While borders may give an impression of collective agreements, conflicts illuminate the deep fissures that exist when arbitrary lines in the sand are drawn and nationalists tensions are manipulated.  While one could easily spend their days reading the most recent headlines and following stings of articles on the internet to have a better grasp of what is occurring and the histories that have led us here, there often seems to be a sense of disconnect or what some have identified as psychic numbing.

Photo by Ed Hedemann, 2017.

For the past year there has been a dark cloud of potential nuclear war hanging over the conflict.  Now with Russia suspending the New START Treaty and threatening the possibility of resuming nuclear testing. While both the US and Russia have been withdrawing from nuclear arms control agreements, in January 2021 the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force making nuclear weapons illegal under international law.

In The Madness of Nuclear Warfare is Alive and Well in America, the author quotes Dorothy Day “Our problems stem from our acceptance of this filthy, rotten system.” as a testimony of the power that we have as citizens that led Dorothy and many others to war tax refusal and other tactics that promote life and strive for peace and justice. 

London 2/15/03 photo by Paul Mattsson

Recently there were remembrances of the largest global anti-war day of protest to prevent the escalation of war in Iraq 20 years ago. It seems essential to take pause and mourn what was lost in not pursuing that path towards peace including 1.5 million lives lost and $21 trillion of taxpayer dollars stolen in the war on Terror according to CODEPINK and you can also read a blog post by Sam about the Iraq War Tribunal. It also seems vital to celebrate the communities that were created in coming together to dream another world into being and to broadcast those seeds throughout the lands. 

Dorothy Day also wrote about the need to take a break from the daily news and suggested immersing oneself in the arts. It seemed particularly important to see the issues of our day in a wider context and the universal themes of the human experience. She was particularly fond of Russian authors on war and peace. Any suggestions of favorites would be welcomed.  Poetry seems to be a great way to chase the headlines away.

From The Dragon Who Never Sleeps  By Robert Aitken

When nations take their revenge

I vow with all beings 

to suggest that revenge springs from anguish-

perhaps we created the pain.

Then the army holds a parade

I vow with all beings 

to sing pacifist songs with the children 

of Minsk, Tel Aviv, and Fort Bragg.

When federal taxes are due

I vow with all beings 

to refuse any role in the killing 

of Sesshu, Dostoevsky and Bach. 

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Beauty Will Save The World first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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The front page article was about the confusion around various presentations of the military budget by peace groups and the proper terms to use to explain those percentages. The article sets out to explain the differences among “discretionary spending,” “mandatory spending,” “federal funds,” “trust funds,” and “Where Your Income Taxes Really Go.” The confusion is pretty much the same today, so if you need a refresher, that newsletter is still online at https://nwtrcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/mtap0213.pdf. Another good source is the National Priorities Project website, which includes a Federal Budget 101 section with explanations about the budget process and also a Glossary that includes the terms above.

Looking at that issue from Feb./March 2013 also reminded me that some may be wondering if War Resisters League is producing a new pie chart this year. The answer is yes. It looks like Biden is releasing the 2024 budget on March 9, so as soon as it’s online we’ll work as fast as we can on the analysis and get it printed and posted online. The timeline is a bit tight for tax day, but at least this year we will be able to work from current numbers. Last year Biden’s budget came out some time after tax day. Of course, how much any administration’s budget reflects reality is an open question. It will be interesting to see the accounting for all the money they have been shipping off periodically to keep the war in Ukraine going.

That newsletter also has a commentary by Gary Erb, who, among other things, takes issue with how the federal debt is presented on the pie chart. I am not sure we have ever satisfied his concerns, but we will make an effort this year to reconsider the percent of the debt that is war-related. This is a tough one to sort through. Historically war has been the major contributor to federal debt, but the previous president’s tax cuts, the pandemic and some of Biden’s programs have added significant amounts more recently. Whether we’ll stick with the 80% is an open question for now.

