• Announcements
    Jun 29 2026

    Just a few quick announcements.

    There will be a Patriot members call this evening at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

    Tomorrow, June 30th, we’ll hold our Liberty Dialogues Conference Call at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. By special invitation, we’re opening this call to 10 new guests. If you’d like to attend, simply email info@yestohellwith.com and put “Special Access” in the subject line.

    If you’d like to learn more about the Liberty Dialogues System, visit BeforeYouTrust.com.

    We’re receiving many emails asking legal questions about personal situations. Please understand that the educators with the Liberty Dialogues System and the YesToHellWith platform are only able to discuss those matters with enrolled Liberty Dialogues students.

    As always...

    May truth reign supreme.



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    1 min
  • You have no say in the matter!
    Jun 29 2026

    THEY NEVER ASKED YOU

    The Constitutional Question Behind Unemployment Insurance

    It’s June 29, 2026. Welcome to YesToHellWith.com.

    Have you ever applied for a job?

    Of course you have.

    You filled out an application.

    You were hired.

    You went to work.

    You received a paycheck.

    Perhaps taxes were withheld.

    Perhaps benefits were offered.

    Everything seemed perfectly ordinary.

    But have you ever stopped to ask yourself...

    At what moment did you become part of the unemployment insurance system?

    Did someone ask for your permission?

    Did you sign a contract with the federal government?

    Did you negotiate the terms of unemployment compensation?

    Did anyone explain the constitutional authority under which you became part of that system?

    The answer is no.

    And that is because the system does not generally operate through individual agreements between the worker and the federal government.

    Instead, it operates through statutes.

    Congress enacted the Social Security Act.

    The states enacted unemployment compensation laws.

    Employers operating within those statutory frameworks became responsible for unemployment taxes and reporting requirements.

    Employees working in covered employment became eligible for benefits if they later satisfied the statutory conditions.

    That is how the legal system explains it.

    Notice what happened.

    The employee did not become obligated because he personally signed an agreement with Congress.

    The employee became part of the system because the law classified his employment as covered employment.

    That is an important distinction.

    Now the Liberty Dialogues System asks a different question.

    Not...

    “What does the statute say?”

    But...

    “By what constitutional authority does the statute reach this relationship?”

    Those are two entirely different inquiries.

    A statute may describe how a system operates.

    But a statute does not answer the prior constitutional question.

    Where did the authority come from?

    Who bears the burden of proving that authority?

    What constitutional delegation authorizes this exercise of governmental power?

    Those questions come first.

    The Liberty Dialogues System follows the same order every time.

    Authority.

    Jurisdiction.

    Status.

    Standing.

    Presumption.

    Obligation.

    Enforcement.

    Notice where obligation appears.

    Near the end.

    Not at the beginning.

    Why?

    Because obligation cannot be assumed.

    It must rest upon something that comes before it.

    Authority.

    Jurisdiction.

    Status.

    Standing.

    Only after those questions have been answered can obligation be meaningfully discussed.

    That is one of the great differences between statutory reasoning and constitutional reasoning.

    Statutory reasoning often begins by asking,

    “What does the law require?”

    The Liberty Dialogues System begins by asking,

    “Who first established the constitutional authority to impose that requirement?”

    Those are not the same question.

    One assumes governmental authority.

    The other requires government to demonstrate it.

    That distinction matters.

    Because if we begin every discussion with the statute...

    we have already skipped the first constitutional inquiry.

    The Founders did not write the Constitution to begin with statutes.

    They wrote the Constitution to define the source and limits of governmental power itself.

    The statute comes later.

    Authority comes first.

    So the next time someone says,

    “The law requires it,”

    perhaps the first response should not be,

    “What does the law say?”

    Perhaps the first response should be,

    “Show me the constitutional authority that permits the law to reach this relationship.”

    That is where the Liberty Dialogues System begins.

    Not with assumptions.

    Not with presumptions.

    But with proof.

    Because liberty is preserved when government demonstrates its authority...

    before it exercises its power.

