The Ithica Times has a profile of the “St. Patrick’s Four” — Daniel Burns, Peter DeMott, Clare Grady and Teresa Grady — that covers some of their civil disobedience actions and also mentions their tax resistance:
Because such a large portion of federal income taxes go toward military spending, Burns lives below a taxable income, claiming himself a war-tax resister. Living in relative poverty seems strange for a man with a former Hollywood career, earning as much as six-figure annual salaries working (most often as a director’s assistant) on films such as Ghostbusters, JFK and Carlito’s Way.
“I’d rather be broke and live in Ithaca than live in Los Angeles or New York [City],” he said, noting that he returned to Ithaca in (he lived here previously), when he became an independent painter and dog-walker.
None of the Four make high enough incomes to pay federal income tax. Teresa claims avoiding income tax isn’t such a conscious act for her, but DeMott and Clare said they do it consciously, ensuring they never make a federally taxable amount. Teresa is a massage therapist who did four years of contractual work in Cornell’s Physical Education Department before this September. DeMott is a handyman, and Clare is the former kitchen coordinator of Loaves and Fishes shelter (she resigned when realizing her trial and its aftermath this fall would consume her time).
Although they are probably eligible for federal benefits, Clare, Teresa and DeMott refuse them. Burns and his wife do not seek federal benefits for themselves, but their two young children receive Medicaid benefits.
A particularly notable war-tax resistance movement involves telephone bills. An estimated 10,000 Americans currently refuse to pay 3 percent (a rough amount that goes toward military expenditures) of their phone bills. When asked about this protest, Clare noted that she had done it before, but not in some time. “Now I feel gratefully challenged to do that,” she laughed.
