remember we have complied to the commander. chávez, i swear to, we fulfill your promise for independence in a socialist fatherland. >> the late hugo chávez's chosen successor nicolás maduro has one in venezuela's closest presidential election in more than 40 years of his challenger is calling for a recount. >> i want to say to the government's candidate, the loser today is you. i say that firmly. you are the loser. you and your government. >> we will host a discussion on the election in the future of venezuela after the death of hugo chávez. as millions of americans file their income taxes today, we will speak with one who won't. ed hedemann. all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

nicolás maduro has won venezuela's presidential election more than a month after the death of hugo chávez. he was the chosen successor from chávez, nearly defeated ofriles with just over 50% the vote. capriles has refused to concede the race and is demanding a recount. the turnout of registered voters are past 78%. we will have more after the headlines. guards at the guantanamo bay military prison have intensified their crackdown on a hunger strike by detainees. the pentagon says guards fired non-lethal rounds of prisoners on saturday after trying to move them into isolated, one-man cells. at least one prisoner was hit with a rubber coated bullet. the military claims it took action after prisoners covered windows and surveillance cameras. it also says prisoners used

improvised weapons to resist the guards' sweep. defense attorneys say most of the prison's 166 prisoners are taking part in the hunger strike two months after it began. at least 11 prisoners are being force fed through nasal tubes. the latest unrest came one day after the international committee of the red cross wrapped up a three week visit to assess the prisoners' treatment. in an opinion piece published in the new york times, samir naji al hasan moqbel, a hunger striking prisoner held at guantanamo for 10 years without charge, writes -- the said it is set to take up

gun control legislation today after voting to begin debate. proceedings follow a week of capitol hill lobbying by family members of victims of the shooting massacre at newtown, connecticut sandy hook elementary school. one of the mothers who lost her 6-year-old son delivered president obama's weekly address. >> i've heard people say the tidal wave of anguish our country felt has receded. but not for us. itus, it feels as if happened just yesterday. and in the four months since we lost our loved ones, thousands of other americans have died at the end of a gun. thousands of other families across the u.s. are also drowning in our grief. please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy. >> secretary of state john kerry has wrapped up a visit to asia dominated by the standoff with

north korea. speaking in japan, he suggested the u.s. could ease its precondition of north korea's denuclearization if china takes on a mediator role. earlier, kerry again vowed to defend u.s. allies in the event of a north korean attack. >> it is very simple. the united states will do what is necessary to defend our allies, japan, republic of korea, in the region against these provocations. but our choice is to negotiate. our choice is to move to the table and find a way for the region to have peace. >> his visit also came as the obama administration fast track japanese involvement in talks on the transpacific partnership, a controversial trade pact between u.s. and nine other countries. the tpp has attracted scrutiny for creating new mechanisms that would allow foreign corporations to end tax fair compensation for lost profits to the regulations. japan has more corporations

operating in the u.s. than other tpp countries, raising the prospect of compensation claims. in a statement, the group public citizen said -- a former texas court official has been arrested in connection with the murders of two prosecutors in the district attorney's wife. eric williams, a former justice of the peace in kaufman county, was detained saturday after police searched his home in their probe last month's killings of district attorney mclelland and cynthia mclelland as well as system prosecutor marked hasse two months before public speculation had initially focused on was the premises, but local police said they found strong evidence implicating williams in the murders. prosecutedelland had

gleams last year after he was caught stealing computer equipment. north dakota lawmakers have advanced new restrictions on abortion rights. the north dakota state house voted friday to outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, which anti-choice activists believe marks the point of which a fetus can feel pain. the vote comes weeks after north dakota governor jack dalrymple signed a measure banning abortion once an embryonic heartbeat is detectable, which can happen at six weeks of pregnancy or even earlier. the virginia board of health meanwhile signed off on new regulations that could force the closure of some of the state's abortion clinics. a 2011 measure dubbed by critics as a targeted regulation of abortion providers, or trap law, requires clinics that provide abortions to the same building standards as hospitals. critics say the trap rules are a thinly veiled attempt to limit access to abortion services because clinics unable to afford to overhaul their buildings would close down. other states have imposed similar regulations but

