proposal will extend screening and psychiatric medication to kids and grown-ups all over the US, following a pilot scheme of recommended medication practice developed in Texas and already exported to several other states.

The Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) will serve, according to the President�s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, as a model for the upcoming initiative. The TMAP medication guidelines were established in 1995 as an "expert consensus" based on the opinions of prescribers, rather than an analysis of scientific studies. The pharmaceutical companies who funded the scheme include Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, Janssen-Ortho-McNeil, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, Bristol Myers Squibb, Wyeth-Ayerst and Forrest Laboratories. The drugs recommended as "first line treatment", many of them with potentially deadly side effects, are patented expensive drugs produced by the sponsors of the guidelines: Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroqual, Geodone, Depakote, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Wellbutron, Zyban, Remeron, Serzone, Effexor, Buspar, Adderall and Prozac.

TMAP was extended to cover children, again by "expert consensus", and no doubt the Bush program for widespread testing in schools all over the US will find hundreds of thousands if not millions of new "customers" for the dangerous psychiatric drugs the scheme promotes. A recent article in the New York Times about "the use of juvenile detention facilities to warehouse children with mental disorders" might give us an idea of how many future patients are already waiting in the sidelines. But more importantly it shows that the problem that fits the TMAP solution is now being promoted by the media - go figure.

A similar "patient recruitment" move for psychiatry is the re-definition of environmental illness - a debilitating condition with varying symptoms due to environmental causes such as chemical poisons and electromagnetic pollution - as a purely psychological phenomenon. "It's all in your head, stupid!" seems to be the rationale.

Diana Buckland, the Brisbane representative of the Australian Chemical Trauma Alliance calls for world wide submissions in a Global Recognition Campaign for sufferers of multiple chemical sensitivity or chemically induced illnesses.

Investigative author Martin Walker in his most recent book SKEWED, discusses how the recognition of biological causes of a whole variety of environmentally induced illnesses has been blocked by a small interest group of "experts" linked to the polluters - the multinational agro-petro-chemical industries. Those suffering from the debilitating effects of environmental illnesses are told that they are just imagining their symptoms and all they need is psychiatric help, perhaps some forced exercise, called "graded exercise therapy", re-education of "how to deal with" their illness, psychological counselling or maybe just antidepressants - for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Bush's Texas Medication Algorithm Project has recently run into a problem in Pennsylvania, one of several states it was exported to. Allen Jones, an investigator for the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, found heavy pharmaceutical corruption of State officials and medical experts involved in the original elaboration and the "selling" to Pennsylvania of the TMAP giudelines.

Instead of receiving a citation and help in his investigation, Jones was told to shut up and look the other way. After he went to the press with his findings, Jones was escorted out of his workplace on 28 April 2004 and told not to come back. On 7 May, Jones filed a whistleblower suit against his superiors charging that the Office of the Inspector General's policy of barring employees from talking with the media is unconstitutional. Jones' report is highly interesting - no wonder he is being told to shut up. I have summarised the document and linked it here following:

The Allen Jones whistleblower report
Revised January 20, 2004

This important document has been posted by the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights, a non-profit dedicated to fighting the scourge of forced psychiatric drugging.

Download the original PDF document here.

What follows is my view of the highlights of the 66 page document, with some personal comments and recommendations added at the end
Josef Hasslberger

The Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) was developed with 1.7 million $ of initial financing from pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, provided indirectly through a connected Foundation, and subsequent direct cash funneled through subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica. It was developed and implemented in the Lone Star State's hospitals, prisons, the Juvenile Justice system and the Foster Care system during George W. Bush's watch as governor. Bush used the "extended mental health care" scheme as a point in his 2000 presidential campaign. Before leaving for the White House, he recommended a 67 million $ spending increase to pay for additional medications for the Texas Prison and Mental Health Systems.

TMAP, the Texas project, was also exported to other states, including Pennsylvania, where an investigation into what is called PENNMAP there, uncovered improper pharmaceutical pressures and financial enticements in connection with the program. The investigator, Allen Jones, was told by superiors to shut up and look the other way. When Jones refused, he was unceremoniously removed from his job and prohibited to talk to the press. Jones has stood up to the pressure and has filed a civil suit to obtain protection under the "whistleblower" statutes. He continued his investigation as a private citizen and has produced a well documented report, which is available for download as a PDF file.

