June – July 2025


National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
40 Years of Resistance
More Than a Paycheck,
REFUSING to PAY for WAR

June – July 2025

Contents

Click here to download a PDF of the June/July issue

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Tax Season 2025 Reports

By Lincoln Rice

Tax Day was Tuesday April 15, 2025 and people throughout the US gathered to raise awareness that nearly half of federal income taxes are directed to US militarism. They encouraged others to resist paying taxes and redirect those funds to community needs

Here is an abbreviated account of Tax Day 2025 actions from our network. The complete account with more photos can be found on our website. Go to the “Programs” tab and click on “Tax Day.” If you would like to see media coverage that occurred around Tax Day, go to the “Media” tab, and click on “Articles” and “TV and Radio Interviews.”

Tucson, Arizona – In the early morning of Tax Day, Tucson activists held signs and banners outside of Raytheon Missiles & Defense as workers arrived, in a protest to say, “Not in our name, Not with our tax dollars.”

At Tucson’s Raytheon plant, Standard Missiles, Star Wars “kill vehicles,” hypersonic glide bombs, AMRAAMs, Javelins, Mavericks, microwave crowd control beams, drones, cluster bombs, nuclear-armed cruise missiles, and more are made.

– Felice Cohen-Joppa

Berkeley, California – On Sunday April 13, the People’s Life Fund held a granting ceremony where it redirected $80,000 to community organizations. We offer grants to groups that are providing essential day-to-day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, and/or addressing the root causes of a problem by engaging in education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic, or political change. Grantees included the Amado Khaya Initiative, Bay Area Superheroes, Black Owned Project 365, Code Pink-Bay Area Chapter, Collective Action for Laborers, Migrants and Asylum Seekers, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, and more.

– People’s Life Fund

Chico, California – On Tax Day, volunteers from the Chico Peace Alliance leafleted with pie charts for four hours at the downtown post office. We informed people where their taxes really go. Hint, hint — Military Spending!

– Chris Nelson

Colorado Springs, Colorado – We held the penny poll and leafleted at a busy downtown street corner. Our poll results: Education 23%; Healthcare 20%; Environment 17%; Housing 17%; Infrastructure 10%; Arts 7%; Military 6%.

So glad the military got the least, even in our military-heavy city. All our pie charts are gone, and we also gave out some of NWTRCC’s palm cards.

– Mary Sprunger-Froese

District of Columbia – Friday evening on April 4, the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker hosted “Breaking Free from the War Machine: Stories of Tax Resistance.” There was a panel discussion with Veronica (Ronnie) Fellerath-Lowell, John Reuwer, and Josephine Guilbeau. About thirty-five people were in attendance and seemed interested.

– Kathy Boylan

Dubuque, Iowa – This year, Little Platte Catholic Worker Farm was proud to host the first annual Dubuque Tax Day Bike Ride. The event was attended by seventeen riders. We met the night before for an “art build” at the farm to make signs for the event. On Tax Day we rode around town for about an hour educating neighbors about the 43% of income tax spent on war preparations.

– Lyric Morris-Latchaw

St. Louis, Missouri – About a dozen people, mostly through the St. Louis Catholic Worker, braved the brisk, windy day to come out at noon for a Tax Day action at the IRS building. They had to secure the signs they brought, holding tight to their messages against the wind. Some employees on their lunch break at the federal building were curious about what the signs said. Upon seeing the messages they voiced agreement.

– Chrissy Kirchhoefer

Albuquerque, New Mexico – I gave out more literature than I have ever given since 1985 when I became a war tax resister. I tabled for five hours outside the student union at the University of New Mexico, distributing a total of about 250 pie charts, over 100 W-4 war tax resistance instruction sheets, and 300 More Than a Pay Check newsletters from 2022-2024. I spoke with everyone before giving them literature and only gave it to them if they wanted it.

– Ginny Schneider

Ithaca, New York – A small band of folks gathered for two hours at the Ithaca Post Office. The weather was wild: first it was cold, then there was a downpour, and it ended warm and sunny. We engaged folks with a “penny poll.” We also had a “soapbox” upon which a couple of people stood and spoke about war and peace. It was good to be there.

