There’s fake news. There’s also non-news. Then there is idiotic advice that borders on being illegal (if not outright illegal).
Time Magazine is a sponsor of the latter.
In an opinion piece on Time Magazine, writer Mark Weston, author of The Runner-Up Presidency, says 65 Million Americans Should Threaten to Not Pay Taxes.
Quite frankly, that is pure bullsh*t. Time Magazine knows it, yet willingly promotes it under the guise of “ideas”.
Here are a few snips, before I blast Time Magazine and the author.
Until democracy is restored
The approximately 65 million Democrats who voted for Hillary Clinton should pledge that in the future if a Republican wins the presidency with fewer votes than a Democrat for the third time in our era, we won’t pay taxes to the federal government. No taxation without representation!
Is signing a pledge to not pay taxes legal? Yes, if no overt act of conspiracy is involved, and the pledge itself is hypothetical. No one knows when or if it would be carried out.
How would the pledge work? First, an online group such as MoveOn.org, Change.org or both, should circulate a petition. The pledge is not just a powerful protest; it is also effortless, requiring no legal or financial sacrifice at all for years, possibly decades.
Second, the pledge should only apply to federal taxes. We would still pay state, local, sales and property taxes. This is a protest against our 229-year-old system of electoral votes, not against taxation in general.
Third, if a Republican wins the election without winning the popular vote again, we should still pay what we owe in federal taxes—just not to the IRS. Instead, people would compute their federal taxes, file a Form 1040 and write a check to a national escrow account, preferably in a well-established Canadian or British bank that is beyond the reach of the U.S. Justice Department, because whoever opens this account probably will be in violation of U.S. law. In the check’s memo line, people should write, “Funds to be transferred to the IRS as soon as America resumes being a democracy.”
Filing Pledge Not Illegal
Filing a pledge to not pay taxes may not be illegal, but not paying taxes is illegal.
Political Charlatan, Mark Weston, like Peter Schiff’s father, promotes things that will get you in trouble. Weston proposes a roundabout way to not pay taxes by paying them. Undoubtedly, many fools will not understand what he is saying, and decide to not pay taxes.
Peter Schiff’s Father Dies in Prison: Failure to Pay Income Taxes
Please consider Irwin Schiff, Fervent Opponent of Federal Income Taxes, Dies at 87.
Irwin A. Schiff, who built a national following by arguing that income taxes are unconstitutional and spent more than 10 years in prison for evading them and for helping thousands of others to do the same, died on Friday at a hospital affiliated with a federal prison in Fort Worth. He was 87.
The cause was lung cancer, his son Andrew said on Monday.
At his death, Mr. Schiff was an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution, where he was serving his third prison term, a 14-year sentence handed down in 2005.
Mr. Schiff sold more than 250,000 copies of six self-published books, including “How Anyone Can Stop Paying Income Taxes” (1980), “The Great Income Tax Hoax” (1985) and “The Federal Mafia: How the Federal Government Illegally Imposes and Unlawfully Collects Federal Income Taxes” (1992).
His writings became widely cited in the literature of the so-called tax-honesty movement (tax deniers, to opponents) and of right-wing organizations challenging the legitimacy of the federal government.
Charlatan Mark Weston
Those seeking an explanation of Peter Schiff’s continual diatribe against the US need look no further. That said, I agree with Peter Schiff on many things, including the need for small government. We strongly differ on hyperinflation.
I take issues one matter at a time. Just because I disagree with Peter Schiff on some things does not mean I disagree with him on all things. Peter Schiff has some very good ideas.
Mark Weston follows Irwin Schiff in giving irresponsible advice. Time Magazine either knows that and does not care, or doesn’t know it and is stupid beyond belief.
Time Magazine can hide behind its claim “Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.”
Nonetheless, that was an extremely irresponsible post by Time, and many fools will get in trouble over it.
Besides, it’s simply a proliferation of anti-Trump mainstream media garbage, every chance they get.
It’s all about ad revenue.
Flashback 2009
In 2009, I was on the cover of the online edition of Time Magazine Best 25 Financial Blogs.
I have not made their list for a long time. And probably won’t again.
In 2010, the New York Times cited me in their top idea of the year in their 10th Annual Year in Ideas; #1 Idea: Do-It-Yourself Macroeconomics.
Such things won’t happen again. This post shows why.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