If budget talk makes you yawn, that newsletter has a  write-up of a member survey that might hold some insights for organizing today. And there’s a review of Peg Morton’s memoir, Feeling Light Within, I Walk: Tales, Adventures and Reflections of a Quaker Activist. She died in 2015, and her book is a good read about a life well lived.

— Post by Ruth Benn
Co-author of the WRL pie chart

The post Pie Chart Prognosis first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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My 2020 tax folder is piling up with letters back and forth.

However, I had to write back a dispute because they did not correct their original error. The IRS took my estimated and final payments for 2020 self-employment/Social Security taxes and applied them to my income tax debts for 2011 and 2012. This is against IRS regulations. I wrote them about this is August 2021 but got no reply, so last week I copied that text and sent it back to them with my corrected calculations.

I have a feeling this is going to go on for a while. By my original calculations my resisted income tax for 2020 was $1,216. Since the IRS misapplied my 2020 payments, they say I owe $4,431, including interest and penalties and a credit I had overlooked for one of those stimulus checks I didn’t receive.

My dispute letter repeats my calculations but includes the credit. If the IRS accepts it and returns my payments to the proper year, the down side for me is that I may end up with an overpayment for 2020. In addition, all this delay has also messed up the real amount I should be getting in my Social Security payments. That and the fact that the IRS needs to apply estimated tax payments properly and follow their own regulations are reasons to carry on this correspondence.

NYC City Council member Carlina Rivera announces the Move the Money resolution on December 7 at City Hall. Photo by Ruth Benn. More photos by Ted Reich here.

Meanwhile, I did have a better time at a press conference for the NYC Move the Money campaign. City Council Member Carlina Rivera hosted the press conference on the steps of City Hall to announce the introduction of a “Move the Money” resolution in the NYC City Council. If passed, Res. 0423-2022 puts the city on record calling on Congress and the President to cut the military budget and fund social services. City officials who spoke at the press conference spoke eloquently and with passion about the importance of moving the money.

As with most such resolutions it is symbolic, but the campaign itself is a worthy one for peace groups as far as public education goes and the opportunity to work with a broader coalition. The NYC Move the Money coalition itself is made up of 60 labor, peace, community, clergy, environmental and racial justice organizations — and growing. Many of those groups are demanding the mayor fund social services (or at least avoid cuts), but they don’t talk about the obvious source of revenue to fund these programs. Move the Money makes the connection and opens the door for more dialogue and cooperation.

— Post by Ruth Benn

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Originally, the proposed funding had some Republican support, but that soon soured and the future of the funding proposal seemed dead.

All that changed when Biden and congressional Democrats saw an opening to quickly pass the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRS funding would probably not had passed as a solo bill, but it found life after being added to the IRA. Last Sunday, Senate Democrats passed the IRA and the House is expected to pass it later this week.

What’s in the Bill?

The bill will increase the IRS budget by almost $80 billion over 10 years… so a yearly increase of about $8 billion. The current yearly IRS budget is $12.6 billion, so this is a yearly increase of over 60%. That is substantial. After decades of inadequate funding, the IRS will be flush with funds. In terms of people power, this bill will add 87,000 employees to the IRS over a ten-year period—roughly doubling their numbers.

Half of the new funding will be dedicated to enforcement. From the start, supporters emphasized that enforcement will focus on high-income individuals, but low to mid-income households will surely feel the repercussions of this beefed-up enforcement. At the end of the 2010, the IRS wrote off $14.6 billion of taxes due as it expired after reaching the 10-year-statute of limitations. At the end of 2019, $34.2 billion was written off. The IRS expects that increased enforcement will increase taxes collected by over $200 billion during the next 10 years.

It is unlikely that the larger IRS budget will lead to more property confiscations for war tax resisters. Photo by Sami Aksu from Pexels.