– Mary Loehr

In Manhattan, protesters leaflet a passing tourist bus. Photo by Ed Hedemann

Manhattan, New York – “Move away from the building,” demanded a stern and officious sergeant from the Department of Homeland Security, as we began our lunchtime picket of the IRS . “This is federal property.”

“We’re not blocking anyone. We’ve done this for years without any problem,” I replied. “Besides, doesn’t federal property belong to the people?” Neither amused nor convinced, the sergeant retreated to a clump of about 10 other DHS police around the corner and, thankfully, didn’t bother us again for the hour and a half we were there.

The War Resisters League, Catholic Worker, and other groups have done Tax Day protests in front of the Manhattan IRS office every year since the early 1950s. April 15 was the continuation of this tradition when 30 or 40 of us showed up with signs, banners, distributing WRL pie charts, and singing, well, at least those of us who can carry a tune.

– Ed Hedemann

Rochester, New York – On Saturday April 13th, we gathered at the IRS office to protest the use of our tax dollars to fund violence and oppression. Demonstrators called out the US government for sending at least $17.9 billion to “Israel,” in just 2024, enabling the continued bombing and genocide of Palestinians. This is blood money, and the people are saying no more.

We demand that the US stop funding occupation, war, and genocide. We demand that politicians stop being bought by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other war-driven lobbies. We demand a permanent ceasefire and justice for all oppressed peoples.

– Party for Socialism and Liberation Finger Lakes

Eugene, Oregon – Planet vs Pentagon and Community Alliance of Lane County organized a Tax Day event. About 30 people showed up to hold signs and flyer as people passed by the Eugene Public library. The Raging Grannies sang a bunch of great songs. Two news stations stopped by and the local weekly paper published the results of the penny poll.

Penny Poll results: Eugeneans wanted 40% to go to Human Resources, 38% to go to the Climate and Environment, (something that wasn’t even in Trump’s budget), 10.5% to the General Government, 10.5% to Physical Resources, and under 1% to the military.

– Sue Barnhart

Medford, Oregon – On Tax Day, Estelle Voeller & I handed out flyers with tons of info about the federal budget and how much of it goes for military spending, past and present, at the Medford Post Office.

– Allen Hallmark

Portland, Oregon – We had two tax day events in April this year! We held “Burma-Shave”-style signs on the bridges with messages about Peace and not paying for war. The Oregon Community Peace Fund also redirected $5,300 of our refused taxes! We had a Tax Day Redirection Ceremony and redirected money to six groups including Coffees for Gaza, which directly helps 25 families in Gaza, and also the Red Lodge Transition Services which supports native women coming out of prison, jail, or treatment. We also had a penny poll. It was a great way to get to know people and even found an accountant who supports war tax resistance! Beforehand, we also had a social hour which included homemade pies and tea and coffee. One of our members had the idea to include the pie chart on top of the pies and we promoted Pies for Peace! Overall a very successful tax season!

– Kima Garrison

A WTR gathering in Portland, Oregon, celebration pies for peace. Photo provided by Paul Stretch

Brattleboro, Vermont – Our Tax Day info table was sponsored by Taxes for Peace, New England. Daniel Sicken and I talked to a couple dozen folks today while tabling at the Brattleboro Food Co-op.

– Lindsey Britt

Madison, Wisconsin – Members of the Madison Veterans for Peace, World Beyond War-Madison, and the Madison Friends Meeting passed out pie charts on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus mall. Several of us engaged in discussions with passers-by about the urgent need to cut US military spending.

After the leafleting, war tax resisters Paula Rogge and Stefania Sani visited Madison Street Medicine to present them with a donation and we are also planning a donation for Habitat for Humanity.

