We are all taught as children that without laws there would
be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this
country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and
service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further
brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should
be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its
founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without
representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning
that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who
really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor
and worse.
While very few working people would say they haven’t had
their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great
degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any
matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that
matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.
Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit
unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of
years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of
their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal
government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not
hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical
system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of
thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they
cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out
a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives”
(thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless
time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible
health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead
people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.
And justice? You’ve got to be
kidding!
How can any rational individual explain that white elephant
conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal
system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the
brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly
“holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully
complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a
signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that
they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what
is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian
regime, nothing is.
How did I get here?
My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in
the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school,
somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could
read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group
of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful
“exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so
incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of
some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and
then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t
steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive
profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all
visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be
done.
The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring
about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of
organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest
living. However, this is where I learned that there are two
“interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of
us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the
inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.
That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years
of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for
the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a
total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had
been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy,
hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue
to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that
keeps happening in front of them.
Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of
the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984
after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of
“paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream
of becoming an independent engineer.
On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I
should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination
for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very
young age.
The significance of independence, however, came much later
during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on
my own as student in an apartment in
In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was
living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to
splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and
heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I
thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at
one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our
situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I
would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all
my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but
the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to
take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and
myself.
Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying
start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years
later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of
Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such
calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw
the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.
For you who are unfamiliar, here is
the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such
as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference
committee report
(http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding
the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section
530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services
workers and their clients, read our discussion here
(http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).
SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.
(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:
(d) EXCEPTION. - This
section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement
between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other
person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst,
or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section
shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.
Note:
·
"another person" is the client in the traditional
job-shop relationship.
·
"taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job
shop.
· "individual",
"employee", or "worker" is you.
During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and
at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator,
congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they
universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless
hours on the
After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a
futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our
trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to
enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists).
This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation
began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended
effect.
Again, rewind my retirement plans
back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should
have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.
Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the
Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant
struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once
again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came
the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all
aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that,
‘special’ facilities like
By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a
change. Bye to
To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and
retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with
mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return
that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no
need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they
didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted
to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to
due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another
$10,000 helping of justice.
So now we come to the present. After my experience with
the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter
another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and
a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business
asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable
thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help;
a very big mistake.
When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that
they were in order. I had taken all of the years
information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I
was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include
the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make
matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue
until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had
become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.
This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to
defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least
the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew
anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to
anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.
I remember reading about the stock market crash before the
“great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping
out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything.
Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now
know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle
class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their
asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the
poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.
As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably
referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The
recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years
certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for
all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count
(unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government
trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is
as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.
I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I
can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for
their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor
immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure
to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the
count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my
shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore
what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual
won’t continue; I have just had enough.
I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be
white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will
take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that
stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that
results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see
the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are.
Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but
violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel
joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along
and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all
along.
I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is
repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly
be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr.
Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and
sleep well.
The capitalist creed: From each according to his
gullibility, to each according to his greed.
02/18/2010