Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Agency name	Internal Revenue Service
Nativename	IRS
Abbreviation	IRS
Logo	IRS.svg
Logo width	160px
Seal	US-InternalRevenueService-Seal.svg
Seal width	140px
Formed	1862 (though the name originates from 1918)
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Employees	106,000 (2010)
Chief1 name	Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Chief1 position	Douglas H. Shulman
Parent agency	Department of the Treasury
Website	IRS.gov
Footnotes	}}

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. The IRS is responsible for collecting taxes and the interpretation and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code.

Summary

The IRS has its National Capital offices in the greater Washington, D.C. area, and in particular does most of its computer programming in Maryland. It currently operates ten service centers around the country, at which returns sent by mail are received. These centers do the actual tax processing; different types of tax processing take place in various centers (such as the distinction between individual and business tax processing). The IRS also operates three computer centers in various locations around the country.

History of the IRS

The IRS has had a colorful and checkered history of war, scandal, politics, and corruption.

American Civil War (1861–65)

In July 1862, during the Civil War, President Lincoln and Congress created the office of Commissioner of Internal Revenue and enacted an income tax to pay war expenses (see Revenue Act of 1862). The position of Commissioner exists today as the head of the Internal Revenue Service.

The Revenue Act of 1862 was passed as an emergency and temporary war-time tax. It copied a relatively new British system of income taxation, instead of trade and property taxation. The first income tax was passed in 1861:

The initial rate was 3% on income over $800, which exempted most wage-earners.

In 1862 the rate was 3% on income between $600 and $10,000, and 5% on income over $10,000.

In 1864 the rate was 5% on income between $600 and $5,000; 7.5% on income $5,000–$10,000; and 10% on income $10,000 and above.

By the end of the war, 10% of Union households had paid some form of income tax, and the Union raised 21% of its war revenue through income taxes.

Post Civil War, Reconstruction, and popular tax reform (1866–1900)

After the Civil War, Reconstruction, railroads, and transforming the North and South war machines towards peacetime required public funding. However, in 1872, seven years after the war, lawmakers allowed the temporary Civil War income tax to expire.

Income taxes evolved, but in 1894 the Supreme Court declared the Income Tax of 1894 unconstitutional in ''Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.''. The federal government scrambled to raise money.

In 1906, with the election of President Theodore Roosevelt, and later his successor William Howard Taft, the United States saw a populous movement for tax reform. This movement culminated in February 1913 with the ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution:

This granted Congress the specific power to create a direct income tax. By February 1913, 36 states had ratified the change to the Constitution. It was further ratified by six more states by March. Of the 48 states at the time, 42 ratified. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Utah rejected the amendment; Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida did not take up the issue.

A copy of the very first IRS 1040 form, dated 1913, can be found at the IRS website showing that only those with incomes of $3,000 or more were instructed to file (the equivalent of about $65,000 in 2010 adjusted for inflation).

The IRS reinvents itself (1913–1970)

In the first year after ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment, no taxes were collected--instead, taxpayers simply completed the form and the IRS checked it for accuracy. The IRS's workload jumped by ten-fold, triggering a massive restructuring. Professional tax collectors began to replace a system of "patronage" appointments. The IRS doubled its staff, but was still processing 1917 returns in 1919.

Currently, only the IRS Commissioner and Chief Counsel are political appointees selected by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate.

The agency continued to re-invent itself both organizationally, and technologically.

Presidential tax returns (1973)

From the 1950s through the 1970s, the IRS began using cutting-edge technology such as microfilm to keep and organize records. Easy access to this information proved controversial, when President Richard Nixon's tax returns were leaked to the public. His tax advisor, Edward L. Morgan, became the fourth law-enforcement official to be charged with a crime during Watergate.

John Requard Jr., accused of leaking the documents, collected delinquent taxes in the slums of Washington. In his words:

He admits he saw the returns, but denies he leaked them. When asked if he ''would'' have leaked the documents, he said: "I probably would have said, 'Yes, I'm in'."

Reporter Jack White of ''The Providence Journal'', won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting about Nixon's tax returns. Nixon, with a salary of $200,000, paid only $792.81 in federal income tax in 1970 and $878.03 in 1971, with deductions of $571,000 for donating "vice presidential papers". This was one of the reasons for his famous statement: "Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got."

So controversial was this leak, that most later US Presidents released their tax returns (though sometimes only partially). These returns can be found online at the Tax History Project.

Modernization and the Internet (1970–present)

After microfilm, the 1960s onward saw massive computerization efforts.

