The Pentagon's tax evaders.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills

Shouldn't the people who profit from Department of Defense contracts pay their taxes? After all, it's our money they're paid with, and it's our loss when they don't pay their share of the tax burden. Unfortunately, 27,000 defense contractors have not paid their taxes. That's right--27,000. They owe a total of $3 billion, according to the General Accounting Office.

Ironically, legislation was passed in the late 1990s, giving the Pentagon authority to deduct 15 percent of any payment to...