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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2007)
BY SUE BARNHART Taxes for Peace Why contribute to death and destruction? EDITOR’S NOTE: A number of years ago, individuals in the Eugene area re-created a small war tax re- sistance group. The group is now called Taxes For Peace Not War and is joined with other sim- ilar groups around the country in the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee (NWTRCC). The group believes that wars could be stopped and would not even occur if there were to be no funding for them. Members protest by refusing to voluntarily pay all or part of their federal taxes. These are acts of civil disobedience, and the consequences are almost always financial. Below is the story of one of the local group members, Sue Barnhart. Other stories will follow in the next few weeks. I have been a war tax resister for thirty years. I was raised as a Christian and re- ally took to heart the commandment, “Thou Shalt not Kill.” I never felt comfortable paying taxes for war, but I didn’t realize I had a choice. As soon as I met some war tax resisters and realized it could be done, I began doing it. It feels very empowering to make a statement with my tax dollars. I actually wouldn’t mind paying more taxes so that all of us living in the U.S. could have clean air and water, beautiful parks that were well kept up, free educa- tion and health care, enough food to eat, meaningful work and a safe place to live. When I was young, I often resisted paying taxes by living below the taxable in- come. I also was a legal tax resister for a few years after I adopted my daughter. I was able to take a tax credit for adoption expenses. Other ways to legally avoid pay- ing war taxes include lowering your taxable income through giving money to chari- ties and having a lot of legal business expenses. Most years I owe taxes. I try to resist half of the taxes the IRS chart says I need to pay, since half or more of our taxes go towards war. If our country stopped going to war and redirected the taxes to our state and local governments, Lane County wouldn’t being having its current financial problems, and all the schools would be funded adequately. I mail in my tax form every year with a letter stating why I am not paying all I owe. I send a copy of that letter to the president, my Congresspeople, family, friends and the editorial page of local newspapers. Eventually the IRS either cleans out my bank account or garnishes my wages, but I’m making them work to get my money. It isn’t as scary as you might think because of the support we war tax resisters give to each other. Not paying war taxes sends a strong statement to the govern- ment that I’m against war. I wish more peace activists would do it. If more people took this action, we could put an end to war. As one of my favorite bumper sticker says, “If you work for peace, stop paying for war.” For more information about war tax resistance, contact www.nwtrcc.org, or nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org For local information, call 342-2914 or 342-1953. TO THE EDITOR REQUEST FROM MAYOR I hear from many in this community about bicycle use. Sometimes it’s the dan- gers of interfacing with automobiles. Sometimes it’s cyclists’ interactions with law enforcement. Sometimes it is the need to encourage more riding by keeping those lanes free of debris and well surfaced. Sometimes it’s about safe storage or lock up sites. Sometimes it’s how lucky we are to have such a wonderful bikepath system. The issues are myriad, but one thing for sure is that we do want to encourage this mode of transportation and recreation in our city. It is clean, sustainable and healthy. Bicycling has historically been an im- portant part of our city life, and right now we need to take another leap forward. The city is seeking volunteers for pedestrian and bicycle plan focus groups on April 5, and I want to encourage partici- pation. The purpose of the focus groups is to gain input from Eugene residents about what kinds of pedestrian and bicycle facili- ties are considered comfortable and safe as well as what tools might be used to encour- age people to walk and bike more fre- quently. Lunch will be provided to those attending the focus group sessions. Information collected from the focus groups will be included in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Strategic Plan. If you are inter- ested or would like more information, go to www.eugene-or.gov/walkbike or con- tact David Roth at 682-5727 or by email at david.f.roth@ci.eugene.or.us Please be part of planning Eugene’s fu- ture! Mayor Kitty Piercy Eugene MOODS & LIBIDOS If Lauren Angel (3/22) had actually bothered to read all of Dan Savage’s col- umn (3/15), she would have seen that he said nothing about women having to be “prostitutes.” Instead, he said that a woman with a low libido isn’t excused from having to reach out to her man from 4 MARCH 29, 2007 time to time, be it with a blow job, hand job or whatever. The man, meanwhile, needs to receive these gestures gratefully and with pleasure. It’s not about “pretend[ing] that they like it”; it’s about being receptive to your partner’s needs, and if someone is unwill- ing to do that, the relationship is in trouble. That’s just human nature, and it’s just as true when the woman is the one who wants sex more. I’m sure that, in some cases, sex is a shamanistic utopia where Michael Franti and Tret Fure serenade dreadlocked lovers in a sylvan glen, and that’s great. However, even loving and committed partners struggle with differing moods and libidos, and that’s where Dan comes in. I suspect part of why “Savage Love” has drawn so much fire around here is because it shatters PC notions about what sex is “supposed” to be. I may not always agree with Dan’s ad- vice, but he usually makes me laugh, and he always makes me think. Please keep him around. Kris Bluth Eugene CENTERFOLD REQUEST More and more while perusing the pages of EW, viewing articles and pictures that would make a porn star blush, I find myself referring to the cover, making sure it’s a copy of EW and not Hustler maga- zine. How about if we stop the pretense and go ahead and have a centerfold while we’re at it? I’m thinking of something like a naked woman hugging a tree? What do you think? Dan Owen Springfield EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a great idea. Any models out there? Male or female or …? The possibilities are endless. Photo submissions welcome. SKEWED ATTENTION I find it interesting in a disturbing kind of way that in these days of ozone deple- tion, deforestation, climate change, corrupt