The TMAP medication guide was developed, starting in 1995, in a rather singular way. Instead of reviewing studies that show the relative efficacy of medications, an "expert opinion consensus" was developed, but both the experts and the survey questions were chosen by the pharmaceutical sponsors of the program which included Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, Novartis, Janssen-Ortho-McNeil, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott, Bristol Myers Squibb, Wyeth-Ayerst and Forrest Laboratories.

The subsequent evaluation of the experts' opinions came to recommend several drugs, including Risperdal, Zyprexa, Seroqual, Geodone, Depakote, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Wellbutron, Zyban, Remeron, Serzone, Effexor, Buspar, Adderall and Prozac, manufactured by - who would have thought so - the same companies that sponsored and controlled the development of the Texas guide. As the guide was adopted, doctors working with state health systems had to prescribe these drugs or face disciplinary action.

In his whistleblower report, Jones not only traces the funding and the influence of the pharmaceutical companies involved in producing and "selling" the Texas Algorithm to other states, but also shows that - according to independent research not financed by the pharma giants - the drugs recommended are neither more effective nor safer than the cheaper ones used before. If anything, their side effects are more serious and of course they are patented and rake in an incredible return for the companies involved - according to one estimate US medicare spends as much as 3.7 billion dollars for the treatment of schizophrenia alone.

Peter J. Weiden MD, one of the participants in the "Expert Consensus" process said in an article published in the Journal of Practice in Psychiatry and Behavioural Health in January 1999, three years after the experience:

�The most important weakness of the EC Guidelines is that the recommendations are based on opinions, not data. History shows that experts' opinions about �best� treatments have frequently been disproved, and there is no assurance that what the experts recommend is actually the best treatment. One danger here is that clinicians or administrators may misinterpret �current consensus� as truth.

Another limitation involves the development of the survey itself. Treatment options are limited to those items appearing on the questions, and it was not possible to cover all situations. Another problem is potential bias from funding sources. The 1996 Guidelines were funded by Janssen (makers of Risperidone [Risperdal]) and most of the guidelines� authors have received support from the pharmaceutical industry. This potential conflict of interest may create credibility problems, especially concerning any recommendations supporting the use of atypical antipsychotics."

The original TMAP recommendations, made for adults, were extended unchanged to become recommendations for medicating children - with the same drugs - as TCMAP or Texas Children's Medication Algorithm Project. No studies, no research - the original TMAP "experts" simply met and agreed that it would be a good idea to treat children with the same drugs as adults.

TCMAP, the childrens' drug program, recommended Effexor, Prozac, Serzone and other drugs with deadly side effects. These drugs have been linked to suicides, violence and mayhem - notably school shootings - in young persons. Serzone was withdrawn in Europe when death from liver failure became widespread in users. The use of Effexor in children was banned in the UK last year.

By early 2001, TMAP and TCMAP had all but bankrupted the Texas Medicaid program and the budgets of the state's mental health and prison systems. Nancy San Martin reported on 9 Februay 2001 in the Dallas Morning News:

�Texas now spends more money on medication to treat mental illness for low-income residents than on any other type of prescription drug.�

�Prescription drugs are the fastest growing expense within the health care system. And the cost for mental disorder treatments is rising faster than any type of prescription drug.�

�The costs of treating schizophrenia, bipolar conditions and depression have surpassed expenditures for medications to treat physical ailments, such as bacterial infections, high blood pressure, respiratory problems and even chronic disorders, notably diabetes.�

�According to a report on the state's Medicaid Vendor Drug Program, mental health drugs made up the largest category of expenditures among the top 200 drugs in 1999. They accounted for nearly $148 million. Those costs have more than doubled since 1996.�

�This week, health officials asked for at least $657 million more to help cover Medicaid costs.�

In April 2002, Bush established the President�s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health as part of the "New Freedom Initiative for People with Disabilities". The mental health commission has largely interlocking membership with the TMAP experts and those involved in bringing the Texas prescription guidelines to other states.

According to the Allen Jones report, TMAP appears prominently in New Freedom Commission publications as an example of a program that really works. On July 22, 2003 the New Freedom Commission issued its recommendations for redesigning the mental health network in each of the fifty states. Not surprisingly, TMAP is recommended as the model program for all states to follow.