virginia's are said to be the harshest to date. the former head of the virginia board of health resigned in protest of the clinics rules last year. the environmental protection agency has confirmed plans to delay the first-ever limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants. the rules would have forced new power plants to keep emissions under 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide for every megawatt hour of electricity. they were until the year ago and set for finalization of the weekend. but the epa said opposition from electric power companies would delay the rules' implementation. while energy companies and republican critics of the rules went too far, environmentalist also criticized the plan for exempting existing plants and allowing a number of loopholes. a standoff between u.s. and russia has intensified with both countries announcing travel bans on certain officials. the white house has sent congress a list of russians subject to visa denials and asset freezes in the u.s. for their alleged involvement in the

death of imprisoned whistleblower sergei magnitsky. russia responded by banning the entry of a number of u.s. officials, including former bush administration attorney john yoo and david addington, chief of staff to former vice president dick cheney. white house press secretary jay carney defended the administration's action. >> implicated directly in the imprisonment and prison officials directly involved in decisions led to the death of magnitsky remain unpunished. this administration is can firm -- is committed. we will use the tools in the magnitsky act and other available legal authorities to assure the persons responsible for the mountain and then death of mr. magnitsky are barred from travelling to the u.s. and doing business here. a >> a florida police officer has been fired for using the likeness of trayvon martin as the targeting and practice. sergeant ron king reportedly offered the targets with trayvon martin's base to two other

officers and civilian who all decline. trayvon martin was the unarmed african-american teenager shot by johnson and the last year. the officer apologized. >> i want to reach out and apologize to the family of trayvon martin for them needing to hear any of this and the grief it must bring them as well as all members of the community that we just don't find this behavior acceptable on any level of. >> the fired officer has apologized clamming trayvon's target was meant as they do not should target. the trial of george zimmerman is set to begin in two months. the tennessee republican lawmaker has withdrawn a measure that would have cut the welfare benefits of parents whose children receive low grades. state senator stacey campfield had proposed a 30% cut to temporary assistance for needy

family benefits for parents whose children fail to pass state tests or are held back a grade level. the proposal sparked controversy and national media attention. campfield backed down on the proposal just hours after he was confronted by corporate protesters inside the state capital, including an 8-year-old girl who followed him down a hallway after presenting him with a petition in opposition to his bill. republican lawmaker who revealed portions of a classified pentagon report on north korea last week has acknowledged is motivated by seeking to increase funding for so-called missile defense. the congress member doug lamborn of colorado made headlines last week after citing a defense intelligence agency document that concluded with moderate confidence north korea now knows how to make a nuclear-weapons small enough to be carried by a ballistic missile. top u.s. officials later cast doubt on the report but not before it caused a stir. speaking on cnn, he said he

hoped to restore missile defense funding cut by president obama. >> the reason i'm concerned about this is because the president has offered the defense budget that cuts missile defense by half a billion dollars. my goal in this is by calling attention to the potential threats that we restore those dollars. >> hundreds of people marched on washington, d.c. for the first- ever k street 5k protest against money and politics. participants were costumes of $100 bills to march from the lobby of stronghold of k street to the as capital. the rally brought together progressive activists with groups including the dct party patriots. one of the organizers said the rally marked the launch of a "powerful movement of grassroots progressives and conservatives who are building a new, robust anti-corruption movement in the united states."

and those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we begin in venezuela where nicolás maduro has narrowly won sunday's election to choose a replacement for chávez, who died of cancer last month. as vicead served president and foreign minister under president hugo chávez. the national electoral council said maduro's received 50.7% of the vote, henry capriles radonski, 49.1%. the vote was far closer than the one in october when chávez beat capriles by 11 percentage points. in his victory speech, maduro, a former bus driver, said a new era for the bolivarian revolution is beginning. chávez!the long live chávez! until victory for ever, let's go to the streets to defend his victory, to defend the triumph

in peace and in order to celebrate with the people and to remember that we have complied to become tender -- cmdr. chávez, i swear to you, we have fulfilled your promise. >> sunday's vote was the closest presidential election in venezuela since 1968. capriles, the governor of the state of miranda, is refusing to concede defeat and has demanded a recount. say to theo government's candidate, loser today is you. i say that firmly. you are the loser. you and your government. i say that with firmness and with all the compromise and transparency. we will not recognize the results until each and every venezuelan vote, one by one, has been counted. national here that the electoral council open all of the boxes and that each venezuelan vote be counted. >> on sunday, venezuelan voters

