What I Can Look Forward To?

Freep:

A Williston man was sentenced Monday in Vermont District Court in Barre to three to six years in prison for six felony counts of failing to file income tax returns and other charges, according to the state Attorney General's Office and the state Department of Taxes.

Peter J. Quist was found guilty in August after a three-day trial.

Quist was also ordered to pay $15,234 in restitution to the state.

Ericka and I have talked about what we want to do as the State Dept of Taxes is starting to bear down on me regarding my war tax resistance.  I'm still working on a letter for the record about why I will continue to resist for now, though I'm prepared to give in ultimately--even with penalties and interest--to Vermont as the Several States' economic situation worsens and they have a bit less to do with the military industrial complex than the Feds.

I've held the state culpable in that Vermont has continued to allow federalization of our Guard troops, hasn't leveraged other legal mechanisms to resist Bush's war, and hell, the Governor refused to even acknowledge our relationship to the war.  Yes, there's risk to me.  Yes, not paying can cause problems for other people.  Part of the point is to take a risk as an act of conscience and do something that can potentially wake people up to exactly what toll our military expenditures take on our society--collectively, as usual, this would be more powerful than an individual effort.

Anyway, we tend to think that my going to jail for state tax avoidance is even more tilting at windmills than with regard to the IRS, so as the process unfolds we'll consider the situation and when to buckle under the mighty powers of the state.  I will continue Federal resistance, both in refusal to pay what I owe for previous years and our further reduction of lifestyle to reduce and ultimately eliminate tax liability going forward.

I've written to State Rep Michael Fisher, who last year introduced legislation to return VT Guard troops to state control per a legal argument based upon the AUMF itself.  He reportedly plans to do the same in this session as part of a national effort to defederalize the National Guard.  I asked about his timeline, who the cosponsors are, and whether he thought there would be any traction for potential legislation providing some form of amnesty for war tax resisters.  I know the latter ain't really in the cards, but you don't know what's possible until you try.

ntodd

Comments

[hipparchia]

my original offer, to bake you a cake with a file in it, is still good.