The remainder will be used for operations, tax-payer services, and technology. The IRS has an embarrassing back-log of paper returns to process, not enough people to answer the phone, and an antiquated computer system. I am sure that these three items will be priorities for the remainder of the funds.

Consequences for War Tax Resisters

Nothing in the bill indicates that the IRS will increase property confiscations for items such as cars and homes. The decrease in confiscations was largely due to a change in philosophy in the late 1990s. But as the IRS slowly rebuilds its enforcement ranks, we will likely see an increase in wage garnishments, bank levies, retirement fund levies, W-4 lock-in letters, and notices of public liens filed at local courthouses.

Of course, before they can take action on recent years for WTR paper filers, they will have to actually process their returns! As always, the NWTRCC office will stay abreast of these matters and keep you up to date.

— Post by Lincoln Rice

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Photos by Sue Barnhart

We drove our Prius from Eugene, Oregon to these outstanding national treasures. We passed through some unbelievably scenic countryside and I often thought about how many more of the wonders of our country could be protected and restored if we weren’t supporting wars.

As most of you know, our country spends more on war than any other country in the world. In fact, our military budget is larger than the combination of the next seven largest military budgets! I began resisting paying taxes back in the 70’s when I learned it was possible to do, because I was against killing people. I’m still resisting for that reason, and also because I want my tax dollars to go to life affirming projects, not to war.

Climate and the U.S. Military

Everyday we hiked lovely trails, and often saw wildlife and plants that are threatened with extinction. In fact, we are all threatened with extinction and the U.S. military is the biggest carbon emitter in the world. So in my mind, they one of the biggest contributors to our extinction in two ways: (1) by always being involved in wars which threaten our extinction by nuclear bombs and (2) being the biggest contributor to the climate catastrophe.

Lowering the U.S. military budget would go a long way in lowering carbon emissions from our country. Giving more money to our national parks, reserves, and monuments and less to the military could be used to protect more trees and plants. And that in turn would help to lower the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and slow the effects of global warming.

The Army & Yellowstone

We learned while we were at Yellowstone that the park was established in 1872. In its early years the 2.2 million acres of park was managed by just a handful of people. The government allocated very little resources to protect the park and it was hard to stop the defacing of the geysers, the chopping down of trees, and the poaching of the animals. Many acres were destroyed by fires intentionally set by settlers annoyed that the park was established.

In 1886, the U.S. Army was tasked with managing Yellowstone National Park until 1916 when the National Park Service was established. The troops withdrew from the park by 1918. The military administration of Yellowstone was a model for the management of Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. If you look at  the park rangers uniforms today, they are similar to the uniforms the Army wore at that time.

Eventually hundreds of officers and enlisted men were stationed at Yellowstone. After a first winter in tents, the Army built some beautiful buildings still used today including a post office, a courthouse, some houses, barracks used for more housing, a museum, and administrative buildings. The Army Corps of Engineers built many of the roads and bridges that were still in use until they were flooded and destroyed a few weeks after we left the park.

We were able to drive on all those bridges and roads, enjoying the beautiful nature of the park, and they will take years to replace. The flooding was another example of our climate catastrophe–lots of snow extremely late in the season that melted during unusually high amounts of rain.

Photos by Sue Barnhart who stated “We saw many animals- baby bison and bears, coyote, wolf and fox cubs”

Let’s Preserve Life

If only the funds and personnel in the Defense Department could be transferred to preserving life instead of destroying life. Funds could be used to maintain trails and build more trails. Many of the trails we were on needed maintenance. Money could be put towards building an outhouse in front of each trailhead. It could be used to restore buildings that were built by people out of work during the Great Depression who found work in the Civil Conservation Corps. 

Money could also be used to hire more rangers and biologists to study climate change and the threatened extinction of so many animals and plants and to work toward preserving them. It could be used to purchase electric buses to transport tourists so that there would be less cars on the park road and less congestion. More informational displays could be built. More National Parks could be created. The National Parks budget gets cut every year, while the military’s budget  gets more funds than it asks for.