In 1995, the IRS began to use the public Internet for electronic filing. Since the introduction of e-filing, self-paced online tax services have flourished, augmenting and sometimes replacing tax accountants to prepare returns.

In 2003, the IRS struck a deal with tax software vendors:

The IRS would not develop online filing software.

In return, software vendors would provide free e-filing to most Americans. In 2009, 70% of filers qualified for free electronic filing of federal returns.

In 2010, more than 66% (98 million) of tax returns are expected to be filed electronically.

History of the IRS name

As early as the year 1918, the Bureau of Internal Revenue began using the name "Internal Revenue Service" on at least one tax form. In 1953, the name change to the "Internal Revenue Service" was formalized in Treasury Decision 6038.

Current organization

The 1980s saw a reorganization of the IRS. A bipartisan commission was created with several mandates, among them to increase customer service and improve collections. Congress later enacted the ''Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998''. As a result of that Act, the IRS now functions under four major operating divisions: Large Business and International division (LB&I;), the Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) division, the Wage and Investment (W&I;) division, and Tax Exempt & Government Entities (TE/GE) division. Effective October 1, 2010, the name of the Large and Mid-Size Business division changed to the Large Business & International (LB&I;) division. The IRS also includes a criminal law enforcement division (IRS Criminal Investigation Division). While there is some evidence that customer service has improved, lost tax revenues in 2001 were over $323 billion.

Commissioner

Douglas H. Shulman is the current Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

Tax collection statistics

Summary of Collections before Refunds by Type of Return, Fiscal Year 2007 align="right" align="right" align="right" align="right" align="right" align="right" align="right"

Type of Return
Income tax in the United States	Individual Income Tax	|align="right">1,366,241,000,000
Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax	Employment Taxes	|align="right">849,733,000,000
Corporate tax in the United States	Corporate Income Tax	|align="right">395,536,000,000
Excise tax in the United States	Excise Taxes	|align="right">53,050,000,000
Estate tax in the United States	Estate Tax	|align="right">24,558,000,000
Gift tax in the United States	Gift Tax	|align="right">2,420,000,000
Total	|align="right">2,691,538,000,000

For fiscal year 2009 the U.S. Congress appropriated spending of approximately $12.624 billion of "discretionary budget authority" to operate the Department of the Treasury, of which $11.522 billion was allocated to the IRS. The projected estimate of the budget for the IRS for fiscal year 2011 was $12.633 billion. By contrast, during Fiscal Year (FY) 2006, the IRS collected more than $2.2 trillion in tax (net of refunds), about 44 percent of which was attributable to the individual income tax. This is partially due to the nature of the individual income tax category, containing taxes collected from working class, small business, self employed, and capital gains. The top 5% of income earners pay 38.284% of the federal tax collected.

Recently, the IRS has altered its policies. The current ''Service plus Enforcement equals Compliance'' motto mirrors its recent increase in investigations of abusive tax schemes.

As of 2007, the agency estimates that the United States Treasury is owed $354 billion more than the amount the IRS collects.

Outsourcing collection and tax-assistance

In September 2006, the IRS started to outsource the collection of taxpayers debts to private debt collection agencies. Opponents to this change note that the IRS will be handing over personal information to these debt collection agencies, who are being paid between 29% and 39% of the amount collected. Opponents are also worried about the agencies' being paid on percent collected, because it will encourage the collectors to use pressure tactics to collect the maximum amount. IRS spokesman Terry Lemons responds to these critics saying the new system "is a sound, balanced program that respects taxpayers' rights and taxpayer privacy." Other state and local agencies also use private collection agencies.

In March 2009, the IRS announced that it would no longer outsource the collection of taxpayers debts to private debt collection agencies. The IRS decided not to renew contracts to private debt collection agencies, and began a hiring program at its call sites and processing centers across the country to bring on more personnel to process collections internally from taxpayers. As of October 2009, the IRS has ceased using private debt collection agencies.

In September 2009, after undercover exposé videos of questionable activities by staff of one of the IRS's volunteer tax-assistance organizations were made public, the IRS removed ACORN from its volunteer tax-assistance program.

Administrative functions

The IRS publishes a huge number of tax forms which taxpayers are required to choose from and use for calculating and reporting their federal tax obligations. The IRS also publishes a number of forms for its own internal operations, such as Forms 3471 and 4228 (which are used during the initial processing of income tax returns).