– Paula Rogge.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin – On April 12th, Casa Maria Catholic Worker, Milwaukee War Tax Resisters, Welfare Warriors, and Peace Action Wisconsin held a vigil outside the US Army Reserve to protest federal taxes for war and genocide. At one point, two reservists came to ask us if we were flying a drone on their base, but that was not us. Like last year, the response to our message among passing vehicles was very positive.

– Lincoln Rice

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Resisting Taxes in the Trump Era

By David Gross

[Editor’s Note: David Gross wrote the following article for his website (https://sniggle.net/TPL/index5.php) after presenting on a panel about resisting taxes in the Trump era at NWTRCC’s May 2025 conference. A recording of the entire session can be found at youtube.com/nwtrcc.]

Yesterday I was on a panel concerning “Resisting Taxes in the Trump Era” at the NWTRCC’s spring gathering. Below is a summary of my remarks:

We can no longer reliably extrapolate from long-standing precedent about how the government operates, or how it responds to tax resisters, to anticipate the near future. While past tax policy changes have been slow, gradual, and predictable, near-future changes are likely to be abrupt, arbitrary, and unstable.

This presents us with new challenges but also new opportunities. I want to consider five areas the war tax resistance movement in the US should be aware of, observant about, and prepared for. But it’s too early to draw strong conclusions about any of them:

  1. Changes at the IRS
  2. The possible end of the federal income tax
  3. Expanded government information-sharing
  4. Anti-Trumpery tax resistance
  5. How to resist tariffs

Changes at the IRS

First: the IRS is being significantly degraded and is in disarray. There have been four acting IRS commissioners already in the first four months of the Trump administration, serving between four days and six-and-a-half weeks each. There is no Senate-confirmed commissioner. In addition there have been thousands of dismissals of probationary IRS employees, and many others have accepted buyout offers to retire early. Furthermore, the recently-released presidential budget assumes a further 25–50% headcount reduction at the agency. The enforcement and collection branches have not been spared from this slaughter.

The agency was already on-the-ropes before all this happened. For years they have lost headcount and their budget has dwindled, even as their responsibilities and the number of taxpayers has increased. There was briefly some hiring and a budget boost at the agency during Biden’s term, but that hardly had begun to take effect before Trump’s crew came in and eviscerated it.

As a result, we can predict that the already feeble agency will be 
further incapacitated.

Second: there has been a collapse of the post-Nixon consensus that put a firewall between IRS enforcement and political appointees. For the last 50 years it would have been considered a serious taboo for the president or one of his political appointees to try to go to the IRS and say “you should audit so-and-so; I think they’re up to something (or: I don’t like them).” IRS enforcement decisions were firmly in the hands of career IRS employees, not political appointees. Trump is putting an end to that. He’s put a political appointee in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division. He’s being aggressive in using his powers to punish political enemies or to shake down deep-pocketed victims. We can expect that he will use the IRS in this way, too.

Will this affect American war tax resisters? Probably not right away. I don’t think we’re on Trump’s enemies’ radar, and we’re not attractive shakedown targets. But if tax resistance becomes a more prominent part of the anti-Trumpery movement, then, yes: expect politically-motivated reprisals.

The possible end of the federal income tax

Trump has repeatedly claimed that he plans to replace the IRS with an “External” Revenue Service, and replace income taxes with tariffs. Of course, Trump claims a lot of things, and that’s never been a good reason to take those claims seriously. But there are some other lines of evidence that suggest this may be for real.

Trump’s nominee for IRS Commissioner, Billy Long, when he was in Congress, co-sponsored legislation to abolish the IRS and replace the federal income tax with a sales tax. This idea of replacing income taxes with consumption taxes has been floating around conservative circles for decades, but hasn’t had enough traction to go anywhere, yet. The “serious people” mostly ignore these proposals as being too onerous to accomplish and too likely to go very badly, but Trump shows strong signs of being willing to do very disruptive things and to not care much if they’ll go badly, so I think we have to consider the possibility.