    May truth reign supreme.



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    5 mins
  • Steward Machine and the Repercussions
    Jun 28 2026
    THE DAY COOPERATION BECAME COMPULSIONSteward Machine Co. v. Davis and the Constitutional Turning PointIt’s June 28, 2026. Welcome to YesToHellWith.com.There are Supreme Court decisions that affect a single lawsuit.There are decisions that affect an entire generation.And then there are decisions that quietly reshape the constitutional relationship between the people, the states, and the federal government.One of those decisions is Steward Machine Company v. Davis.Most Americans have never heard of it.Yet they live with its consequences every day.To understand why, we must travel back to 1937.America was in the depths of the Great Depression.Businesses were failing.Unemployment was widespread.Families were suffering.The country desperately wanted solutions.Congress responded with what became known as the Social Security Act.Part of that legislation created a nationwide unemployment compensation system.But there was a constitutional problem.The federal government is not a government of unlimited power.The Constitution delegates specific powers.Everything else is reserved.So Congress faced an important question.How do you create a national unemployment system without directly controlling the states?The answer was remarkably clever.Congress imposed a federal unemployment tax upon employers.But then it made an offer.If a state established its own unemployment compensation program that met federal standards, employers within that state would receive a substantial credit against the federal tax.At first glance, that sounds voluntary.No state was literally commanded to participate.No governor was forced to sign legislation.No legislature was ordered to comply.Justice Benjamin Cardozo, writing for the Supreme Court, concluded that this was constitutional.He described it as cooperation rather than coercion.And for nearly ninety years, that decision has stood as one of the constitutional foundations of cooperative federalism.But now let us ask a different question.Not the question Cardozo asked.The question the Liberty Dialogues System asks.When does cooperation become compulsion?Imagine someone says to you,“You are completely free to refuse.”“But if you refuse, you will suffer enormous financial consequences.”Are you truly free?Legally...perhaps.Practically...perhaps not.That distinction lies at the heart of the Liberty Dialogues analysis.The Liberty Dialogues System does not begin with policy.It begins with authority.Authority.Jurisdiction.Status.Standing.Presumption.Obligation.Enforcement.Every constitutional analysis begins there.Before discussing unemployment.Before discussing economics.Before discussing compassion.Before discussing public policy.The first question is always the same.Where is the constitutional authority?Not...Would this help people?Not...Is this good public policy?Not...Does the nation face a crisis?Those are important questions.But they are not constitutional questions.The Constitution exists precisely because good intentions are not enough.Every government in history has believed it was acting for the public good.The question is not whether government seeks good results.The question is whether government possesses delegated authority to pursue those results in the manner chosen.Cardozo approached the problem differently.His analysis largely assumed the existence of congressional authority under the Taxing and Spending Clause and then considered whether Congress had crossed the constitutional line into coercion.The Liberty Dialogues System asks an earlier question.Has the authority itself first been demonstrated?That difference changes the entire conversation.Because once authority is presumed rather than proven...everything that follows rests upon that presumption.Notice what happened after Steward Machine.The federal government discovered something extraordinary.Direct commands were often unnecessary.Financial incentives could achieve the same result.If Washington wanted states to move in a particular direction...it did not always need to mandate compliance.It could attach money.It could attach grants.It could attach tax advantages.It could attach funding.And over time, those financial incentives became one of the principal methods by which national policy spread throughout the country.Supporters call that cooperation.Critics often describe it as practical coercion.The Liberty Dialogues System asks neither side to begin with labels.It asks for proof.Where is the delegated authority?Where are the constitutional limits?Who bears the burden of establishing them?Those questions come first.This is where the philosophical difference becomes profound.Cardozo trusted judicial judgment to distinguish encouragement from coercion.The Liberty Dialogues System trusts constitutional limitation before judicial discretion.Cardozo asks whether government has acted reasonably.The Liberty Dialogues System asks whether government has demonstrated lawful authority.Those are entirely different ...
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    10 mins
  • America Turned on a Dime.
    Jun 28 2026

    THE STEWARD MACHINE SERIES

    The Day America Changed Forever

    It’s June 28, 2026. Welcome to YesToHellWith.com.

