From: Alex Future Bokov (alexboko@umich.edu)
Date: Fri Jul 23 1999 - 09:43:20 MDT
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On Fri, 23 Jul 1999, Mighty Xerxes wrote:
> Do you have a citation to support your assertion?
In a narrow technical sense, he might be correct. Oddly enough, most of
the US Fed Gov's influence is derived from Article I, Section 8 of the
Constitution, which has a clause that reads:
"[Congress has the power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations,
and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes"
The reast of that section deals with infrastructure: raising armies and
warfighting, militias, the post office, coinage, etc. Curiously, there is
no mention of taxing the populace.
So, unless you are interacting directly with the Fed as an employee or
beneficiary of Federal $$$, a counterfeiter, or the member of an invading
army, the Fed has only two excuses for interacting with you in any way
whatsoever, including taxation.
1. Regulating interstate commerce.
2. Maintaining the armed forces.
Spending on military activities in FY98 was 42.9% of the Federal budget.
Presumably the rest was needed for regulating interstate commerce. :-/
Looking at this from the abstract, the government's claim on the author's
cash doesn't look much better than his own (except, of course, he's the
one who earned it).
Realistically, though, this is also an argument against the very existance
of most of the government. A government that is older, richer, more
ruthless, and better armed than the author can ever hope to be (at least
not until he transcends to jupiter-brainhood). The precedent of thousands
of court rulings supports the Fed's position. Who do you think will get
their way in the case of a legal ambiguity like this one?
Anyway, even if he was right, and that alone was enough to make the Fed
just disappear like the witch in Oz, would he really be better off because
of it? Will whoever steps in to fill the power vacuum (be they Christian
theocrats, corporations, mafia, or military juntas) do any better than our
current government in terms of safeguarding our basic rights, maintaining
our quality of life, and creating an environment where science and
commerce can flourish?
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