I’ll keep resisting taxes for war until none of our tax dollars go towards war. And I’ll keep dreaming of what those tax dollars could be going towards if they were not paying for war.

Post by Sue Barnhart

The post Let Us Imagine Investing in Preserving Our Natural Wonders first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Let Us Imagine Investing in Preserving Our Natural Wonders appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Image of NATO protest in Chicago from Steve Rhodes on Flickr.

The revolving doors of the Pentagon opened up this week to the 8 largest U.S. weapons manufacturers and the war strategists to come to the table. They were making plans  for a war in Ukraine that may continue for years. It was as if a dream that had been brewing for years appeared to be coming true. The obscenity of military spending in the U.S., feverishly gobbling up over half of federal income taxes for decades has become even more perverse in the last few years as the pandemic has magnified the denial of the resources for people’s needs and our home in which we depend.

In February 2020, the U.S. Army published an article Interoperability: Embrace it or Fail! that was cowritten by leaders in Australian, French, British and U.S. militaries. The paper argues for the need to have weapon systems that would be standardized amongst allied nations and ends with a future scenario. “It is now 2035 and you find yourself deployed to a theater within the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command general area of operations where tensions are high. Your previous experience in Europe highlighted a disjointed approach towards sustainment and logistics yielding sub-optimal solutions. You remain hopeful that NATO and ABCANZ (America, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) nations have learned from previous challenges and are better prepared for LSCO (Large Scale Combat Operations) in your new theater.”

Long time war tax resister Don Timmerman at NATO protest.

In another part of the document it speaks of gauging levels of ambition: “Interoperability requires nations to spend money, take risk and cede sovereignty in order to increase legitimacy, cohesion, mass and agility.” That seemed to have been the previous U.S. presidential administrations continued refrain to NATO members that they needed to pay more of their GDP towards defense spending.

Following World War II, many western European countries’ military budgets invested more of their taxes or collective resources towards the needs of their populations and less on military spending. Quite dramatically the world has witnessed a reversal of that trend with Germany making a dramatic jump from #7 in military spending to #3 and reversing its ban on exporting weapons. In the article “Waltzing to Armageddon,” Chris Hedges points out how U.S. military spending will help recruit Eastern European nations to join NATO and will fast track conversion to NATO weapons and technology. Long standing neutral nations of Sweden and Finland are considering joining NATO–adding additional impetus for a global war.

Image from Catholic Worker protest of NATO in Chicago.

While some may have notions of U.S. exports being McDonalds and Levis, the number 1 export of the U.S. has long been weapons. Now it appears as if we are attempting to convince our allies to adopt the McDonaldization of our militaries and create standard systems, munitions, and fuels. The only country to use nuclear weapons is calling for new standardization and efficiencies of delivering death.

It was disheartening to begin the week with news that the U.S. was going to vastly expand the types of weapons it was sending to Ukraine. It seems like the response to death and destruction is to send more weapons and money even after the Biden administration has already spent $2.4 billion on Ukraine since taking office. The alarm bells go off when Defense News reports that U.S. lawmakers proposal of $13.6 billion for weapons and training “was like putting Biden’s proposal on steroids.” 

Chrissy Kirchhoefer inside Obama Headquarters in Chicago as part of NATO protests

The wicked irony of escalating a war when many are celebrating Passover, Ramadan, and Holy Week. All the rituals are marked by personal reflection and communal coming together to share nourishment. The rituals of war tax resisters coming together for Tax Day with War Resister’s League pie charts to educate about U.S. military spending have been scaled back during the pandemic. The last “regular” Tax Day in 2019 coincided with holy week yet the events of the world have changed us all. What has not changed in these 2 years and has only increased is the amount of U.S. taxpayer money going towards military spending.

