from Democracy Now!:



War Tax Resistance: How a Portland Couple Have Refused to Pay Taxes for Over 30 Years to Protest Military Funding

Today is April 15th, Tax Day, a day when tens of millions of Americans scramble to file their income taxes on time. It’s also a day when people across the country are planning to protest the use of tax dollars to fund war. A recent study shows that more than 40 percent of every income tax dollar in 2007 went towards military spending. We speak with Pat and John Schwiebert, a Portland couple who have refused to pay their taxes for the past thirty years to protest military spending.



Guests:

Pat Schwiebert, war tax resister for over thirty years. She is a registered nurse and has started a group for parents who have lost their children. The Oregonian has described her as “one of the nation’s premier experts on grief and infant loss.”

John Schwiebert, war tax resister for over thirty years. He is recently retired after more than four decades as a United Methodist minister.


AMY GOODMAN: Today is April 15th, Tax Day, a day when tens of millions of Americans scramble to file their income taxes on time. It’s also a day when people across the country are planning to protest the use of tax dollars to fund war. In dozens of communities across the country, demonstrations are planned at IRS offices, federal buildings, post offices and other public places to protest the continued funding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A recent study by the National Priorities Project shows more than 40 percent of every income tax dollar in 2007 went towards military spending. The largest share of that was for the war in Iraq, which has been estimated to cost taxpayers $12 billion per month. The total amount allocated for the Iraq war through fiscal year 2008 is more than $520 billion.

To protest the continued funding of the war, some Americans are taking a stand today by personally refusing to fund the military. Tax resisters across the country are planning to withhold part or all of their taxes to protest the war.

Pat and John Schwiebert have been war tax resisters for the past thirty years. John Schwiebert is a retired pastor who spent more than four decades as a United Methodist minister. His wife Pat Schwiebert is a registered nurse who founded support groups for parents who have lost their children. They both join me here in our Portland, Oregon studio. We welcome you to Democracy Now!

JOHN SCHWIEBERT: Welcome to Portland. It’s good to have you.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, it’s good to be back here. John, how long haven’t you paid taxes?

JOHN SCHWIEBERT: Well, it’s been over thirty years. I’m not exactly sure. I think it was 1977 when we stopped paying.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about your decision thirty years ago.

JOHN SCHWIEBERT: I think we just pretty much together came to the realization that we’re conscientious objectors to war, and if you object to war, you don’t participate. The only way we could participate at our age at the time is by refusing to support it. And so, we just said, well, we won’t send in the military portion, the military percentage of our taxes.

AMY GOODMAN: And how do you work that out?

JOHN SCHWIEBERT: Well, you—in that case, we just filled out our tax return, we told the IRS what we owed, and we said we’re only paying a percentage of it, and we’re refusing to pay the rest. The IRS just treats it as if it were a failure to pay, so the only thing they’ve ever done with us is to try to collect the money. And in some cases they have, and in some cases they haven’t been able to collect it. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/15/war_...