The Picket Line — 7 August 2006

7 August 2006

Russell Kanning is in jail, awaiting sentencing after being convicted of refusing to obey officials who were preventing him from leafletting at the IRS office in Keene, New Hampshire. (See The Picket Line 28 July, 31 July, and 2 August for background.)

The latest news is that he has been moved to a maximum security section of the jail after refusing to cooperate with his imprisonment (he refused some requests for information, and, initially, would go limp and force prison guards to move him rather than moving voluntarily).

Supporters have since rallied both at the IRS office where Kanning was arrested, and at the Strafford County House of Corrections where he is being held.

Supporters of jailed war tax resister Russell Kanning protest near the IRS office in Keene, New Hampshire.

When the IRS announced that it was finally giving up on trying to illegally collect an excise tax on flat-rate long distance telephone service, it said that it would be refunding several years’ worth of improperly-collected taxes, with interest, and that individual taxpayers could apply for these refunds using their 1040 forms in 2007.

What about people who don’t file a yearly tax form (millions of poor and retired people do not need to file) — how do they get their refunds?

The IRS said it is developing a “very simple, straightforward form” for low-income people to file next year to get a refund.
“We recognize there are many people who have no filing requirements and we want to make sure that these people get the refund they deserve,” the IRS said in a statement.

There’s a new issue of NWTRCC’s More Than a Paycheck out. Included in this issue are addresses where you can write letters of support to imprisoned war tax resisters Joseph Donato and Kevin McKee, and a profile of war tax resister Stanley Bohn.

Also out now is the War Resisters League’s new newsletter — WIN, which replaces the Nonviolent Activist. Of special interest to the NWTRCC crew will be its lead article this issue on “Building an Intergenerational Movement” — something that’s also been at the front of the NWTRCC agenda lately.

There’s a new section on the Mennonite Central Committee web site devoted to war tax resistance.

Thanks to The Sierra Times and Rational Review for plugging The Picket Line.