While some have questioned the increasing amounts of our collective resources going towards the Pentagon especially with the removal of troops in Afghanistan after 20 years and the lack of resources during the pandemic, war fever has been catching and spreading the world over, trying to rob us of our money, “others” lives and our collective imaginations. 

Catholic Worker preform works of mercy as part of NATO and works of war protest.

Many will continue to be out in coming days to reclaim our imaginings for another world that does not promote or fund the slaughter of innocents. Go public in your opposition of paying for war by signing NWTRCC’s sign on statement, find inspiration from others taking action with the newly formed War Industry Resisters Network that are encouraging actions at places that profit from war around Tax Day to Earth Day and let us know of actions that you take so we can share them with NWTRCC and the annual Tax Day Report. Know that everyday is a great day to speak out about military spending and that there is a vast worldwide network of others who share your concerns!

Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Pentagon Spending: Efficient at Destroying but Inoperable for Healing Our World first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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Biden’s budget proposal for FY 2023 totals a trillion dollars more than previous budgets with dramatic increases in every department, including tax credits that have really helped the poor in recent years, pandemic relief, big jumps in the Department of Education, food and housing programs, pandemic-related relief, infrastructure and other positive programs.

But — isn’t there always a but — before we pop the champagne, there’s more to consider than just a glance at the pie and percentages.

Ed Hedemann and I analyze the budget and write the pie chart for WRL, and it is a project that becomes more challenging as the federal budget process gets more and more dysfunctional. The President is supposed to release the proposed budget in early February, and Congress is supposed to debate and pass a new budget by the start of the federal fiscal year each October 1.* However, it was not until March 10, five months into the current 2022 fiscal year, that Congress finalized and passed a budget.

Because it takes so long for real spending to be reflected in the published budget, what we see year after year is a proposed budget that is more a policy statement than likely to become reality, with one exception: military spending.

You may recall that the FY2022 budget that Congress just passed included even more for the Pentagon than military or Biden requested, a whopping $730 billion. And, that’s just for the Pentagon; it does not include all those other agencies that we list under current military that have “security” functions. And Congress added another $13.6 billion for the Ukraine, about half of which is military aid. (At the same time, they took out the Covid aid package and, of course, had already refused to pass legislation to address climate change and invest in child care, health care and education.)

So, while the pie itself looks better than most years, percentages don’t tell the full story. On this current flyer, the $978 billion total is $13 billion higher than our analysis last year. It’s obscene.

data from DoD “National Defense Budget
Estimates for FY 2022,” August 2021, table 6.3

It’s no time to celebrate. It’s certainly no time to stop resisting!

— Post by Ruth Benn

* National Priorities Project has a good outline of the process and more budget explanations on their website. They also have a glossary that explains the difference between “mandatory” and “discretionary” spending, both of which add up to “where your income taxes go.” The WRL pie chart includes both. Many other organization show percentages based just on discretionary spending.

P.S. In the course of posting this blog suddenly a rather large word mix-up in the flyer headline jumped out at me (online versions are getting fixed). With thousands printed, we’ll have to live with it — and the embarrassment that we and proofers didn’t catch it. Oopsie…

The post The Untouchable Pentagon first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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There is a lot of confusion around taxes in the US, especially around federal income taxes. Many taxpayers are unaware that every year around 50% of taxes goes towards warfare and increased militarism worldwide. And in the wars since 9/11 about half of those tax monies go towards private contractors. 

Then there is the fear that ranks taxes right up there with death. There seems to be an outsized fear of the IRS and the perceived reach that they possess.  Some of the fear could also be related to a reluctance of squarely looking at what our taxes fund and don’t fund.

A major uniting factor for war tax resisters is a willingness to witness and resist the destruction caused by US militarism as it ripples around the world. One of the great strengths of the NWTRCC network is the collective knowledge and sharing current information.  NWTRCC’s website spans a wide expanse of questions and quandaries related to making informed decisions regarding where our tax money goes. And still if you can’t find it there there are counselors throughout the country to assist with your questions.