talked about the significance of the election to the success of the late hugo chávez. >> without a doubt this is an act that will mark our history. it is the era 40 years before and will have to wait and see what will happen in the 14 years after. >> i am here early in hopes of improving the situation. .'m anxious to execute my right >> we have to carry out the tasks maduro gives us and, god willing, we have this president will carry on with with the past president left behind. >> to talk about the election and the seven as well after the death of chávez, we're joined by two guests. rory carroll is author of, "comandante: hugo chavez's venezuela." he was the gardens latin- american correspondent and was based in caracas until last year. he is now the u.s. west coast

correspondent for the guardian based in los angeles. mark weisbrot joins us from washington, d.c., an economics and co-director of the center for economic and policy research. can you talk about the significance of what took place yesterday, the election nicolás maduro? of these didty vote for continuity, and i think they did so mainly because there was a large increase [no audio]

>> i am sure it will not change the results. the numbers are still large. it is very good for the country that have a system like that and

will be a will to resolve it. you already saw the congratulations coming in from argentina, ecuador, and all of the government's i think will stand behind if there's any conflict over it. there will stem the hon government of venezuela. on the other side of the u.s., -- and on the other side is the u.s. that is something your listeners and viewers should understand. when we talk about venezuela in the united states, there are really only two reasons you have as much news and all of it is bad about venezuela. one, venezuela is the primary target for regime change from the united states government and has been since the coup u.s. was involved in in 2002. primary target in the world with the exception of iran. second, it has the largest oil reserves in the world and those two things are related. that will continue to shake relations with the united

states. the u.s. is really not one to change its policy in the foreseeable future. they will still be trying to get rid of this government and really any target of opportunity they have among the less government's and south america. there's a nice article in "the nation" showing the u.s. aid supported the coup there. president zelaya was on your show sami u.s. was involved in that coup. in u.s. stepped up funding 2002 and i think there will continue to be active there. >> rory carroll, you wrote, "comandante: hugo chavez's venezuela." your assessment of the significance of the election in venezuela and response to economist mark weisbrot? >> good morning. result was written on the faces of the people behind

nicolás maduro on the balcony last night. they were extremely somber. they were shaken. this is not a good result for nicolás maduro or chavismo is. they have won, but nearly, and it is shockingly narrow. the opinion polls have been suggesting a sweeping double- digit victory. the fact they squeaked in is a major blow to his authority in terms of the country nationally, shows how polarized the country now -- it/50 nation is a 50/50 nation number of people will wonder if nicolás maduro is the best man to lead them because they have been so accustomed to these huge landslides that hugo chávez would win time after time. i think the reason the landslide did not happen is really

revealing. this is a government that had a huge advantages of incumbency. controlling pretty much most of the money by the presidency. it is a petro state. at a time of high webbing prices, it has huge [indiscernible] happily blending party and states resources since the advantage. servants they will vote for the government or perhaps you won't have a job read you have the head of the armed forces telling people, hinting or sank explicitly, that you will vote for the government. these are very strong advantages for the government. the fact with all of that, they still so narrowly won.

lot of venezuelans are unhappy and unhappy with the security, the fact that murder rates are out of control. they're not happy with the fact the economy is really quite dysfunctional. the fact there are shortages of many basic goods. the fact currency controls means it is difficult for new business to do anything. the fact inflation is so strong it means that daily life is quite difficult for people. venezuelans [indiscernible] they want good jobs and want to be safe. athink the vote we saw was sign many people are not happy there. >> we're going to take a break and come back to this discussion with rory carroll, author of, "comandante: hugo chavez's venezuela."

weisbrot, speaking to us from d.c., center for economic and policy research is his organization, an economist. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we will be back in a minute. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we talk about the results of the election in venezuela, winning by a very slim margin, nicolás maduro over henrique capriles. we urge folks to go to democracynow.org. our guests are rory carroll, author of "comandante: hugo chavez's venezuela." and mark weisbrot. there response to what happened in venezuela today to rory carroll?

