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IT'S A LONG, LONG WAY TO MUSSOLINI

May 01, 2006

Taking a cue from Michael Moore's success in installing Howard Dean in the White House, a Hollywood filmmaker is working to bring the wacky legal theories of the tax protest world into the mainstream.

Tax Analysts reports ($link):

Hollywood producer Aaron Russo's new documentary, America: From Freedom to Fascism, purports to, among many other things, conclusively debunk the legitimacy of the federal individual income tax system and the IRS. Russo's film portrays the modern-day income tax system as an illegal regime that is one of the most effective ploys used by the federal government, beholden to a wealthy elite, to keep the citizenry under control.

If so, it's a tribute to the extraordinary patience of the fascists. The first federal income tax was enacted in the Civil War. The current version dates to 1913. That means ever since the days of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, the major political parties (not excepting the Bull Moose) have been conspiring together to impose fascism by 1040.

According to the article, Mr. Russo's film features tax protest luminaries Irwin Schiff, Bob Schulz, Vernice Kuglin, Joe Banister and Larken Rose. Mr. Schiff and Mr. Rose seem like less than ideal candidates for showing the illegality of the tax system, given their recent convictions and jail sentences. Ms. Kuglin and Mr. Banister won acquittals on criminal charges, but that proves skipping taxes is legal in the same way the O.J. acquittal means that double homicide is legal. Like O.J., Ms. Kuglin lost her civil case; she still had to pay her taxes, though she didn't have to go to prison.

Fascism? If we live in a fascist state, then fascism isn't what it used to be. Somehow I don't think Hitler or Mussolini would have allowed a nationwide release of a documentary showing that their regimes were illegal. I can think of at least one other documentary that offers a more realistic description of our political system.

Link: Homepage for America: From Freedom to Fascism

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