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——————————– American Government ———————— 10/1/11 “From Freedom to Fascism” by Aaron Russo I decided, rather than to write a play-by-play, I would write more of an overview of the entire video. I believe that the main points of the video are more clearly shown in this form of review. The video examines the Federal Reserve System, including how it was established and what it does. The video states that the Federal Reserve System (FRS) is privately owned by for-profit corporations.
Even though it is not a government agency, it was commissioned to print money for the federal government, at a fee paid for by the personal income tax. The video also says that the American dollar is no-longer backed by any amount of gold. This means that the money we use today, is essentially worth no more than the paper its’ printed on. It also says that the American dollar represents debt more than wealth, currently this point could be argued, but it is obvious that it will eventually come to this. According to the video, The FRS operates by manipulation of the business cycle of economic expansion and retraction.
This is accomplished by printing new money into circulation to make it easier to get credit, in-turn devaluing the money just printed. The video shows that the American dollar is worth a mere 4% of what it used to be worth in 1913, when the FRS started. It states that the FRS is the main cause of this inflation, which leads to devaluing our money. The video pretty much states that the FRS can control the value of money, and use this power in whichever way they like, because congress has no control over it.
This means that congress has no control over money, which is required by Article of the United States Constitution. Russo believes that private claims against the FRS are the only weapons that are and have been keeping this beast at bay. Russo understands how the FRS is still exists, and how it is not opposed by everyone. He knows that very few Americans actually understand how the FRS works, and what it actually does. He proposes that the FRS has purposely been keeping Americans “ignorant” of what they do, and how they do it.
They are able to do this, by using confusing terms that nobody understands. The FRS is legitimate in it’s actions, and this proof of legitimacy conceals its true motives. Russo conducts multiple Interviews with several different organizations, and they all come up with the similar conclusions. One of the arguments made in the video states that there is no legitimate reason for the FRS to hold a monopoly on American money. Multiple points are made on the fact that America was doing just fine before the FRS was created, this leads people to wonder why it ever was.
Through interviews with various individuals including former IRS agents, Russo sets forth the tax protester argument that, “there is no law requiring an income tax”, and that the personal income tax is illegally enforced to support the activities of the FRS. Irwin Schiff, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for tax evasion and ordered to pay over $4. 2 million in penalties. In pre-sentencing documents, Schiff’s lawyers had argued that he had a mental disorder related to his beliefs about the legality of taxation. Russo points out Judge Kent Dawson’s reaction to Schiff’s defense.
The video shows that the judge “denied Irwin the ability to prove to a jury that there was no law requiring Americans to file an income tax return. He denied Irwin the right to attempt to prove to a jury there was no law by stating, ‘I will not allow the law in my courtroom. ‘” Vernice Kuglin was acquitted in her criminal trial for tax evasion in August 2003. This means she was not found guilty of willfully evading income taxes. Kuglin came to a settlement with the government in which she agreed to pay approximately $500,000 in taxes and penalties.
Russo includes an argument using the Fifth Amendment. His argument includes the following: 1) The government can legally prosecute someone and put them in jail for information one puts on his 1040 tax form. 2) The fifth amendment states that one does not have to do something that would incriminate himself. Conclusion: Since filing a 1040 incriminates oneself, filing a 1040 therefore violates one’s fifth amendment rights. My Thoughts: I don’t believe that it violates any rights, because it is not an incriminating form, if the information provide is truthful and correct.
Therefore, someone could only be prosecuted if that person had lied on his 1040 which is illegal anyway. Some of the arguments of the film include: 1) The FRS is unconstitutional and has maxed out the national debt and bankrupted the United States government. 2) Federal income taxes were in response to implementing the FRS. 3) Federal income taxes are unconstitutional and legally invalid. 4) The use of the Federal income tax to counter the effects of the FRS is useless. U. S. District Judge James C. Fox Aaron Russo reads a quote attributed to U.
S. District Judge James C. Fox: “If you… examined [The 16th Amendment] carefully, you would find that a sufficient number of states never ratified that amendment. ” Mayer Amschel Rothschild A popular quote by Mayer Amschel Rothschild: “Give me control of a nation’s money supply, and I care not who makes its laws. ” President Wilson Aaron Russo reads a quote widely attributed to Woodrow Wilson: “I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is now controlled by its system of credit.
We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. ” Mussolini Russo uses a quotation attributed to Benito Mussolini: “corporatism is the corning stone of the Fascist nation, or better still the Fascist nation is corporative or it is not fascist” President Clinton The film displays a quote: “We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans. ” Bill Clinton, March 11, 1993 Charles Rossotti
The video shows part of 60 Minutes where, IRS commisioner Charles Rossotti, states: “But when the matter is put to the test, which means in terms of court and enforcement action, there is a 100 percent success rate in shooting down these arguments. ” This was followed by a short clip of the movie Pinocchio with his nose growing, this implies that Rossotti was lying. Judge Kent Dawson Russo includes the following from a case against Irwin Schiff: Irwin Schiff: “But the Supreme Court said in the Cheek decision” Judge Dawson: “Irrelevant!
Denied! ” Irwin Schiff: “The Supreme Court is irrelevant??? ” Judge Dawson: “Irrelevant! Denied! ” This is followed by Russo’s statement: “Here we have a federal judge railroading an American citizen by saying Supreme Court decisions are irrelevant. ” All of the above quotes show some extent of either circumventing the topic of the actual law, or completely disregarding the real laws. Some people quoted practically come right out and say they don’t care what the real laws are, as long as they get paid. First Amendment On August 31, 2005 federal Judge Sullivan ruled the government does not have to answer the American people’s questions, even though it is guaranteed in the First Amendment. ” After the video I decided to do a little research on this topic, and I was able to find out that the judge was correct. Thus his conclusion, which was consistent with previous rulings, was precisely that the first amendment does not guarantee that the government answer anyone’s questions. To be honest, I was dreading watching this video, because I thought it would be boring or just too formal, as a general rule, I don’t like movies unless they have big guns or old cars.
As a whole, I didn’t particularly like the video, just because it was somewhat boring and uneventful. I will admit though that I was very interested in the information presented in the video. I started watching the video at 9:00, and ended up staying awake, and watching the whole thing in one setting. Overall, I believe that from what I could gather throughout the video, Aaron Russo wanted us to realize that this may be the most unconstitutional, power hungry, “corporation” that has ever existed in America.