Another great resource to stay abreast of annual changes to the tax system is information provided by the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. Local communities often provide training for people who are able to assist people on the low end of the economic spectrum to provide tax information.  There is also a wealth of online resources of training videos as well as interactive websites. 

The ‘Fog of War’ is said to depend upon elements of fear and confusion. Military verbiage, jargon and acronyms are meant to sanitize the business of killing. Funding the war machine requires confusion to distract taxpayers from the simple fact that most of our tax money goes to militarism; draining resources from necessary human needs.

 At this time of the year, many war tax resisters are starting to plan for collective tax day actions to raise awareness of these issues. The G.I. Joe animated cartoon series in the 1980s would always end with “Now I know.  And knowing is half the battle.” I wonder what the saying of the war tax resister would be?

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Knowing is Half the Battle first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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Image by Viacheslav Lopatin from Shutterstock

On September 1st, the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee backed a proposal to increase military spending for the Department of Defense by $25 Billion. That total was more than the Biden Administration had requested of $715 Billion. The vote was 42 to 17 which passed in the Senate. 

Many have been raising the issue of how the US could increase the military budget while the needs within our communities grow. The number of groups opposing the military budget has been encouraging. There were close to 50 organizations that signed on to a recommendation to decrease military spending. Barbara Lee, the legislator who voted against the war with Afghanistan, proposed to cut military spending by $25 Billion to align with the presidential request. This request would be less than at the height of the wars in Korea and Vietnam and the build up in arms during the Reagan Administration. 

The current Department of Defense budget is $37.5 Billion more than last year. There have been calls to reduce the military budget by 10% in order to redirect those funds to human needs. William Hartung recently wrote “If we’re concerned about making America and the world safer, we should be investing more funds in addressing pandemics, climate change, and racial and economic injustice—not buying weapons we don’t need at prices we can’t afford,” he said, calling the vote “good news for Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and other big weapons contractors and bad news for the American public.”

The SPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Center) recently reported that the Democrats who voted against the 10% funding decrease for the military had received on average 3.7 times more money from defense contractors than those who voted against. It seems that the money from funders may have influenced their vote and it seems that those who voted against funding military bloat could use our support as well as those who voted to reject the 1033 program that gives military surplus to police departments.

War tax resisters had a literature table and participated in the annual conference of the
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. The event was held in Huntsville, Alabama. Pictured are war tax resisters and friends (l to r): Bother Utsumi, Sister Denise, Karl Meyer, Judy Collins, Clare Hanrahan, Jim Allen (back right), Barbara & Albert Strickland, Coleman Smith. Photo courtesy of Clare Hanrahan.

Recently, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) pushed back against the narrative that cutting Pentagon spending would make Americans less safe, emphasizing how easy it would be to find the funds.”The Pentagon could save almost $58 billion by eliminating obsolete weapons, weapons like Cold War-era bombers and missiles designed and built in the last century that are completely unsuitable for this one,” said Ocasio-Cortez.  “We could find another $18 billion by simply preventing the end-of-year spending sprees that lead to contract money being shoveled out the door every September,” she added, echoing Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) observation earlier this week that the Pentagon—which has never passed an audit—is inherently susceptible to fraud.”

On a recent webinar, someone stated how they pulled up a seat at the TV on September 1st to watch details of the Defense Authorization Act on C-Span. While it seems important to stay abreast of developments of military spending, it seems all the more important to take action.

 The words of  Barbara Jordan from Texas come to mind, “The stakes… are too high for government to be a spectator sport.” I am encouraged to think of all the war tax resisters finding ways to bypass the government; say enough is enough!

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Billions, Billions & Billions…Who’s Counting? first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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Tax Gap in 2010. Published by IRS in 2017.