But not all is going smoothly. According to a Wall Street Journal article on 21 May 2002 by Andrew Caffrey, entitled States Go to Court to Rein in Price of Medicine, legal action by states against pharmaceutical companies is becoming common. The States of Colorado and Nevada initiated lawsuits accusing seventeen drug companies of defrauding consumers.

The Nevada suit alleges deceptive practices that constitute consumer fraud and says, �The drug makers, through a pattern of behavior, operated a racketeering enterprise�.

According to Caffrey, Attorney Generals in thirty-five states are looking at pharmaceutical marketing practices and the states of New York, California and Texas have also filed suits alleging improprieties in Medicaid pricing practices.

I have argued in a recent article (so far only available in Italian) that we have two distinct health systems:

One of these, let's call it the petrochemical model, is based on the use of chemical pharmaceutical remedies that treat symptoms and it is almost entirely supported by governments, spending our taxes. The major features of this system are toxins in the environment such as pesticides, herbicides and pollution from fossil fuels, genetically modified organisms, fluoride in the water supply, lead, uranium and mercury in widespread use, neurotoxic sweeteners such as aspartame in our food chain, antibiotics, hormones, vaccines, and pharmaceutical drugs that have, according to published studies, become the number one killer in the US today.

The other health system - let's call it the biological model - is based on natural means to achieve and maintain good health and it includes proper (organically grown) food, nutritional and herbal supplementation, traditional remedies that have sustained the health of populations for millennia, coming from India, China, as well as other cultures, not to forget homeopathy, chiropractic and other alternatives in medicine, recent breakthroughs in biological and orthomolecular medicine, as well as energetic and spiritual approaches to health. The overriding emphasis in this second health system which, in contrast to the petrochemical model is highly pluralistic, is on disease prevention, with healing interventions targeted, where necessary, at removing the causes of disease, rather than suppressing its symptoms.

The petrochemical model is in a de facto monopoly position, maintained through AMA and similar licensing schemes, persecution of alternatives by so-called quackbusters, and now this monopoly is being reinforced through restrictive legislation designed to relegate the biological sector to a marginal existence. The increased cost in terms of injury and loss of life as well as the financial expenditure is born by consumers all over the world, because governments elect to spend our taxes on one and only one of the two health systems. The petrochemical health model is a commercial cartel, a monopoly that has become so pervasive as to compromise both our health and our financial ability to pay for it. According to the State of Nevada's attorneys it uses what amounts to racketeering practices in securing its profits.

Vigorous action against this Great Medical Monopoly on all levels is probably the only way left to protect our health.

In closing, let me give you here the postscript of the Allen Jones whistleblower report, a document which I highly recommend for study. Jones appeals to all of us when he says:

"The pharmaceutical industry has methodically compromised our political system at all levels and has systematically infiltrated the mental health service delivery system of this nation. They are poised to consolidate their grip via the New Freedom Commission and the Texas Medication Algorithm Project. The pervasive manipulation of clinical trials, the nonreporting of negative trials and the cover-up of debilitating and deadly side effects render meaningful informed consent impossible by persons being treated with these drugs. Doctors and patients alike have been betrayed by the governmental entities and officials who are supposed to protect them. To the millions of doctors, parents and patients who are affected: PLEASE: suspend disbelief and realize you are on your own. Educate yourselves. The Internet has many sites that will help you. The Alliance for Human Research Protection, www.ahrp.org would be a good place to start.

The above report tells what I fear to be only a small part of a much larger story. But it is a beginning. The fuller story will require the efforts of persons with investigative resources, political authority, legal standing - and the will to use them."

Allen Jones

see also:

A Lone Wolf Talks on the Drug Leviathan
An interview with Allen Jones

No Child Left Unmedicated
By: Phyllis Schlafly - Published In: Health Care News
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is underway, and the pharmaceutical firms are gearing up for bigger sales of psychotropic drugs. Like most liberal, big-spending ideas, this one was slipped into the law under cover of soft semantics. Its genesis was the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFCMH), created by President George W. Bush in 2002.

Sierra Times: Bush Administration - Money, Politics & Drugs
A new plan by the Bush administration to test the nation's public school population for mental disorders and treat them with controversial drugs has raised an alarm among some medical science watchdogs and members of the mental health community...

Petition in Support of H.R. 181 -- Parental Consent Act of 2005
to House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
The American tradition of parents deciding what is best for their children is under attack.� Powerful corporations, institutions, and politicians are quietly moving to have the federal government implement universal mental-health screening of children.� This would likely lead to the forced drugging of children.

