Category Archives: Charles Adams

The Weaponization Of Citizenship: From “You Are NOT American” to “You ARE American”

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Recommended Reading For Americans Abroad

I recently came across the book “You Are NOT American” by Professor Amanda Frost. I read very few books from beginning to end. This particular book I read twice. The subtitle of the book is “Citizenship Stripping From Dred Scott To The Dreamers“. Ms. Frost documents the struggles of those unlikely people who were conscripted into the an internal struggle – invisible to all except those affected – in the United States. I think of this struggle as the “weaponization of citizenship”. Historically this struggle has resulted from the attempts of the United States to reconcile its ugly history of slavery with its beautiful aspirations of freedom. The book is well researched and Ms. Frost was able to tell the stories of the principal “warriors”, bringing them to life in a way that humanized them. Although each person/warrior was the public face of a legal issue (many of their cases were heard by the Supreme Court Of The United States) we learn and understand the facts and circumstances that brought them to the court. While reading the book, I could feel the pain, the frustration and the injustice. We learn how the laws of the day impacted the people of the day. This knowledge comes from Ms. Frost digging into the archives and finding many original sources. The footnotes constitute a “treasure trove” of information akin to reading old newspapers. The book tells the story of “citizenship stripping” as a commentary on American history, culture and values in a broader sense.
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As Goes The “Fairness Of Taxation”, So Goes Civilization: It’s Time To Consider The “Fair Tax”

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Introduction

I was recently introduced to the “Fair Tax“. My introduction to the “Fair Tax” was enhanced by the opportunity to host Jim Bennet and Steve Hayes as guests on my podcast. I encourage people to listen to these podcasts here, here and here. You will appreciate the character and commitment of Mr. Bennet and Mr. Hayes.

In simple terms, the “Fair Tax” would replace Subtitle A (Income Tax), Subtitle B (Estate and Gift Tax) and Subtitle C (Employment Tax) of the Internal Revenue Code. These Subtitles would be replaced with one National Sales Tax (currently proposed to be 23%). A general description of how the Fair Tax is envisioned to work is available here. Because the U.S. would no longer be trying to exercise tax jurisdiction outside the United States, it would no longer have to be concerned with the complex rules of international tax, no longer have GILTI and Subpart F rules and U.S. citizens would be free to live outside the U.S. without having the problems of having to comply with two tax systems.

(Notice this means that the U.S. would be taxing ONLY domestic consumption. The U.S. would no longer be taxing income driven by events outside the United States. Because the U.S. would be taxing activity ONLY in the U.S., it would have a “territorial tax system“.)

The purpose of this post is to argue that the adoption of the “Fair Tax” is both better tax policy, but also tax policy that is consistent with the nurturing and growth of a nation that believes in (to borrow the language of Ronald Reagan) the “freedom and dignity” of all Americans. By “all” Americans, I mean Americans who live inside the United States and those who live outside the United States.

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