[Editor’s Note: In the latest letter for the War Tax Resistance Penalty Fund, Peter Smith provided a brief history of the fund, which began the same year as NWTRCC. More information about the Penalty Fund can be found at wtrpf.org] The last NWTRCC gathering was at Joyfield farm in North Manchester, Indiana (May 2023). This… Continue reading
Things You Can Do
Legacy of Witness: MennoCon 23
When the largest denomination of Mennonites in the U.S. met in Kansas City for MennoCon 19, H.A. Penner, along with other Mennonite war tax resisters, had put together a proposal that the Mennonite Church U.S.A. renew its Church Peace Tax Fund. The historical peace church had previously established a war tax alternative fund in the… Continue reading
Reflections on Antimilitarist Roots: War Resisters League International June 2023 Conference
After attending this year’s War Resisters’ International conference (the first since the pandemic for this international cohort of which the US’s War Resisters League is a member) I’ve been asked by friends in the peace movement “What did you learn? What were your takeaways?” And even now as I put these words down I don’t… Continue reading
Check It Out!
One of the participants at MennoCon23 (a Mennonite Conference) panel discussing war tax resistance said “Check out NWTRCC’s webpage, it is a comprehensive resource for war tax resistance.” One of the easiest ways to navigate the site is through the search bar. Many of the resources that we bring to tables like we did at… Continue reading
Everyday Nonviolence
“Activating Everyday Nonviolence: Juanita Nelson’s 100th Birthday Celebration and Gathering” is coming up August 17–20 in Western Massachusetts. Although Juanita died in 2015, fellow activists and friends (many associated with Pioneer Valley War Tax Resistance) were inspired by her life’s example to offer a weekend of exploration into everyday nonviolence and the nonviolence of everything…. Continue reading
Divesting from the US Military: “War Tax Resisters” Protest with Their Money
The Blog this week is an Opinion published by In Depth News and written by Lincoln Rice MILWAUKEE, USA, 17 April 2023 (IDN) — Since the beginning of 2022, the US has dedicated over $30 billion of military aid for war in Ukraine. Most of these funds will be used by the Department of Defense to… Continue reading
The Season of Growth and Resistance
“…we cannot turn a blind eye to the people within our community whose basic needs go unmet, knowing that more will join their ranks with budget cuts. What if instead we insisted upon diverting $20,000 to 2,800 homeless households a month? What if, since no one is listening to our pleas of no intensified war… 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
Take Action Before the Clock Stikes Midnight
NWTRCC Events Last week NWTRCC hosted a War Tax Resistance/Refusal/Redirection (WTR) 101 online. It was an interactive, engaging conversation. We have been hearing from practitioners of WTR who have been living under the taxable income who anticipate that changing or do not see that path as sustainable. It is encouraging to be engaged with people… Continue reading
Online War Tax Resistance Workshops & May Meeting Location
NWTRCC will be busy online this tax season with a WTR 101, a counselors training, and a social media workshop. We will offer a WTR 101 workshop on Saturday January 28, 2023 at noon Eastern/ 9a Pacific. Because of the packed schedule at our November meeting, we did not have a 101 session that weekend…. Continue reading
Christmas Truce Redux
There has been a recent push advocating for a truce in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Advocates are asking for a cessation of violence from December 25 through January 7. NWTRCC has blogged about the history of the Truce in World War I as well as other holiday traditions that celebrate peace at this… Continue reading
Move the Money — Mine and the Pentagon’s
I eagerly await my next letter from the IRS. I just got a letter from them “correcting” my 1040 for tax year 2020, filed on tax day, May 17, 2021. This latest letter came “right on time”; when I called in July 2022 the IRS employee told me it would be 16 weeks before my… Continue reading