Ian Thomlinson.

[Ralath]

^ im relying on the idea that the government would fumble and concede if they lost enough cash. i doubt it'd be a long-term thing. and hyper, i'll pay taxes as long as they go to programs that i support. if it's for an unjust war, and no one really relies on me, then i'll stop paying taxes for as long as i possibly can, and encourage others in the same position to follow my example. My dad, in fact, did just that, back in the 90's, till he got married and the IRS or something like that came and threatened to take 80% of his paycheck.

Several things:

You say you doubt it'd be a long term thing but... you only pay taxes once a year ANYWAY. Long-term is relative but not only would you have to find enough people who would latch onto your idea so that it makes a dent, you'd have to do it for long enough so that the government runs out of money (which seems unlikely anyway since the government already spends more than it takes in every year anyway).

Not to mention the fact that the first programs to go would be stuff like early childhood education, environmental protection, etc. Stuff that, while not necessary, make the country just a little bit better.

And just think the precedent that this would set. If the government allowed so many people to not pay their taxes just because the people didn't like what the government was doing, then
the government wouldn't function right now.

Yosei covered my other point.