Our Movements Are Connected!
The New England WTR Gathering, October 14-16 The Gathering was powerful. I drove there and back with Ruth Benn, the NWTRCC Coordinator, and we had a great conversation about the history of war tax resistance in the car ride. The Agape Community in Ware, Massachusetts, generously opened their space for us all to meet, including… Continue reading
Reaching across the border
I’m happy to report that our outreach at the SOAW border convergence at ambos Nogales (both Nogales, on the US and Mexico sides) went very well! NWTRCC network members, including myself, Anne Barron, Rachel Soltis, and Coleman Smith, were present at each activity throughout the weekend, including the vigil at the Eloy Detention Center (where undocumented… Continue reading
Welcome NWTRCC’s new field organizer!
In May, the Coordinating Committee approved spending funds to pay a field organizer to conduct a survey of the NWTRCC network, figure out ways to support and grow our affiliates, as well as to reach out to new populations that NWTRCC isn’t currently reaching. In September, after the hiring committee evaluated over 30 applicants and… Continue reading
Ammon Hennacy and other early modern war tax resisters
NWTRCC network member David Gross has been working to release the enormous volume, The Book of Ammon, a collection of writings by the Christian anarchist Ammon Hennacy, as a free e-book. This book, currently out of print, is a fascinating look at a man famous for his draft resistance, his war tax resistance, and his… Continue reading
Reasons to Celebrate
Somehow the IRS is attuned to vacations and holidays. They like to surprise you with their letters, bills and perhaps stronger demands just when you’re in a good mood or feeling relaxed. Like last week: I came back from vacation to a pile of 10 “Amount Due” letters from the IRS (not sure what our… Continue reading
Join NWTRCC at the SOAW border convergence!
War tax resisters will be at the Border Convergence with leaflets, literature table, and a workshop. Please help us cover the costs for travel and fees. Donations of any size are much appreciated! Over the past few years, organizing around the legal status and rights of undocumented immigrants has grown significantly. The Obama administration has… Continue reading
Unpleasant truths about preemptive strikes: War Is a Lie
After putting the book down for a few months, I recently picked back up my reading of David Swanson’s War Is a Lie, which I got from the author himself at his April 16 appearance in Portland, Oregon. Over this weekend, I think I started to understand why I had put the book down. Just… Continue reading
Opposing nuclear weapons at Lawrence Livermore Lab
by Cathy Deppe Last August was the 70th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan. As members of the international peace group Global Network, Alex and I were fortunate to participate in commemoration services in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A year later we traveled a shorter distance to California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, to… Continue reading
Understanding common IRS collection letters
Most war tax resisters who refuse federal income taxes will eventually (or quickly) get a letter from the IRS. Here I describe some of the most common letters one tax-return-filing resister has gotten over the past few years. Resisters who do not file tax returns may get letters more slowly or not at all, until… Continue reading
Fits and Starts with WTR Organizing
Here in New York City there are a lot of war tax resisters and people who support war tax resistance. It should be a big, active community, but over the years and from experience, we’ve found it exceedingly hard to get people together. There are about 125 people on the email list for NYC resisters…. Continue reading
Expanding war and nuclear programs
Foreign Policy just released another episode of its Editor’s Roundtable podcast, called “What does the expanding definition of war mean for the US military?” The panelists discuss Rosa Brooks’ new book, How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything, as well as the general idea of the expansion of war into economic intervention and… Continue reading
Mutual aid and war tax resistance
One of the ways war tax resisters support each other is through the War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund (WTRPF). This fund was founded in 1982 by the North Manchester, Indiana chapter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and later became a separate organization. Its purpose is to provide mutual aid for war tax resisters who have… Continue reading