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How you can resist funding the government → a survey of tactics of historical tax resistance campaigns → choose a small, easy, high-participation tax to resist → phone tax resistance → the death of the long distance phone service excise tax → the refund program: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦; The S.F. Weekly does a write-up on the tax resistance of yours truly. Also: it looks like the government is finally surrendering on the phone tax — they look to be dropping the tax on long-distance and cellular phone service, and they may even be planning to send out refunds. If I were you, though, I wouldn’t wait.; Ding, dong, the tax is dead! Which old tax? The federal excise tax on long distance phone service. Ding, dong this excise tax is dead! Also: Karl Jaspers worries about the rise of a Hitler in America.; Christian attitudes about torture — maybe it’s those crosses they wear… Also: hidden government spending may have put your family half a million dollars in debt. And: more details about the death of the phone tax. Also: What would Jesus tax? And: Is the internet the opiate of the activists? What tactics are activists in meatspace coming up with? Also: a new look at the Whiskey Rebellion.; When the I.R.S. threw in the towel and decided to stop trying to collect the federal excise tax on long distance service and to issue some refunds, one group cried foul and wondered why the I.R.S. was deciding its own remedy and not the courts. Also: the storm that took out the I.R.S. headquarters in Washington did a better job than first reported. And: the Declaration of Peace campaign gets more specific about its demands and its plans. Also: when clowns attack the Military, part two.; Last month I kept track of every cent I spent. I’ve done this one-month-accounting for four years now. It confirms that my tax resistance strategy is sustainable and it also keeps my finger on the pulse of my economic well-being. Also: the I.R.S. reveals how much they think you should get as a refund for that federal excise tax on long distance phone service that they misapplied for years.; The Supreme Court declines to hear Daniel Jenkins’s appeal in which he asserted a Constitutional right to conscientious objection to military taxation. Also: the I.R.S. refunded only $3.8 billion of the $40 billion in long distance telephone excise tax they’d illegally collected. That’s what we get for letting them devise their own refund plan.; A profile of Albuquerque tax resister Don Schrader. Also, guess what? “a significant amount of the telephone excise tax overcollected from individual taxpayers may never be refunded.”; Creative people-powered solutions that use cooperation and free market incentives rather than coercion and big government to help solve environmental problems and encourage more efficient use of resources — that’s the Carrotmob. Also: checking in on this year’s three big war tax resistance campaigns. And: the I.R.S. wastes our money but wins a lawsuit. Also: take a page from Dubya’s playbook and add a “signing statement” to your tax return.; The D.C. District Court says: “the I.R.S. unlawfully expropriated billions of dollars from taxpayers, conceded the illegitimacy of its actions, and developed a mandatory process as the sole avenue by which the agency would consider refunding its ill-gotten gains.”
Some historical and global examples of tax resistance → religious groups and the religious perspective → Mennonites / Amish: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦; Mennonites, atom bombs, Borgen values, unconventional thinking, and gasoline taxes (oh my!); How did the Amish manage to get themselves exempted from the U.S. Social Security system? Also: Crispin Sartwell gives a conference of young Democrats a good talking to, and that’s not all he’s got to say.; War tax resistance among American Mennonites during the Revolutionary War. Also: tax resistance during the British women’s suffrage movement, and a political cartoon from the Spanish-American War shows what happens when a jingo meets the “war tacks”. It must be history day at The Picket Line.; A new edition of NWTRCC’s newsletter is out. Also: Chris Hedges expands on last month’s tax resistance pledge.; Fifty years ago today, Time magazine published an article about Amish resistance to the social security tax in the United States — a civil disobedience campaign that eventually succeeded in forcing concessions from the government.; Mennonite war tax resisters today, a “Tax Tea Party Revolt” for legal same-sex marriage recognition in April, and weighing the pros-and-cons of simultaneous war tax resistance against federal and state taxes.; I report back from the Spring NWTRCC national gathering in Virginia.; A new video about government spending priorities and war tax resistance, put out by the Mennonite Central Committee. Also: seven million American children went missing in 1986, thanks to a change in the tax laws. And: Nepalese doctors stage a tax strike.; If your progressive friends aren’t war tax resisters yet, this Daily Kos post and Chris Hedges column might push them over the edge. Also: the Mennonite Central Committee sets up a fund for people who want to redirect their tax dollars toward undoing some of the harm in Afghanistan. And: another flashback to the beginnings of the modern American war tax resistance movement.; The new health-care industry law includes concessions to the conscientious objection