With its current resources and authority, the IRS manages to collect about 10% of the tax gap. The Biden administration estimates that the proposal would increase collection by $700 billion over a decade. Though analysts at the University of Pennsylvania believe the number would be closer to $480 billion. Either way, the additional funding for the IRS would pay for itself.

Biden’s Proposal

Biden’s proposal would grant the IRS greater authority, double its personnel, and update its flagging computer system. As noted in the Counselors Notes of the June newsletter, this proposal also includes making repeated willful failure to file a tax return a felony. I have already received several phone calls about this particular aspect of Biden’s plan. Some war tax resisters are wondering if they should begin filing next year.

Another WTR concern with the legislation is the requirement for greater reporting by financial institutions like banks. Currently, the type of information that would be reported would be “earnings from investments and business activity.” The reporting is supposed to be more focused on targeting high-end earners, but the details have not been hammered out, yet. In addition, banks are already beginning their lobbying efforts to defeat this part of the legislation. So how should a war tax resister respond?

Status of the Legislation

My advice: “Hold your horses!” Nothing has happened, yet. Biden and the IRS are trying to drum up support for this plan. Nothing is known about what portions of this plan will become law… or if any of it will become law. (NWTRCC’s newsletter will keep you abreast of any developments.) The plan needs Republican support. Though some Republicans were showing support for increasing funding to the IRS, the bill still has a long way to go.

As this goes to press, the passage of the bill looks less likely. Biden has touted his IRS proposal as a way to pay for his infrastructural plan. But Republicans in Congress just claimed a “victory” by forcing Biden to remove the IRS funding plan from this infrastructure proposal. Capitalizing on everyone’s fear of the IRS, Republicans have prided themselves in starving the IRS.

IRS Building in Washington D.C. Photo courtesy of Joshua Doubek on Wikimedia Commons

Biden’s Message on the Rich & Taxes

To counterbalance the Republican stance against the IRS, the Biden administration wants Americans to know that the rich are not paying their fair share of taxes. Earlier this summer, a large amount of tax information and tax returns filed by the richest Americans was leaked to the press. I have a hard time believing this leak was not intentional by someone in the IRS or with the Biden administration.

The central messaging of Biden’s tax legislation is that the rich will pay their fair share. What the leaked files made clear is that the richest Americans are not avoiding taxes by illegal means, but by well-known loopholes. The current Biden proposal would not do much to increase tax collection on the Jeff Bezoses of the world. Nevertheless, the legislation would affect higher income earners as well as low and middle income earners—including war tax resisters.

Final Thoughts…

If this proposal becomes law, many war tax resisters may have to reassess their strategies. We might see war tax resisters submitting appeals to the war tax resistance penalty fund. And many folks who have practiced their war tax resistance on an island may discover that they would now prefer to be connected to a local group or to NWTRCC. A lot of things might change, but let’s wait to see what happens. And no matter what happens, NWTRCC will be here to support and encourage war tax resistance.

— Post by Lincoln Rice

The post Biden’s IRS Funding Proposal first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

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Afghan vineyard worker from Flickr

In the New York Times article The Salvaged Relics of a Very Long War: Shops Near Vacated Afghanistan Base Sell Vestiges of US Presence describes how Bagram, surrounded by grape vineyards, has an economy based on the refuse of two superpowers over the past 40 years. The article mentions that even the US Special Inspector General does not know how many firearms were sent to Afghanistan or if there are more American M16s than Russian Kalashnikovs. In some places, Afghan troops have surrendered to insurgent groups because they do not have ammunition. 

“As they left, the Americans demolished things like armored cars and more than 15,000 other pieces of equipment deemed excess property, a catchall that allows US forces to destroy items so that they are not sold by the Afghans for profit.” Still some who have been left behind in the ravages of war were able to gather some of the spoils/ scraps of war to sell to try and make a living or to preserve life. 

