If you're going to be a TAXREBL, be ready for jail

Frontiersman editorial board

If you're thinking about not filing your taxes this year, you may want to review the story of Helen M. Smith and Leroy Sbrusch, who were awarded two years in federal prison and nearly a half million dollars in fines for their decision to not pay federal taxes. It seems Sbrusch and Smith can spend some of their prison time writing letters of thanks to tax activist Lynne Meredith and her "We the People" organization.

Some of the bright ideas applied by the two tax evaders were apparently inspired by Meredith's interesting concepts about the constitutionality of federal taxation. Sbrusch and Smith claimed to have purchased books by Meredith, and they also attended a seminar in Fiji at which Meredith spoke. Perhaps Meredith could have informed the pair that the good news about tax evasion is that you can afford trips to Fiji -- the bad news is the trip may come with a two-year prison sentence chaser. Meredith and seven of her associates are currently under indictment in California on 35 tax-related charges. She drives a 1973 Corvette Stingray with license plates that read "TAXREBL." One wonders if Meredith realizes the solid roads beneath her classic tires were paid for with tax dollars. Apparently she's all in favor of taxes when some other dupe is paying them.

In case you've spent some time researching the concept of federal taxation, and in case you're thinking the government has no right to levy taxes against you, and in case you're thinking it's you're patriotic duty to evade your federal taxes … think again. It is perfectly constitutional for the federal government to levy taxes to fund bureaucratic functions and programs. Those would be little programs and functions like national defense, safe roads, public education, social security, law enforcement … and a few other things like that.

Nobody relishes the idea of handing over hard-earned money. We'd venture to guess that most people wouldn't relish the idea of personally paving their roads, personally paying the salaries and equipment costs of two or three military people or personally paying for an air traffic controller or two. Many of the functions and services provided for by federal taxes are invisible to us until they're gone. The reason we each chip in to that system is that we get a lot more for our collective dollars than we could get individually. If you don't believe that, you can evade your taxes. Of course, the rest of us would rather not pay for your bread and water for the next two years, but we will if we have to.