Tag: War Resisters League

How Your Tax Dollars are Used | War Resisters League

The new War Resisters League’s annual “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2024 Budget (FY 2025 is 1 October 2024 – 30 September 2025).  This FY2025 issue was published in March 2024.

Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Our analysis is based on federal funds, which do not include trust funds – such as Social Security – that are raised separately from income taxes for specific purposes. What federal income taxes you pay (or don’t pay) by April 15, 2024, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget.

Fiscal Year 2025 (Released March 2024) Pie Chart Flyer
in English, in color (pdf)
in English, black & white (pdf)

Not including new funding, the US provides Israel over $3 billion every year, with almost the entire amount being used to support the Israeli military. Since World War II, the US had dedicated more foreign aid to Israel than any other country.

DEAD WRONG: U.S. Foreign Policy

Few could miss the cynicism of President Biden proudly announcing token food drops into Gaza in March 2024, all the while providing Israel with thousands of made-in-USA bombs to drop on a strip of land the size of Las Vegas. Already 31,000 Palestinians had been killed and homes, hospitals, businesses, schools,hospitals, businesses, schools, roads, and farmland in Gaza left in ruins or bulldozed.roads, and farmland in Gaza left in ruins or bulldozed.

U.S. foreign policy is designed to kill

Roughly two-thirds of current confl icts worldwide involveRoughly two-thirds of current conflicts worldwide involve one or more adversaries armed byone or more adversaries armed by the United States.the United States.

  • 78 years & $220 billion in military aid to Israel supported the occupation of Palestinians in thethe occupation of Palestinians in the WEST BANK and GAZA by the most powerful military in the region.by the most powerful military in the region.
  • $3.8 billion a year military aid to Israel will continue to 2029 under an agreement negotiated by Obama. Furthermore, Biden used loopholes in weapons sales guidelines to send Israel more than 100 shipments of bombs & military equipment.
  • $46 billion of U.S. military aid to UKRAINE have slowed a Russian invasion but led to a quagmire — costing morea Russian invasion but led to a quagmire — costing more than 10,500 civilian lives and destroyed villages and cities.
  • Trump used loopholes during his presidency to sendused loopholes during his presidency to send billions of dollars of weapons to Saudi Arabia and UAE to carry on the war in Yemen with upward of 19,000 civilian deaths
  • Arms industry political donations totaled $19 million during Biden’s first two years. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, and Generalheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, and General Dynamics took 58% of the business.

Ceasefire Now! Negotiate! Disarm the Pentagon!

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Get involved in WRL’s organizing and education work: nonviolent direct action training, counter-military recruitment, internationalist work, and more. Visit WRL’s membership handbook at warresisters.org/joinwrl. Find resources to challenge militarism, curb police and border patrol power, strengthen nonviolent action and lift up community resilience!

Write elected officials, letters-to-the-editor, and posts online. Send and share copies of this flyer. Explain your budget priorities for a better world.

Divest from war! Refuse to pay all or part of your federal income tax. Though illegal, thousands of people openly participate in this form of protest.  Whatever you choose to refuse—$1, $10, 48% or 100%—send a letter to elected officials and tell them why. Contact us for information or referral to a counselor near you. Contribute resisted tax money to groups that work for the common good.

For more about refusing to pay for war, brochures, and other resources, contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, (800) 269-7464 or see nwtrcc.org.

Order a DVD of NWTRCC’s film, Death and Taxes from WRL’s online store.

Read and use War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military, a 144-page handbook with history, methods and resources. Available for $5 plus postage from WRL’s online store. A new edition will be published in 2024.

You can also download the flyers and print them locally:

Fiscal Year 2025 (Released March 2024) Pie Chart Flyer
in English, in color (pdf)
in English, black & white (pdf)

 

We offer these downloads free of charge, but we really appreciate your donation to support the work of producing this important resource each year.  If you can, donate today!

For Pie Charts from previous years, check out the Pie Chart Archives

***NOTE ABOUT SHIPPING*** Once we receive them from the printers, pie chart orders are being mailed no later than 48 hours after receiving the order. Orders of 50 and more are sent priority mail,  which arrives in 2-3 days. Postage costs more than 20%, an additional donation is appreciated.

Minimum Order: 20 Pie Charts (for smaller orders we encourage you to download and print your own!)

Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes FY2024

WRL's Fiscal Year 2024 pie chart - (front)

WRL’s Fiscal Year 2024 pie chart – (front)

Perfect for Tax Day leafletting, as a focus for forums and panels and workshops and more!

The new War Resisters League’s famous “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2024 Budget (FY 2024 is 1 October 2023 – 30 September 2024.  This FY2024 issue was published in March 2023.

Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Our analysis is based on federal funds, which do not include trust funds – such as Social Security – that are raised separately from income taxes for specific purposes. What federal income taxes you pay (or don’t pay) by April 18, 2023, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget.

STOP THE NEXT WAR BEFORE IT STARTS

The massive militaries of the United States and NATO did not prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine. In fact, United States and NATO presence surrounding Russia fueled Putin’s aggression. Tensions rise with China and North Korea as the United States adds more bases in Asia, including four in the Philippines. In Okinawa, Japan, there is strong local opposition to the 31 U.S. military installations. About two-thirds of current conflicts involve one or more sides armed by the United States.

