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Show The Paper That Dares To Take Page 10 The Utah Independent March 13, 1975 A Stand Property Seizure from Washington Star Feb. 27, 1975 Reprinted By Walter Taylor Waihington Star Staff Writer , The notice, on Internal Revenue Service letterhead, was captioned in bold capital letters: "FINAL NO- TICE BEFORE SEIZURE. On previous occasions, it went on to say. we notified you that your federal tax identified below is overdue and must be paid. Since we have no record of a reply, this is our final notice and demand before seizure of your assets to enforce payment. The notice was received by mail recently by a young woman on the staff of District Mayor Walter E. Washington. Ten days later despite efforts a revenue to head off the action of officer the IRS went to a local Against served a written "notice of levy" on an officer of the institution and withdrew $700 from the woman's personal checking account. Dank, No court had ruled against the woman; no judge had authorized the seizure. Yet the transaction was perfectly legal. Without contacting the depositor, the bank surrendered the S700 readily, if not willingly. The woman only learned of the seizure several days later when, to her considerable embarrassment, the bank notified her that a number of checks she had written had bounced. THE ACTION Taken to collect a income tax deficiency was one of 623,190 levies and 23,346 three-year-ol- d A letter's Non-Taxpaye- rs being sent meets the letter of the law seizures made by the Internal Revenue Service during the past fiscal year to settle past due tax debts, what it classifies as "taxpayer delinquent accounts or TDAs. For a variety of reasons, it may not be a typical case. But it illustrates a number of points of controon-goi- ng versy concerning one of the least understood areas of IRS operations: the enforced collection process! It underscores, for example, the unique and sweeping power that the agency may employ in the collection of tax debts, authority virtually be- - FAMINE AND SURVIVAL IN AMERICA Howard J. Ruff's book. Famine and Survival in America, is a new approach to informing sleeping Americans of the need to store food. It is so different from other books on the subject that it is refreshing, although refreshing hardly seems the way to describe a book which is most frightening. However, it is a valuable and welcome change on the subject of food storage. The purpose of this book is five fold: 1 . To help awaken you, or perhaps even frighten you into facing some facts regardingthe food crisis which is rushing upon us, and in fact is already here. 2. To prepare a survival manual for my immediate family and relatives. 3. To set straight the myths and misI call them the conceptions about emergency deadly errors" food storage that I have been hearing for years. These myths are based of lack of knowledge of the latest reand nutrisearch in tion. If these myths are not countered, people will have deceptively full stomachs and, at the same time, suffer from malnutrition. 4. To help you judge the merits of the a commercial storage programs consumers guide" if you please. 5. To offer a practical plan of attack on the problem. The first part of this book may frighten you because the facts are truly frightening. I fully expect this to anger some people. In ancient times it was often the custom for the king to kill the bearer of bad news. But the last section should remove all fear, as there is a way to prepare, and receive the calm assurance that will come from being ry ready." Part 1 The Vulnerable Necessity In this section Mr. Ruff explains w hy he believes the flow of food in America to be very fragile. He describes why he believes it to be necessary to store food. He also shows that there is only enough food supplies in the country to provide one per cent to three per cent of our population with sufficient food storage. This fact alone if actually understood by the public could, in the author's opinion, cause a food buying panic which could shortly lead to widespread famine. Mr. Ruff firmly believes that America will indeed experience widespread famine within the next few months or years. From this section it is obvious that the author's views are those of one who leans to the right of the political mainstream in America today. Mr. Ruff quotes from U.S. News and World Report, Harry Browne's You Can Profit from a Monetary Crisis, Robert Prestons How to Prepare for the Coming Crash, The San Francisco Chronicle and other publications. Part 2 Nutrition in Food Storage will be generated by famine conditions. He feels that it is a tragic mistake to overlook the fact that the body will require much more of some vital nutrients under such conditions than would normally be so. He says, "When the famine comes, youre stuck with what you have stored." So be careful. also discusses some errors in commercially commonly-mad- e prepared foods. He states, "Despite man's