Pete Hendrickson's "story of the century"

[Famspear]

Preposterous, Perseverant, Prevaricating Pete Hendrickson has been out of prison for a few days, now, and here is His Message to His Minions. The Pete Hendrickson "Cracking the Code" message is, according to Pete, the "story of the century":

THIS MARCH HAS PROVEN TO BE a longer one than ever I expected back in 2002 when I first "cracked the code" and discovered that the income tax is not itself a lawless exercise of corruption. Instead, I found that the tax as written is perfectly proper--even virtuous, and the corruption associated with it is only a now-long-standing practice of nurturing and exploiting public ignorance of its actual legal scope so as to impose it where it doesn't properly apply.

Back then, I blithely assumed that laying bare the truths about that limited legal scope and that bad practice of mis-application would quickly marshal the power of the media and the courts on the side of the truth and the law. I expected that we would quickly resume our unique American experiment in liberty under the law and restore the enormous prosperity and freedom we enjoyed for the first 140 years of our republic, prior to the advent of the tax scam.

I expected that the interest of every American in his or her financial and civic well-being would be invoked by journalists who would recognize the story of the century and vie with one another to be the first and loudest voice spreading the liberating news. I expected that federal judges, especially-- carefully insulated as they are from being hostage to political pressures-- would vie with one another to be the first and most eloquent in respectfully restoring and affirming the rule of law in regard to the tax.

(Well, I REALLY DID expect the media to react as described. The judges not so much, but I figured they'd quickly do their part in turn because what else could they do once everyone knows the truth?)

Needless to say, I have been deeply disappointed-- in the media and the courts, at least. The media has managed to overlook what really IS-- and continues to be-- the story of the century. Ironically, every day that this story has gone underreported it actually becomes even more "the story of the century". Each further excess and outrage by Leviathan made much of by that same media every day--especially the "alternative media"-- are only possible due to the ongoing ignorance of the American public about the tax, and the Constitutional design of which its limitations are a key element, and example.

The courts-- well, what can I say... The media having so far remained silent, and therefore the power of the people having remained unaroused, the courts have remained faithful servants of the corrupt status-quo even while forced into ever-more transparent evasions and side-steps when faced with those of the people who HAVE become aware of the truth. (See, for instance, my analysis of just a few of the dodges in the "unpublished" appellate decision in my case...) This will change, of course, as soon as enough of the people become aware.

AND ENOUGH OF THE PEOPLE WILL BECOME AWARE, because I HAVEN'T been disappointed in my other, and far more important significant expectation-- that American men and women, once made aware of the truth, would stand up-- firm, solid and resolved-- to reclaim their personal authority and the blessings of liberty which are theirs by right as human beings, and which those elevated to offices among them are required to respect and uphold. That expectation has been overwhelmingly fulfilled, and words can't do justice to my feelings about such American men and women-- which is to say, about YOU.

You fabulous people have kept the fires burning and the word spreading. You have been an ever-abundant well-spring of inspiration, uplift and encouragement to everyone (and especially to me).

Home again after two long years away, and able to see for myself the unbending commitment of so many of you to standing tall in defense of what is yours as individuals and all of ours as a free people, and the love and care so many of you extended to my family during my absence, I nearly can't stand the admiration and appreciation that sweeps over me. You are true heroes, and I am grateful to be in such company.

We WILL prevail , and it will be because of your heroism and steadfastness.

-Pete

--from the Cracking the Code newsletter,

at

http://www.losthorizons.com/Newsletter.htm

[Demosthenes]

You fabulous people have kept the fires burning and the word spreading. You have been an ever-abundant well-spring of inspiration, uplift and encouragement to everyone (and especially to me).

That's funny. I have very, very little discussion of post-sentenced Pete on the hard drive o' Demo. Just stuff like this:

From: Pablo Rodriguez
To: Bob Hurt
Subject: Please reconsider your advice about Mr. Hendrickson
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:41:21 -0500

Bob:

Many of us on the Tax Return Team (all of whom were "burned" following Mr. Hendrickson's administrative remedy), are very alarmed that you are pushing his administrative remedy by recommending people use Forms 4852 and "correcting" Forms 1099. We can emphatically tell you, "It doesn't work!!!" Our members are being charged with fraudulent filing, frivolous filings, deficient filings, failure to file, and more all because we filed "CtC-educated" returns as far back as four years ago. It is without a doubt that we all regret following his suggestions.