Diplomacy Not Militarism

Major U.S. wars, from Korea to Vietnam to the so-called “War on Terror,” all failed in their goals of peace and stability. The need is urgent to change priorities. A Pew Research poll in 2019 found that people around the world viewed the climate crisis as biggest threat — a crisis that cannot be solved by the military. In fact, the U.S. military is the world’s biggest polluter.

We must stop the next war before it starts. Demand drastic cuts to the military budget and a shift in U.S. foreign policy from militarism to diplomacy

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Leaflet with this flyer year-round and on Tax Day, April 18, 2023, and throughout the Global Days of Action on Military Spending, April 13 – May 9, 2023; also see demilitarize.org.

Vist https://www.warresisters.org/store/where-your-income-tax-money-really-goes-fy2024 for more charts and information.

War Resisters League Commends Kings Bay Plowshares

by War Resisters League

WRL thanks and honors the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, three of whom (Carmen Trotta, Martha Hennessy, and Clare Grady) were sentenced last week for their bold Trident disarmament action at the Kings Bay nuclear submarine base in south Georgia. Several of the Kings Bay Plowshares are WRL members and have participated in WRL organized nonviolent actions. All are war tax resisters.

50 years to the day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on April 4, 2018, over two and a half years ago, the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 cut a lock and entered the base where nuclear-armed US submarines are home-ported, in a plowshares action which included pouring blood, posting an indictment which charged the US government for crimes against peace, posting crime scene tape and hanging banners, one of which said, “The Ultimate Logic of Trident is Omnicide,” and damaging Trident D5 monuments. Plowshares actions seek to enact the prophecy in the Biblical book of Isaiah that nations will beat swords into plowshares and study war no more. [see their website at https://kingsbayplowshares7.org]

[This entire article can be read at www.warresisters.org. In October, all were convicted on three felonies and one misdemeanor. Six have been sentenced. Mark Colville of the Amistad Catholic Worker House in New Haven is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18. More information is at the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 website at https://kingsbayplowshares7.org]

War Resisters League’s 95th Anniversary Oct. 11 NYC

War Resisters League’s 95th Anniversary October 11
Downtown Community Television Center
87 Lafayette St New York, NY 10013

Join us this Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. to commemorate our past and build for our futures while also honoring some of the folks that do the kind of liberatory and transformative justice work we need to create the world we want — one based on empathy, cooperation, and liberation.

Get your ticket today and join us in celebration!

For almost a century, WRL’s been building a mass movement against the war machine – from organizing one the first draft card burnings to centering war diaspora + frontline communities at the crux of our political programs and education, WRL and the antiwar left has grown, shrunk, and grown again, grappling with the realities of 21st Century militarism.

For our 95th birthday, we’ll be celebrating our ongoing collective struggle for a world free of militarism by honoring our past and lifting up the work of three amazing awardees. We’re pleased to announce we’ll be honoring and joined by sacral land rights activist Corrina Gould, movement artists The Peace Poets, and queer + racial justice activist Mandy Carter. Be prepared for food, fun, and a performance by Mahina Movement!

No one is turned away from celebrating our 95th Anniver-sary with us, and we would love to see you there whatever level of support you can give.

Ticket Options: STANDARD Ticket Price – $105.95

COMMUNITY Ticket Price – $60.95: Select this ticket option if you are a WRL member on fixed income.

DISCOUNT Ticket – $25.00: A limited number of these tickets are available for purchase.

Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes FY2018 | War Resisters League

The current edition of the War Resisters League’s famous “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2018 Budget.  (FY 2018 is 1 October 2017 – 30 September 2018).  Perfect for Tax Day leafletting, as a focus for forums and panels and workshops and more!

Because the Trump administration did not release its full budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 in time for production of this flyer, and Congress has not yet finalized the FY2017 budget, the figures here are based on the 2017 proposed budget altered to incorporate budget-related announcements, including at least $54 billion more for the Pentagon, increase in Homeland Security, and reductions for other slices of the pie.

Each year War Resisters League analyzes federal funds outlays as presented in detailed tables in “Analytical Perspectives” of the Budget of the United States Government. Our analysis is based on federal funds, which do not include trust funds – such as Social Security – that are raised separately from income taxes for specific purposes. What federal income taxes you pay (or donít pay) by April 18, 2017, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget.

Read the whole story and download, or order, all their flyers here: Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes FY2018 | War Resisters League

Training 4 Trainers: Nonviolent Campaigns

by War Resisters League, www.warresisters.org

APPLY NOW! Join the War Resisters League’s Training for Trainers, for people who want to develop training skills focusing on strategy development.

Do you want to:

  • Develop training skills for building nonviolent grassroots campaigns?
  • Deepen a gender and racial justice framework within your organizing strategy and training?
  • Train activists for creative and powerful nonviolent direct action?

Apply now and join activists from across the Northeast US for WRL’s Training for Trainers.

Read more