In addition to collection of revenue and pursuing tax cheaters, the IRS issues administrative rulings such as revenue rulings and private letter rulings. In addition the Service publishes the Internal Revenue Bulletin containing the various IRS pronouncements. The controlling authority of regulations and revenue rulings allows taxpayers to rely on them. A private letter ruling is good for the taxpayer to whom it is issued, and gives some explanation of the Service's position on a particular tax issue. As is the case with all administrative pronouncements, taxpayers sometimes litigate the validity of the pronouncements, and courts sometimes determine a particular rule to be invalid where the agency has exceeded its grant of authority. The IRS also issues formal pronouncements called Revenue Procedures, that among other things tell taxpayers how to correct prior tax errors. The IRS's own internal operations manual is the Internal Revenue Manual, which describes the clerical procedures for processing and auditing tax returns in excruciating detail. For example, the IRM contains a special procedure for processing the tax returns of the President and Vice President of the United States.

More formal rulemaking to give the Service's interpretation of a statute, or when the statute itself directs that the Secretary of the Treasury shall provide, IRS undergoes the formal regulation process with a Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) published in the Federal Register announcing the proposed regulation, the date of the in-person hearing, and the process for interested parties to have their views heard either in person at the hearing in Washington, D.C., or by mail. Following the statutory period provided in the Administrative Procedure Act the Service decides on the final regulations "as is," or as reflecting changes, or sometimes withdraws the proposed regulations. Generally, taxpayers may rely on proposed regulations until final regulations become effective. For example, human resource professionals are relying on the October 4, 2005 Proposed Regulations (citation 70 F.R. 57930-57984) for the Section 409A on deferred compensation (the so-called Enron rules on deferred compensation to add teeth to the old rules) because regulations have not been finalized.

Criticism

Allegations of abuse

The IRS has on more than one occasion been accused of abusive behavior. Testimony was given before a Senate subcommittee that focused on cases of overly aggressive IRS collection tactics in considering a need for legislation to give taxpayers greater protection in disputes with the agency.

A statement given in hearings before the Senate Finance Committee criticized the IRS:

Congress passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights III on July 22, 1998, which shifted the burden of proof from the taxpayer to the IRS in certain limited situations. The IRS retains the legal authority to enforce liens and seize assets without obtaining judgment in court.

Michael Minns was the defense lawyer in a case against the IRS on behalf of James and Pamela Moran, after an initial indictment in what Minns asserts was an IRS smear campaign that virtually canvassed the taxpayers' own hometown and surrounding area. The original indictment was associated with the Morans' involvement with a tax shelter provider, Anderson's Ark & Associates. The Morans were eventually acquitted in the case.

Minns also had previously asserted that the behavior of two IRS attorneys at law, Kenneth McWade and William A. Sims, constituted legal misconduct and recommended them for disbarment. Following an investigation, the law licenses of the IRS attorneys were duly suspended for a two-year period after a federal court ruling found that the two had indeed defrauded the courts in connection with 1,300 tax shelter cases. In 2003, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that the IRS lawyers had corruptly agreed with certain taxpayers that no tax collection actions would be taken against them—in return for testimony against other taxpayers. The court also asked why the IRS had not punished the two.

Notes

Further reading

External links

IRSAddress.org – Unofficial website with Google Maps to every IRS office

Category:Government agencies established in 1953 Category:Revenue services

ca:Internal Revenue Service de:Internal Revenue Service es:Internal Revenue Service fr:Internal Revenue Service id:Internal Revenue Service nl:Internal Revenue Service ja:アメリカ合衆国内国歳入庁 no:Internal Revenue Service pl:Internal Revenue Service pt:Internal Revenue Service ru:Служба внутренних доходов fi:Internal Revenue Service sv:Internal Revenue Service zh:美国国家税务局

Joseph Ronald Banister is a former Special Agent of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and IRS whistleblower. Banister resigned from the IRS and later appeared on the television program Sixty Minutes II challenging the conduct of the IRS concerning legal issues with taxation. Banister's books and other material challenge the legality of some aspects of the income tax.

The Banister/Thompson case

In 2004 Banister was charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and various counts of willfully aiding, assisting counseling and procuring the filing of a false amended income tax return in connection with his alleged assistance of a client, Walter Allen Thompson. Thompson owned and operated Cencal, an aviation and flight bag manufacturing business. Cencal employed a number of hourly wage workers who were predominantly seamstresses, production workers and office workers. In July 2000, Thompson removed all of the employees from the taxpayer rolls by no longer withholding employment taxes from wages and salaries, by not filing Forms 941, and by not providing employees or the IRS with annual wage or other income statements, Forms W-2 or 1099.

