Newsgroups: sci.econ
Subject: Re: Outgrowing Libertarianism...
From: demon@desire.wright.edu (Stupendous Man)
Date: 8 Sep 92 16:00:55 EST
 <1992Sep5.030208.18854@newshost.unh.edu> <53064@dime.cs.umass.edu>
Organization: Demonic Possesions, Inc.

In article <53064@dime.cs.umass.edu>, yodaiken@chelm.cs.umass.edu (victor yodaiken) writes:
> In article <1992Sep5.030208.18854@newshost.unh.edu> pas@kepler.unh.edu (Paul A Sand) writes:
>>vy: Victor Yodaiken
>>ps: Paul Sand

>>vy: Only if one accepts willingly confuses propaganda with reality.
>>    Those libertarians who accept the need for taxation (e.g. in
>>    accordance with the platform the the Libertarian party) [...]
>>
>>A factual aside: the LP's 1992 platform calls for `the eventual repeal
>>of all taxation.' Whether this shows Victor's confusion with
>>propaganda, reality, or just reading comprehension is an exercise left
>>to those who care.
> 
> And the Communist Party of the Soviet Union called for "eventual" withering
> away of the state. The LP admits the current necessity of taxation.

	[...from the LP Platform...]
...
                      II. TRADE AND THE ECONOMY
 
Because each person  has the right  to offer  goods  and  services  to
others on the  free market, and  because government  interference  can
only harm such free activity, we oppose all intervention by government
into the  area  of  economics.   The  only  proper  role  of  existing
governments in the  economic realm  is  to  protect  property  rights,
adjudicate disputes, and  provide a legal framework in which voluntary
trade is protected.
 
Efforts to forcibly  redistribute wealth or  forcibly manage trade are
intolerable.   Government  manipulation  of  the  economy  creates  an
entrenched privileged class  -- those with  access to tax money -- and
an exploited class -- those who are net taxpayers.
 
 
1. THE ECONOMY
 
Government intervention in  the economy  imperils  both  the  personal
freedom and the  material prosperity of  every American.  We therefore
support the following specific immediate reforms:
 
a.  drastic reduction of both taxes and government spending;
 
b.  an end to deficit budgets;
 
c.  a halt to inflationary monetary policies;
 
d.  the removal of all governmental impediments to free trade; and
 
e.  the repeal  of all controls  on  wages,  prices,  rents,  profits,
production, and interest rates.
 
2. TAXATION
 
Since we believe  that all persons  are entitled to keep the fruits of
their labor, we  oppose all government  activity that consists of  the
forcible collection of money or goods from individuals in violation of
their individual rights.  Specifically, we:
 
a.  recognize the  right of any individual to challenge the payment of
taxes on moral, religious, legal, or constitutional grounds;
 
b.  oppose all  personal  and  corporate  income  taxation,  including
capital gains taxes;
 
c.  support the  repeal of the  Sixteenth Amendment,  and  oppose  any
increase in existing tax rates and the imposition of any new taxes;
 
d.  support the eventual repeal of all taxation; and
 
e.  support a  declaration of  unconditional  amnesty  for  all  those
individuals who have  been convicted of,  or who now stand accused of,
tax resistance.
 
As an interim  measure, all criminal  and civil sanctions against  tax
evasion should be terminated immediately.
 
We oppose as  involuntary servitude  any  legal  requirements  forcing
employers or business  owners to serve  as tax collectors for federal,
state, or local tax agencies.
 
We oppose any  and all increases in the rate of taxation or categories
of taxpayers, including  the elimination of deductions, exemptions, or
credits in the  spurious name of  "fairness," "simplicity," or alleged
"neutrality to the  free market."  No tax can ever be fair, simple, or
neutral to the free market.
 
In the current  fiscal crisis of states and municipalities, default is
preferable to raising taxes or perpetual refinancing of growing public
debt.
... 

	Which is a bit more than merely hoping for 'eventual removal'.  And
nowhere does it say anything about "current necessity".  Personal income taxes
are not a necessity.

Brett                                                      
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