>> we don't want to exaggerate the advantage -- i'm not even sure the government had an advantage. their state television has about a 6% audience a share, so that is not that much. they even showed commercials for capriles, for the opposition candidate, on state tv. media isurse the print very much against the government and the radio is probably against the government as well. of course most of the wealth and income of the country is in the hands of the opposition. there are a lot of sophistication. this is a fairly level playing field compared, especially to other or the average election in latin america. look at mexico, for example. the media really determined the

election outcome in 2006 and probably 2012 as well. the lesson to canada does not even have a chance. -- the left center candidate does not even have a chance. i do think there are problems the government has to deal with and this should be a wake-up call for them. what happens is the last election that i think might 4% fromed the 3% or theez to the other camp was economy deteriorated. the shortages that rory was talking about. this is a problem mostly in the exchange-rate system that has been badly managed. i think they need to stabilize the exchange rate. they need to make sure foreign- exchange is available like it was -- you had a recovery. the economy has been growing for almost three years now. it began to grow after the world recession and the recession they

had in the middle 2010. it grew and the growth accelerated and inflation was actually falling right up to the last almost to the last election while the economy accelerated. so you did not have the problems you have had in the last five months with the shortages. and the increasing inflation you've had in the last few months. so definitely, the government needs to stabilize the exchange rate and bring inflation down and those two things together will get rid of the shortages as they have in the past. i think those are some of the things they're going to have to do and keep the economy growing and employment growing. if the other side had won, he would have a classic austerity plan immediately and they would have brought down inflation by having a recession. i hope this government does not do that. they would have brought down imports the same way. i think this government can in

fact resolve the problems of the exchange-rate system and inflation while allowing the economy to grow, as they were doing right until the last quarter of last year. >> rory carroll, your response to mark as well as this, following chávez's death last month agreed we spoke to the venezuelan consul general in new york, returned to caracas for the state funeral and praised the work of chávez for the corporate >> venezuela has lord poverty dramatically. lowered poverty dramatically. we had free universal health for everyone. those kinds of achievements are fantastic. >> rory carroll, your response? >> there has been changes made in the last 10 years, but a lot of the social aims appeared to be fraying. those people in poverty appear

to more less slowed since 2010. if you visit public hospitals in venezuela, as i've done many pretty mackenzie in. there's broken glass, often shortages. people have to bring their own medicine and bed sheets. criminals can break into hospitals and threaten staff. these are the main hospitals in caracas where talking about. if you go outside the capital, it can be even more grim. a health warning, if you like, over the acclaim for some of these social programs, unfortunately. that said, poverty has fallen and people do have more money in their pockets, and that is great, but the country is increasingly lost in a labyrinth of [indiscernible] populism. but that the statistics on oil

exports. right now they are about 94% dependents for foreign revenue on oil exports. the reason for the consequence hidden degrees of unemployment. factories are either working at half capacity, and the industrial heartland of venezuela, i wrote a chapter in the book about that that shows this great manufacturing potential venezuela has has been squandered. >> i want to ask you something. in your newspaper the guardian, is that infant mortality is lower than in 1999. decreased,y has falling to 8.5%. can you talk about your trajectory of changing your view

of hugo chávez when you first went down as a reporter and what made you shift to your critique of him? years forhere for six opportunitywasted that hugo chávez was an immensely talented politician. such goodwill behind governor, the a ruler, he was incompetent. time, do havene any regrets? about it for a moment and said, my management. we can see that in the

dysfunction. one example would be the upper structure, the fact he neglected to invest in infrastructure. that is evidenced, especially outside caracas. the resort to the sort of surreal excuses. they blame mercenaries for sabotaging rather than the fact this reflects a decade of mismanagement. and that applies to the wider economy. i think it is a wasted opportunity. you look at brazil, the city -- that lower poverty that is much more sustainable. >> at the time, foreign minister maduro in our studio, juan gonzalez and i interviewed the new elected president nicolás as a joben he served

as foreign minister. it was a year after chávez had famously referred to then- president george w. bush as the devil in a speech before the united nations send "the devil came here yesterday. it smells like sulfur today." i asked maduro what message he had for the united states. the message, first of all, to draw a balance of what has happened over the last month in the world. the role of the nation's [indiscernible]

our message remains the same. should reactety -- u.s. people can do a lot for peace, for stability and the planet, for the recovery of the planet. the witness in the world today, it's also expressed in the nine states, and we need a large humane alliance between the was people and the peoples of the world, respecting our diversity, cultural diversity, our different ways to see the world, and establishing a relationship of equality. that is the main message, and that is the message of president chávez. >> that was venezuelan foreign minister nicolás maduro who was just elected president.