Thompson was charged numerous tax-related offenses. On January 28, 2005, he was found guilty of two counts of knowingly filing false claims against the United States under , ten counts of willful failure to collect and turn over taxes under , and one count of willfully filing a false income tax return under . Thompson was acquitted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States under . Thompson was sentenced to serve 72 months in prison and was fined $7,500. The case against Banister continued, and Banister was eventually acquitted of the charges against him.

Revocation of CPA license and disbarment from practice before the IRS

Banister's license as a Certified Public Accountant was revoked by the California Board of Accountancy, effective March 7, 2007.

The web site for the California Board of Accountancy notes that in December 2003, the U.S. Department of the Treasury ordered Banister disbarred from practice before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and that the disbarment was finalized in June 2004. The California Board of Accountancy also states:

::On December 24, 2003, a decision in United States Department of Treasury Complaint No. 2003-2, Director, Office of Professional Responsibility v. Joseph R. Banister, ordered Mr. Banister disbarred from practice before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Mr. Banister appealed the decision. In a June 25, 2004, decision, the Department of Treasury denied Mr. Banister's appeal and adopted as its final agency action the underlying decision disbarring Mr. Banister from practice before the IRS.

::The Department of Treasury found that Mr. Banister provided erroneous advice to taxpayers, including improperly advising them that tax returns were not required because IRS Code sections 861 through 856 define "source of income" in a manner that excluded the income of United States citizens residing in the United States from United States tax.

The revocation of Banister's California CPA license was affirmed by the Court of Appeals of California.

IRS investigation of alleged abusive tax scheme

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating Joseph Banister "to determine whether Banister promotes abusive tax schemes that would subject him to penalties under or subject him to injunction under ," and has issued a summons to an attorney named Robert Bernhoft in connection with the investigation.

Other personal tax problems

On August 27, 2008, the United States Tax Court ruled that Banister was liable for federal income taxes and penalties for failure to file his 2002 federal income tax return and report, as income, over $23,000 in a distribution from a retirement plan and other income. Banister appealed, and the United States Court of Appeals ruled against him.

Notes

External links

Joe Banister's Homepage

Internal Revenue Code

e-CFR - Government Printing Office, income tax regulations search engine

Quatlosers Hall of Shame—Joe Banister

Daniel B. Evans ''et al.'', "Joseph R. Banister," from ''Tax Protester Dossiers: Gurus and Other Big Fish''

Category:Internal Revenue Service Category:Tax resistance Category:Living people

Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	James Traficant
image name	James Traficant.jpg
state	Ohio
district	17th
birth place	Youngstown, Ohio
birth date	May 08, 1941
spouse	Patricia "Tish" Choppa Traficant
party	Democratic (1981-2010)Independent (2010-present)
preceded	Lyle Williams
succeeded	Tim Ryan
term	January 3, 1985 – July 24, 2002
religion	Roman Catholic
website	Traficant Speaks }}

James Anthony Traficant, Jr. (born May 8, 1941) is a former Democratic Representative in the United States Congress from Ohio (from 1985 to 2002). He represented the 17th Congressional District, which centered on his hometown of Youngstown and included parts of three counties in northeast Ohio's Mahoning Valley. He was expelled after being convicted of taking bribes, filing false tax returns, racketeering, and forcing his aides to perform chores at his farm in Ohio and on his houseboat in Washington, D.C., and was released from prison on September 2, 2009, after serving a seven-year sentence.

Traficant signed a limited, three-month contract to work as a part-time weekend talk radio host for Cleveland news/talk station WTAM in January 2010. His contract permitted him to quit if he chose to run for office. As of July 2010, it remains unclear if Traficant will return to the station; the WTAM website currently makes no mention of him.

Traficant ran for his old seat in the 2010 general election as an independent; he was defeated by incumbent Tim Ryan.

Early life and career

Born into a working-class, Catholic family in Youngstown, Ohio, Traficant graduated from Cardinal Mooney High School in 1959 and the University of Pittsburgh in 1963 (where he was a standout in football), was drafted into the NFL in the twentieth round (276th overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1963, and obtained a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh and another from Youngstown State University. He was the executive director of the Mahoning County Drug Program from 1971 to 1981 and Sheriff of Mahoning County from 1981 to 1985. While serving as Sheriff, Traficant made national headlines by refusing to execute foreclosure orders on several unemployed homeowners, many of whom had been left unemployed by the recent closures of steel mills. This endeared him to the local population, which had long derived its wealth from steel and steel-associated businesses. In 1983, he was charged with racketeering for accepting bribes. Traficant, who represented himself in the criminal trial, argued that he accepted the bribes only as part of an undercover investigation into corruption. Traficant was acquitted of the charges, becoming the only person ever to win a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case while representing himself.

