WASHINGTON —  A coalition of national peace groups honored the legacy of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this week by stepping up a new campaign for a tax revolt to protest the Bush administration’s war in Iraq. CODEPINK: Women for Peace, the 2008 War Tax Boycott Campaign, United for Peace and Justice and a host of other anti-war organizations are calling on U.S. taxpayers to commit what would be the largest act of nonviolent civil disobedience of its kind and refuse to fund the war with their tax dollars. The strategy calls for individuals to sign a pledge, and when the numbers swell to 100,000 signatories, the group would act together in a mass tax revolt.

In sharp contrast to Moveon.org and other anti-war groups, who according to a recent story in Politico.com are backing off their campaign to lobby Congress for funding cuts on war spending, CODEPINK and other groups are gathering pledges at www.dontbuybushswar.org for what they believe is a powerful act of non-cooperation with the Bush administration’s actions in Iraq.

“Inspired by the vision of Dr. King, we want to purposely put a cog in the machine of war tax collection,” said Jodie Evans, Co-Founder of CODEPINK. “We believe it will lead to a deepening of opposition as tens of thousands of people say, ‘I can no longer in good conscience pay for these acts by my government.’ The tradition of civil disobedience involves breaking a law in favor of a higher law. It is time to call for this powerful action.”

While invoking the spirit of MLK, the groups also quoted former U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig who in 1982 quipped: “Let them march all they want, as long as they continue to pay their taxes.”