Association of American Physicians and Surgeons - TELL SENATE TO “JUST SAY NO!” TO UNIVERSAL PSYCHIATRIC SCREENING AND DRUGGING CHILDREN

No Child "Left Behind": Code words for a children's cookbook? - Posted on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - scroll down to find or see the archives if it vanished from first page...

The Texans for Safe Education in Conjunction with Ablechild have Launched A Petition Drive in Response to Bush and Company's New Freedom Commission and Its Recommendations to Screen all U.S. Citizens for Mental Illness.

MindFreedom News: President Bush and the Shrinking of the USA

Antidepressants dangerous and should be banned, crusader says
By Elaine Jarvik - Deseret Morning News
Ann Tracy knows hundreds of grisly stories: the professor on Prozac who bit her mother to death; the Stanford graduate on Paxil who stabbed herself in the kitchen while her parents slept; the mother who bludgeoned her son and then drank a can of Drano; the 12-year-old girl who strangled herself with a bungee cord...

British Medical Journal (14 August 2004) - Bush launches controversial mental health plan

Bush Wants To Be Your Shrink
Now Bush wants to test every American for mental illness -- including you! And guess who will create the tests? - By Jordanne Graham

HISTORY OF THE FRAUD OF BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY - By Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD

Psychiatric Drug Facts - Peter R. Breggin, M.D.

Conspiracy: Eli Lilly, Zyprexa, Prozac, Bush Family

"Imaginary" Illness Costs U.S. Billions Each Year

THE WHITE COATS ARE COMING! - Jon Rappoport

ILLINOIS launches compulsory mental health screening for children and pregnant women

ILLINOIS: Children's Mental Health Plan gives legislators headache

NewsTarget - August 21, 2004:
The big Bush handout to pharmaceutical companies: mandatory mental health screening for entire U.S. population

SSRI Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome in Newborns - by Elizabeth Rudy, D.V.M., R.Ph. (file is in pdf format, available from Washington University)

SHUT UP AND TAKE YOUR DRUGS - News with views

Forced mental screening hits roadblock in House
Rep. Ron Paul seeks to yank program, decries use of drugs on children

Mandatory Mental Health Screening Threatens Privacy, Parental Rights

The Psycho State - by Rep. Ron Paul, MD

Links resource: Antipsychiatry on the Web

THE STORY BEHIND PROZAC ... the KILLER DRUG

Take Action! Send a Message
Just Say No! To Universal Mental Health Screening and the Drugging of Our Children

Mandatory mental health screening program would dose pregnant women with prescription drugs that cause birth defects

Children Mental Health in the 108th Congress: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Karen R. Effrem, MD

TEENSCREEN
A Front Group for the Psycho-Pharmaceutical Industrial Complex

ILLINOIS launches compulsory mental health screening
for children and Post-pregnancy women

Here a comment by CCHR's Peter Dockx with information on how to counter this initiative, which apparently was recently funded with an initial 20 Million Dollars by Congress:

$20 Million Approved By Congress to Screen US Population for "Mental Illness"

The House Appropriations Committee Funds President's New Freedom Commission Initiative That Includes Plan To Screen All U.S. Citizens For Mental Illness

Tell Congress and the White House NO MENTAL SCREENINGS FOR AMERICANS AND NO FUNDING FOR THIS PLAN!

Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee approved $20 million in new federal dollars to begin implementation of the plans set forth by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health (NFC) to get every man, woman and child in America "screened" for 'mental illness'.

Amidst broad public concern that many of the antidepressants being prescribed to Americans are under federal investigation for causing suicidal reactions, the New Freedom on Mental Health Commission's campaign for national mental health 'screening' - will result in millions more Americans being diagnosed with fraudulent and unscientific mental disorders, and prescribed dangerous and deadly psychiatric drugs.

Now, $20 million has been approved by the House Appropriations Committee for 'State Incentive Transformation Grants', in order to begin nationwide implementation of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's plan. It's the beginning of a 'Brave New World' should the Senate fund this.

The Commission based its entire findings on the definition of mental illness as defined by psychiatry's billing bible, the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The methods of mental health 'screening' recommended by the New Freedom Commission are lists of arbitrary questions based on this DSM. If this "sweeping mental health initiative" is implemented, millions more Americans will certainly be diagnosed and drugged given the subjective diagnoses.

