Issues: Taxation is the taking of money and property from citizens without their consent, under threat of government force. It should be limited to the lowest level necessary to meet government needs. It should be done using the means which least violate the freedom and dignity of the citizen.

Principles: All persons are entitled to keep the fruits of their own labor. However, all persons are also obligated to make payment for services rendered, whether rendered by other individuals or by government agency. Since the latter exchanges are involuntary, and thus run counter to the principle of a free market, they should be used sparingly, reluctantly, and in ways that keep the resulting injustice to the lowest level possible.

Solutions: We oppose income taxation, which is a tax on labor and thus on freedom, and therefore support the repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment. We oppose property taxation, which presumes that government, not the individual, owns all property and may dispose of it as it sees fit. We call for the exploration of voluntary means of funding government, including permanent investment funds, royalty revenues, user fees, or other sources of revenue. We support the reduction of government expense by eliminating wasteful and unnecessary government functions and by eliminating government debt and bonds.

Transition: As an interim step, we reluctantly support consumption taxes such as the proposed national "Fair Tax" proposal, which would eliminate all other forms of Federal taxation in favor of a retail sales tax. Such a tax would constitute a user fee for the regulation and maintenance of the free market, the courts, and the defenders of the peace.

Author's Comments

Did you know I really don't like the new platform format?

That said, yes, this proposal endorses the Fair Tax. It's not such a bad plan—and even if you just cannot endorse any tax at all, you have to admit it would be a better system than what exists now. Few voters will take seriously any platform that proposes to starve government into submission; as Bush's recent budget deficits show, it just doesn't work that way.

Note the absence of any reference to tax protest. The general public does not look favorably on those who evade taxes. They may hate paying taxes, but they regard them as a necessary evil... and they DESPISE those who try to weasel out of their fair share. They regard any claims of higher principle in such matters as LIES. If we're to be taken seriously, our support of tax dodgers has to be dumped—so, in this proposal, I dumped it.

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