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Williams hammered home his point in this statement: "The recognition of the fact that Congress has no resources of its own forces us to acknowledge that the only way Congress can give one American one dollar is to first, through intimidation, threats, and coercion, confiscate that dollar from some other American. If a private citizen did the same thing that Congress does, we would call it an immoral act -- namely theft. Acts such as theft that are immoral when done privately do not become moral when done collectively. The moral tragedy that has befallen Americans is our belief that it is OK for government to forcibly use one American to serve the purposes of another."

Williams once explained it like this: "Suppose a man walks down the street and sees someone who looks wealthy to him, so he pulls out a gun and demands $100 from the wealthy man. The wealthy man gives him five $20 bills. Now the first man walks down the street and hands a $20 bill to the first five beggars he sees on the sidewalk. Does that make it right?"