This is not something Trump could do directly by fiat. Congress would have to act to eliminate the federal income tax or the IRS. But potentially Trump could force their hand by (1) unilaterally enacting tariffs, as he can do and has done, and (2) making the IRS so dysfunctional that it can no longer effectively collect income taxes, as he seems to be doing. At that point, Congress might be faced with a fait accompli and might believe that if it wants to continue to have a budget to spend, it must allow Trump to raise tariffs (or other consumption taxes) to make up for what the IRS is unable to collect.

This is probably not happening right away. The current Trump budget and tax proposals are for income tax cuts and for cuts to the IRS but not elimination of either.

Where would this leave war tax resisters, who tend to concentrate on the federal income tax as the most important source of war funding? We would have to retool to resist these new taxes in new ways. (More on this below.)

Expanded information-sharing among federal agencies

A variety of legal firewalls, bureaucratic hurdles, and incompatibilities have prevented federal government agencies from sharing information with each other. Some of that fell away during the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11. Now many of the remaining firewalls seem to be dropping to DOGE.

Most news I’ve seen about this is in the immigrant-crackdown context. For example, the IRS is sharing info from people’s tax returns, and the postal service is sharing information about people’s mailing addresses, to help ICE find immigrants to deport.

Potentially this could make it easier for the IRS to find assets or previously shadowy income. There’s no sign that this is happening yet, and it would be yet another task for a gutted IRS to try to tackle, so maybe it’s unlikely, but it’s worth keeping on the radar, and we should raise the alarm if anyone notices anything.

Anti-Trumpery tax resistance and war tax resistance

There’s a lot of eagerness among anti-Trumpery activists for some strong, collective action, which could include tax resistance (see for example the National Tax Strike under the Choose Democracy umbrella).

Where does the war tax resistance movement fit in? Anti-Trumpery tax resistance isn’t “war” tax resistance. Sure, you can stretch “war” metaphorically to cover deportations, civil liberties collapse, evasion of due process, Constitutional crisis, willful malgovernance, fascism, white supremacy, and so forth, but it’s awkward. Most of NWTRCC’s outreach and educational material assumes that war and militarism are the focal concern of tax resisters, and to these new resisters this has the potential to be alienating at worst or confusing at best.

Of course, if Trump invades Greenland or Canada or something, then the anti-Trumpery movement will probably develop a strong anti-war focus, and then war tax resistance rhetoric will fit right in. I suppose we can’t rule that out.

It’s an encouraging sign that the War Tax Resisters Penalty Fund mutual aid program now explicitly welcomes anti-Trumpery tax resisters as well as traditional war tax resisters. Maybe we can learn from the process they went through as they decided to become more accommodating to a new set of resisters.

How to resist tariffs

Trump would seemingly prefer that tariffs permanently make up a predominant portion of federal government income (and therefore military budget income), as they did in the 19th century. How could war tax resisters continue to resist if this were to come to pass?

Tariffs are taxes that apply to imported goods and that are paid by the US importer. So you can resist to some extent simply by not importing anything so that you personally do not pay the tax. But the typical American is going to be paying tariffs indirectly as a consumer of goods whose prices include the costs of tariffs to the importer or manufacturer.

Note that tariffs apply not only to consumer-ready goods (like imported cars) but also to imported raw materials and intermediate manufacturing goods. For this reason, the prices of many “domestic” products will embed tariffs just as much as do imported ones. A tax resistance strategy of consuming only ‘Made in the U.S.A..’ domestic goods will not be effective.

Some tactics that might be worth considering if tariffs make up a large amount of military income include:

  1. Anti-consumerism, lifestyle simplification, DIY, grow-your-own, repair/reuse/recycle: spend less money in general, take more of your life out of the marketplace, and you’ll spend less on tariffs.
  2. Smuggling: if tariffs are high, smuggling will become highly profitable and will certainly emerge. We can help nourish that and can redirect our own consumption to smuggled goods.
  3. Domestic manufacture: try to produce and market goods that deliberately and carefully avoid tariffs. Spread awareness about tariff-free goods.
  4. Promote avoidance strategies: there will certainly be loopholes that can be exploited to reduce or eliminate tariffs; we can help importers learn about and use them.
  5. Disrupt the tariff-collection bureaucracy: anything we can do to make the tax collectors’ work more difficult and less efficient will give the Pentagon less to play with.