As we've experienced, and over 200 other people have come to us and told us, if the IRS gives you a refund, you can be sure that within the subsequent 2-3 years, you will be forced to return all of it. Many of our members tried in vain to have their names removed from his "Victories" page but he refused because Mr. Hendrickson claimed that they were validly won and fraudulently stolen. But it was grossly misleading to let people believe that a certain number of folks had received $10m in refunds without discounting the number who've not only had to return that money, but who also paid additional "frivolous" fines, penalties, interest, and in many cases sanctions up to $5,000.

I've tried to explain the problem presented by Mr. Hendrickson's administrative remedy in the attached document. We'd LOVE to host you on one of our twice-weekly meetings to discuss this with you. We had a standing offer to Mr. Hendrickson for over 18 months and he never responded to our requests, invitations, or our e-mails.

We absolutely believe what Mr. Hendrickson uncovered about the tax laws of the country and we firmly support him. We encourage our members to help support him and his family, too. However, it's his administrative remedy that so many of us are fighting for our lives in tax court and other courts to get squared away.

We're trying to hold a greased snake with oily hands on a freshly waxed floor filled with banana peels all the while trying to put it back into a stiletto-lined box without hurting ourselves or getting bit by the snake.

You are cordially invited to spend time with us and see what we've uncovered.

P.S. Feel free to post this e-mail and the accompanying document on the Lawmen site.

Thank you,

Pablo Rodriguez
Tax Return Team - where pro se prey become the predator!
+1 919.647.4768

[Famspear]

Let's look again at some of what Pete wrote:

THIS MARCH HAS PROVEN TO BE a longer one than ever I expected back in 2002 when I first "cracked the code" and discovered that the income tax is not itself a lawless exercise of corruption.

Translation: Pete originally decided for himself that the federal income tax was "a lawless exercise of corruption." He went to prison in the early 1990s as a result of illegal conduct related to his hatred of the income tax. After release from prison, he went into bankruptcy, came out of it and eventually formulated his reaction to his defeat at the hands of the legal system when, in the early 2000s, he "found" his "Cracking the Code" scam, a revised version of tax protest theories that had been promulgated by others. He says:

.....I found that the tax as written is perfectly proper--even virtuous, and the corruption associated with it is only a now-long-standing practice of nurturing and exploiting public ignorance of its actual legal scope so as to impose it where it doesn't properly apply.

Pete has delusional, grandiose beliefs about himself. Pete admits that he once believed that his own writings would change America:

Back then, I blithely assumed that laying bare the truths about that limited legal scope and that bad practice of mis-application would quickly marshal the power of the media and the courts on the side of the truth and the law. I expected that we would quickly resume our unique American experiment in liberty under the law and restore the enormous prosperity and freedom we enjoyed for the first 140 years of our republic .......

I expected that the interest of every American in his or her financial and civic well-being would be invoked by journalists who would recognize the story of the century.....

(italics added).

The "story of century"? Earth calling Pontificating Pete.... Earth calling Pontificating Pete..... Pete Hendrickson continues to exhibit the delusional beliefs of a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

And how is he coping upon release after having served his second federal prison term for federal tax crimes? Answer: By indulging himself in his inner fantasy world, by using the "power" of his imagination:

What happens if narcissistics [sic] are not succesful[sic], if they face personal failures and social humiliations? What if realistic events topple them from their illusory world of eminence and superiority? What behaviors do they show and what mechanisms do they employ to salve their wounds?

Initially dejected, shamed, and feeling a sense of emptiness, narcissists have no recourse but to turn for solace to their fantasies. [ . . .] It is at these times that their lifelong talent for imagination takes over. These facile processes enable them to create a fanciful world in which they can redeem themselves and reassert their pride and status. Since narcissists are unaccustomed to self-control and objective reality testing, their powers of imagination have free rein to weave intricate resolutions to their difficulties.

What the narcissist is unable to work out through fantasy is simply repressed, put out of mind and kept from awareness. Beyond these, narcissists invent alibis, excuses, and "proofs" that seem [to themselves] plausible and consistent, and convince them of their continued stature and perfection.

---Theodore Millon, Ph.D., Disorders of Personality/DSM-III: Axis II, p. 168 (John Wiley & Sons 1981).

[Number Six]

Plus there was Weston White who was "muttered" for exercising his free speech rights (and with an incurable case of digital loghorrea himself a challenge to others).

