Activists decry taxes for war
Christina Erb - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 4/18/05 Section: Metro
Gloria Walker is a self-described activist - one who refuses to own a car. This quiet form of protest began after the 55-year-old Iowa City resident realized the amount of pollution her vehicle was emitting.
On April 15, she openly criticized a different issue - income taxes. Walker stood alongside a dozen other members of the Iowa City chapter of the War Resisters League in front of the South Clinton Street Post Office to protest the amount of money the United States government takes from income taxes and directs toward both U.S. and foreign militaries.
"Originally, I was a supporter of the Vietnam War," said Walker, adding her husband fought in the war. "I wrote him encouraging letters."
The 1969 nationwide Vietnam Moratorium, which drew roughly 2 million American protesters, was a turning point for Walker. Since that experience, she has devoted herself to raising awareness of the downside of warfare and trying to deconstruct "glorified" war ideologies.
Approximately $559 billion of the $2.13 trillion total federal funds outlays are directed toward the military, $16 billion of which, for example, is directed toward Homeland Security, Center for Defense statistics show. Approximately another 18 percent of total federal-funds outlays are directed toward past military programs - such as veterans' benefits. The statistics, Walker said, provide a sharp contrast to the $722 billion of income taxes that are directed toward human resources, such as education and the social-security administration.
Joseph Manuel, 52, of Iowa City said he is particularly outraged by the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I see pre-emptive wars as immoral, barbaric - preserving, as Bush says, 'the American way of life,' which really means preserving the oil reserves. From 2000 to 2006, the U.S. military will have spent almost $3 trillion," he said, citing Center for Defense statistics. "That is an unbelievable amount of money."
He hopes that the tax-day rally creates a swell of support against military spending.
Protester Robert Ehl pointed to the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories as one of the negative effects of military spending. The U.S. government gives Israel approximately $3 billion in annual aid, Inter Press Service statistics show.
The money, which is largely untracked, Ehl said, often goes toward funding settlement expansion, checkpoints, and the continuation of the security wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"It's ridiculous," the 35-year-old Iowa City resident said. "The only way there will be peace between Israel and the Palestinians is if we cut off the money."
E-mail DI reporter Christina Erb at:
christina-erb@uiowa.edu
On April 15, she openly criticized a different issue - income taxes. Walker stood alongside a dozen other members of the Iowa City chapter of the War Resisters League in front of the South Clinton Street Post Office to protest the amount of money the United States government takes from income taxes and directs toward both U.S. and foreign militaries.
"Originally, I was a supporter of the Vietnam War," said Walker, adding her husband fought in the war. "I wrote him encouraging letters."
The 1969 nationwide Vietnam Moratorium, which drew roughly 2 million American protesters, was a turning point for Walker. Since that experience, she has devoted herself to raising awareness of the downside of warfare and trying to deconstruct "glorified" war ideologies.
Approximately $559 billion of the $2.13 trillion total federal funds outlays are directed toward the military, $16 billion of which, for example, is directed toward Homeland Security, Center for Defense statistics show. Approximately another 18 percent of total federal-funds outlays are directed toward past military programs - such as veterans' benefits. The statistics, Walker said, provide a sharp contrast to the $722 billion of income taxes that are directed toward human resources, such as education and the social-security administration.
Joseph Manuel, 52, of Iowa City said he is particularly outraged by the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I see pre-emptive wars as immoral, barbaric - preserving, as Bush says, 'the American way of life,' which really means preserving the oil reserves. From 2000 to 2006, the U.S. military will have spent almost $3 trillion," he said, citing Center for Defense statistics. "That is an unbelievable amount of money."
He hopes that the tax-day rally creates a swell of support against military spending.
Protester Robert Ehl pointed to the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories as one of the negative effects of military spending. The U.S. government gives Israel approximately $3 billion in annual aid, Inter Press Service statistics show.
The money, which is largely untracked, Ehl said, often goes toward funding settlement expansion, checkpoints, and the continuation of the security wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"It's ridiculous," the 35-year-old Iowa City resident said. "The only way there will be peace between Israel and the Palestinians is if we cut off the money."
E-mail DI reporter Christina Erb at:
christina-erb@uiowa.edu