if he could tell us exactly who nicolás maduro is, where he comes from, and the significance of this election and if you think in the call for the recount, is a possible that they would come up with different figures since this was such a razor slim margin that he won by yesterday? was 1.6 percentage points, around 300,000 votes, so it is not going to be changed. .nything is possible maduro has said, by the way, capriles asked for 100% of the ballots instead of a normally do like 54%, which is way more than you need. he said, basically, yes. and i don't think there is one

to be any doubt. in terms of maduro, he was the foreign minister for six years. he did a pretty good job, really. i think most people would recognize that. he comes from a background of a union organizer and bus driver. i think he is going to continue a lot of the same policies. i want to respond to rory. what you see in the media every day, he did not challenge the statistics you gave on poverty and extreme poverty and nobody does, but those are huge changes in people's lives. of course, all of the other changes we talked about. real income growth. instead, the media focuses on everything that is bad. you could do that with the clinton years. he presided over the largest for longest economic expressed in u.s. history. there are still a lot of bad things going on in the united states.

partly reduced sharply -- a came back, by the way, after he was gone. this completely one-sided picture you see every single day, yes, the public hospitals deteriorated, but that is one of the reasons why they cannot control the health ministry. that is why they created providing health care for millions of people there. there is no doubt that he is talking about -- there were serious problems in the administration. to say this was a failure? i mean, look at venezuela the 20 years prior to chávez when the economy shrank on a per capita basis. this is a huge improvement in people's living standard. that is why they won 15 out of the last 16 elections. it is not, as the media would have it, because chávez was a great performer and had a lot of

charisma of. i think that is very important for people to understand. >> rory carroll, on the issue of those statistics, the figures i just read, according to your own paper and to the government figures, sears reduction in extreme poverty dollars serious reduction in extreme poverty. your response to that? prices increased from about $9 a barrel when chávez took over and in 1999 exploded up to more than $100 a barrel. it that is a huge amount of money into the venezuelan treasury. we saw on the 1970's during a previous boom that poverty and this generates a lot of money in the economy. then as well above all is a petro state. venezuela above all is a petrus debris it also reflects the lavish spending the

government did with this boom. lot on reducing poverty and that is all great. the catch, and it is a big win, the way they did it was clearly not sustainable. instead of building an economy with real jobs that would give poor people a permanent leg of, i think we see a lot of the money has been spent on subsidies. gasoline is basically free. prices arenni frozen in the police and army have to try to enforce these price controls, it is just one indication of how things are distorted. for example, they cannot control the health ministry. why not?

there were the health ministry. that is reflective of the wider government and their allies the tragedy. >> mark weisbrot, can i respond -- if you talk about the role in u.s. from venezuela? >> first, let's talk of sustainability. for 14 years, all of the media, especially the business press, 90% of the media has been predicting economic collapse. it is always said it was unsustainable. all they say is next year it is going to collapse. they've been saying this for 14 years. they had teetered recessions. one was caused by an opposition oil strike in 2002. not the government's fall. the other was in 2009 brought on by the world recession. collapse.going to this idea of sustainability?

that is just saying, we hope it is going to collapse and it will collapse sunday and we hope it is in. it is not going to. they don't have an unsustainable debt. unsustainable is like what we had in 2006 when the of a dollar trillion housing bubble and everything looking at it, the less we have $eight trillion housing bubble and everything looking at it. they don't have those -- they have a problem. they have inflation. that appreciates the real exchange rate and that is why you have [indiscernible] wherwhat we have. a lot of this is really exaggerated. the other question about the u.s. role, that is very points to ridrory was throug

brazil. they were not facing the same kind of opposition that had according to the leader of the opposition himself this strategy of military overthrow from 1999 to 2003. brazil did not have that. as a had the military wit nationalistic. they did not have the u.s. telling them all along, pouring money and saying, we get rid of everybody we don't like in this region and you just hang in there and you will not have to do with this guy. you not have to be part of a government, you can boycott the 2005 election they did for the national assembly. you can pretend the 2004 referendum was stolen, even the jimmy carter center certified. this is what chávez had to deal with. yes, he was a polarizing figure if you want to say that, but he was dealing with people who every time he offers them an olive branch, they just slap him in the face.

