thismost welcome news was in my pacific green party listserve, and i thought some folks here might find it interesting:

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Forward from Claire McGee

Kucinich signs on to Religious Freedom Peace TaxFund

Dear Friends,
Dennis Kucinich has signed on to John Lewis's bill to create a Religious
Freedom Peace Tax Fund. This act would allow one who declares
themselves to be a "Designated Conscientious Objector" I.E. A taxpayer
who is opposed to participation in war in any form based upon the
taxpayer's deeply held moral,ethical, or religious beliefs or training.

Once a person declares themselves to be a CO their taxes will be paid
into the Religious Peace Tax Freedom Fund whereby such funds will not be
spent for "Military Purpose."

There are some countries that already have this type of legislation in
place.
*Last year Darlene Hooley was a cosponsor of this bill. * I encourage you
all to to call your Rep today and ask them to join the growing list of
co-sponsors to this important piece of legislation.

For more information you can google "Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund."
Or, you can contact my friend Pam who is the Oregon 3rd Congressional
District Coordinator for the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Act at
503-285-6371 or via email at biljrat@spiretech.com. She will be happy
to make an appointment to talk to your organization as to what they can
do to work towards this noble purpose.

(message from Pam follows)

December 21, 2005

Dear Pam,

We received a bit of excellent news this week: Rep. Dennis Kucinich
(D-Ohio) has for the first time signed onto the Religious Freedom Peace
Tax Fund Bill! Kucinich, whose 2004 Presidential campaign embodied the
ideals of many progressives, is a great ally to have in this campaign.
He has authored legislation to create a cabinet-level Department of
Peace, a perfect compliment to the Peace Tax Fund.

We're also glad to report that in response to contacts from Peace Tax
Fund supporters, Rep. Julia Carson (D-Indiana) has once again become a
cosponsor of the Peace Tax Fund, bringing the total number of
congressional supporters to 41. *Please help us to keep the momentum
going by giving a year-end contribution.
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=66370123&url_num=2&url=h
ttp://peacetaxfund.org/donate/index.htm>*


The Peace Tax Fund Bill is important in the struggle for freedom of
conscience. Enactment of this legislation would be a foot in the door to
a society that invests in peace, not war. Currently, our government
spends nearly half of our tax dollars on the military, at the expense of
human needs. The establishment of a precedent allowing people not to pay
for war would be a huge step toward a society that seeks nonviolent
solutions to its problems.

*There are no huge steps without thousands of small steps -- calls,
letters, visits to Congress, and, what we really need right now:
contributions. We would greatly appreciate your financial support to
keep this work going in the new year. *
/
Click here
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=66370123&url_num=3&url=h
ttps://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncptf/shop/custom.jsp?
donate_page_KEY=136>to
contribute to the lobbying work of the National Campaign for a Peace Tax
Fund. /

/Click here /
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=66370123&url_num=4&url=h
ttps://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/ncptf/shop/custom.jsp?
donate_page_KEY=144>/to
make a tax-deductible donation toward the educational work of the Peace
Tax Foundation. /
_______________________________________________

Money earmarked for DOD is not necessarily money for "war." How that department is used depends on what kind of civilian leadership we have in the white house. I'm a veteran who values peace more than anyone (and thats not irony but realism) but to diminish our defensive capacity because one opposes "war" makes me scratch my head. Will the money put into the peace fund be correspondingly offset by money put into DOD by taxpayers who are not declaring themselves "war" objectors? Let us strive to ensure we elect civilian leadership that values our defense and will not use the DOD to settle personal grudges or to enrich their partners in crime.

pay for military - then the US would still have the largest, most deadly military in the world.

I am willing to start by pulling all US troops back onto US soil - the 100's of bases the US has around the world having nothing to do with defense.

...and reducing the military budget by at least 60%-80%.

In my opinion, the problem is not just civilian leadership - when the military gets too large, as it has been for decades, it takes on a life of its own. We've got to starve the beast.

:kick:

We aren't supposed to have a standing military so we really shouldn't have a Dept of Defense, and didn't have on until the Dept of War was changed after WWII. So maybe it's a good time to do a little rethink on the subject and how we got to the place of a $400 billion military anyway.

Just how much do we really need for "defense" and how much for offense? Do we really need enough to match the entire rest of the world ganging up on us?? Or should we have enough to conquer the rest of the world?