"Rational Wiki" has this scathing assessment of his activities:

"Peter Hendrickson is a convicted felon and domestic terrorist who has been a long time promoter of various tax protester schemes. He is most famous for his book Cracking the Code, which claims to prove that the income tax only applies to people who are employed by foreign corporations or the federal government. Hendrickson also gives a step-by-step method for falsifying amended tax returns to get post-hoc tax rebates from previous years of income tax payment."http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Peter_Hendrickson

[JamesVincent]

Each further excess and outrage by Leviathan made much of by that same media every day--

--from the Cracking the Code newsletter,

at

http://www.losthorizons.com/Newsletter.htm

So now hes blaming it on a fallen angel?

Italics added.

[Gregg]

Pretty lofty words from a guy who's internet empire now consists of a forum with two idiot posters arguing over relative penis size, neither one of which has much in common with his "I am the one true tax god, have no other tax gods before me" dogma.

[notorial dissent]

Or at least Fantasy of the moment!!!

I'd say more like burnt out embers rather than burning fires from all appearances.

I'd say it doesn't much sound like somebody's ego has suffered any reductions in size during his enforced vacation.

[The Observer]

Each further excess and outrage by Leviathan made much of by that same media every day--

--from the Cracking the Code newsletter,

at

http://www.losthorizons.com/Newsletter.htm

So now hes blaming it on a fallen angel?

Italics added.

I would think that in context Pete is referring to Thomas Hobbe's literary symbol for government in his eponymous book.

[bobhurt]

Folks:

A little question for you...

Many of us on the Tax Return Team (all of whom were "burned" following Mr. Hendrickson's administrative remedy), are very alarmed that you are pushing his administrative remedy by recommending people use Forms 4852 and "correcting" Forms 1099. We can emphatically tell you, "It doesn't work!!!" Our members are being charged with fraudulent filing, frivolous filings, deficient filings, failure to file, and more all because we filed "CtC-educated" returns as far back as four years ago. It is without a doubt that we all regret following his suggestions.

It seems to me that problems arise from filing the 4852 (to correct the 1099 or W-2) in concert with a signed 1040. What problem arises from filing the 4852 without the 1040, merely correcting/rebutting the false information a third party submitted on the 1099/W-2?

Here we have two bits of data going to the IRS. One says " We paid Joe Bloe some taxable income." The other says "That payment did not constitute taxable income." Now who will the IRS believe? Of course we know who they WANT to believe. But if Joe Bloe's only revenue receipts consist of non-taxable receipts, then he owes no 1040, does he?

[JamesVincent]

Folks:

A little question for you...

Many of us on the Tax Return Team (all of whom were "burned" following Mr. Hendrickson's administrative remedy), are very alarmed that you are pushing his administrative remedy by recommending people use Forms 4852 and "correcting" Forms 1099. We can emphatically tell you, "It doesn't work!!!" Our members are being charged with fraudulent filing, frivolous filings, deficient filings, failure to file, and more all because we filed "CtC-educated" returns as far back as four years ago. It is without a doubt that we all regret following his suggestions.

It seems to me that problems arise from filing the 4852 (to correct the 1099 or W-2) in concert with a signed 1040. What problem arises from filing the 4852 without the 1040, merely correcting/rebutting the false information a third party submitted on the 1099/W-2?

Here we have two bits of data going to the IRS. One says " We paid Joe Bloe some taxable income." The other says "That payment did not constitute taxable income." Now who will the IRS believe? Of course we know who they WANT to believe. But if Joe Bloe's only revenue receipts consist of non-taxable receipts, then he owes no 1040, does he?

Since your not the one that defines taxable income, and you all seem to have a problem believing that, then you cant tell the IRS that that income is non-taxable. Another problem with that is, no matter what way your doing it, your still cheating on your taxes. Any monies you receive, whether income from a job, lottery winnings, other windfalls, etc., if listed as income in the tax code then it will be income and taxable in whichever way the code says it is. And if you dont file your 1040 then your still at fault for not filing. So anyway you try to make your scam work, you still get in trouble when they catch it.

[Famspear]

Folks:

A little question for you...