they have no intention of ever dealing within. in that sense you can say there is progress. at least here they're participating in an election. they started doing that in 2006. they have started accepting the results, so there is progress there but again, this is the u.s. maine -- as i said, the number one or two target for regime change. the opposition knows that. they don't feel like there's any reason to work with the government the way the opposition and brazil does. >> rory carroll, your quick response as we wrap up? >> there is a much luster in u.s. venezuela relationship. venezuela continues under chávez to sell oil to the united states. a company like chevron operate in venezuela. think the u.s. shameful in the coup in 2002, but that was more than a decade ago.

i think as this heightened rhetorical attacks between our from caracas, largely not as a distraction rid surreal level with nicolás maduro accusing the cia or the u.s. of poisoning hugo chávez, giving him cancer. and that is ridiculous. >> mark weisbrot, and that one issue of the charges in the belief of many in venezuela that the united states killed hugo chávez? >> well, that not presented any evidence. until they do, i cannot say it has any validity. but i can understand why people would believe ed reed, a times today tried to kill castro? -- the white house has a kill list or they kill people they don't like every week. i can see why people would believe that, but i have no idea whether there is any validity.

>> we will leave it there continue to follow politics and venezuela. thank you, mark weisbrot, from the center in economic policy research and rory carroll, author of, "comandante: hugo chavez's venezuela." this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. day we come back, it is tax and we will speak with a tax resister. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman.

today is april 15, tax day, a day when millions of americans scramble to file their income taxes on time. it's also there when people across the country planning to protest the use of tax dollars to fund war. in dozens of communities across the country, demonstrations are planned at irs offices, federal buildings, weapons factories and post offices to protest ongoing massive u.s. government expenditures on drones, missiles, and bombs. according to a new pie chart released by the war resisters league, 47% of federal taxes goes towards war in some form or other. to protest this, some americans are taking a stand today by personally refusing to pay their federal taxes. these tax resisters across the country risking jail time withholding all our portion of their federal income taxes and instead redirecting the money to humanitarian efforts. not pay resister is federal income taxes since 1948.

>> i felt from the beginning it was part of a whole nexus of refusal.t just the tax for me, and nonviolence and woods and more than pacifism is a way of life. ande i was in my 20s particular. it has always been my idea to to to go further and further try to live what i believe, and a certain [indiscernible] you don't like or? don't pay for it. >> that was juanita nelson. she has not paid taxes and more than 65 years. tax resistance has been civil disobedience throughout the history. withheld his poll

tax in 1847. for more we're joined by ed hedemann was redirected the federal portion of this tax bill to non profits and humanitarian efforts since the 1970's. his a member of the war resisters league, the united states all the secular pacifist organization. in 1982 he helped found the national war tax resistance cordoning committee to provide information and support to people considering war tax resistance. he is also author of, "war tax resistance: a guide to withholding your support from the military." ed hedemann, welcome to "democracy now!" you are a one of couple dozen people who are not paitaxes for some 40 years. why did you stop and what portion of your taxes don't you pay? >> i stopped after a refused induction in the military in 1969. the government tried to draft me to go to war in vietnam and i refuse to go. a year later i thought, well, it is not good enough for me not to

go and get paid for others to go so i stopped paying the following year, taxes, to the irs and eventually went out the government's war in vietnam and subsequent wars. >> how did to figure out the less what exactly do you do on tax day? >> i refuse to pay one at a% of my federal income taxes. at a social security, state and local taxes, but none of the federal income taxes. in fact, i do pay them, not just to the irs. i take the entire amount of money and rerouted to other organizations helping to better the world rather than killing people. >> what has the government had to respond? >> routinely i get threatening letters from the irs. they look for bank accounts, property i my own to seize, salaries i might have. i go out of my way to be un collectible. i don't have readily accessible

accounts. i am self-employed. i really don't own any significant property. the irs has gone as far as to take me to federal district court which they did in 1999 to get me to reveal sources of my assets because the irs has been unable to find anything significant to collect. i refused to give this information and that was the end of it. >> what did the -- did the judge to? my taxes tohad paid other organizations. i said i could not pay money to help kill people and i did not want to incriminate myself by giving this information to the irs, a potential criminal domestication. the judge ignored everything except for the latter part in said that i did not have to give this information to the irs because i might incriminate myself. >> on friday, we spoke to bishop thomas gumbleton, retired catholic bishop from detroit who

