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