Charles Adams

"Adams (b. 1930) is an independent scholar and tax consultant. He's the author of Fight, Flight and Fraud: The Story of Taxation (1982), For Good and Evil: The Impact of Taxes on the Course of Civilization (1993) and Those Dirty Rotten Taxes: The Tax Revolts that Built America (1998). These books offer amusing stories about the greed of governments, and there are many inspiring stories about rebels who outwitted their tormenters."

"This is what has been called Gresham’s Law. It was formulated by Sir Thomas Gresham to explain to Queen Elizabeth I what was happening to the English shilling. Her father, Henry VIII, had been adulterating the English shilling, the basic coin of the realm, by replacing 40 percent of the silver in the coin with base metals ... Right now, the Swiss have made a bundle on the monetary antics of the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve. Well, at least Henry VIII would be proud of U.S. officials, and his wise daughter Elizabeth would be shaking her head in disbelief that anyone could be so dumb."

"Frederick S. Calhoun, the Chief Historian for the United States Marshal's Service, ... recently wrote a 200 year history of Federal Marshals, entitled, The Lawmen: United States Marshals and their Deputies, 1789–1989 ... This ... gives a detailed account of an arrest warrant, signed by President Abraham Lincoln ... to arrest the Chief Justice of the United States, Roger B. Taney ... And so the case stands, the Presidential warrant to arrest the Chief Justice is on solid ground. It represents just one more tough nut the apologists and gate keepers have to live with; it cannot be swept under the rug, so to speak, as a fabrication."

"One of Sigmund Freud's most interesting books was entitled The Future of an Illusion. Freud was talking about the illusion the infant has about its parents, who seemed to be so all-powerful. That unique title seems to fit John Kerry and the Democratic Party's call for increased taxes on those earning over $200,000, and thereby raise new revenues for the government to spend – in reality, that is an illusion. ... If ABC's George Stephanopolous had known his tax history, he could have nailed Kerry on his planned soak the rich tax strategy and left the Democrats scampering for some way out of this political folly."

"No modern revolution was deeper rooted in taxation than the revolt of the Thirteen Colonies in British North America. British taxation not only caused the revolution, but perhaps most important, it acted as a unifying force in the colonies. The once disorganized and squabbling colonies rallied around the cause of taxation without consent, took up arms against the British ... We can now put in historical context Jefferson's comment that it was good medicine for government to have a rebellion every twenty years or so. In the course of his lifetime there had been almost a dozen rebellions he was acutely aware of."

"Nat King Cole was unquestionably one of the best, if not the best, crooners of his day. The unique record shape of the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood, has been called, the 'House that Cole Built.' He was financially successful, ranking with the richest in Hollywood. His complicated financial affairs, as might be expected, caught the attention of the federal government at times. ... The current law is fuzzy when people in Martha's non-insider position act on a stock-tip. Finally, when the victorious prosecutor spoke to the media on the courthouse steps, he said the case was all about lies. He was only half right ..."