Deadline in Depth
Tax Resisters Protest War in Iraq by Refusing to File With IRS
By Hannan Adely
NEW YORK, April 15 — Outraged by “raw, unprovoked aggression” in Iraq, Herb Dalin marched against the war at demonstrations throughout New York. He wrote to his elected officials to ask them to oppose the war. But he had an unsettling feeling that he needed to do more.
So today, as Americans reach the deadline to file tax returns, Dalin will withhold the federal tax from his returns to protest military spending in Iraq. Peace organizations say the war in Iraq has spurred an interest in tax resistance not seen since the days of the Vietnam War, when income tax resisters numbered as high as 20,000.
“People want to do something more,” said Melissa Jameson, office director of the New York chapter of the War Resisters League, a national peace organization. “They want to up the ante on how they resist the war.” Jameson said inquiries about tax resistance have doubled to around 10 per week. The national organization has also seen a sharp increase of hits at its tax resistance web site.
Demands for workshops on the subject are on the rise throughout the country, said Ed Hedemann, author of “War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military.” On Sunday evening, Hedemann advised a dozen people at the Brooklyn Ethical and Cultural Society at Dalin’s request. Participants learned about the risks involved and discussed redirecting money to charities. Some resisters send the withheld amount to peace groups or medical clinics or schools for their own peace of mind, but they are still liable for the tax evasion.
The group also learned about methods, which can include withholding only a symbolic amount or the entire federal income tax. Some resisters withhold the percent of the federal tax they believe the government spends on the military. One California group withholds $10.40 from each return, a token reduction from the federal 1040 tax form. Others do not file at all. In most cases, resisters send a letter of protest to the Internal Revenue Service with their tax form or in place of it.
Many resisters reduce the amount the federal government takes from earnings throughout the year when they fill their W-4 forms, so they owe the government instead of expecting a refund. After tax time, the Internal Revenue Service often retrieves the owed money from a person’s earnings or bank accounts. “There are people who routinely refuse to pay, and the IRS takes it out with penalties,” Hedermann said. “It goes through this cycle because they feel the protest is worth it.”
Hedemann, a resister for 32 years, said he once had to appear in court, but he has never been penalized. Hedemann does not own property. “Because of the war, tax resistance is as critical as it ever was,” he said. “More people are dying as a result of the military and I think it’s essential that people reroute their taxes.”
Anita Heckman said she was long opposed to the government’s high spending on military. But the war prompted her and other Santa Cruz residents to launch Schools Not Bombs, a California-based tax resister campaign, in March. “The government is not listening to our protests,” said Heckman, one of around 15 people in the group. “We decided to encourage tax resistance so the government and the public may start thinking about the way their money is being used.”
The Internal Revenue Service has no figures on the number of political tax resisters, since the agency does not distinguish among motives for non-payment. But New York region spokesman Kevin McKeon said tax resisters must obey the law. “The law is clear that you have to pay you taxes,” he said. “If people disagree with the policies of the government there are legitimate avenues to take to protest.”
If Dalin is found out, the Internal Revenue Service could fine him, strip money from his bank accounts, and confiscate his property or deduct from his earnings. In a worst-case scenario, he could go to jail.
Dalin, a retired schoolteacher, calmly said he is willing to have a showdown with the Internal Revenue Service. His wife, Fran, on the other hand, is worried sick. To protect her from confiscation of assets, Dalin said he plans to split the bank account he shares with her. He will also transfer their car and their Park Slope co-op apartment to her name.
For Dalin, it is worth the risk. “It means something very personal to me,” he said. “It means I am not personally, to an extent, contributing to the killing and the military machine. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t take the next step.”
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Uptown 2002
Pursuing the Latino Vote: A Special Report
Adding up the Media Factor
By Hannan Adely
Throngs of Hispanics waving “Amigos de Pataki” placards greet a relaxed, smiling Governor Pataki. As salsa music vibrates in the background, a narrator says in Spanish that Pataki has been fighting to end Navy bombing exercises in Vieques, Puerto Rico and that he has supported relief efforts in Latino homelands after floods and earthquakes.