FACTS:

- The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's report states that "mental illnesses are shockingly common," but neglects to address or even mention the fact that there is no medical or scientific means by which to diagnose mental 'illnesses'. Psychiatrists and mental health proponents promote psychiatric 'disorders' as a disease, or an illness that can be diagnosed in the same manner as real physical illness. This is a fraud. There are no blood tests, brain scans or chemical imbalance tests to validate any mental disorder as an illness or 'disease'. With no scientific/medical criteria to substantiate these claims, anyone could be diagnosed as mentally ill based solely on a checklist of behaviors.

- The DSM contains hundreds of psychiatric mental 'disorders' which are a list of behavioral symptoms that are literally voted into existence and inserted into the DSM. Such diagnoses include "Caffeine-Related Disorder", "Mathematics Disorder", "Disorder of Written Expression", and the all-encompassing "Phase of Life Problem". These 'disorders' are simply a classification of symptoms that are drastically different from, and foreign to, anything in medicine.

- The New Freedom Commission is blatantly promoting the coercive and manipulative tactics that have led to millions of children being falsely labeled with mental disorders in our public schools. Schools have become mental health clinics where children are diagnosed based on subjective questionnaires, instead of given proven educational solutions. This fact was substantiated by a report from the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education, which found that 2.4 million children had been diagnosed with mental 'disorders' and placed in Special Education, when in fact these children had simply not been taught to read.

- The issue of coerced child drugging in public schools has become so prevalent that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Child Medication Safety Act in May 2003, to prevent schools from forcing a parent to drug their child as a condition of attending school.

- Due to psychiatric influence, parents have been reported to Child Protective Services and charged with medical neglect for refusing to give their child a psychiatric drug, such as those currently under investigation for causing suicidal reactions. Parents have been charged with 'medical neglect' for refusing psychiatric treatment - despite the fact that there is no scientific proof that there is anything medically wrong with the child.

- In a recent report by Allen Jones, a former investigator in the Pennsylvania Office of Inspector General (OIG), Bureau of Special Investigations, condemning the New Freedom Commission (NFC), he states, "Despite a nearly 500% increase in American children being prescribed mental health drugs during the past 6 years, the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health found that not enough adolescents are benefiting from mental health treatment. The NFC recommendations prominently call for mandatory mental health screening for all high school students, with follow-up 'treatment' as required - this means more kids on mind-altering and potentially lethal psychiatric drugs."

WHAT TO DO:

1) Oppose any federal, state, or local plans for universal mental health screening. Contact the White House (202-456-1111), the Speaker of the House (Rep. Hastert at 202-225-2976) and the Senate Leader (Senator Frist at 202-224-3344), your own Members of Congress (go to www.congress.org), the House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner at 202-225-6205, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Judd Gregg at 202-224-3324 and tell them to STOP funding this New Freedom Commission on Mental Health plan in the Labor/HHS appropriations bill. Alert your state legislators and oppose school board initiatives to add psychiatric screening programs.

2) Support the Child Medication Act (S. 1390) currently stalled in the Senate by Senator Edward Kennedy - This legislation prohibits schools from coercing parents to place their children on psychiatric medications that are on the controlled substances list. Senator Kennedy, with large support from pharmaceutical companies, has not let this very modest proposal even receive a hearing, saying that it needs more study. Senator Kennedy (202-224-4543) as well as Senator Gregg (202-224-3324) the Committee chairman, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (202-224-3344) need to hear from the public.

3) Check to see if your state has a provision in state special education law that prohibits a school district from overriding parental refusal to submit their child to a special education or mental health evaluation. If yes, alert other parents, and if not, work for one.

Peter Dockx

Government Affairs
CCHR International

See also:

December 15, 2005
Psy-screening and Mandatory Drugs for Everyone? The Genesis of President Bush�s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
by Sue Weibert
Screening for mental illness is the most controversial topic concerning mental health today. Various government entities, private foundations, organizations, think tanks and universities, all flanked by cunning public relations firms, are hard at work trying to make mental health screening as common as a dental checkup. Despite public outrage over screening, these entities are working feverishly to establish this system. With so much clamor of disagreement for such a program, why, then, do these entities push forward with such ferocity? This article reveals exactly how this all got started, who�s really behind �the big push,� and how President Bush was tricked into establishing what might be the most detrimental program in the history of mankind.