These tactics (or similar ones) apply also to other consumption taxes that might be in the cards (e.g. a sales tax or use tax).

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Counseling Notes

Purpose of this Section

This section serves as a hub for war tax resisters to keep abreast of the kind of actions the IRS is taking to collect federal tax debt. It also aids WTR Counselors, who are war tax resisters who volunteer to support existing and potential resisters. These counselors have undergone a day-long training to non-directively counsel individuals and aid them in determining their goals in regards to WTR, to discover the options most appropriate to their situation, and to assess realistically the possible consequences of those options. A current list of counselors by state can be found on the NWTRCC website (go to the “About Us” tab and click “Local Contacts & Counselors”). This training is usually offered once a year and the next training will be online in early 2025. If you are interested in attending, please contact the NWTRCC office at nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org.

Proposed IRS Cuts will Hurt Enforcement

At the time of this writing, the Trump administration is considering cuts of up to 50% of the IRS’ 90,000 employees. 20% of IRS employees could be let go before you read this newsletter. During the Biden administration, the IRS improved its customer service. This is expected to drop back substantially. It should come as no surprise that experts in the field are forecasting that this will encourage people to not pay their taxes since the IRS will be even less efficient in their collection efforts. In addition to less enforcement for war tax resisters, it will also mean less enforcement for corporations, which will be more likely to practice tax fraud through a variety of methods. Anonymous IRS officials who spoke to the Washington Post already predict a decrease of more than 10 percent in tax receipts by the April 15, 2025 deadline compared with 2024.

IRS can Share Immigrants’ Tax Data

As this goes to press, another federal judge refused to block the IRS from sharing immigrants’ tax data with ICE to help identify and deport people without proper paperwork to be in the US. According to the judge, federal law allows the IRS to release some taxpayer information to other agencies to assist in criminal enforcement proceedings. In addition, the IRS can disclose information it obtains itself (such as through audits), but not information it obtains exclusively from the taxpayer (such as a tax return filed by the taxpayer), with the exception of a taxpayer’s identity, including the individual’s name, address, and taxpayer identifying number.

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Many Thanks

Thanks to each of you who has donated for the May Appeal 2025 and sent in raffle tickets! There is still time to send in tickets! Remember, you can also donate online through PayPal and Venmo (not tax deductible) or Resist (tax deductible) by clicking on the “Donate” button at nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org. (Please let the NWTRCC office know if you use Resist.) It’s never too late to send that contribution to support our work.

We are very grateful to these alternative funds and WTR groups for their redirections and Affiliate dues:
People’s Life Fund of Northern California; New England War Tax Resistance;
 Las Vegas Catholic Worker; Boulder War Tax Info Project; 
Taxes for Peace Not War (Eugene, Oregon); Choose Democracy

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Network Updates

The Network List of Affiliates, Area Contacts, Counselors, and Alternative Funds is updated and online at nwtrcc.org, or contact the NWTRCC office (nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org or (800) 269-7464), if you would like a printed list by mail.

Don’t forget, you can find us on
Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Instagram
or join our discussion listserve.
Click on the icons at nwtrcc.org

Advertise to Activists! See the advertising rates for this newsletter or contact the editor at (800) 269‒7464.

Consider a Bequest

NWTRCC accepts bequests which can be arranged through your will or other estate plan.

Simply name NWTRCC as the beneficiary of a portion of your estate or of particular assets in your estate, or contact the NWTRCC office for arrangements through one of our 501c3 fiscal sponsors. A bequest costs nothing now, yet it may give you great satisfaction to know that your gift will live on in NWTRCC.

More information: nwtrcc.org/bequests, (800) 269-7464, or nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org.

“I have been donating quarterly to NWTRCC for many years, because as a life-long war tax resister I feel I definitely need NWTRCC to be there and to be strong.”

— Becky Pierce, Dorchester, Mass.