    Most Americans have never heard of Steward Machine Company v. Davis.

    Yet that single Supreme Court decision helped change the relationship between the federal government, the states, and every American citizen.

    The case was decided in 1937.

    America was in the middle of the Great Depression.

    Congress wanted a nationwide unemployment compensation system.

    The problem was constitutional.

    The federal government possessed only those powers delegated by the Constitution.

    So how could Congress create a national unemployment system without violating the constitutional balance between federal and state governments?

    The solution was ingenious.

    Congress imposed a federal unemployment tax.

    Then it offered employers a substantial tax credit if their state created an unemployment compensation program meeting federal standards.

    Justice Benjamin Cardozo wrote the majority opinion upholding that system.

    He concluded that Congress was encouraging cooperation, not coercing the states.

    The Liberty Dialogues System asks a different question.

    At what point does encouragement become practical compulsion?

    When refusing the federal offer carries enormous financial consequences, is the choice truly voluntary?

    That question still echoes today.

    Because once financial pressure becomes an accepted constitutional tool...

    government no longer needs direct commands.

    Money becomes the mechanism of control.

    And that changed America.

    May truth reign supreme.



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    2 mins
  • Cardozo
    Jun 27 2026
    It’s June 27, 2026. Welcome to YesToHellWith.com.There are books that explain the law.There are books that influence the law.And then there are books that change how judges think about themselves.One of those books is The Nature of the Judicial Process by Justice Benjamin Cardozo.For more than a century, it has shaped generations of judges, lawyers, and law students. It remains one of the most influential books ever written on the role of the judiciary.But influence alone does not make a philosophy correct.Before Cardozo, the American ideal of judging emphasized restraint.The judge was not viewed as the creator of law.He was not expected to shape society.He was not to determine public policy.His duty was to interpret and apply the Constitution and the laws within the limits imposed upon him.The Constitution separated powers for a reason.Legislatures were to make the law.Executives were to enforce it.Judges were to interpret it.Each branch was restrained by constitutional boundaries.Cardozo challenged that understanding.In The Nature of the Judicial Process, he argued that judges inevitably do more than interpret. They weigh precedent. They consider history. They balance competing interests. They evaluate public policy. They adapt legal principles to changing social conditions.In other words, judges participate in shaping the law.Many praised Cardozo for his honesty.But honesty is not the same as constitutional fidelity.The critical question is not whether judges exercise discretion.The critical question is whether they should.Once judges begin viewing themselves as participants in the development of public policy rather than restrained interpreters of delegated constitutional authority, the role of the judiciary fundamentally changes.The focus shifts.It shifts from constitutional limitation...to judicial judgment.It shifts from delegated authority...to institutional wisdom.It shifts from asking, “What does the Constitution permit?”...to asking, “What result best serves society?”That is a profound philosophical change.And history demonstrates that when constitutional limits yield to judicial discretion, governmental power rarely contracts.It expands.Just a few years after publishing his book, Cardozo authored the majority opinions in Steward Machine Company v. Davis and Helvering v. Davis.Those decisions upheld key provisions of the Social Security Act through a broad interpretation of Congress’s taxing and spending powers.Whether one agrees with those decisions or not, they became part of the constitutional foundation supporting the modern administrative state.That is why Cardozo deserves careful study.Not because he explained how judges think.But because his philosophy helped legitimize a broader conception of what judges believe their role to be.Now compare that with the Liberty Dialogues System.The Liberty Dialogues System begins from the opposite premise.It does not trust governmental discretion.It trusts constitutional limitation.It does not ask whether judges can reach wise results.It asks whether the government has first established lawful authority to act.The Liberty Dialogues System begins with a sequence that cannot be ignored.Authority.Jurisdiction.Status.Standing.Presumption.Obligation.Enforcement.Every step depends upon the one before it.If authority has not been established, jurisdiction cannot be presumed.If jurisdiction has not been proven, obligation cannot simply be imposed.If obligation has not been lawfully established, enforcement becomes constitutionally suspect.The Liberty Dialogues System rejects the idea that constitutional questions should yield to policy preferences, social needs, or administrative convenience.It insists that delegated authority must be demonstrated before governmental power may be exercised.That is the antithesis of Cardozo’s philosophy.Cardozo begins by asking how judges should exercise discretion.The Liberty Dialogues System asks who authorized that discretion in the first place.Cardozo begins with confidence in judicial judgment.The Liberty Dialogues System begins with skepticism of governmental power.Cardozo places the judge at the center of the analysis.The Liberty Dialogues System places the Constitution at the center.Because the Founders did not design a system that depended upon wise judges.They designed a system that depended upon limited government.Liberty has never been preserved because those in power exercised good judgment.Liberty has been preserved because those in power were confined by constitutional boundaries they could not lawfully exceed.That is the difference.One philosophy asks how power should be exercised.The other asks whether the power exists at all.And that may be the most important constitutional question any free people can ever ask.May truth reign supreme. Get full access to YesToHellWith at yestohellwith.substack.com/subscribe
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    6 mins
  • Third Party Reporting
    Jun 26 2026

