Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Also a Tax Resister

As long as I’m stooping to being a politician-booster by covering Democratic state House candidate and war tax resister John Kefalas, I should mention that the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, Michael Badnarik, is also a tax resister:

Badnarik believes that the federal income tax has no legal authority and that people are justified in refusing to file a tax return until such time as the IRS provides them with an explanation of its authority to collect the tax. He hadn’t filed income tax returns for several years.

In order to avoid the inconvenience of being indicted while on the campaign trail, however, Badnarik plans to come to some sort of settlement with the IRS and pay them what they think he owes. “Well, the IRS wants money,” Badnarik says, “They don’t necessarily want me in jail, they just want compliance. I intend to start paying them the money, then there’s no reason for them to throw me in jail. As an interim measure, I will resolve my differences with the IRS so that it doesn’t bring any embarrassment to the LP and then once I’m finished with the election after November, I will pick up my battle with the IRS again.”

What is the economic value of a little nookie? Or of a bit of free time? And furthermore — how can we tax it, so that people who get more action or sleep in later aren’t getting a free ride when compared to people who sacrifice hot sex and laziness for higher salaries? These are the sort of amusing questions I’ve found entertained at the interesting Fly Bottle blog.