Please join Becky as an annual, monthly, or quarterly pledger to NWTRCC. See the donate page on our website to pledge through Paypal (any amount monthly) or through Resist (monthly, quarterly, and annual options). If you would like a pledge packet to give by check, please contact the NWTRCC office, 800-269-7464.

Are you organizing an action, training, or gathering?
Got a good photo of your war tax resister community in action?
Keep us in the loop

We’re all about building the community of resisters.
We’d love to celebrate you + help spread the word. Email Chrissy Kirchhoefer (Our Outreach Consultant):outreach@nwtrcc.org

Donate by Venmo


NWTRCC now accepts donations by Venmo! We still accept donations by check, PayPal, and credit/debit card using PayPal. Also, tax deductible donations can be made by check or credit/debit card using one of our fiscal sponsors. For more information on all the ways you can donate to NWTRCC, go to nwtrcc.org/donate.

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Global War Tax Resistance

Building Solidarity for Peace: Conscience International Gathering on War Tax Resistance

By Fay Salichou

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on the website of Conscience: Taxes for Peace not War in the United Kingdom. Fay discusses the global WTR panel at NWTRCC’s May 2025 conference. A recording of this panel can be found at youtube.com/nwtrcc>]

On 3rd May 2025, we took part in a powerful global conversation hosted by NWTRCC, bringing together campaigners from across the UK, US, Canada, Germany, Spain, and more. The panel was a rare opportunity to reflect, share strategies, and build connections between those who believe in a simple but profound principle: we should not be compelled to fund war.

Speaking on behalf of Conscience: Taxes for Peace not War, Jonathan Maunders outlined the legal and political challenges we face in the UK, where taxes are automatically deducted through employers and the right to redirect military tax contributions to peaceful purposes is not recognized in law. Jonathan spoke openly about the difficulties of advocating for peace in a political climate where military spending is celebrated, and where dissenting voices are often dismissed.

Yet he also shared how Conscience has been adapting, with a renewed focus on public engagement, awareness-raising, and education. In a time of shrinking political space, Conscience is working to reach new audiences and invite more people into the conversation—whether through our resources, campaigns, or simply by asking fundamental questions about how our taxes are used.

Learning from others around the world

The event was rich in insight. We heard from:

  •   Jan from Netzwerk Friedenssteuer (Germany), who described the organization’s proposal for a civil tax law that would allow those with a conscientious objection to redirect their taxes away from military purposes. He shared the alarming scale of Germany’s growing military budget, but also the quiet strength of the peace movement and its ability to work in unity.
  •   Doug from Conscience Canada, who reflected on legal strategies, educational outreach, and the enduring value of resistance rooted in ethics — even in a context where most taxes are deducted automatically. He spoke with honesty about the challenges of sustaining momentum, especially among younger generations, but also of renewed energy following global events like the war in Gaza.
  •   Derek from Conscience and Peace Tax International, who offered a historical and legal perspective on how the right to conscientious objection has slowly been recognized in international law — though not yet extended to taxation. His long-standing work at the United Nations has opened important conversations on peace, law, and individual conscience.
  •   Yolanda from Spain, who described decades of grassroots activism and nonviolent resistance, including creative redirection actions and public campaigns rooted in a feminist, anti-militarist approach. Her call for collective courage and renewed international cooperation deeply resonated with everyone present.

Why this gathering mattered

This was not just a meeting — it was a milestone. The event brought together decades of experience, tactical wisdom, and legal innovation. It made space for critical conversations — about the language we use, the risks we face, and the radical imagination needed to build a world beyond war.

For Conscience, it was a vital reminder that we are not alone — and that our work in Britain is part of a global network of peace campaigners, legal thinkers, and everyday people who believe it’s wrong to be forced to pay for violence.

In a world where military budgets continue to grow while peacebuilding remains marginal, we must continue to raise the question: What if our taxes nurtured peace, rather than prepared for war?
As one speaker said: Just one person refusing to fund war is powerful. But when we organize, we amplify the message: not in our name, not with our money.

