I was notified recently by the Internal Revenue Service that I have been fined $5,000 for "frivolous filing" of a tax document.

The story, quickly:

In the spring of 2007 and the spring of 2008 I took a book tour around the country. In 2007 I went east and in 2008 I went west. Each time before I left home I sent a letter and a tax form to the IRS. The forms each had a black Magic Marker "X" through them. The letters indicated why I did not wish to cooperate with the United States of America.

It was symbolic. They had already received my money through paycheck withholding tax. But even though merely symbolic, it's something, some very little thing, in an effort to stand with those who have been stomped on by the government of George W. Bush, those in Iraq, and those in the United States, who have gone without health care, decent schools, roads, lived in poverty so that we might spread the American empire across the globe.

And it is now apparent that having a Democrat in the White House means only more of the same, a lesson we might have learned from living through the Clinton years, the bombing of Iraq, the sanctions on Iraq that killed millions, the increase in prison construction, the "reform" of welfare etc.

On the subject, read Howard Zinn's recent article: Changing Obama's Mindset.

"House approves $96.7 billion to fund wars"

Editor's Note: According to annual reports published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the military spending tab for 2008 totaled nearly $1.4 trillion: Department of Defense = $740.8 billion; Department of Veterans Affairs = $430.4 billion; Interest Payments on Military Debt = $193.2 billion (estimate from the War Resistor's League); National Nuclear Security Administration = $9.1 billion. Of the $2862.4 billion in consolidated government revenue for 2008, $299.7 billion (10.5%) came from corporations, while individuals paid the bulk share of taxes - a whopping $2078.4 billion (72.6%).

These people. These people have everything on their minds but public service.

My impression is they have power and the keeping of that power on their minds. We imagine that people who seek public office want to work for the social welfare and would naturally want to know the truth, but so often and for so many years we have been disappointed by putting our faith in our political leaders.

We have a semblance of representation, but not in reality.

Nobody asks you if you want to build more prisons. Nobody asks you if you want to bomb children in Iraq. Nobody asks you if you want your money to go to the poor, to schools, to roads.

Nobody ever asks.

So sometimes, sometimes you just have to tell them.

Every year we are asked to pay our taxes, send in our forms, pay for the bullets, the bombs that kill the children, the men and women. We are given no choice. Just as we were given no choice as children whether or not to rise before class and say the pledge of allegiance to America's wars.

We're not children anymore. Our acquiesance has real consequence. We pay to have people killed so that America and America's businesses may expand influence and market area. I don't want to believe that. I want to rather believe in the America I believed in when I walked alone into Mrs. Steele's kindergarten class and saw written across the giant blackboard in gigantic white chalk letters: President John F. Kennedy.

But.

They killed Kennedy and America has never been the same since.

But the ideal remains.

The dream of a good and just America remains.

We may never get there, but we must try.

We must try.

Here are the letters from 2007, 2008:

March 1, 2008

Internal Revenue Service
3539 Southern Hills Drive
Sioux City, Iowa 51106

Hello.

Enclosed is my tax form for this year.

It is crossed-out because I do not wish to cooperate with the government of George W. Bush.

President Bush has chosen to spend our tax dollars on war and killing while cutting spending on social programs.

As a Christian, I cannot go along with this.

I must protest.

Sincerely,
Mike Palecek
702 6th Ave.
Sheldon, Iowa 51201

March 27, 2007

Internal Revenue Service
Kansas City, MO 64999-002

Hello,

Enclosed is a crossed-out tax form.

I will not cooperate with the murderous regime of George W. Bush.

President Bush and his administration planned and carried out the attacks on the United States on 9-11-01, in order to attack Iraq and steal their oil.

In the eyes of Bush and Cheney and Rove, the war is going according to plan. They and their friends are making millions, billions, from the oil, from the defense industry, while the poor go without, while social services are cut in order to pay for more war and killing.

As a Christian, I cannot go along with this.

I must protest.

Sincerely,
Mike Palecek

P.S. - When I was the Iowa Democratic Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, Fifth District, in 2000, I sent a similar letter to the IRS. That year I walked from my home to Sioux City, taking about a week, to deliver the letter. That year I also received letters from the IRS, saying I owed them $500 for frivolous filing. I received two of those letters, followed by a final letter that said they had decided to forget about the penalty.

Mike Palecek, 53, lives in Sheldon, Iowa. He is a former federal prisoner for peace, serving time in county jails and federal prisons for protest against the United States military. Originally from Norfolk, Nebraska, he is a former small-town newspaper reporter, editor, publisher. He was the Iowa Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District, 2000 election. He received 65,000 votes on an anti-military, anti-prison, pro-immigration platform. He currently works at a group home for adolescent boys in northwest Iowa. He is the author of several novels. Covers, descriptions can be viewed by visiting the website The New American Dream: NewAmericanDream.net.