Much of what Don Schrader says is innocuous enough, and his thoughts about “Whose children are victims?” have some merit. Unfortunately, all of his missives are ultimately about himself. I long ago lost patience with his claim that he is a “war tax refuser.” In order to refuse to pay a portion of your taxes you must first owe taxes. Mr. Schrader cannot do the former because he does not do the latter.There are individuals with taxable income who refuse to pay the portion of their Federal income tax that they believe supports America’s wars and military. In doing so, they risk prosecution and the loss of livelihood, family, and freedom. While I do not agree with them on this issue, I must respect their courage of conviction.The Don, on the other hand, does not “refuse” to pay the war tax, he simply avoids it. As he has told us so many times, he lives comfortably on a income below the minimum level for Federal income tax. He owes no tax, and you can’t "refuse to pay" part of nothing. Mr. Schrader may argue that he maintains a low income in order to protest the "war tax", but does he really think that anyone understands that? To the IRS, he’s not a tax refuser, he’s just another citizen with no taxable income. He takes no risk. If he thinks he’s making a statement, it’s in his own mind.
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number via email to letters@alibi.com. They can also be faxed to (505) 256-9651. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium; we regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter. Word count limit for letters is 300 words.
