How you can resist funding the government →
a survey of tactics of historical tax resistance campaigns →
reach out to potential resisters at the time and place of payment →
Tax Day actions →
2010
If you’re a war tax resister or part of a war tax resistance group and you’re planning an event, action, workshop, or what-have-you around , NWTRCC wants to know about it.
Drop them a line with the who/what/when/where of your local Tax Day plans, so they can add it to their list of all the actions they hear about in their April newsletter and in a press release that is sent out in early .
And don’t forget to bring your camera, and send your photos to NWTRCC as well.
This not only helps other groups see what you’re doing, but is also a great way to keep track of our history as a movement.
While you’re at it, drop me a line too and I’ll help spread the word here.
Some bits and pieces from here and there:
The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee is keeping tabs on upcoming “tax day” () actions around the country. Take a look to see what’s going on in your neck of the woods.
C-SPAN has made its archives available on-line, including this video of the “Day Without The Pentagon” rally in featuring Clare Hanrahan of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee at about the 67:40 mark.
notes and updates about the new health care bill, IRS enforcement tactics, taxpatriatism, the advantages of credit unions, and the criminal case against war tax resister Frank Donnelly
resource updates, including new brochures, a “penny poll” tutorial, the new War Resisters League pie chart, and reviews of the new Death and Taxes film
If you liked Liz Scranton’s profile, you’ll probably also like this account from a produce-addled wild-eyed hairy mountain man.
Both tell of lifestyle choices that go beyond tax resistance to a more radical reinvention of what it means to live a good life.
Neither the war tax resisters nor the TEA Party crowd seem to be getting much press yet this year.
It may be that after last year’s big and novel TEA Party protests, it’s going to take a lot more to get the press interested this year.
“I advocate overthrowing the government by force but not by violence, and tax refusal is but one of the cutting edges and forces that are available to us.” — David Dellinger, , in Washington, D.C. at the Vietnam Moratorium rally
is also the annual 15 Minutes of Fame day for war tax resisters, and I’ll be keeping my eye out for media mentions.
I was invited on something called “The Mancow Show” this morning.
The host was some sort of weird, pro-wrestling-like caricature who solemnly says things like “if you cut me, I bleed red, white, and blue.”
His show is one of those short attention span things that are mostly sound effects and snippets and soundbites and running jokes.
Pretty much a waste of time; live and learn.
This evening I’ll be attending the People’s Life Fund granting ceremony.
Many war tax resisters in the San Francisco bay area deposit the taxes they “owe” in this Fund rather than sending them to the U.S. Treasury (some with the option of reclaiming these deposits should the IRS seize money from them).
Each year, the Fund gives away any interest and dividends earned on these deposits to various charities. the Fund is giving away some $20,000 to over twenty groups.
has come and gone, and with it the TEA Parties and protests.
Some items of note:
The National Priorities Project has long been maintaining a Cost of War counter that keeps track of the monetary cost of the major wars the United States is pursuing at the moment, and allows you to see how much your community has spent on these wars.
Recently, the mayor of Binghamton, New York, approved the installation of a large, digital “cost of war” counter in front of City Hall.
Pam Allee explains her war tax resistance at Portland Independent Media Center: “your vote on April 15th is the permission Congress needs to continue ‘business as usual.’ ”
She and other anti-war folks were also protesting taxes, only because tax dollars are used to support war.
Kathy lives at a subsistence level to avoid paying taxes.
“I can’t imagine changing my life so I can contribute to the devastation of war,” she told me.
In addition, she observed that because of her commitment to living at a subsistence level, she can’t own a car and she consumes very little fossil fuels, just helping to save the planet.
“The IRS is my spiritual director,” she argued.
Now that’s not something you hear every April 15.