We are grateful to NWTRCC for hosting this conversation, and to all the organizations who shared their experience, commitment, and hope. Moments like this remind us that, although the road is long, we are walking it together — with clarity, compassion, and conviction.

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NWTRCC and WTR News

NWTRCC’s Conference & Coordinating Committee Meeting

NWTRCC’s May 2025 conference on Zoom attracted about 75 participants. Friday evening began with poetry to remember the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the US war in Vietnam. We then separated into breakout rooms with themes suggested by participants during registration. The most popular breakout session was “Finding Joy in Resistance.”

Saturday morning we heard a new audio documentary Eyes on Freedom, which tells the story of Wally and Juanita Nelson through their own voices and those who knew them. The documentary was commissioned by the Nelson Legacy Project. After the screening, there was Q&A with Betsy Corner and Bob Bady, who were friends of the Nelsons. The documentary can be viewed at nelsonhomestead.org.

In addition to WTR 101 & 201 sessions, we hosted panels on Tax Resistance in the Trump Era (see article on page one) and Global War Tax Resistance (see article on page four).

On Sunday morning, we had our Sunday business meeting. NWTRCC’s consultants provided reports and we went over finances. With the conclusion of that meeting, Shirley Whiteside and Korvin Ahimsaka finished their three-year terms on NWTRCC’s Administrative Committee and we welcomed Jennifer Shin and June Johnson to that committee. Also, since Nick Lancellotti stepped down from AdCommAdministrative Committee for personal reasons, we chose Steve Leeds to finish Nick’s term. Minutes for the meeting can be found at nwtrcc.org/nwtrcc-business.

Mark your Calendars!!!
National War Tax Resistance Gathering & Coordinating Committee Meeting
November 7-9, 2025

Our next conference will be the second weekend of November in Worcester, Massachusetts. Some sessions will also be streamed on Zoom. More details will be forthcoming. If you are interested in hosting a future NWTRCC meeting and have the resources to allow easy integration of online participants using Zoom, please contact the NWTRCC office.

MennoCon 2025 to Feature WTR Session
July 8-12 in Greensboro, North Carolina


H. A. Penner and Jay Bergen have organized a session for the Mennonite Church USA convention titled, “War Tax Resistance as Public Witness.” The session will discuss the history of Mennonite war tax resistance with an eye toward organizing a national WTR effort to disrupt the US war machine. This session is currently slotted for Wednesday July 9th at 2:30pm.

New England War Tax Resistance
Part-Time Job Opening

New England War Tax Resistance (NEWTR) seeks a Bookkeeper and Alternative Fund manager. Becky Pierce, who has done this job for the past eighteen years, has given NEWTR notice that she will leave that position. This is a very small job, averaging 6-7 hours per month, paying $20 or more per hour (open to negotiation).

Start date is also negotiable, preferably in the summer/fall of 2025, definitely before Jan 1, 2026, and will be followed by a 2-3-month training period (working with Becky). Please contact Mary Regan (maryregan@hotmail.com) for a full job description and for the timeline for the hiring process, which is still being determined.

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In Memoriam: David Hartsough

By Jim Haber

David Hartsough, long time Quaker peace activist, war tax resister, and contributor to northern California’s People’s Life Fund, passed away on the morning of March 21, 2025. Just four days earlier, David updated his friends through his Caring Bridge site, “I write with both joy and with sadness. The joy is that with the help of my Cancer Dr and the love of family and friends, I am still alive after four years of bone and blood cancer. What a joy to have been mountain climbing and hiking and biking and singing with Friends at Baker Beach, walking in Golden Gate Park and at the ocean and contributing what energy I can to all the important work of helping bring Justice and peace to our troubled world.”

David’s parents Ray and Ruth Hartsough raised David exemplifying lives and ideals of Quaker activism, and David took it very much to heart. David’s autobiography, Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, co-written with Joyce Hollyday, is a quick and engaging read. I learned about peace actions that did not garner the media attention they deserved as well as about his personal motivation. The book reads like David–genuine, all-in, forever striving to walk his talk and going wherever the truth would lead him.

