A Modest Proposal: The Peacenik Tax Credit

Jibsheet, Fall, 2005

It brings me no joy to say, “I told you so.”  I was among the protesters of the Iraq war from early on. Every Sunday my family and I would stand by the side of the road at the Greenlake Vigil in Seattle.  My young son learned the meaning of the bird from the all too frequent SUV driving war supporters that would pass by.  To the best of my knowledge, I was the first in Seattle to carry a sign reading, “Who would Jesus Bomb?” I remember well the noble slogans of the Ballard Peace Coalition:   “No more war, no more risk, all we want is Lutefisk,” and “Peace Now, You Bettcha!”  And yet, it now brings me no joy what so ever to say that I was right.  How could it when the daily papers are regularly plastered with images of Iraqi fathers carrying the bodies of their dead sons, American GIs carrying off their wounded, and other American GIs gloating over naked and humiliated Iraqi prisoners.  Getting up early to censor the New York Times - to hide the horrific images from my eight-year-old son - has become a part of my daily routine.  I thank the Jibsheet for not adding to this burdensome collection of images.

Worse yet, in spite of being right about what a foolish adventure it would be to invade Iraq, I still have to pay for it.  Very roughly, every billion we sink into the Iraq war costs every man, woman and child in the country about three dollars.  Of course, those of us who work and pay taxes pick up the tab for children, students and the elderly.  And we are spending billions by the hundreds in Iraq.  I figure I’m out several thousand dollars for this mess.  And that is just not fair.  I should not have to pay for a foolish and morally unjustifiable war that I did not want any part of.  That I should be coerced into paying for something I explicitly did not want is against the principles of the free market!  It’s just un-American!

No, there is no joy whatsoever in being able to say, “I told you so.”  But, you know, there should be.   Which is why I propose that congress pass The Peacenik Tax Credit immediately.  Specifically, I believe that anyone who can produce an e-mail to President Bush dating from early 2003 protesting the invasion of Iraq (and of course an e-mail from President Bush’s auto-responder confirming that he got the message) should be entitled to a $2000 tax credit this year and every year that we remain in Iraq.  Those millions who initially supported the war and have since changed their minds have hopefully gained some wisdom from the whole experience.  But they are not entitled to any “I told you so” joy.  So to qualify for The Peacenik Tax Credit, you have to have been publicly against this war from the bitter beginning. 

I believe this proposal is fair as it justly compensates those who have been forced against their will to pay for the folly of others.  And it is a far more modest proposal than a draft.  Some have argued in favor of reinstating the draft as a means of making wealthy supporters of the war share in the sacrifice currently born by the less advantaged members of our volunteer army.  But a draft would not likely bring true shared sacrifice as the wealthy are likely to find some way of keeping their kids out of war.  Though I don’t suppose joining the National Guard would work as well as it did for members of Bush’s generation.  But The Peacenik Tax Credit would transfer the economic cost of the war to the supporters of the war where it truly belongs.  Taxes are perhaps the one form of shared sacrifice that would truly give the wealthy and powerful pause when contemplating a military mis-adventure of choice.   So please, write your congressperson today and demand that The Peacenik Tax Credit be passed immediately or at least before any further tax cuts for the rich.

Thank you,

W. Russ Payne

Philosophy Instructor

Bellevue Community College