MIRACLES STILL HAPPEN!
"Sit down, folks! What you are going to hear is going to astound you. At least it did me. This is the only really good news we have ever had regarding the protection of parental and pupil rights. This new information will strike at the heart of many destructive values- changing federal education programs, but especially at the heart of President Bush's plans to require mandatory mental health screening of our children in the government schools. (New Freedom Commission on Mental Health). Yesterday, I did an Internet search...."

TeenScreen - Angel of Mercy or Pill-Pusher
by Evelyn Pringle
The question is what is TeenScreen, an Angel of Mercy for suicidal teens, or a pill-pushing front group for Pharma? After investigating the program, I'd have to say the latter.

Eli Lilly, Zyprexa, & the Bush Family - The diseasing of our malaise�
By Bruce Levine
More than one journalist has uncovered corrupt connections between the Bush Family, psychiatry, and Eli Lilly & Company, the giant pharmaceutical corporation. While previous Lillygates have been more colorful, Lilly’s soaking state Medicaid programs with Zyprexa—its blockbuster, antipsychotic drug—may pack the greatest financial wallop. Worldwide in 2003, Zyprexa grossed $4.28 billion, accounting for slightly more than one-third of Lilly’s total sales. In the United States in 2003, Zyprexa grossed $2.63 billion, 70 percent of that attributable to government agencies, mostly Medicaid. �

Celebrities Speak Out Against National Plan to Test All 52 Million Children
Priscilla Presley, Danny Masterson, Sofia Milos, Catherine Bell, Chris Masterson and Jenn Elfman speak out against psychiatry's new federal plan to massively increase psychiatri drugging of schoolchildren, despite international warnings of drugs causing suicide an violence...

Psycho Feds Target Children
Lewrockwell.com - By Rep. Ron Paul, MD
Every parent in America should be made aware of a presidential initiative called the "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health." This commission issued a report last year calling for the mandatory mental health screening of American schoolchildren, meaning millions of kids will be forced to undergo psychiatric screening whether their parents consent or not. At issue is the fundamental right of parents to decide what medical treatment is appropriate for their children.

Bush - Labeling Kids Mentally Ill For Profit
By: Evelyn Pringle - Independent Media TV
Citing recommendations by the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Bush wants to launch a nationwide mental illness screening program in government institutions, including the public school system, for all students from kindergarten up to the 12th grade. ... The truth is, this is nothing but another Bush profiteering scheme to implement a drug treatment program for use in the public institutions that will generate high volume sales of the relatively new, but inadequately tested, high- priced psychiatric drugs. If all goes as planned, the scheme will generate millions of new customers for the drug companies.

An Open Letter To American Educators and Our Legislators
Nancy Levant - Sierra Times

THE NEW FREEDOM: OLD ORWELLIAN DOUBLETHINK
By Mary Louise - November 29, 2004
NewsWithViews.com
Though the New Freedom Initiative claims to help persons with disabilities, it will also enable the government to single out and label as "mentally ill", anyone who does not behave and perform "normally", or adapt and conform to the "New World Order" mentality, in the "New American Century".

Bush-Backed Drug Marketing Schemes

AMERICA THE INSANE
Nancy Levant - June 28, 2005 - NewsWithViews.com
It’s looking more and more like the American contribution to population reduction will be in the form of diagnosing half its citizens as mental incompetents...

Fierce opposition arises to mental health screening in schools
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Opponents of school-based mental health programs point to parents who say their children have been misdiagnosed with problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and forced to take medication under pressure from school officials. To these parents, the commission suggestion to "improve and expand'' school mental health programs is the first, inexorable step toward mandatory school mental health screening for all students, and mandatory medication for many...

Poll tries to gauge mental health
Schools, critics argue value of TeenScreen in preventing suicide

Government's Big Lie: The "Crisis" of Babies With Undiagnosed Mental Illness
By Laura Adelmann
To the federal government, many newborns, toddlers and preschoolers are undiagnosed mental cases with dire need of "treatment" (read: drugs). Following the appalling trend of labeling school children with an ever-expanding list of mental disorders and medicating them with the cocaine-class of drugs like Adderall and Ritalin, government is promoting universal mental health screening and treatment - beginning with babies.

