The Other Donald Duck Tax Propaganda Film

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This is a documentary short done by Disney for the Department of the Treasury to encourage people to pay the "Victory Tax".

The following is from:

A year after the United States entered the Second World War the federal government needed additional revenues to pay for the war effort. Congress had given away much of the government's usual means of financing itself, printing its own money, when it created the Federal Reserve in 1913. A voluntary income tax had been in place for 29 years, but for Constitutional reasons, fewer than 11 percent of Americans had to pay the income tax at that time. As a result, Congress enacted into law the Victory Tax Act of 1942, which included concurrent law for automatic wage withholding. The Victory Tax was a direct tax on income. However Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution requires that direct taxes be apportioned to the several states, not citizens directly, and therefore it was unconstitutional. The government attempted to legitimize these new laws by citing Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution: "To support Armies but no apportionment for money to that use shall be a longer term than 2 years."

The new legislation gave Henry Morgenthau, then Secretary of the Treasury, two voluntary income taxes to which he needed the voluntary compliance of US citizens. In December 1942, Morgenthau came up with a brilliant idea to encourage Americans to volunteer to pay by making the income tax a patriotic duty. To help implement this idea, Morgenthau ordered John J. Sullivan, a Treasury Department official, to contact Walt Disney.

Remember there was no television in the early 40s. The only visual medium the government could use to reach the public were films at movie houses. Going to the movies was a popular pastime, and citizens usually attended nearly every week. Walt was asked to fly to D.C. to discuss an urgent special request. At first, Walt was reluctant, but Sullivan insisted. Sullivan did not disclose the purpose of this meeting, and Walt assumed it had to do with the promotion of War Bonds. The next day, when Mr. Disney arrived to meet with Morgenthau and Internal Revenue Commissioner Guy Helvering, it was announced that the U.S. wanted him to "help us sell people on paying the income tax." Confused, Walt questioned why the government just didn't jail people who did not pay the income tax. Mr. Helvering retorted, "Walt, we want people to be enthusiastic about paying their taxes." Walt did not know that an unconstitutional income tax could not be used to jail American citizens for non-payment. That was then.

The Spirit Of '43 makes no mention of the impending "withholding" from workers' paychecks, yet it is quite obviously intended to promote the desirability of withholding, if be it responsibly by oneself until quarterly payment came due. Beardsley Ruml, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of New York would later introduce pay-as-you-go tax withholding in the work place so citizens would never again be "caught short" on tax day.

The Same Voluntary Tax Remains Today.

The Victory Tax Act was renewed in 1944 and was to expire when the war was over, yet remains in effect today, codified under the Internal Revenue Code at code section 3402 in subtitle C - Wage and Employment Tax, not the "Income" Tax. When WWII was over, Washington simply could not let go of its newfound riches - the payroll tax the public had been conditioned to accept. The constitutionality of the Victory Tax Act was never challenged by the people of the United States. The psychology and influence [propaganda] developed in The Spirit of '43 through its use of surreal imagery and feelings of National Patriotism and civic duty to - as the narrator puts it... " pay your taxes gladly and proudly" to fight an evil and powerful enemy, "The Axis" of Germany and Japan, accomplished its goal to get Americans to pay this voluntary tax. Any citizen questioning the tax might as well be considered the enemy by the end of this film clip. This should provide you some insights into how we have progressed to this modern state of voluntary complacency about our tax burden when our government tells us it is for our own good. And most of us are not even legally required to pay taxes. We have been convinced to pay taxes by practices that evolved out of cartoon propaganda and a sense of war-time patriotism. Careful examination of the law will show that the meaning of income is not legally defined to mean your income. Most people only become a taxpayer by volunteering to file a tax report or withholding form. And the IRS won't tell you otherwise. No part of the Federal Government is constitutionally permitted to levy such a direct tax on citizens of States and no amendment to the Constitution has changed that, not even the 16th amendment.

...go to the website at the top for more information.

Channel: Film & Animation
Uploaded: February 22, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Author: Fogyreef

Length: 00:03:47
Rating: 4.84
Views: 25850

Tags: income tax zeitgeist donald duck freedom to fascism 9/11 IRS Federal Reserve

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Video Comments:
Anayo (November 16, 2008 at 4:35 pm)
What America needs is a flat consumption tax, like the Fairtax!
tkubic46 (November 2, 2008 at 2:04 pm)
listen, i don't know how the senators felt personally or did personally. i'm not psychoanalyzing the senators. I'm just telling you what history says. look at this:
The following states rejected the amendment without ever subsequently ratifying it:

Connecticut
Florida (rejected the amendment after it had already been ratified by three-fourths of the states)
Rhode Island
Utah
The following states never took up the proposed amendment:

Pennsylvania
Virginia
RetSquid (November 2, 2008 at 12:27 am)
So all the Senators went home for the Holidays, came back and DIDN'T NOTICE that someone voted in thier place to pass a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT???
tkubic46 (November 1, 2008 at 12:41 pm)
The income tax is not constitutional because it is a direct tax and it is not apportioned
in accordance with the Constitution. The term apportioned means that the tax
must be divided equally among the people. The income tax system as it is implemented
in the United States is not divided equally among the people.The IRS makes people believe
that they must pay a different percentage of the money they make off of their labor
to the government.
tkubic46 (November 1, 2008 at 12:39 pm)
One of the most glaring problems with the income tax is the questions pertaining to
its constitutionality. The Constitution allows for direct and indirect taxes. Direct taxes must
be apportioned or divided equally among the people. Indirect taxes must be the same in
each state.
tkubic46 (November 1, 2008 at 12:35 pm)
With two-thirds of everyones personal income taxes wasted or not collected, 100
percent of what is collected is absorbed solely by interest on the Federal debt and
by Federal Government contributions to transfer payments. In other words, all
individual income tax revenues are gone before one nickel is spent on the
services which taxpayers expect from their Government.
tkubic46 (October 31, 2008 at 2:19 pm)
it was never properly ratified. the states didn't even recognize it and never officially have. it is estimated that about 60 or 70 million americans dion't pay the income tax b/c the fascist irs can't force everyone to pay this illegal communist tax. The Founders fought to end simple little taxes, they are rolling in their graves! They would be disgusted and hang almost every gov't official as a traitor!
RetSquid (November 1, 2008 at 2:51 am)
Section 8 - Powers of Congress

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes,

I guess they really screwed up huh?
RetSquid (October 31, 2008 at 1:38 pm)
"Almost all the Senators were against it! It was slipped thru at night!"

So, you are saying that ALL of the Senators at the time were so corrupt that they didn't do anything about a fraud perpetrated in their name???
RetSquid (October 31, 2008 at 1:24 pm)
The sixteenth amendment and the tax laws passed pursuant to it have been followed by the courts for over half a century. They represent the recognized law of the land. Because the sixteenth amendment was duly certified by the Secretary of State, because defendants have not alleged that the minor variations in capitalization, punctuation and wording of (cont.)