Rose Lear, the Michigan woman who has been on a hunger strike for 19 days, has extended her time in Washington, D.C., and is planning to visit the headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service tomorrow.
As WorldNetDaily reported, Rose, 52, stopped eating on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and said she will not eat again, save for Holy Communion, until representatives of the federal government respond to a petition for redress of grievances sponsored by the "tax honesty" organization We the People, which was delivered to all 535 members of Congress last fall.
After her own congressman, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., did not respond to Lear's request for answers and her husband was convicted – she says unjustly – of failing to file a tax return, Lear decided to start her fast. She says she is willing to die of starvation if her plea is not heeded.
On Thursday, Lear met with Hoekstra in the nation's capital, but she says he did not address the concerns of those who petitioned the government. The thousands of Americans whose names are on the petition believe that the federal income tax is an illegal and fraudulent system, the 16th Amendment authorizing the tax was improperly ratified and that most Americans are not required to pay federal income tax.
Two years ago, at the request of We the People, IRS and Justice Department officials agreed to meet with WTP leader Bob Schulz to answer his questions after he went on a 20-day hunger strike. Government officials later reneged, and We the People held its own congressional-hearing style forum in Washington, D.C. At the event, several expert tax attorneys and former IRS officials "testified" that the income tax was illegal, improperly levied and burdensome to Americans. It was the record of that forum that accompanied the petition delivered to Congress
According to a statement from WTP, Lear, who started her fast at a mere 100 pounds, reports that her legs are looking like "toothpicks" and that she is feeling lethargic.
Lear had a brief phone conversation with an aide from the office of Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., on Friday, said the statement.
"Senator Levin is in default," Lear told the aide, David Allen. "He solicited for the votes of the people of Michigan to come and represent the people in Congress. He took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution. He is required to get answers to these questions. I will not eat until these questions are answered."
Lear then explained to Allen that she has the unalienable right to petition the government. According to Lear, Allen responded tersely, "You may have the right to petition, but that doesn't guarantee you'll get an answer."
Lear has urged WTP to encourage its members to contact their own members of Congress to demand that the petition be answered.
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