Publicity from the RICO trial increased Traficant's local visibility. He was elected as a Democrat to Congress from Ohio's 17th District, defeating Lyle Williams, a three-term Republican incumbent. He was reelected eight times without serious opposition.

On April 12, 2002, after a two-month federal trial, a jury found Traficant guilty of bribery and other charges. He was sentenced to a federal prison, where he served seven years. He was expelled from the U.S. Congress on July 24, 2002 by a 420-1 vote. The sole Congressman voting against expulsion was Gary Condit, who at the time was in the midst of a scandal involving the disappearance of his former intern, Chandra Levy.

2010 Independent candidate for the US House of Representatives

In September 2010, Traficant was certified to run for the same seat he held in the US House of Representatives before his expulsion. Traficant lost the election to former aide Tim Ryan, to whom he lost an earlier race in 2002.

Independent voice

In the House, Traficant was known for his flamboyant and eccentric style. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Democratic caucus with his eccentric behavior, an image he embraced. He often dressed poorly , with narrow neck ties (then out of style), wide-lapelled sportcoats and an occasional denim suit. He also sported an unkempt pompadour, which he jokingly claimed he cut with a weed whacker (it was revealed, after his conviction, that he wore a toupée). Casting himself as a rough-hewn populist and "regular guy," he gave speeches that were far outside the staid norms of political speaking. Many people tuned into C-SPAN just to watch his one-minute speeches at the beginning of each day's sitting. His trademark closing lines were "Beam me up... I yield back the fact..." His Website featured a picture of him swinging a two-by-four with the words "Bangin' away in D.C."

After the Republicans took control of the House in 1995, Traficant tended to vote more often with the Republicans than with his own party. On abortion, for instance, Traficant voted the pro-life position of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) 95% of the time in the 105th Congress, and 100% of the time in the 106th and 107th Congresses. However, he voted against all four articles of impeachment against Bill Clinton. After he voted for Republican Dennis Hastert for Speaker of the House in 2001, the Democrats stripped him of his seniority and refused to give him a committee assignment. Because the Republicans did not assign him to any committee, Traficant became the first member of the House of Representatives in over a century without any committee assignment who was not in a leadership position.

Traficant championed the unpopular cause of John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian-born autoworker from Seven Hills, who had been convicted in Israel and sentenced to hang for having been the brutal concentration camp guard "Ivan the Terrible." For almost a decade, Traficant (along with Pat Buchanan) insisted that Demjanjuk had been denied a fair trial, and been the victim of mistaken identity; the Supreme Court of Israel eventually overturned the conviction, on the basis of doubt, in 1993. Demjanjuk was later deported to Germany on May 11, 2009, after the Israeli Supreme Court refused to overturn his deportation order.

While in Congress, Traficant was a supporter of immigration reduction, and a strong opponent of illegal immigration. In the controversy surrounding the defeat of Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) by Democrat Loretta Sanchez, Traficant was the only Democratic member of Congress who advocated a new election, due to possible voting in that race by illegal aliens. Sanchez would later introduce a bill expelling Traficant from the House of Representatives.

Indictment, conviction, testimony to House Ethics, and expulsion from Congress

In 2002, Traficant was indicted on federal corruption charges for taking campaign funds for personal use. Again, he opted to represent himself, insisting that the trial was part of a vendetta against him dating to his 1983 trial. On April 15, he was convicted of 10 felony counts including bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion. As per House rules, he lost his right to vote on legislation pending an investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

Eventually, the House Ethics Committee recommended that Traficant be expelled from Congress. On July 24 the House voted 420-1 to expel him. Gary Condit was the lone "no" vote, and nine members voted "present." Traficant was the first representative to be expelled since Michael Myers's expulsion in 1980 as a result of the Abscam scandal.

After his expulsion, Traficant ran as an independent candidate for another term in the House while incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institute, Allenwood. He received 15 percent of the vote (27,487 votes) and became one of only a handful of individuals in the history of the United States to run for a federal office from prison. The election was won by one of his former aides, Tim Ryan.

