January 20, 2007
The
Wait Is Almost Over
Decision
Expected Before GML 2007
Register Now
for the Conference!
Within
months, in all probability just before the Easter break, the
hot topic of the day in every single law school in America
will be the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals in our
case entitled, We The People v. The
U.S.
Government.
Given the
enormous and far-reaching implications of this decision,
either in favor of the People or against them, law school
professors everywhere will be anxious to analyze and “mine”
the decision, discussing it in their faculty and academic
forums and bringing it the attention of the young minds that
fill their classrooms. Many will likely rush to further
explore the gravity of the ruling and publish articles in
Law Review journals.
It will be
an exciting time, indeed -- especially for the ordinary
non-aligned citizen taxpayers of this great Country.
The
excitement will permeate Give Me Liberty 2007, our three-day
conference scheduled for March 29-31.
Think about
it. For the first time in the entire history of our nation
-- since the adoption of our Bill of Rights in 1791-- a
Court is about to declare the legal meaning of one of the
five individual Rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Not just
any Right, but the mother of all Rights -- the Right that
caps all the others, the so-called “Capstone Right.”
The First Amendment is, undoubtedly, the most important
sentence in the entire Constitution. It reads, “Congress
shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the Right of the
People peaceably to assemble, and to Petition the
government for a Redress of Grievances.”
Within the
meaning of the last ten words of the First Amendment is the
Right of each individual (and the minority) to hold
government accountable to each and every provision of the
Constitution, including all the other enumerated and
un-enumerated Rights. This is why the Petition Clause is
called the “Capstone Right.”
What good
would it do to design and adopt a Constitution based on
popular sovereignty that guaranteed individual, un-alienable
Rights, if the individual himself had not the power to
prevent the Government from violating those Rights,
non-violently?
Given the
historical evidentiary documentation regarding the Right of
Petition and the common sense design of our Constitution, we
believe the Court has no choice but to declare that when the
Government violates the Constitution, the People have the
Right to Petition the Government for a Redress of
Grievances, the Government has an obligation to respond to
the Petitions, and the People have the Right to withdraw
their financial support from the Government until their
Grievances are Redressed.
With
accountability in government restored as more People claim
and exercise this profound reborn Right, the unsound,
cracked, flawed, shaky, rickety checks and balances of
today’s system of governance will become a thing of the past
-- topics for the constitutional historians of tomorrow.
There will be an enormous shift in the balance of political
power, with the ultimate power coming to rest once again
with the People, where it was meant to be in the first place
-- decreed by Divine Providence. Constitutional governance
will once again be carried out in decency and good order,
faithful to the purposes it was originally intended,
including the preservation, protection and enhancement of
individual Liberty.
Given the degree of craziness that currently rules our Republic, the
Court’s coming decision is just what the doctor ordered.
We now have
cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression, and where
once we had the freedom to object, to think and speak as we
saw fit, we now have censors, sensors and surveillance,
coercing our conformity and soliciting our submission.
We now have
a government that commits us to perpetual un-declared wars.
This in spite of the war powers clauses of the
Constitution.
The Government now forces
every one of us -- every working man, woman and child -- to
work for the Government, a Government that takes more than
half of what you earn BEFORE you can go to the grocery
store, pay your utility bills or even pay the rent. This,
in spite of the tax clauses of the Constitution.
The
Government has debased our economy, first by turning control
of our currency over to a cartel of private banks – the
Federal Reserve System – and then systematically converting
us from a debt-free nation to the world’s greatest debtor
nation, with no possibility of ever paying down the
principal on the debt, BUT taxing our labor to pay the
interest to the cartel on trillions of dollars of public
debt. Any reasonable person would call it slavery. This, in
spite of the money clauses of the Constitution.
The Government, as a thief in the night, has snatched our
privacy as it slowly converts America to a Police State,
with national ID cards, domestic wiretapping, spy chips and
database systems to track our purchases, money, travels and
property; warrant-less wiretaps; secret searches of our
homes; and secret examinations of our mail. This in spite of
the privacy clauses of the Constitution.