During a press conference later in the day after US troops left Afghanistan, President Biden cut off a question on the issue saying, “I want to talk about happy things,” which for him meant the US jobs report. When asked about concerns about the US pulling out troops, Biden said “Look, we were in that war for 20 years. Twenty years. The Afghans are going to have to be able to do it themselves with the Air Force they have.”  The US has offered to support the Afghan troops with teleconferences and drones from afar. 

As with many of the wars, the US government has depended upon the US people to be unaware or apathetic about the fighting. Former Air Force analyst, Daniel Hale was concerned that the US public was not getting important  information about the nature and extent of US drone warfare. He had worked for the National Security Agency at Bagram Air Force Base and could not distinguish who was being targeted in drone attacks. He released information to the public and is facing sentencing on July 27 on charges related to whistle-blowing. He was appealing to the conscience of the people of the US responsible for growing numbers of civilian casualties from drone airstrikes. 

Syracuse Cultural Workers Barbara Lee quote

Fortunately, throughout all of the history of wars, there have been people raising awareness and resisting wars; cutting through rhetoric about ‘good wars’ and other ways of distancing from the impacts of war.  In the US, we are in a unique position with the largest portion of our taxes going to war to resist these taxes in ways that are not as easily done in other parts of the world. Barbara Lee, who was the sole vote against the authorization of use of force following the September 11 attacks, has recently introduced legislation that would reduce funding to the Pentagon. While she has acknowledged that it may not be passed this year she states, “we cannot continue to prioritize funding for a department known for its waste, fraud, abuse, and failure to pass an audit—especially when the money to ‘protect national security’ is failing to protect our most vulnerable citizens.”

Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer

The post Left in the Dark: $2 Trillion and Counting… first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Left in the Dark: $2 Trillion and Counting… appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Saturday featured two panels. The first was a “Panel on the New Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons & Paths Forward for Resistance,” featuring Mari Inoue (attorney and cofounder of the Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World), Dr. Linda Richards (historian of science and a grassroots activist since the 1986 Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament who represented the WILPF Disarm Committee in international meetings), and Jack Cohen Joppa (cofounder of the Nuclear Resister newsletter in 1980, which continues to provide information and support for imprisoned anti-nuclear and anti-war activists).

The second was a “Panel on Organizing with Younger War Tax Resisters,” featuring Lindsey Britt (Vermont), Jerry Maynard (Texas) and Allison McGillivray (Oregon). The younger war tax resisters shared stories about how they each came to WTR and their suggestions for spreading WTR among younger activists. Both panels featured a lively, Q&A which is included on the YouTube recordings. Saturday concluded with concurrent WTR 101 & 201 sessions.

The Sunday business meeting began with reports from both NWTRCC consultants (Coordinator & Outreach consultant), a review of our objectives, and a financial update (which included news about our upcoming charity auction and push for more church donations [www.nwtrcc.org/church]).

Next, we unanimously approved the nominations of Lindsey Britt and Erica Leigh to begin serving three-year terms on NWTRCC’s Administrative Committee. (A huge thank you to both DeCourcy Squire and Sam Leuschner, who finished their three year terms!)

There were two proposals on our agenda. The first was an update to our statement of purpose, which simplified our previous statement and made it more succinct. We reached consensus on adopting the new statement, which can be found here: https://nwtrcc.org/about-nwtrcc/statement-of-purpose/

The second proposal was to choose a new logo from among three options. No consensus was reached on this item. If you have any ideas for a new NWTRCC logo, please contact the NWTRCC office. Minutes from NWTRCC’s business meeting will be posted in the near future at https://nwtrcc.org/nwtrcc-business/.

Overall, it was wonderful conference that featured attendees from Alaska, Hawaii, both Portlands, and everywhere in between. It was also great to host such great panels with panelists from all over the country. It would be better meeting in person, but I am glad we were able to make the best of what technology has to offer.

~Lincoln Rice

The post Report from NWTRCC’s Third Online Conference first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Report from NWTRCC’s Third Online Conference appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.