Devar Tikkun, A Talk on Social Justice
Post by Lawrence Rosenwald, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of English, Co-Director, Program in Peace & Justice Studies, Wellesley College I gave this talk Friday night, October 18th, in the context of a joyous shabbat service shared between the Moishe Kavod House and my congregation Havurat Shalom. It’s the tradition of MKH to have what they call a “devar… Continue reading
Resisting Authority: Tony Serra
Our October 16 Twitter post shared some information about J. Tony Serra, a criminal defense lawyer who is also a war tax resister. Serra has successfully defended several unpopular people in his career, including Huey Newton of the Black Panther Party, and Chol Soo Lee, involved in a San Francisco Chinatown murder. This latter case was the… Continue reading
WTRs and Chickens in Vermont
The chickens were busy scratching and pecking for bits to eat, while war tax resisters were busy putting people over weapons at the 28th Annual New England Regional Gathering of War Tax Resisters and Supporters at the Amazing Planet! Farm & Justice Center in Vermont, September 27-29. The location was amazingly beautiful, with the leaves… Continue reading
Kissinger and Your Bank Account
I had a blog piece in mind after seeing Secretary of State John Kerry — once an antiwar hero — cozily meeting with that war criminal Henry Kissinger for advice about Russia and Syria. To add insult to injury the meeting fell on September 11, exactly 40 years from the day that Kissinger’s maneuvering led… Continue reading
Resisting the Costs of War in Syria
As of this writing, President Obama has agreed to delay a vote on Syrian military intervention while the proposed diplomatic solutions are worked through. Nevertheless, war is still on the table and we want it taken off, permanently. US officials are claiming that a war will be limited in time, scope, and expense. An appropriations… Continue reading
What Kind of War Tax Resister Are You?
War tax resister and blogger David Gross has classified four different varieties of war tax resisters. The national war tax resistance network contains all these different types, as well as folks who are amalgams of two or more types. David uses this framework to study the different tactics that war tax resistance campaigns use and… Continue reading
You’ve Got Mail
A few days ago I got a pile of envelopes in the mail from the IRS. Ten to be exact. All in one mail delivery. Each bill was dated September 2 (well ahead of that date), each for one tax year from 2003 to 2012. I file and refuse to pay, and the IRS usually… Continue reading
Tiny Ways to Start WTR
War tax resistance (WTR) is an empowering and rewarding form of civil disobedience. However, some people find that the first step of “becoming” a war tax resister is intimidating. The government tells us that they have our best interests at heart and that the IRS is an enormous, omniscient, omnipotent entity that has the power… Continue reading
A Little Good News: War Protest is Not Frivolous
For years many of us in the war tax resistance network have been arguing with the IRS that no one should be charged with a frivolous penalty when they send a letter of protest against war spending with their accurate 1040 form, whether or not they are refusing some or all of the tax due…. Continue reading
First Post
This will be the first post of the War Tax Talk blog, which is related to the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC). This blog is a place to write about: Questions that come into the NWTRCC office by phone (1-800-269-7464) and by email or that we hear about from others in our network…. Continue reading
Staying In the Way
By Cathy Deppe My first run-in with the IRS was a direct result of refusing the federal excise tax on telephone service, which was increased by President Lyndon Johnson to help pay for the war in Vietnam. Although LBJ said we could have guns and butter too, we would have to pay for both. My… Continue reading
Passionate for Peace
By Jason Rawn Aanya Adler Friess has been resisting war taxes since the 1960s. At age 86, she no longer attends meetings on a regular basis, though she lives below the taxable income level. She discusses war tax resistance with activists from the organizations that make up Albuquerque’s Peace and Justice Organizations Linking Arms (PAJOLA),… Continue reading