The Government has become despotic and tyrannical, doing
whatever it wants, treating persons taken in anti-terror
campaigns in inhumane and un-constitutional ways,
establishing secret prisons run by the CIA, sanctioning
interrogations that are, by any definition torture. This, in
spite of the due process and no cruel and unusual punishment
clauses of the Constitution.
The Government ignores our immigration laws. This is spite
of the Faithfully Execute clause of the Constitution.
The Government bans cameras in our courtroom depriving the
vast public the ability to monitor and systemically review
the workings of the Judiciary. This, in spite of the Public
Trial clause of the Constitution.
The Government prevents defendants in tax trial from
defending themselves by preventing the jurors from seeing
the defendant’s evidence and hearing the defendant’s
witnesses. This is spite of the Due Process and Fair Trial
provisions of our Constitution.
Despite the explicit, prohibitory text of the Second
Amendment, the government has sought to disarm the populace
by requiring the registration and strict control of all
firearms and by prohibiting well-regulated state militias.
Even in the most personal
matters of choice involving health care, the tentacles of
the government reach out to regulate, monitor and control.
How did
this happen? Who’s to blame?
Certainly
there are those who are more responsible than others, and
they will be held accountable. But, truth be told, if we are
looking for the guilty we need only look into the mirror.
We know why
we did it. First, we were taught in our government schools
that the Government was always benevolent, always had the
public interest uppermost in its collective mind, and could
be trusted to do the right thing. When there was a problem,
we were taught to look not to ourselves, our churches or our
communities for solutions, but to the government for help.
We were NOT
taught the history, meaning, effect and significance of
every provision of our founding documents, the Declaration
of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Then, we
became afraid. Who wouldn’t be, with the television
parroting the Government’s constant threats of endless war,
terror and disease?
There have
been myriad problems that have conspired to rob us of our
common sense, temporarily blinding us to the essential
principles and to the value inherent in continued reliance
on self, individualism and moral obligations.
Fear
mongering got the best of us and in our panic we allowed an
“imperial presidency”, a compliant Congress and a
politicized Judiciary to take charge of our lives, all
promising security in exchange for our money and our
obedience.
We didn’t
realize that when birds are put in cages they are safe and
secure, but the caged bird is not free.
We failed
to think about our Founding Documents -- the Declaration of
Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and their
essential principles of Nature and Spirit that the Creator
breathed into them as part of the gift of Liberty.
We failed
to remember that in America, the People are the true
Sovereigns and that the Constitution is a set of written
restrictions to govern THE GOVERNMENT.
Ignorant of
our duty, we unknowingly allowed our Government to step
outside the boundaries that we, the People, have drawn
around its power, thus allowing our government servants to
take (temporary) possession of a boundless field of power.
Becoming
fearful, ignorant and unjustifiably submissive, we failed to
recognize and act upon the fact that the Constitution of the
United States of America is all that stands between us and
total tyranny, and that the Constitution cannot defend
itself.
The
upcoming decision in We The People v
United
States
will indeed be an historical moment. If the Court rules as
we believe it must, it will restore the balance of power. It
will level the playing field.
For far too
long, our government has been unaccountable, allowed to act
as though the Constitution is (at best) an “ala carte”
menu, and (at worst) just a piece of paper.
The Court’s
decision will remind us that the People have the ultimate
power in our society, that we have an ever-developing
responsibility – a personal duty -- as we go through our
lives, to know what our Rights are, to remain forever
vigilant, and to teach our children and our neighbors about
the gift of Liberty.
The Court’s
decision will breathe new life into our Republic and the 230
year old “experiment” in self-government. Apathy in America
will decline as the People rediscover the forgotten Right to
hold Government accountable, reacquainting themselves with
the power and the benefits of their Right to Petition
Government for Redress of Grievances.
Prayerfully, like an old fashioned Church revival, People
will shout “hallelujah,” giving thanks for the Court’s
declaration, committing themselves anew, as the colonialists
did before them, to guard Freedom, to closely watch how
government acts, to compare its behavior with the
requirements of our Constitutions, and to hold the
government accountable to the Constitutions, doing whatever
is necessary, to keep Government inside the boundaries the
People have drawn around its power.
