March 18, 2006

AT LENGTH

Civil disobedience with taxes will make the point

By Kayla Starr
Ashland

Thank you for covering the stories on peak oil and the film, “America: Freedom to Fascism” featured on the front page of your weekend edition. It’s crucial now for our citizens to be informed of dissenting views on U.S. government policies.

In regard to the question raised in the second article regarding federal income tax, more than 10,000 war resisters are now openly refusing to pay all or part of their federal tax, because of moral and ethical opposition to U.S. military policies. Many have invested the funds withheld in one of the 75 war tax resistance escrow accounts which exist for that purpose around the country. The escrow accounts invest these funds in local peace and justice programs.

At least half of all war tax resisters are never penalized by the IRS, despite the perceived threat of criminal prosecution. The other half are threatened with loss of personal property and liens on their wages by the IRS. If these threats are actively pursued by the government, most people decide to withdraw their money from the escrow accounts, including the interest accrued, to pay taxes, rather than lose their property. It costs the IRS an average of $4,000 to collect per tax payer, while the tax resister has kept their money from the military for up to 5 years prior to that step.

Millions more are refusing the 3 percent federal tax on their phone bills, which is used expressly for the military. This amounts to over $4 million per year. Many phone companies have programmed their computers to handle this without carrying over unpaid balances to the next bill. The customer only has to stipulate in writing that the amount withheld is for the federal tax.

No one has ever been convicted or jailed simply for refusing to pay federal taxes. Those few who do get prosecuted have broken laws related to their tax refusal, such as fraud or resisting relinquishing their personal property to the IRS, when ordered to do so by a court of law.

After three years of letters, petitions, protest marches and prayers to stop the U.S invasion of Iraq by millions of citizens, we have been ignored by Congress and the administration. The majority of Americans, as well as the rest of the world, believe that this occupation is wrong. Perhaps the only way to end it is refusing to fight the war and refusing to pay for it. Is it worth the personal risk to bring the killing of thousands of innocents to an end?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The right is hers alone to choose

As a libertarian I believe the upcoming debate should not be about when, or if, any abortion should be allowed to occur but rather must be about the rights of women to have complete control over their own bodies. It is a debate that hopefully will determine in the final instance that men have no place or authority in determining how women should behave as far as control of their bodies is concerned. Abortion is a personal issue for women to determine and for women only.

We all reserve complete rights to our bodies and how we use or abuse them, whether to be gay or straight, to seek or not seek medication when ill, or to seek euthanasia at the end of life. It must be determined that government has no authority in any of these matters and quite simply needs to butt out.

My hope is that women make this an issue that simply focuses on individual rights. A SCOTUS win in this matter will establish constitutional precedent for all issues where government seeks to establish societal norms for the individual where it has no authority given to it by the people and the constitution.

Doug Forsyth
Ashland

Not a partner in Helman Springs

I am not a partner nor am I financially involved with the Helman Springs project, except as the project landscape architect and planner. I am part of a planning team that includes a state certified archeologist, a licensed civil engineering firm, a hydro-geologist, a wetlands and biology specialist.

This planning project is one of over a dozen that our office is involved in here in the Valley.

Kerry KenCairn
KenCairn Sager Landscape Architects

Bush should be fired for cause

I always thought that if someone was incompetent and ineffective at the job he was hired to do that he would be fired. Especially if two-thirds of the people who hired him disapproved of his performance. Please tell me why, then, is Bush still in office?

Katie Ortlip
Ashland

Navickas pair for grand marshal

Given that the Fourth of July is a celebration of the birth of our nation’s freedoms, it is only fitting that we honor those among us who have contributed significantly to protecting, nurturing and exercising our essential rights. Therefore, I would like to nominate Erik and Ryan Navickas as Co-Grand Marshals of the Fourth of July parade.

Both Ryan and Erik have demonstrated their commitment to being active citizens on a wide range of community issues — from forest use, city planning actions, and homelessness to questioning the limits of free speech and free action. Erik has further demonstrated a commitment to democratic involvement by his willingness to run for political office, something fewer and fewer people are willing to do.

The fact that perhaps the majority of Ashland residents disagree with many of the positions Ryan and Erik have taken is all the more reason for the community to support their exercise of the freedoms many of us don’t usually bother with. We don’t need a Bill of Rights to protect mainstream ideas. It is, of course, the unpopular and the obstructionist who the authors of the First Amendment were thinking of.

Finally, in looking toward the future, it is reassuring that there are still young people in our community — and Erik and Ryan are certainly not the only ones — who take democracy seriously and are willing to act on their beliefs. For all these reasons, I again respectfully submit the names of Ryan and Erik Navickas as grand marshals.

To go along with their selection as grand marshals, I would like to suggest as the theme for this year’s parade: “Celebrate Freedom While We Still Can!”

Donald Abel
Ashland

Further change at Peace House

As of Feb. 15, the Board of Directors of Peace House regretfully accepted the resignation of Stuart O’Neill, the program director for the Youth and Militarism Program of Peace House.

Kerul Dyer developed and brought this important program to our community and Stuart O’Neill and Grady Boyd picked up the torch and implemented it. It has had a very important impact on many youth in southwest Oregon.

We are pleased that Stuart will continue his work regionally through the Oxygen Collective. Peace House plans to continue to offer a conscientious objector-counter military recruitment program locally in Ashland and we all hope to work collaboratively to expand the influence of CO-CMR work. We are very appreciative of the passion and dedication that Stuart, Linda Richards and Grady Boyd brought to the important work of Peace House.

We regret the financial constraints suffered by Peace House in June of 2005 that made it impossible to continue their employment at Peace House. Their work laid a foundation upon which Peace House can continue to build. We thank them for their tireless efforts to keep the community educated and actively engaged on a wide range of peace and justice issues through the many events and programs they initiated.

Anita Dygert-Gearheart
Chair of the Peace House Board
On behalf of the entire board

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