of the Amish and of people who oppose abortion. Meanwhile conscientious objectors to military taxation still don’t get no respect.; The latest issue of New Escapologist carries an article I wrote to introduce the practical technique of tax resistance. Also: John K. Stoner tries to get American Mennonites excited about a new war tax resistance protest campaign. And: would you be surprised to learn the I.R.S. issues more press releases about tax-related prosecutions in the weeks leading up to April 15?; A 1964 article about the Amish resistance to the Social Security taxes in the United States, and a couple other data points about the campaign. They were eventually successful in gaining a partial exemption from those taxes for the Amish, but it took over a decade.; During World War I in the U.S., an ostensibly voluntary war funding drive in which people were encouraged to buy “Liberty Bonds” was made effectively mandatory by a vigilante enforcement system that was even more ruthless than the government’s.; An Amish bishop explains his church’s position on refusing to buy war bonds. Also: Elizabeth Knight and Emma Sproson call the tax authorities’ bluff.; In 1978, American Quakers, Bretheren, and Mennonites got together in a “New Call to Peacemaking” — a campaign that continues today under the banner of “Every Church a Peace Church.”; In 1978, American Quakers, Brethren, and Mennonites got together in a “New Call to Peacemaking” and vowed to support and encourage war tax resistance. Here’s a report on the results of that meeting.; As the arms race ramped up in the early 1980s, a group of religious leaders including Quakers, Bretheren, Mennonites, and a Catholic archbishop, called on Christians to refuse to pay taxes.; The Mennonite publication “PeaceSigns” focuses on war tax resistance. Also: the text of war tax resister Clare Hanrahan’s tax day speech that cast out the MoveOn liberal vampires.; My Shareable article about my tax resistance is topic #1 on the Porc Therapy podcast. Mayors in Italy’s Northern League launch a tax strike. A Mennonite responds to the Lettermanesque 10 reasons Mennonites don’t resist taxes any more. A government-funded video game based on Thoreau’s “Walden” pegs the irony meters in the red. And: a photo of Ken Knudson burning his tax payment check in 1966.; The U.S. financed its World War Ⅰ effort with ostensibly voluntary “Liberty Bond” sales. But war-fevered vigilante mobs made it dangerous not to contribute. Here is one eye witness account of a mob attack.; The U.S. financed its World War Ⅰ effort with ostensibly voluntary “Liberty Bond” sales. But war-fevered vigilante mobs made it dangerous not to contribute. Here is one eye witness account of a mob attack.; Tax resisters sometimes form cooperative housing or business relationships that help facilitate their resistance. Today I’ll summarize some examples of this that I have encountered in my research.; Income tax withholding or “pay as you earn” makes it difficult for people to resist paying income tax. Resisters need their employers to be willing to go out on a limb and resist alongside them. Here are some examples of employers who have done just that.; In addition to refusing to withhold taxes from the salaries of tax resisting employees, employers can also express their solidarity for such resisters by refusing to comply with salary levies. Here are some examples.; When tax resisters give away their resisted taxes to charitable causes, this defuses critics who claim they are selfish tax evaders, and also forms links between tax resisters and other activist groups.; When trying to bring new tax resisters into a movement, sometimes there is no substitute for addressing potential resisters individually: whether that be through letters, petitions, face-to-face meetings, or cleverly creative modes of engagement.; If more people evade more taxes, even if they do so for non-idealistic reasons, this both takes resources away from the government and increases the number of targets the tax enforcers have to pursue, thereby taking some pressure off of the resisters. Here’s how to make that happen.; Some tax resistance campaigns have accompanied their resistance with petitions to the government asking it to change its policies or to rescind the tax. Here are some examples.; One way a tax resistance campaign can claim victory is by convincing the government to either formally rescind the tax, or to recognize the legal validity of tax resistance. Here are some examples.; Tracking down information about Sander Katz, Edith Aldis, and Gerhard Friesen, American war tax resisters of the 1940s and 1950s. Also: Cornelia Lehn’s successful quest to get her employer, the General Conference Mennonite Church, to support her war tax resistance.; What’s happening on Tax Day 2013. Mennonites contemplate war tax resistance. Data on the underground economy. French heterosexual supremacists contemplate tax resistance. Even if they’re caught, American tax fraudsters are incredibly unlikely to ever cough up their ill gotten gains. And: fifty years ago today, Barbara Deming lays out the case for war tax resistance.