The scene is one in a series of Spanish ads that Pataki has run in his bid for a third term. With the election a week away, Pataki and gubernatorial candidates H. Carl McCall and Tom Golisano blitzed the Spanish language media to try and capture Hispanic votes.
“The candidates have been extremely aggressive with the Hispanic community,” said Juan Arango, vice president of Hoy, one of four Spanish language daily newspapers in New York City. “You can see that they have been catering messages to the Hispanic community.”
Over the past decade, the Hispanic population in New York State has grown to 2.9 million, making it the largest minority group and a significant voting bloc. In New York City, there are more than 2.1 million Hispanics. Recognizing their increased political power, the gubernatorial candidates pushed ad spending in the Spanish language media to an all-time high. Still, dollars spent on campaign ads in the Hispanic market haven’t reached levels in proportion to the Hispanic population, marketers and media managers said.
The flurry of ads kicked off early this election when Pataki aired his first broadcast commercials in May on New York’s two Spanish language television stations, Telemundo and Univision.
Golisano, the Independence party candidate, and Democrat McCall followed with heavy investments in the homestretch of their campaigns. Golisano recently purchased five pages’ worth of ad space and a newspaper insert to run in Hoy, according to Hoy advertising manager Mildred Diaz. At two Spanish language FM stations — La Mega, WSKQ, and Amor, WPAT — political ads were being aired hourly, said Cary Davis, the general manager of both stations.
The bulk of ad dollars, though, went to television. From the primary through Oct. 18, candidates spent more than $3 million on political ads on Spanish language television, according to a report by Adam Segal, editor of the Johns Hopkins Journal of American Politics. Pataki spent $710,000 and McCall $930,000. Golisano spent $1.3 million, nearly all of it in a two-week period in early October.
The reason for the turnaround to is clear — the results of Census 2000 showed the power of the Hispanic community. “The data has changed the whole picture,” Arango said. “It wouldn’t be wise for anybody to ignore that Hispanics have grown and have become a significant voting group.”
As the Hispanic population soared, so have ratings for Spanish language television and radio. An estimated 1.3 million Hispanics listen to La Mega each week, more than any other radio station in New York City; Amor gets close to a million listeners. Hispanics also rate Univision and Telemundo as their favorite television networks, according to a study by the Hispanic Federation. A Telemundo spokesman said 191,000 households watch its 11 p.m. news program.
A 2001 survey by the Spanish daily El Diario La Prensa disclosed that about 75 percent of Hispanics listen to the radio and watch television in Spanish, while 42 percent read newspapers in Spanish.
El Diario is the oldest of the Latino newspapers. Founded in 1913, it has a circulation of 75,000. El Nacional was founded in 1966 and has a circulation of 44,000. Noticias del Mundo, which is 22 years old, has a circulation of 50,000. Hoy was founded four years ago but its circulation already is 78,700. There has also been a proliferation of smaller Spanish weekly and monthly publications.
Advertising in the Hispanic sector is simply smart marketing, said Linda Springett, vice-president of the media research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres. “Our studies show that, beyond a doubt, ads are effective in their own language,” she said. “The ads get a much greater response because people feel they are being understood.”
The success of Mayor Bloomberg, who spent millions on Spanish language ads, also proved that Hispanics were willing to cross party lines. Bloomberg, a Republican, got 47 percent of Hispanic votes, although 75 percent of Hispanics voting were registered Democrats.
The votes were partly in protest against Bloomberg’s opponent Mark Green, who many Hispanics felt used racist tactics in the Democratic mayoral primary against former Bronx president Fernando Ferrer. Members of Green’s campaign circulated fliers implying that a vote for Ferrer was a vote for the African-American leader, the Rev. Al Sharpton. But there was also a widespread sentiment among Hispanics that they simply liked the attention Bloomberg gave them.
Not only have ads increased in frequency, but they’ve also gotten smarter and more sophisticated by presenting issues important to the Hispanic community, said media managers and analysts.
