From http://www.quatloos.com/taxscams/protcase/albers.htm
The Schroeders also contend that they are non-resident aliens to the United States, seeming to interpret "United States" to mean only where the seat of its government is located, the District of Columbia. In their capacity as non-resident aliens, they assert they can have no tax liability to the United States. This position is wholly without merit.
The term "United States" is properly used to "designate the territory over which the sovereignty of the United States extends." Hooven & Allison Co. v. Evatt, 324 U.S. 652, 671- 72 (1945), overruled on other grounds sub nom. Limbach v. Hooven & Allison Co., 466 U.S. 353 (1984). The sovereignty of the United States extends to all the states comprising it. The United States was not created as a separate state, but as a union of other states, of which each state is a part. Thus, at the time of the ratification of the Constitution, the "United States" referred to those states which had adopted the Constitution. Since that time, the United States has come to comprise the fifty states. Furthermore, when the United States came into being it was not limited to the territory of the District of Columbia, which did not yet even exist. Instead, the authority of the United States under the Constitution was understood to extend to the area bounded by the "several states."
In addition, the United States Constitution provides for the admission of new states to the Union. See UNITED STATES CONST. art. IV, s 3, cl. 1. Pursuant to that provision, Nebraska voluntarily entered into the Union created by the United States Constitution on March 1, 1867. The Proclamation of Admission of the State reads: [The people of Nebraska] now ask for admission into the Union: Therefore, Be it enacted by the Senate and House of representatives of the United States of America, in Congress Assembled, That the constitution and State government which the people of Nebraska have formed for themselves be, and the same is hereby, accepted, ratified, and confirmed, and that the said State of Nebraska shall be, and is hereby, declared to be one of the United States of America; and is hereby admitted into the Union upon an equal footing with the original States, in all respects whatsoever. Thus, Nebraska entered the Union by actions initiated by its own citizens. As a state of the Union, it became subject to the laws of the United States, including those enacted by Congress dealing with the generation of revenue for the federal government. [FN7] Nebraska is a part of the whole of the United States of America, rather than a state foreign to it. Thus, its residents are residents of the United States. Therefore, the Schroeders are not "non-resident aliens" to the United States. As a result, any claim that they are not subject to its revenue laws because they are non-resident aliens is without merit. [FN8]
The Schroeders also argue that Nebraska is not a State as that term is defined by 26 U.S.C. ss 3121(e)(1) and (2), 4612(a)(4)(A), and 7701(a)(9) and (10) (Supp. V 1993). The Schroeders in citing these statutes in support of their position, fail to note that these sections define the stated term (for example, "State" and "United States" in s 3121(e)(1) & (2), "United States" in s 4612(a)(4)(A), and "United States" and "State" in s 7701(a)(9) & (10)) to be more inclusive than might otherwise be commonly understood. This result is easily reached by reading each of these sections in conjunction with the definition of "includes" and "including" contained in 26 U.S.C. s 7701(c) (Supp. V 1993), which states that "[t]he terms 'includes' and 'including' when used in a definition contained in this title [i.e. Title 26] shall not be deemed to exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term defined." Thus, the definition of "State" clearly includes what would be its commonly understood meaning--one of the fifty states forming a part of the entire United States. So, too, with "United States," the Union and sovereign entity produced through the association of all of the states. The Schroeders attempt, unsuccessfully, to remove from the language of the statutes its commonly understood meaning and usage. [FN9] The Schroeders base their claim to the disputed funds on the existence of a private, oral contract for the lease of real estate entered into between themselves and the plaintiff, Tregan Albers. They contend that under the Nebraska State Constitution no law may be made that impairs the obligation of such a contract. NEB. CONST., art. I, s 16. The implication to be drawn is that the federal statutes pursuant to which the United States makes its claim to the disputed funds are laws impairing the obligation of contract. [FN10] However, the Schroeders have failed to understand that the United States Constitution and laws enacted pursuant to it, as well as treaties, are the supreme law of the land, notwithstanding any state law or constitution to the contrary. U.S. CONST. art VI, cl. 2. Thus, they cannot base their argument on Nebraska law. Furthermore, the impairment provision of the Nebraska Constitution is understood to provide that state laws in force at the time when the contract is entered into form a part of the contract, see Norris v. Tower, 102 Neb. 434 (1918), and that the state may not subsequently enact laws that retroactively alter obligations under an existing contract, see Travelers Inc. Co. v. Ohler, 119 Neb. 121 (1929). Thus, the federal tax laws remain unaffected by the application of this state constitution provision.