    The Hidden Power of Third-Party Reporting

    Most Americans have never heard of third-party reporting.

    Yet it is one of the most powerful mechanisms in the entire federal tax system.

    When people think about the IRS, they imagine audits, investigations, or perhaps agents knocking on someone’s door.

    But that isn’t how the system primarily works.

    The system works because information arrives before you ever receive a letter.

    Think about it.

    Your employer reports.

    Your bank reports.

    Your brokerage reports.

    Your retirement administrator reports.

    Sometimes payment processors report.

    The government receives information from numerous third parties long before it ever asks you a single question.

    Why?

    Because Congress created a system that requires certain parties to report specified transactions to the government.

    Notice something important.

    The reporting obligation generally belongs to the payer or institution—not the recipient.

    That distinction matters.

    Most people never ask a far more fundamental question.

    What authority requires another private party to report information about me to the federal government?

    That is the beginning of the inquiry.

    Every reporting obligation should begin with another question.

    What statute created that obligation?

    Not an IRS publication.

    Not a form.

    Not an instruction manual.

    A statute enacted by Congress.

    Because agencies administer laws.

    Congress creates them.

    The next question becomes:

    Who exactly is obligated to report?

    Is it the employer?

    The bank?

    The broker?

    The business?

    Or someone else?

    The answer depends entirely upon the statute.

    Then ask:

    What event triggered the reporting obligation?

    Was it the payment?

    The relationship?

    The amount?

    The type of transaction?

    Every reporting requirement has statutory conditions.

    No reporting obligation exists in a vacuum.

    Then comes perhaps the most overlooked question of all.

    What legal effect does third-party reporting actually have?

    Many people assume that once a Form W-2 or Form 1099 is filed, the matter is legally settled.

    That is not what the reporting system is designed to do.

    An information return is part of an administrative reporting system.

    It supplies information.

    It allows the IRS to compare data from different sources.

    It may trigger notices, examinations, or requests for additional information.

    But it is not itself a judicial determination of tax liability.

    That distinction is important.

    Now ask another question.

    Can third-party reporting simply be stopped?

    Generally speaking, no.

    If Congress has imposed a reporting obligation on an employer, bank, broker, or other reporting entity, that obligation belongs to that entity.

    A private individual generally cannot instruct a reporting entity to disregard a statutory reporting requirement.

    Which leads us back to the most important lesson.

    Don’t begin with conclusions.

    Begin with questions.

    What statute creates the reporting obligation?

    Who is required to report?

    What facts trigger that obligation?

    What information must be reported?

    What authority governs the reporting process?

    What legal consequences flow from the report?

    Those are Liberty Dialogues questions.

    Because liberty is preserved when authority is examined—not presumed.

