Dear IRS- Hear US! September 11th, 2024 | Federal Income Tax, IRS, Letters, Things You Can Do This past Tax Day, Tom Joyce in Ithaca, NY joined others to raise awareness about how much of US taxpayer money goes towards military spending that can result in moral injury. May this ongoing and consistent action inspire! Statement of War Tax Resistance – Tom Joyce… Continue reading
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Obedience, Protest, and Facing the Consequences
The first obligation of responsible citizenship, I believe, is obedience to one’s conscience. Obedience to one’s government, and to its laws, is very important, but it must come second. Otherwise there is no check on immoral actions by governments, which are bound to occur in any society, whenever power is abused. — Randy Kehler The… Continue reading
Good Grief?
79 years ago, the United States unleashed the most powerful weapon known to humankind. The devastation of ‘Little Boy,’ a uranium bomb rained down on Hiroshima killing an estimated 140,000 people, mostly civilians. Three days later the United States dropped the second bomb ‘Fat Man’ made of plutonium which was ten times more powerful and… Continue reading
Yes, You Can Do This!
I got on a bus to DC for the “Arrest Netanyahu” rally and march July 24, with a pile of WRL pie charts in my backpack and a sign about refusing to pay for war. I hadn’t been to DC in quite a few years, but Congress’s invitation to the person presiding over more than… Continue reading
The Streets of New York, The Letter in the Mailbox
One thing about being out in the streets of NYC, it is never dull. Our annual tax day presence at the IRS was a lively affair this year thanks to musical accompaniment of the Raging Grannies and Filthy Rotten System, and an array of passers-by who offered support or challenged our message — some more… Continue reading
“Yes, Please”
Sometimes you read something you wrote years ago and think “hey, that’s a pretty good article.” Back in 2005, Ed and I wrote an article for The Catholic Worker covering some reasons for maintaining our war tax resistance (WTR) over the years. At the time we had a combined total of 51 years of refusing… Continue reading
Easing Into War Tax Resistance
There’s something of a learning curve to tax refusal. Maybe for some it’s easier than others, but a lot of us started small, increased our resistance over the years, adjusted our lifestyles, or changed methods as needed or desired. A war tax resistance workshop can hit you with a lot of information. NWTRCC and WRL’s… Continue reading
Finding Hope In Action
I’m working at finding hope in dark times. It helps to be in a city full of activists of one stripe or another — ceasefire, save Gaza, antiwar in one place or another, stop mass incarceration, shut down Rikers, end solitary confinement, house the unhoused, close Guantanamo, Black Lives Matter, etc. And in the midst… Continue reading
The Other September 11th
As September 11 approaches, New York City slides into mourning for the 2,977 lives lost in the city, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC in 2001, plus the lives of first responders who have since died from 9/11-related illnesses. It was a terrible, unforgettable day — for those who lost family and friends and all of us… Continue reading
Positive Responses to WTR
This string came off the war tax resistance listserve, which you can sign up for here. Ask questions, start a discussion topic, like Angie did, or ask for feedback about an issue related to war tax resistance. Angie got it started: I’m starting this thread to see if anyone has any stories they’d like to… Continue reading
Change Is Hard, Change Is Possible
An article about how climate change is going to impact federal spending caught my eye today. Mostly it got me vaguely thinking about how difficult it is to change — especially on the national scale. The article is about the Biden administration’s warning that climate change is going to cost the federal government a lot… Continue reading
This Is Not A Drill
Pink Floyd was not a group I followed lo these many years, although a few of their songs are familiar. Ed made a CD mix of music to accompany our trips to view total eclipses of the sun, so of course Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” made the cut. “Money” was a hit single in the U.S…. Continue reading