Some historical and global examples of tax resistance → religious groups and the religious perspective → Restored Israel of Yahweh → Joseph Donato: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦; The war tax resisters from the Restored Israel of YAHWEH are sentenced, and hopes that the judge would come up with a creative sentence that respected their conscientious tax resistance were dashed.; A profile of imprisoned war tax resisters Kevin McKee, Joseph Donato and Inge Donato. Also: the Kannings continue to harass the I.R.S. in Keene, New Hampshire. And: the top ten advantages of low-rent living.; Jerry DePyper is a rare example of a right-wing conscientious tax resister, on strike against a government that funds abortion and tolerates gay marriage. Also: a profile of Ithica War Tax Resisters, and a new edition of “More Than a Paycheck.”; The war tax resisters from the Restored Israel of Yahweh are resentenced. Also: is war tax resistance “purely symbolic” or is it tactically useful?
Some historical and global examples of tax resistance → religious groups and the religious perspective → Restored Israel of Yahweh → Kevin McKee: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦; The war tax resisters from the Restored Israel of YAHWEH are sentenced, and hopes that the judge would come up with a creative sentence that respected their conscientious tax resistance were dashed.; A profile of imprisoned war tax resisters Kevin McKee, Joseph Donato and Inge Donato. Also: the Kannings continue to harass the I.R.S. in Keene, New Hampshire. And: the top ten advantages of low-rent living.; The war tax resisters from the Restored Israel of Yahweh are resentenced. Also: is war tax resistance “purely symbolic” or is it tactically useful?
Miscellanous tax resisters → individual anarchist or libertarian tax resisters → Russell Kanning: ▶; ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦; Gandhian civil disobedience is starting to catch on in the libertarian movement. Also: a report from the recent NWTRCC national conference.; War tax resister Russell Kanning was arrested yesterday for trying to hand out leaflets to employees at the I.R.S. office in Keene, New Hampshire.; Russell Kanning, fresh from getting arrested for trying to convince I.R.S. employees to quit, is planning to try it again. Also: the Dervaes family turns a home on fifth of an acre in Pasadena into an experiment in sustainable living that it calls “a homegrown revolution.” And: a profile of The Emma Goldman Finishing School — a decade-old anarchist commune in Seattle.; War tax resister Russell Kanning was arrested at his home Monday morning for refusing to appear in court last Friday on charges of trying to distribute leaflets to employees of the I.R.S. office in Keene, New Hampshire that encourage those employees to quit their jobs. It’s pretty much proceeding as Thoreau scripted it some hundred and fifty years ago.; Russell Kanning sends out a report from his “palatial 7'×13' maximum security state room”. Also, Lieutenant Ehren Watada pleads with Americans to stand in solidarity with other members of the military who are refusing to fight in Iraq.; Russell Kanning was sentenced today to time served, with no probation and no fine. Also: The Washington Post discovers dumpster diving. And: debating the merits of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act.; A new ruling from the D.C. District Court of Appeals ought to reinvigorate the constitutionalist tax protester subculture. Also: protesters plan to return to the Keene, New Hampshire I.R.S. office now that Russell Kanning is free. And: looking past the myths and iconography of Gandhi to see what we can learn from him.; A profile of imprisoned war tax resisters Kevin McKee, Joseph Donato and Inge Donato. Also: the Kannings continue to harass the I.R.S. in Keene, New Hampshire. And: the top ten advantages of low-rent living.; The Picket Line interviews Russell Kanning about how he resists taxes and the state, and why he wears overalls and a straw hat and holds a pitchfork while he’s doing it.; The new NWTRCC newsletter features articles about Brian Willson, Russell Kanning, and the dilemma for activist nonprofits who have to decide whether to be tax-exempt and put up with the additional government restrictions that entails. Also: a look at the new generation of nonviolent revolution think-tanks. And: the military and its wars are costing more this year than at the peak of the Vietnam war (and hundreds of billions of that spending are being “borrowed,” quietly, from the Social Security trust fund).; More news from NWTRCC’s national meeting in Las Vegas last weekend. Also: Dave Ridley gets cited for “Distribution of Handbills” after leafletting the I.R.S. office in Nashua, New Hampshire.; Calculate how much you’re paying for the Iraq War. Read (and watch) how the New Hampshire anti-torture-tax activists do their thing. Wonder if Congress will kill the I.R.S. private debt collector scheme. Bask in schadenfreude as you contemplate the I.R.S.’s paleolithic database technology.; One way a tax resistance campaign can get a leg up is through the acts of sympathizers within the tax collection bureaucracy itself. After all, they’re taxpayers too, and may feel more loyalty to their fellow-subjects than to the government they’re subjected to. Here are some examples. Also: a theater company’s clever response to a hike in the value-added tax on entertainment tickets.; When people are arrested, tried, or imprisoned for tax resistance, their comrades have sometimes used this as an occasion to hold rallies or other demonstrations. This shows support for the people being persecuted, demonstrates determination in the face of government reprisals, and can be a good opportunity for propaganda. Here are some examples.

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