    Every governmental action should be traceable to lawful authority.

    Every obligation should have an identifiable source.

    Every exercise of power should be examined.

    And every citizen should understand not merely that something happens, but why it happens and by what authority.

    That is how disciplined inquiry begins.

    And disciplined inquiry is the foundation of the Liberty Dialogues System.

    May Truth Reign Supreme.



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    5 mins
  • What Price Would You Pay...
    Jun 25 2026

    When we think about the original American colonists who stood against the greatest military power on earth—the King of England—we should ask ourselves one simple question:

    What price would I be willing to pay for the defense and restoration of freedom?

    Not what someone else should do.

    Not what our Founders did.

    What would you do?

    Every generation is eventually confronted with that question.

    History remembers those who answered it with courage.

    What will your answer be?

    May truth reign supreme.



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    Less than 1 minute
  • Are you under a de facto or de jure government?
    Jun 24 2026
    Have you ever heard the phrase de facto?Most people have.Very few understand its significance.The Latin phrase de facto simply means “in fact” or “in practice.” It describes something that exists because it is being exercised or accepted—not necessarily because it is lawful.Its opposite is de jure, which means “by law” or “by right.” A de jure authority derives its legitimacy from a lawful source. A de facto authority derives its influence from the simple fact that it exercises power.That distinction may seem academic, but it is one of the most important concepts in understanding liberty.Consider a military coup.A group of generals overthrows a nation’s lawful government and assumes control. They command the army. They collect taxes. They issue orders. They control the courts. They govern the country.In practice, they are the government.They are the government de facto.But are they the lawful government?Not necessarily.They possess power.Whether they possess lawful authority is an entirely different question.Or consider a neighborhood controlled by a criminal gang.The gang tells businesses when to open.It decides who may operate.People obey because they fear the consequences.The gang exercises tremendous power.But no one would seriously argue that the gang possesses lawful authority simply because people comply.Power alone does not create legitimacy.History teaches this lesson repeatedly.Kings have ruled by force.Empires have ruled by conquest.Dictators have ruled through fear.Their governments were certainly real.They exercised enormous power.But the exercise of power alone never answered the deeper question:By what rightful authority do they govern?Unfortunately, modern society often confuses these two very different ideas.We frequently assume that because a government does something, it therefore has the unquestioned authority to do it.We confuse enforcement with legitimacy.We confuse administration with authority.We confuse compliance with obligation.That confusion has profound consequences.Because once people begin believing that every exercise of governmental power is automatically legitimate, they stop asking the most important questions.They no longer ask:Where does this authority come from?What law creates this obligation?What jurisdiction applies?What limits exist upon this power?Instead, they simply ask:What do I have to do?That is not the mindset of a free people.Freedom has never depended merely upon the existence of government.Freedom depends upon government remaining within the lawful limits of its authority.Natural rights do not exist because a government permits them.Governments did not invent liberty.They did not create freedom.The American founding reflected the principle that rights are inherent—that governments are instituted to secure those rights, not to manufacture them.If our liberties exist only because officials allow us to exercise them, then they are no longer rights at all.They have become privileges.And privileges can be expanded, restricted, suspended, or revoked whenever those holding power choose to do so.That is why de facto government is not the path to freedom.A society built upon de facto power gradually teaches its citizens to obey because authority is asserted, rather than demonstrated.A free society demands something more.It requires government to identify the lawful source of its authority.It requires clearly defined jurisdiction.It requires due process.It requires accountability.It requires that power remain subordinate to law—not the other way around.The preservation of liberty therefore begins with a simple but profound question:Am I complying because someone possesses power... or because lawful authority has actually been established?That question has shaped the course of history.It separated free men from subjects.It distinguished constitutional government from arbitrary rule.And it remains just as important today as it was when the great republics of history were first established.Because when a people stop distinguishing between de facto power and lawful authority, they slowly surrender the very freedom they believe they still possess.May truth reign supreme. Get full access to YesToHellWith at yestohellwith.substack.com/subscribe
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    6 mins