Armed with the intent of our Creator, and the decision from
the U.S. Court of Appeals, we, the People, will soon restore
the Constitution and resume the historical journey to live
as Free Men begun by our Founders over two centuries ago.
Full RTP Historical Record Free
For All Conference Attendees
With the news of the Court’s historic decision, national
interest will soon focus on the details of the record of
events that lead up to the filing of the lawsuit on July 19,
2004.
And what a
record it is, beginning in 1999 with WTP’s invitation to
President Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott,
Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, and IRS Commissioner
Charles Rossotti, to send their brightest and best to meet
with Joe Banister, Bill Benson and Larry Becraft at the
National Press Club to address and answer their questions
regarding the fraudulent origin and illegal operation and
enforcement of the individual income tax. The Government did
not show, but C-SPAN did, broadcasting the 3.5 hour event
live and re-broadcasting it numerous times in the
following days.
For the
next five years, with the support of thousands of
individuals representing all 50 states, we remonstrated and
repeatedly Petitioned every member of Congress and key
officials in the Clinton and Bush administrations for
Redress of Grievances regarding the Iraq Resolution, the
Federal Reserve, the USA Patriot Act and the Individual
Income Tax. In support of our Petitions for Redress, we
provided many opportunities for the Government to respond.
We sent invitations to additional meetings at the National
Press Club and the Hilton and Marriott Hotels. We ran full
page ads in USA TODAY, The New York Times and The Washington
Times, we marched, we caravanned and, we hungered.
The record
shows that the Government utterly failed in its obligation
to properly respond to our Petitions for Redress. The record
shows that the Government responded with mere non-responsive
responses and broken promises.
The
extensive record – i.e., the documentary evidence in support
of our case against the Government – was originally
assembled and provided to the Court as Exhibits to a sworn
affidavit by Bob Schulz.
The index
of the Exhibits can be viewed
here.
WTP will
make available to every attendee of this year’s WTP GML 2007
conference, at no cost, a copy of the affidavit and
all exhibits -- the entire record of the Petitioning process
from the landmark Right-to-Petition lawsuit.
The record covers the entire history of the Foundation’s
efforts to enable the People to exercise and enforce their
Right to Petition. The record covers thousands of pages of
legal research, public communications and the repeated
Petitions for Redress sent to officials of the U.S.
Government without response.
It contains
the very first letter for Redress sent to President Clinton
in 1999, the full page ads in USA TODAY and The
New York Times, the video of the historic 2002 Freedom
Drive, the full video and documentary legal evidence
presented at the Truth-in-Taxation hearing in 2002, and
much, much more.
In
addition, WTP will provide, at no cost, to each person
attending GML 2007, a separate RTP Educational CD that
contains: 1) all the briefs with all the legal arguments
that have been presented to the Court that is deciding our
case – the United States Court of Appeals for the DC
Circuit; 2) all Law Review Articles (10) that have ever been
published on the Right to Petition: 3) the Petitions for
Redress regarding the Income Tax, the Iraq Resolution, the
Federal Reserve System and the USA Patriot Act; and 4) the
1.5 hour Liberty Hour video and Bob Schulz’s Freedom Drive
speech on the National Mall that, together, present the
justification for WTP’s “No Answers, No Taxes” doctrine.
Although
the Foundation will make the Record of the Petition Process
(containing many, many dollars worth of WTP created video,
legal, and educational content) and the RTP Educational CD
publicly available following the GML 2007 conference (with
final prices to be determined later),
Chairman Bob Schulz has committed
to providing a copy, at no
cost, to every person
physically attending the upcoming GML 2007 conference in
Washington.
Register Now For GML
2007!
The Give Me
Liberty 2007 conference is coming!
A slate of highly qualified, nationally renowned figures
directly involved in the pressing issues of our Constitution
have been invited to speak at this historical event being
held in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 29-31.
Building off the success of the historical GML conference in
2004 and the Foundation’s recent Right-to-Petition
initiatives, this year’s event will prove to be even more
compelling as WTP publicly examines the “State of The
Constitution” and begins the task of broadening the
nationwide exercise (and enforcement) of the First
Amendment Right to Petition.
