Gregg wrote:No, the US is not a corporation, in any way. It is a sovereign nation and as such holds sovereign immunity. You cannot sue the United States, or any part of it except where sovereign immunity has been waived by a specific to the circumstance law. States are almost sovereign and again you can only sue a state in federal court under certain circumstances, most usually for violating federal laws. Both States and the Federal government contain within them corporations, commonly municipalities, but those are set up such that they can be sued but still within defined situations.
A county and the townships within it are subdivisions of the state, but an incorpoated city is legally different. One consequence of this is if a county defaults on a bond, the state usually has to back it, but if a city defaults the state cannot be liable. That, and not some conspiracy theory, is the major reason, liability and autonomy.
As a matter of form, you do not bring suit against the IRS, you sue the United States.
I agree that the US is not a corporation, at least in the sense that the sovcit morons think of it. It certainly does not mean that laws need not be obeyed.
However, and I am not a lawyer, but I use a working definition of corporation to be an entity recognized by law that has an existence that is separate from its owners. This is as opposed to a partnership, or sole proprietorship. The latter two have no legal existence apart from their owners. If you sue a partnership, the owners are liable. Sue a corporation and the owners are only liable to the extent of their investment.
The US government is not a corporation in the same way that General Motors is. But then, non-profits, such as the American Red Cross are a different type of corporation.
If the US were to be considered a corporation, it would certainly be a unique type of corporation, but that would have no bearing on its authority. Different types of corporations have different rules about how they work and what they can and can not do.
I believe that the sovcit belief that the US is a corporation comes from the fact that the city of Washington, DC, incorporated as a municipal corporation sometime around 1871.
I guess my point is that, whether the US is a corporation or not, makes no difference. It still has the power to tax and it still has the power to punish.