Bush's Mental Illness Screening Squad On the Move
July 9, 2006. By Evelyn Pringle
The tax dollar funded mental health screening programs popping up in every corner of the nation represent an enormous gift to Big Pharma from the Bush administration. After all, drug companies can't push drugs without a lucrative customer base, so the screening programs are a great solution for that little problem. On April 29, 2002, Bush kicked off the whole mental health screening scheme when he announced the establishment of the New Freedom Commission (NFC) during a speech in in New Mexico where he told the audience that mental health centers and hospitals, homeless shelters, and the justice and school systems, have contact with individuals suffering from mental disorders but that too many Americans are falling through the cracks, and so he created the NFC to ensure "that the cracks are closed."

World Experts Demand End to Child Drugging in the US
On October 12, 2007, experts in the field of psychiatry and child development from all over the world arrived in Washington to attend the annual conference of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. This year's conference focused on one specific goal - to end the mass-prescribing of psychiatric drugs to children.

Many of the presentations at the conference focused on the pharmaceutical industry's role in the invention of both TMAP and TeenScreen and the many financial ties between the drug makers, the Bush administration, a group of psychiatrists, and state policy makers largely credited with the creation and promotion of these two programs.

Since the arrival of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressants (SSRI's) and atypical antipsychotics on the market, countless studies have shown the so-called "wonder drugs" to be ineffective and harmful to children. But for years, drug companies have manipulated data, suppressed negative clinical trials and published only the studies that showed positive results. The truth is that the mass drugging of the entire population in the US with SSRI's has accomplished nothing when it comes to reducing suicidality.

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Wednesday June 23 2004
updated on Friday October 26 2007
Print this article

URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2004/06/23/bush_to_impose_psychiatric_drug_regi me.htm

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posted April 15, 2008 07:45 PM            

quote:

---

How about you find...in the law...in the US Code...the codified laws of the United States passed by legislative acts of the Congress of the United States and signed into law by Presidents..how about you find in the laws of the United States of America any law requiring individuals to file an income tax return on their wages or salaries.

---

I happened to stumble upon this brochure today. Hopefully, it will clear up any issues you have with the United States imposing upon you to fill out your tax return.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p2105.pdf

Know the Law

There have always been individuals who argue taxes are illegal. They use false, misleading, or unorthodox tax advice to gain followers. The courts have repeatedly rejected their arguments as frivolous and routinely impose penalities for raising such frivolous arguments. Make sure you "Know the Law":

The United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8,Clause 1, states, "The Congress shall have the Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States."

The Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratifiedon February 3, 1913, states, "The Congress shall havethe power to lay and collect taxes on income, fromwhatever source derived, without apportionmentamong the several States, and without regard to anycensus or enumeration."

Congress used the power granted by the Constitution and Sixteenth Amendment, and made laws requiring all individuals to pay tax.

Congress has delegated to the IRS the responsibility of administering the tax laws- known as the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and found in Title 26 of the United States Code. Congress enacts these tax laws, and the IRS enforces them.

Sources of taxable income are identified in the Code under Section 61, Gross Income Defined. The list of sources under this section is not all inclusive.

Section 6702 of the Code authorizes the IRS to impose a $5000 penalty against persons who submit frivolous tax returns or other documents.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

posted April 15, 2008 08:04 PM            

Now acoustic where is the law...the one I asked you for which requires citizens to file an income tax return and pay a tax on their wages and salary?

Wages and salary are not income. Income is a gain or profit. The 16th Amendment authorizes a tax on INCOME.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that filing out and signing an income tax return is giving testimony within the meaning of the 5th Amendment. No person shall be compelled to be a witness against themself...5th Amendment US Constitution.

Finally, when one signs that income tax return one does so under penalty of perjury and in doing so must be considered to have waived their 5th Amendment rights.
No power of government can require any citizen to waive any of their constitutional rights.

Now acoustic where is that specific law..by US Code Title, Section and Paragraph.. passed by the Congress of the United States and signed by the President which requires a citizen to file an income tax return and pay a tax on their wages and/or salary??

posted April 15, 2008 08:20 PM            

[1] The amount of money or its equivalent received during a period of time in exchange for labor or services, from the sale of goods or property, or as profit from financial investments.

Compensation Myths: Wages, tips, and othercompensation received for personal services are not income because there is no taxable gain when a person "exchanges" labor for money.

Truth: This argument has been consistently dismissed by the courts. Sources of taxable income are identified in the Code under Section 61, Gross Income Defined. Congress has determined that all income is taxable unless specifically excluded by some part of the Code. The list of sources under this section is not all inclusive.

