The Nome Nugget

Proposed "23rd Amendment" Would Repeal Income Tax

SEATTLE The National Committee for Economic Freedom, originating in Los Angeles, is sponsoring a plan to stop "federal competition with private enterprise and repeal income taxes."

This the committee proposed to do under the terms of a "Proposed 23rd Amendment" pending in Congress as H.J. Res. 23. It provides that:

"Section 1. The government of the United States shall not engage in any business, professional, commercial, financial or industrial enterprise except as specified in the Constitution.

"Sec. 2. The constitution or laws of any State, or the laws of the United States shall not be subject to the terms of an foreign or domestic agreement which would abrogate this amendment.

"Sec. 3. The activities of the United States government which violate the intent and purposes of this amendment shall, within a period of three years from the date of the ratification of this amendment, be liquidated and the properties and facilities affected shall be sold.

"Sec. 4. Three years after the ratification of this amendment the sixteenth article of amendments to the Constitution of the United States shall stand repealed and thereafter Congress shall not levy taxes on personal incomes, estates, and/or gifts."

The "Proposed 23rd Amendment" would force the sale of the land and facilities of federal corporate activities back to the American people from whom they were taken, and thus cut the National Debt more than $65,000,000,000, according to the Committee.

Savings on interest, amortization, losses, payroll and costs, plus saving of foreign grants and credits would mean a saving of $44,775,000,000.

Repeal of the income tax and a resultant increase in excise and corporate taxes, taking into account the actual 1959 deficit, according to the Committee, would leave a net surplus of over 21/2 billion dollars to pay on the national debt.

The plan also estimates savings of $200 million on the cost of collecting taxes; $100 million on the cost of printing tax forms, etc.; $40 million on franked postage on all tax mail. Also envisioned are savings of an unestimated amount on the cost of protective lobbying, prosecuting and incarcerating of tax violators, and bookkeeping, reporting and accounting fees and other impositions.

Rep. Bruce Kendall (R-Valdez) is expected to introduce a joint resolution at this session of the Alaska Legislature to effectuate H.J.R. 23 from Alaska. An active campaign is also under way in Oregon and Washington in support of the plan.

Wyoming has formally approved the amendment and more than 6,000 organizations have adopted resolutions in its support.