Prison

James A. Traficant, Jr. had the Federal Bureau of Prisons ID # 31213-060. Traficant served his first 17 months in prison at FCI Allenwood and shortly after, he was shackled and put in solitary confinement for causing a riot after telling a guard, "People can't hear you. Speak up." For nine months, beginning in March 2004, he served with 20 inmates in one locked room at the Federal Correctional Institution Raybrook with a public commode, and with four in a room at Federal Medical Center, Rochester for three years. He was admonished by prison officials in Raybrook he was only a "few points away" from a penitentiary. In the seven years of incarceration, he refused any visitors because he didn't want anyone to see him. He wore his hair in a pony tail without his trademark hairpiece. Traficant took up artwork while in prison; according to his wife, he did not have access to a computer there. "I understood the dynamics of prison life." Regarding the overcrowded prison system he said, "And now what you have is, they want to keep the prisons open, keep the jobs going. They're putting 20, 30 years on some of these young people, and it's out of hand." He was released on September 2, 2009, at age 68, and is subject to three years of probation.

While in prison, Traficant received support from David Duke, who urged visitors to his personal website to donate to Traficant's canteen fund. Duke also posted a letter written by Traficant stating that he was targeted by the U.S. Department of Justice for, among other things, defending John Demjanjuk. Traficant also claimed, in the letter, that he knew facts about "Waco, Ruby Ridge, Pan Am Flight 103, Jimmy Hoffa and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy", which he may divulge in the future. Author Michael Collins Piper, who initially helped circulate Traficant's letter, said that "There's stuff I've written about Traficant that's showing up in places I don't even know. It's like (six) degrees of separation with the Internet now," and denied that Traficant had any direct connections to Duke.

Release from prison

Traficant was released from prison on September 2, 2009. On September 6, 2009, 1200 supporters welcomed him home at a banquet with an Elvis impersonator and a Traficant look-a-like contest. "Welcome home Jimbo" was printed on T-shirts. "I think it's time to tell the FBI and the IRS that this is our country and we're tired -- tired of the pressure, tired of the political targeting, tired of a powerful central government that is crippling America," he said. Traficant said he hasn't decided yet whether he will run again for Congress. He also said he doesn't care about what anyone did to him or does to him in the future. "I'm going to say what I think is right, I'm going to do what I think is right," he said. "And if it offends some people, then so be it. You see, because I'm still, I guess, the same jackass I was."

Current political views

In an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren in September, 2009, he said he was the top target of AIPAC and the U.S. Justice Department. On the subject of Israel, he stated:

They [Israel] are controlling much of our foreign policy. They're influencing much of our domestic policy.

Wolfowitz as undersecretary of defense manipulated President Bush number two back into Iraq. They've pushed definitely, definitely to try to get Bush before he left to move into Iran.

We're conducting the expansionist policy of Israel and everybody's afraid to say it. They control much of the media, they control much of the commerce of the country, and they control powerfully both bodies of the Congress. They own the Congress.

He claimed he had predicted another economic depression, but people at the time had just laughed at him. Traficant has also expressed his support of the Fair Tax plan and criticized President Obama's stimulus bill. He has said of Congress, "I think it is a big whorehouse and they better start taking care of America and stop worrying about the Middle East and worry about the Midwest."

After his release from prison, he was featured as a guest speaker at a Tea Party Protest in Columbiana, Ohio. He has also committed to speaking at an American Free Press-sponsored event in Washington D.C. in February. In May 2010, Traficant filed petitions to run as an independent in the 17th district, and said that his platform would be to repeal the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Traficant ultimately received 16% of the vote, finishing third to Democratic incumbent Ryan (54%) and Republican challenger Jim Graham (30%).

See also

List of United States Representatives from Ohio

References

External links

Traficant Speeches and Explusion Hearing Transcript

"Look at what Traficant swept under the rug" — CNN, August 1, 2002

Archive of many of Traficant's congressional speeches

RBN Radio Broadcast on the Jim Traficant Case (8/03/07)

Jim Traficant On Demand - WTAM archive

Jim Traficant on The Alex Jones Show (PrisonPlanet.TV), 19 February 2010 (YouTube)

Trafficant quarterbacking Pitt over Navy

Category:American anti–illegal immigration activists Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Ohio sheriffs Category:American talk radio hosts Category:People convicted of bribery Category:Conspiracy theorists Category:American people convicted of tax crimes Category:Expelled United States Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio Category:Ohio Democrats Category:Paleoconservatism Category:People convicted of racketeering Category:People from Youngstown, Ohio Category:Pittsburgh Panthers football players Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Category:United States presidential candidates, 1988 Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni Category:American football quarterbacks Category:1941 births Category:Living people

de:James Traficant fr:James Traficant