has been a leading voice for peace, justice, and civil-rights and explain why he also refuses to pay his taxes. >> i feel a good portion of those taxes goes to our war budget, which is our so-called defense budget but really it is a war budget. it is the largest of any nation in the world. years ago, pope paul vi said the arms race, and that is what we're doing with our defense budget, it is in itself an act of aggression against the poor. using that money for weapons and strategies to use them is taking money away from the poor and causing them to starve. we should be using our natural resources and our wealth to promote development and to promote justice in the world. when you have a world where there is such a gap between rich

and poor in huge numbers, suffering because of that, the church has a real responsibility to use whatever income they can bring -- our nation i mean has a responsibility to use its income to help development happen because that is the basis for peace. >> that is detroit cost retired auxiliary bishop tom gumbleton who is in our studio on friday. you can go to democracynow.org to see the full interview with him. the national campaign for a peace tax fund is lobbying for a peace alternative for taxpayers. it would recognize the rights of conscientious objectors to war to not have to physically or financially contribute to war in any way. alan gamble and after a campaign for a peace tax fund explained how it would work. established with the federal treasury that would accept the money of designated or verified conscientious objectors to all wars and they

would get a receipt from the federal treasury which they would attach along with their income tax forms when they send their taxes in, then all of their taxes would go into this special trust fund which would then be allocated out to whatever government programs deeded it with the exception of things with a designated a military purpose such as department of defense. >> that is alan gamble of the national campaign for a peace tax fund. ed hedemann, are you for such a fund? >> i think would be better if such a fund existed, but i would not participate in it is part of the reason -- well, first, that fund would be determined by the government as who was a conscious objector and i think it should be up to the individual not the government. but part of the reason i refuse to pay is i won to be an irritant to the government. i want to make a protest that cannot be ignored. i think the government would use

such a fund if it were to be formed to shovel away people who are noisy and people who are protesters and people who agitate. i refuse to do that. i wanted to protest the government has to pay attention to. >> let's go to the pie chart for why you feel this way. where your income tax money really goes from the war resisters league. the chart says 43% of human resources, 43% goes to human- resources. .0% to pass military explain this to us. for people resisting but are not want to know where the money goes. >> this is the percentage of federal funds spent. if you look at your 1040 form, the will be a line on the back that says federal tax and knees percentages relate to that. they do not include social security funds because that is money raised separately.

if you are a salary coming of a deduction. >> what about some of his says, i am a tea party activist and i don't wait to takor not when the peso security in some says, i'm not going to pay for this. how does the government been function? >> i think the people have arrived in a democracy to choose what they support and not support. if these people in the tea party and others refuse to pay for these programs and are willing to take the risk like ibm and their refusal, well, then that is up to them. but what i do on top of that is i don't keep the money for myself. i really got it. i wonder if these tea party people do the same with their money? i doubt it. >> what about those who say they don't have the same luxury as you? they have a salary and their accounts would be attached. people like a peace activists and western massachusetts to have his house taken from him? and he continues today to refuse despite his house being taken.

i think that is the risk you take. but to me part of the issue is the protest is as important as how much money is resisted. there are people who are tax resisters that have salary fees but continue to protest despite that because the point of refusing to pay for my point of view is protesting. >> let's go back into history at the henry david thoreau, 1847, director, famously protested paying for slavery and the mexican-american war by withholding his poll tax. he was sent to joe for a night when release the next morning he refused to budge arguing that the right to remain in jail and register his repulsion of slavery. he was eventually thrown out of jail and went on to published his influential essay called "civil disobedience." in it he wrote --

how many people resist? >> it is hard to say. comes as several thousand people in this country. a lot of people do it quietly and don't tell -- well, me, or the court and in committee or irs, they just do it. >> phone tax? >> it is a federal excise tax on local telephone service. it used also the long distance. if you have a land line, then there is one of the a 3% charge until fun service. >> for wide? >> that goes into the general budget pot just like the income tax and it began being put on telephone service during the spanish-american war over 100 years ago. >> and it is still there? >> it keeps coming and going.

on there now. >> an people resist by just not in that portion of their phone bill? does the phone company cut off your service? >> generally not. >> where you going to be today? >> in front of the irs and then marching. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

>> good evening from los angeles. the contributions and challenges facing latinos. we took our cameras to chicago state university. let me start by introducing the panelists. domingo garcia, executive secretary and treasurer