pride, he has still not been able to duplicate nature. I am convinced that the more man tries to make food, the more he processes and invents, the poorer the food is." Even though chemical analyses of man made foods may appear satisfactory, the author does not approve of plastic food." The author practices charged that the agency frequently takes seizure action when an arrangement more equitable to the delinquent taxpayer involved could have been hammered out. One of them, Vincent L. Connery, president of the National Treasury Employes Union, testified that IRS revenue officers whom his union are under continual represents to close pressure delinquent accounts by the quickest and easiest method available to them, which generally is through levy or seizure. "Of paramount importance to collection division management, Connery said, is the number of cases closed by employes, with little or no regard to the effects of their orders on the individual taxpayer. "Revenue officers are oftentimes rewarded for seizing a taxpayers assets and severly- disciplined if they permit him to remain in business and repay his debt to the federal government. plans do not - Part-payme- Part 3 The Answers Guide -- A Consumer's some The author advises a storage program myths that he feels have been perpetuated storfor the food of with the emphasis on the nutritional value of merely purpose selling items for nutrition. without the foods that people store. He says, We age regard In this section the author attacks what he will be eating for survival, not recreation. calls myths that have been perpetuated Nutrition comes before everything. To merely for the purpose of selling food storprovide balanced nutrition, "supplements for items He without nutrition. and concentrates should be the heart of your age regard feels that nutrition must be the focal point of program, not just an afterthought. Detailed information is given to assist any food storage program. If there is a famine in the future, we could easily be in a the consumer in reading labels to determine situation where all we will have to eat is which products are the best to purchase. The what we have stored. He says, We can't differences between synthetic and natural erase our mistakes and start over. We will foods is explained. The author explains why live or die, be healthy or sick, based on the he feels essential fatty acids are the most decisions we make now." neglected part of storage programs and what The author gives detailed explanation as storable foods satisfy this need. to why he does not accept a common theory In summation I will quote the author's that the basic four" is sufficient for a famlast words. And remember, better a year survival "basic too soon than a day too late. The 1974 ily storage program. (The is four" wheat, powdered milk, honey, and drought is now history. Our troubles have salt as depicted in Esther Dickey's book begun. Or perhaps I should say, your trouPassport to Survival.) Mr. Ruff states that bles have begun. I'm ready. I hope you even though the chemical analysis looks will be, too. I rate this book. Famine and Survival in okay, experimental animals die when forced to depend on these foods." America, by Howard J . Ruff to be a must on Another unappreciated point, according the reading list of any family considering a to the author, is the extreme body stress that food storage program. - yond challenge to seize and attach personal property and privately held financial assets of delinquent taxpayers. Further it exemplifies a recurring dilemma for the agency: the almost inherent conflict between its duty to deal fairly and equitably with individual taxpayers and its responsibility to all taxpayers to insure that each individual pays what fairly and equitably is due. During little publicized congressional hearings last year, a number of witnesses critical of the collection In this section the author attacks nt close cases. A Bellvue, Wash., couple, Phillip and Sue Long, who have gained access to a number of closely held IRS records through a series of successful Freedom of Information Act suits, have compiled statistics that suggest there is a wide variation in the use of levies and seizures to collect past-du-e tax debts. district-by-distri- ct What Think Ye Of Christ Youth: Too happy think - time enough. Manhood: Too busy think more money first! Maturity: Too anxious to think worry over work. Declining ears: Too aged to think fixed habits. As Death Approaches; Too ill to think weak and suffering. Death: Too late to think -the spirit has flown. Eternity: Forever to think - God's judgment day. - - - - Seemingly unwilling to wait to inherit it, some of the STOP ABORTION I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! young appear to want rth right now' the Silver and Cold COINS i Any Quantity . I hat Gmernment is Best (imerns Least" ti. MONARCH COIN CORPORATION 21 1 East 3900 South Phone 4 Salt Lake City, Utah f f ff 262-587--- -- i; j; |