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Instapundit links to a thoughtful, and disturbing, piece on the government’s real priorities in handing down the maximum sentence to Wesley Snipes. The key sentence: “there is no greater threat to freedom in a capitalist society than that of the government to tax and regulate activity.”
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6 Comments
1. Philip Terzian:The power to tax and the adjudication of tax cases are, in the words of Charles I, ‘clean, separate things.’ As a law-abiding taxpayer I am resentful of people like Snipes who enjoy substantial incomes, don’t pay their taxes, and then gloat about their ability to avoid any reckoning. Snipes made two cardinal mistakes: He chose to disobey the law, and he expressed contempt for people who abide by the law and pay their taxes. If punishment is a form of redress for misbehavior then ‘the max’ is exactly what Snipes deserved, and I am delighted he got it.
Apr 25, 2008 - 8:14 am 2. Daniel Crandall:That 3 years in prison … A shot across the bow of anyone contemplating a tax revolt?
Apr 25, 2008 - 12:24 pm 3. william:I have to be very honest. I have mixed feelings about this. I don’t like my mixed feelings either. I’m not going to sleep tonight. My thoughts…..
Apr 25, 2008 - 7:55 pm 4. Zhombre:Sometimes I think we should all go to jail for this. Just like our rabble rousing founders didn’t like stamp or tea taxes and were willing to fight for freedom and self-reliance. However the Hollywood elite feels they are so entitled and are moralizing pretentious beings. Is Snipes an ally of freedom or just a hedonistic Hollywood elitist?
Please help me.
William, Snipes is an arrogant and ignorant jerk. He’s a scofflaw who hooked up with two losers in south Florida peddling financial snake oil, one of whom doesn’t believe the tax laws apply to him but took refuge in the bankruptcy laws for protection from creditors. The only freedom Snipes is allied with is his own.
Does that help?
Apr 25, 2008 - 8:21 pm 5. heather:It is important for us to understand the actual real difference between the State and the Citizen: the State, in order to survive, must be able to collect taxes from the Citizen, and not vice versa. That is the State’s number one priority, and it maintains the Law and Force in order to do so.
It is interesting that the most efficient branch of any government is the tax collecting department.
It is also interesting that as First World governments have flourished into the 21st century, their “tax codes” have become so complex that even chambermaids have to hire a tax specialist to produce an annual return acceptable to the State.
Apr 25, 2008 - 10:06 pm 6. Austin Criminal Defense Lawyer:Is the Maximum Sentence the Same as Getting Off Easy?
TigerHawk tells us that by receiving only a 3 year sentence Wesley Snipes got off easy:And for my fellow libertarian conservatives who are offended, I offer the friendly reminder that Pete Rose served five months in federal prison for defaulting…
Apr 26, 2008 - 7:47 am