Time: Sun Oct 12 13:00:11 1997
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Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997 12:40:51 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: IRS "Threat" (fwd)
<snip>
>
>>From The Bakersfield Californian
>http://www.bakersfield.com/
>
>Best of the Best
>
>Filed Sat Oct 11 23:30:16 1997
>
>By ROBERT PRICE
>Californian staff writer
>
>George Martin stood up Saturday in front of a president, a King, a czar,
and a first lady and
>tweaked the nose of the most reviled federal agency in America.
>
>The host and founder of the Bakersfield Business Conference had intended
to present a public forum
>on competing GOPplans to toss out the nation's tax code, bringing Reps.
Dick Armey, R-Texas,
>and Bill Tauzin, R-La., to his 13th annual flag-waving festival of
conservatism at Cal State
>Bakersfield.
>
>The Internal Revenue Service, having caught wind of the surprise guests,
fired off a fax to Martin late
>last week, and apparently used some choice words.
>
>Martin did not actually produce the IRS letter for his 12,500 guests,
gathered in the world's largest
>tent for what is widely regarded as the world's biggest and best one-day
parade of nationally known
>speakers. But Martin did tell conference attendees what he thought about
the agency's unsolicited
>comments.
>
>``I got from the Internal Revenue Service what I consider a threat,'' said
Martin, managing partner of
>the host law firm of Borton, Petrini & Conron. ``They thought that the
panel was inappropriate. ...
>To me, that sounds like the (Nazi) SS. ... We have a thing here ... called
the First Amendment.''
>
>``We're probably all gonna get audited after today,'' said Tauzin.
>
>The quasi-debate and its accompanying sprinkle of controversy gave the
conference, Bakersfield's
>own oratory Woodstock, a fresh breath of relevancy.
>
>Traditionally, the mega-event has been a celebration of America, of family
values, of free enterprise
>and tear-dabbing patriotism. And most of the day's other attractions,
including former President
>George Bush and his wife Barbara, media commentators Larry King, Paul
Harvey and Rush
>Lim baugh, former vice-presidential candidate and NFL quarterback Jack
Kemp, former education
>secretary and ``drug czar'' William Bennett, and retired generals Norman
Schwarzkopf and Colin
>Powell, fit in very nicely with that formula.
>
>Most compelling was a look back at the Vietnam War and its legacy in
America, complete with a
>half-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial and an appearance by actor
Charlton Heston, who
>spoke movingly of the nation's debt to the soldiers who fought and died in
the most unpopular of this
>nation's wars.
>
>``Only years later, at long last, do Americans honor those people who
fought and died,'' said
>Heston, the famed gun-rights advocate who has portrayed film characters
from Michelangelo to
>Moses.
>
>Heston introduced a succession of prominent Vietnam vets, including former
Pittsburgh Steelers
>halfback Rocky Bleier, who recovered from a war injury to play in the
Super Bowl in 1973.
>
>Dark clouds loomed over the gathering throughout much of the day,
threatening to rain on Martin's
>parade and send people inside. The grounds were wet enough as it was,
thanks to steady showers
>Friday evening.
>
>Volunteers worked virtually through the night attempting to protect or
resuscitate the meticulous
>landscaping, and their work was largely successful, although patches of
grass were cordoned off in a
>few spots around the grounds. In one place workers served as human traffic
cones, steering
>ticket-holders away from a small marsh that had developed overnight, at an
entrance to the main
>tent.
>
>But the threat of new rain had dissipated long before an F-16 fighter jet
punctuated the dinner-hour
>scramble with a low-altitude fly-by and a screaming ascent toward the moon.
>
>The conference was again an odd combination of carnival and luxury-cruise,
political convention and
>chamber mixer, with makeshift, open-air markets offering fresh fruit and
ice-cream bars (free), a
>beer garden (not free) and sports tent, a Ferris wheel and a 20-foot
replica of the Statue of Liberty.
>
>The main tent featured a succession of returning speakers in keeping with
this year's theme, ``The
>Best of the Best.'' Each of the 13 speakers was nominated as a favorite by
previous audiences,
>making this something of an all-star affair. Impressionist Rich Little,
humor columnist Dave Barry and
>TV host Jay Leno were on the bill with the other more serious speakers.
Former New York Gov.
>Mario Cuomo, one of the few admitted Democrats to have spoken at the
event, called in sick with
>the flu, the first time a cancellation not involving a death has occurred
in conference history,
>according to Martin.
>
>A separate ``business'' tent featured speakers such as finance guru Jane
Bryant Quinn and
>Godfather's Pizza CEOHerman Cain, and another area featured Olympic
athletes like
>triple-jumper Willie Banks and gymnast Kathy Johnson Clarke. Paul Revere &
the Raiders, a band
>of '60s hitmakers, provided the evening's entertainment along with a
collection of musical
>impressionists paraded as ``Yesterday Once More.''
>
>But there was plenty of reality to go with all that fantasy, led by the
tax code debate, moderated by
>Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Bakersfield, the former Bakersfield College political
science professor who
>now chairs the House Oversight Committee.
>
>Tauzin faced off against Armey, the House majority leader, in a carefully
orchestrated discussion
>designed to contrast the merits of Tauzin's national sales tax plan with
Armey's flat-tax proposal.
>
>Armey's plan would leave the IRS a shadow of its former vindictive self,
and Tauzin's plan would
>eliminate it altogether. The two have been touring the country staging
these mock debates for some
>time, each cautious not to be too harsh on the other. Each, after all,
agrees that the present system
>needs revamping on a revolutionary scale. Tauzin, in fact, staged a mock
Boston Tea Party, with tax
>code documents taking a symbolic dip into Boston Harbor this time.
>
>Critics say their plans would not adequately pay the cost of government,
and that lower-income
>citizens would bear the brunt of the tax burden. Both men brushed off
those charges.
>
>Tauzin's plan is the more extreme of the two: He referred more than once
to ``ripping out the IRS by
>its roots.''
>
>And then, he said, ``April 15 becomes just a beautiful spring day in our
lives again.''
>
>``If you don't know what's wrong with the tax code,'' Armey said, ``you
are either not paying taxes
>or you're part of the Clinton administration.''
>
>
>Copyrightc 1997, The Bakersfield Californian
>
>Back to the Californian Home Page
>Back to the article listing for Top stories
>
<snip>
===========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell, Sui Juris : Counselor at Law, federal witness 01
B.A.: Political Science, UCLA; M.S.: Public Administration, U.C.Irvine 02
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_____________________________________: Law is authority in written words 09
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