David initiated citizen-delegation diplomacy when he and four other people traveled together in a Volkswagen bus in Soviet Russia in 1961. David hitchhiked around the USSR in the late 1950s and demonstrated against nuclear weapons in Red Square in Moscow in 1962. David went to Howard University as an undergraduate when a white person going there was extremely rare. David was on a CODEPINK trip to Iran and suffered a heart attack that landed him in the hospital for emergency, life-saving surgery in Tehran. David visited Gaza. I don’t know how many times David visited Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

Some of my memories of David include anti-nuclear arrest actions at Lawrence Livermore National Labs, Creech Air Force Base, and the Nevada Test Site, often accompanying our dear friend Fr. Louis Vitale, OFM, also of blessed memory. I had the privilege of helping David send out his occasional newsletters and deal with other computer issues. David and Jan welcomed me into their home when I needed housing. I will forever be grateful that I demonstrated at Travis Air Force Base as part of the People’s Arms Embargo just days before he died.

David was a movement builder and practical visionary. He didn’t just come up with ideas. He helped make them happen, showing up at any level where there was a need. The Nonviolent Peaceforce and World Beyond War internationally, and The Peace Navy and The People’s Arms Embargo more locally in the Bay Area are a few of the organizing efforts that David helped envision, start, and implement.

David is survived by his loving wife and accomplice of many years, Jan, their two children Peter and Heidi, and their children and families. They concluded the announcement of David’s death by saying, “With gratitude and appreciation for all of our broken hearts, let us sing: ‘Deep in my heart / I do believe / we shall overcome someday.’” What is remembered lives.

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FUNDRAISING

Raffle Fundraiser for NWTRCC


NWTRCC‘s Fundraising Committee has organized another exciting raffle. Hopefully this will add an element of fun in donating to NWTRCC, though no donation is required to participate in the raffle. Nevertheless, we would appreciate your financial support. NWTRCC is only able because every donation it receives
–both large and small.

To be entered into the raffle, simply fill out the raffle tickets and mail them back to NWTRCC…hopefully with a donation. If you normally donate online using a credit/debit card, Paypal, Resist, or Venmo, we will fill out a sheet of raffle tickets fo you for any donation of $25 or more made during the month of June. A sheet of raffle tickets with full list of prizes can be found at nwtrcc.org/raffle. Feel free to make copies of the tickets and hand them out to friends. This can be a way for non-war tax resisters to also support NWTRCC. Tickets will need to be received by July 15 and the drawing will occur on July 20.

We are very thankful to all those folks who donated something for the raffle. Our top prize is a two-night stay in a cabin at Woolman Hill, which hosts the Nelson Homestead. Even if you do not win the top prize, making a pilgrimage to the Nelson Homestead might be something to consider at some point. The powerful peacemaking witness of Wally and Juanita–cofounders of the modern war tax resistance movement–is wonderfully displayed at their homestead. You can also take a virtual tour at nelsonhomestead.org. Other prizes include NWTRCC swag, an integrative body work session, copies of the hot-off-the-presses new edition of the WTR Guidebook, posters, and more.


Editor Lincoln Rice
Production Rick Bickhart

More Than a Paycheck: Refusing to Pay for War is a bimonthly publication of the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, a clearinghouse and resource center for the conscientious war tax resistance movement in the United States. NWTRCC is a coalition of local, regional and national affiliate groups working on war tax related issues.

NWTRCC sees poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, economic exploitation, environmental destruction and militarization of law enforcement as integrally linked with the militarism which we abhor. Through the redirection of our tax dollars, NWTRCC members contribute directly to the struggle for peace and justice for all.

Paper Subscriptions are $25 per year. Digital subscriptions are free.

NWTRCC
P.O. Box 5616, Milwaukee, WI 53205
(800) 269‒7464
(262) 399‒8217
nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org
social media: socialmedia@nwtrcc.org
newsletter: wartaxresister@nwtrcc.org
www.nwtrcc.org