Spokespeople for McCall and Golisano denied that the candidates crafted messages specifically for Hispanics. “What Tom has said all along is to limit government in one’s life and lower taxes and I don’t think these are issues specific to any group, but to all New Yorkers,” said Golisano press secretary Reggie Johnson.
Golisano’s Spanish language ads weren’t about limiting government, though. Golisano promised to dedicate New York State lottery dollars for college scholarships. Another ad pointed to his working class, immigrant roots, hitting a common chord with many Hispanics. Like McCall, Golisano addressed issues important to Hispanics, such as education or the minimum wage or reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
In their ads, candidates also paired themselves with popular Hispanics who endorsed them. Pataki trumpeted his endorsement by Denis Rivera, head of New York’s largest health workers union. McCall appeared in commercials with Ferrer, still a popular and influential Hispanic leader.
It’s a highly effective strategy, according to Segal. “Voters really want to see how candidates connect with Hispanics,” he said. “They often want to hear directly from the candidate and see them speaking directly to them or their supporters.”
The candidates also virtually eliminated the negativism that is found in a lot of English language ads, Davis said, because that usually turns off Hispanic voters. “You can’t have literal translations of commercials in English,” he said. “We’re dealing with so many immigrants. They are looking for the American dream and when politicians hit that note it’s been useful.”
Sometimes cultural and language barriers pose a hindrance. An ad aired two years ago by Rick Lazio, who ran for the United States Senate against Hillary Clinton, criticized Clinton because she was not from New York. “You’re saying don’t vote for her because she’s from out of state,” Davis said, laughing. “Telling that to a station of immigrants is classic.”
The wave of advertising in Spanish language media is welcome, but long overdue, said media analysts. Even as the Hispanic population soared, politicians mostly ignored Hispanic media.
Of $75 million spent on campaign ads in 2001, Spanish television stations got $4.6 million, or six percent, according to a Taylor Nelson Sofres survey. Yet Hispanics accounted for nearly 17 percent of registered voters in New York State.
In the mayoral election last year, Democratic primary contenders Alan Hevesi and Mark Green avoided Spanish language media entirely. Both lost.
Media analysts said the potential in marketing to Hispanics is enormous. “There absolutely is not enough advertising,” Springett said. “It’s way under-delivered. The ratio of dollars spent in advertising in the general market versus the Hispanic market is just not commensurate with the size of the population.”
In the time between Oct. 1 and 21, the candidates spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising, according to their filings with the state Board of Elections. McCall has spent $2.5 million; Pataki spent more than $10.7 million and Golisano more than $12.5 million.
Managers of Spanish language print and radio media would not disclose how much advertising space they sold to candidates, but television figures cited in Segal’s study indicate it was a small percentage of candidates’ total spending.
The failure to market more to Hispanics was not just typical of political campaigns, Springett said, but also mirrored that of companies marketing business products. Even with the flurry of Spanish language ads this election season, political and consumer advertising is only beginning to make a dent in the Hispanic market, Springett said.
Davis said he hopes the increase in Spanish language ads in this year’s election is part of a growing trend. “With politicians we’re behind, but we’re closing the gap and they know it,” he said. “I’ve seen and they’ve seen elections where Hispanics have made a difference.”
All work is the property of the author whose byline appears with the story. If you wish to publish all or part of any story, please send your e-mail request to webmaster@jrn.columbia.edu. Any comments directed to that address will be forwarded to the appropriate parties.
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Smoke tax burns stores Bx. shops lose biz to Mt. Vernon
Jump to full article: New York Daily News, 2002-09-03
Author: Hannan Adely
Intro:
…Wakefield clerks say the high cost of cigarettes in New York City – between $7 and $7.50 per pack – is driving their customers north to Mount Vernon or west to nearby Yonkers.
Business started to decline immediately after the city enacted a $1.50 sales tax on tobacco products six weeks ago, clerks said.
“Everybody goes to Mount Vernon,” said clerk Obaid Al-Fata at F&A Deli, across from Nenex. “I don’t blame them. They save a lot of money.”