Do I need to post the rest of the brochure, or do you want to check it out.

quote:

---

You're spouting the government/IRS line.

---

posted April 15, 2008 08:32 PM            

1. Contention: The filing of a tax return is voluntary.

Some assert that they are not required to file federal tax returns because the filing of a tax return is voluntary. Proponents point to the fact that the IRS itself tells taxpayers in the Form 1040 instruction book that the tax system is voluntary. Additionally, the Supreme Court�s opinion in Flora v. United States, 362 U.S. 145, 176 (1960), is often quoted for the proposition that "[o]ur system of taxation is based upon voluntary assessment and payment, not upon distraint."

The Law: The word �voluntary,� as used in Flora and in IRS publications, refers to our system of allowing taxpayers initially to determine the correct amount of tax and complete the appropriate returns, rather than have the government determine tax for them from the outset. The requirement to file an income tax return is not voluntary and is clearly set forth in sections 6011(a), 6012(a), et seq., and 6072(a). See also Treas. Reg. � 1.6011-1(a).

Any taxpayer who has received more than a statutorily determined amount of gross income is obligated to file a return. Failure to file a tax return could subject the non-complying individual to criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment, as well as civil penalties. In United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986), the court clearly states, �although Treasury regulations establish voluntary compliance as the general method of income tax collection, Congress gave the Secretary of the Treasury the power to enforce the income tax laws through involuntary collection . . . . The IRS� efforts to obtain compliance with the tax laws are entirely proper.� The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2007-20, 2007-14 I.R.B. 863, warning taxpayers of the consequences of making this frivolous argument.

In August 2005, the Justice Department announced that Royal Lamarr Hardy was sentenced to a 156-month prison term for, among other things, selling a tax evasion scheme called the �Reliance Defense� that incorrectly asserted the income tax laws were voluntary (i.e., the laws imposed no legal obligation to pay tax or file a return). Hardy was also ordered to pay costs of prosecution in the amount of $59,267.88, and restitution to the IRS for $197,555. See 2005 TNT 169-12 (Aug. 31, 2005).

In August 2007, a federal court in New York permanently barred Robert L. Schulz of Queensbury, N.Y., and his organizations, We the People Congress and We the People Foundation, from promoting a tax scheme that helped employers and employees improperly stop tax withholding from wages on the false premise that federal income taxation is voluntary.
The court concluded that the First Amendment did not protect the two organizations that operate the website, or their founder, because the site incited criminal conduct. The court also ordered that the web site that sold the materials stating that individuals can legally stop paying taxes be shut.
See http://www.usdoj/tax/txdv07214.htm, and http://www.usdoj.gov/tax/txdv07595.htm

Relevant Case Law:

Helvering v. Mitchell, 303 U.S. 391, 399 (1938) � the U.S. Supreme Court stated that �in assessing income taxes, the Government relies primarily upon the disclosure by the taxpayer of the relevant facts . . . in his annual return. To ensure full and honest disclosure, to discourage fraudulent attempts to evade the tax, Congress imposes [either criminal or civil] sanctions.�

United States v. Gerads, 999 F.2d 1255, 1256 (8th Cir. 1993) � the court held that �[a]ny assertion that the payment of income taxes is voluntary is without merit.�

United States v. Tedder, 787 F.2d 540, 542 (10th Cir. 1986) � the court upheld a conviction for willfully failing to file a return, stating that the premise �that the tax system is somehow �voluntary� . . . is incorrect.�

United States v. Richards, 723 F.2d 646, 648 (8th Cir. 1983) � the court upheld conviction and fines imposed for willfully failing to file tax returns, stating that the claim that filing a tax return is voluntary �was rejected in United States v. Drefke, 707 F.2d 978, 981 (8th Cir. 1983), wherein the court described appellant�s argument as �an imaginative argument, but totally without arguable merit.��

Woods v. Commissioner, 91 T.C. 88, 90 (1988) � the court rejected the claim that reporting income taxes is strictly voluntary, referring to it as a ��tax protester� type� argument, and found Woods liable for the penalty for failure to file a return.

Johnson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-312, 78 T.C.M. (CCH) 468, 471 (1999) � the court found Johnson liable for the failure to file penalty and rejected his argument �that the tax system is voluntary so that he cannot be forced to comply� as �frivolous.�

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/friv_tax.pdf