Many of us on the Tax Return Team (all of whom were "burned" following Mr. Hendrickson's administrative remedy), are very alarmed that you are pushing his administrative remedy by recommending people use Forms 4852 and "correcting" Forms 1099. We can emphatically tell you, "It doesn't work!!!" Our members are being charged with fraudulent filing, frivolous filings, deficient filings, failure to file, and more all because we filed "CtC-educated" returns as far back as four years ago. It is without a doubt that we all regret following his suggestions.

It seems to me that problems arise from filing the 4852 (to correct the 1099 or W-2) in concert with a signed 1040. What problem arises from filing the 4852 without the 1040, merely correcting/rebutting the false information a third party submitted on the 1099/W-2?

Here we have two bits of data going to the IRS. One says " We paid Joe Bloe some taxable income." The other says "That payment did not constitute taxable income." Now who will the IRS believe? Of course we know who they WANT to believe. But if Joe Bloe's only revenue receipts consist of non-taxable receipts, then he owes no 1040, does he?

That's correct - IF Joe Bloe's only revenue consists of non-taxable receipts. The problem is that for the Joe Bloes who use the Cracking the Code scam, their receipts are indeed taxable. Using the Cracking the Code scam (such as, by filing a Form 4852 that falsely attempts to "correct" what is in actuality a correct W-2 or 1099) does not make the receipts magically become non-taxable.

EDIT: For those new to the forum, those who use the scam are essentially trying to argue that compensation (in whatever form and however you want to describe it) for personal services that is unconnected to the exercise of a "federal privilege" is not "income" as defined in the tax law. That is a frivolous argument. It has no legal validity, and it has been rejected in court every single time. There is no statute or other rule of law that makes such compensation not be "income".

[Famspear]

Another point: It's not a question of who the IRS will "believe." Whether the receipt in question is or is not "income" is a question of law. It is not a question of whether the IRS should "believe" the issuer of the W-2 or, alternatively, the Cracking the Code scammer (the filer of the Form 4852).

[Gregg]

Any monies you receive, whether income from a job, lottery winnings, other windfalls, etc., if listed as income in the tax code then it will be income and taxable in whichever way the code says it is

Actually that's not correct. Any money you receive is taxable unless it's specifically listed as not taxable, which is an important distinction these Bozo's don't seem to understand. The IRS doesn't need to show it's taxable, the taxpayer has to show it's not, from a predetermined list.

[Famspear]

Dear Bob: To answer your question more directly, the problem with filing a 4852 without filing a 1040 is in part that you haven't complied with the law that requires you to file a federal income tax return if your gross income is over the applicable amount for the year in question. Using the Cracking the Code scam (by filing a Form 4852 that claims that your income isn't income) does not avoid that liability.

EDIT: By the way, filing Form 4852 using the scam (albeit in conjunction with the filing of Form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ) is part of what got Pete Hendrickson, the main scammer, convicted and sent back to federal prison. Filing a form 4852 (with or without a 1040, etc.) -- in which you claim that your income isn't income using the Cracking the Code scheme -- is a felony.

[LPC]

It seems to me that problems arise from filing the 4852 (to correct the 1099 or W-2) in concert with a signed 1040. What problem arises from filing the 4852 without the 1040, merely correcting/rebutting the false information a third party submitted on the 1099/W-2?

Still looking for the magic combination of words and forms that allows you to argue that white is black and black is white?

Two problems:

1. Filing a false Form 4852 could still be prosecuted as the filing a false document. Hendrickson himself was charged with 10 counts of filing false documents, for five Forms 1040 and the five Forms 4852 that were attached to the Forms 1040, which shows that the false Form 4852 can be a crime separate from the false Form 1040.

2. If you haven't filed a Form 1040, then you haven't filed a tax return and could be prosecuted for willful failure to file (one year in prison). Or you could be prosecuted for tax evasion (six years in prison), because the filing of the false Form 4852 would be an affirmative act establishing evasion and not merely non-filing.

[LPC]

I think that the development of the federal income tax is a story of the century, but of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and not this century.

[Doktor Avalanche]

[notorial dissent]

I think that the development of the federal income tax is a story of the century, but of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and not this century.

Didn't the German Empire actually have an income tax well in advance of ours, touching pretty much everyone up to and including the Kaiser?

[Gregg]

Someone tell Pete that this is hardly the story of the century, outside of his deluded mind it's two paragraphs on the jump page in the Metro section. If that.

[notorial dissent]

More like fantasy du jour, but then we are dealing with Prattlin' Pete after all, and it is nice to see he is running true to form.