The conference agenda, although continually evolving,
promises three days of compelling academic debates and
distinguished speeches regarding the effect of current
national policies and government programs upon the General
Welfare and as examined against fundamental Constitutional
principles and notions of individual
Liberty.
The conference will be held at the Hilton Alexandria Mark
Center, a full-service resort and conference venue.
Hilton Alexandria Mark Center
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Lobby bar |
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Conference facility |
Although we
cannot control room rates, we searched for the lowest rates
available in the DC area and have made every effort to keep
the registration fees as low as possible while preparing to
bring you an event-packed, engaging conference.
Besides the Record of the Petition Process and the separate
RTP Educational CD discussed above, each attendee will also
receive a package of WTP related educational and activist
materials to equip and empower People to move the work of
WTP Congress forward in their communities.
As the agenda indicates, a full half-day session on Saturday
is planned to review the activism and public-meeting
materials and to introduce the new WTP Congress $hare
program that will enable many WTP coordinators and
supporters alike to finance their own activism efforts in
their local region, potentially even at levels of
remuneration approaching a full-time salary.
Hopefully, the conference packages have been designed and
priced to make it possible for everyone to participate in
this important event.
Please note that we have established significant “early”
registration price discounts to encourage everyone to
register early. This not only saves money for attendees
but helps the Foundation better manage its cash flow and
finance the substantial expenses necessary to host the
conference. We strongly encourage everyone to take
advantage of the early discounts and
register ASAP.
The conference schedule includes (2) two evening banquets
(Thursday and Friday), both featuring live entertainment and
keynote speeches from national figures. Each dinner will be
preceded by a reception, each featuring hors d’ouevres and
open bar hosted by WTP. All three-day conference packages
include a box lunch each day so that the packed agenda can
proceed with only minimal disruption for lunch.
The full GML2007 “Washington”
package contains:
-
(3) Days conference admittance
w/
complimentary coffee, soft drinks, etc.
-
(3) Days boxed lunch
-
(2) Dinner banquets
(both
Thursday & Friday)
-
(1) Hosted bar reception
(pick Thursday OR Friday)
-
White House Right-to-Petition event
bus transportation
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(1) GML2007 Welcome package
-
(1) Copy of the Record of the RTP
Petition Process
-
(1) Copy
of the RTP Educational CD-ROM
-
$50 discount coupon
for the
GML2007 full
conference record on CD/DVD
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WTP Congress Constitutional Activism
package
Includes a complimentary copy of Aaron Russo's
feature documentary, "America, Freedom to Fascism,"
and several other information-jammed items including
WTP public “PowerPoint” presentations, legal research
materials, & other activism support materials.
More details coming soon.
-
Your Name listed as a Sponsor
of
a “WTP Student Scholarship”
The basic three-day “Adams” conference package includes everything the “Washington”
package offers, but does not include banquets or receptions. For those desiring to attend only a single banquet or
reception, individual tickets for those events can also be
purchased through the
GML2007 registration page.
Single day
conference admittance tickets will be available, but not
until March and are dependent on availability at that time.
Single day tickets will also include a box lunch.
For those desiring to reserve the “best seats in the house”
we have arranged for a limited number of Reserved Premium
Seats. These reserved seats in the first rows of the venue,
will feature extra table and aisle spacing to enhance your
conference experience and comfort even further. Only 36
premium seats are available.
Please note
that while the Foundation is trying to obtain V costumes at
wholesale price, there is no guarantee at this time and we
urge conference attendees to obtain a costume on their own.
Although we would
encourage as many as possible to don a “V” costume, everyone
is welcome to participate in the White House event with or
without any costume.
See the
GML 2007 Conference
Registration page for Internet links to obtain "V" costumes.
Sponsors of
the “WTP Student Scholarship” awards enable the Foundation
to sponsor the attendance of several constitutionally
concerned college students who would otherwise not be able
to attend.
Also, we
need to fulfill our Hilton hotel room contract ASAP. You
can reserve a full hotel room or share a hotel room
with another person of the same sex. Full rooms are priced
at our conference discount rate of $159/night + taxes & fees
which is very reasonable for the downtown DC area during one
of the city’s peak travel periods.
So
register,
reserve a room, pack your bags and get ready to attend GML 2007!
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