Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional Website.
HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, April 30, 2009
2009 Ron Paul 50:1
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to
introduce the Liberty Amendment, which repeals
the 16th Amendment, thus paving the
way for real change in the way government
collects and spends the people’s hard-earned
money. The Liberty Amendment also explicitly
forbids the Federal government from performing
any action not explicitly authorized by
the United States Constitution.
2009 Ron Paul 50:2
The 16th Amendment gives the Federal
government a direct claim on the lives of
American citizens by enabling Congress to
levy a direct income tax on individuals. Until
the passage of the 16th amendment, the Supreme
Court had consistently held that Congress
had no power to impose an income tax.
2009 Ron Paul 50:3
Income taxes are responsible for the transformation
of the Federal government from one
of limited powers into a vast leviathan whose
tentacles reach into almost every aspect of
American life. Thanks to the income tax, today
the Federal government routinely invades our
privacy, and penalizes our every endeavor.
2009 Ron Paul 50:4
The Founding Fathers realized that “the
power to tax is the power to destroy,” which
is why they did not give the Federal government
the power to impose an income tax.
Needless to say, the Founders would be horrified
to know that Americans today give more
than a third of their income to the Federal government.
2009 Ron Paul 50:5
Income taxes not only diminish liberty, they
retard economic growth by discouraging work
and production. Our current tax system also
forces Americans to waste valuable time and
money on compliance with an ever-more complex
tax code. The increased interest in flat-
tax and national sales tax proposals, as well
as the increasing number of small businesses
that question the Internal Revenue Service’s
IRS) “withholding” system provides further
proof that America is tired of the labyrinthine
tax code. Americans are also increasingly fed
up with an IRS that continues to ride roughshod
over their civil liberties, despite recent
“pro-taxpayer” reforms.
2009 Ron Paul 50:6
Madam Speaker, America survived and
prospered for 140 years without an income
tax, and with a Federal government that generally
adhered to strictly constitutional functions,
operating with modest excise revenues.
The income tax opened the door to the era
and errors) of Big Government. I hope my
colleagues will help close that door by cosponsoring
the Liberty Amendment.
