Apr
24
Reaction to Tea Party Protests
Filed Under Economics | 2 Comments
Hello readers. Sorry I haven’t been around as much as I’d like, as I’ve had a lot going on and this time of year is ordinarily very busy for me. Last week the Tea Party protests were held all over the country, protesting the massive spending and fiscal policies of the federal government. As I worried earlier, my job prevented me from attending the local Tea Party in Tampa, but I was there in spirit. For those who couldn’t attend, Moonbattery gave a great roundup of protests.
For anyone paying attention, the truth about the Tea Party movement is this:
- The Tea Parties were organized at the grass roots level; only after it caught on did some larger groups become involved.
- The Tea Parties are in essence protesting spending and bailouts - not taxation (yet). Protesters realize that reckless spending will one day lead to either high taxation or high inflation, so it is best to protest it now. Many dismissed the Tea Parties by saying no one is paying higher taxes. No shit Sherlock. But how else will you pay for all this spending, hmm?
- The Tea Parties are not GOP events - they recognize that the first bailout was under President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulson, and it continued under the Obama-Geithner administration. The Tea Parties protested big government in all its forms, regardless of whether there is an elephant or a donkey behind it.
- From all accounts, protestors were courteous, clean, and went out of their way to respect private property and pick up any mess made.
Many did not see the Tea Parties in a positive light, including Paul Begala who referred to tax day as “Patriot’s Day”:
Happy Patriots’ Day. April 15 is the one day a year when our country asks something of us — or at least the vast majority of us.
For those who wear a military uniform, those who serve the rest of us as policemen and firefighters and teachers and other public servants, every day is patriots’ day. They work hard for our country; many risk their lives — and some lose their lives.
But for the rest of us, the civilian majority, our government asks very little. Except for April 15. On this day, our government asks that we pay our fair share of taxes to keep our beloved country strong and safe.
…
This country has showered me with the blessings of liberty. So what do I owe my country in return? Paying my fair share of taxes, it seems, is the least I can do. Thanks to President Obama and the Democratic Congress, 95 percent of Americans will get a tax cut this year. No one — not even the wealthiest 1 percent — will have to pay higher income taxes until 2011.
So why are a bunch of Fox News clowns and right-wing cranks hosting “tea parties” all over the country? The Boston Tea Party, in case the clods at Fox didn’t know it, protested “taxation without representation.” Note the second word: without. The goofballs tossing tea bags today have representation. They voted in the election; they lost.
That a bunch of overpaid media millionaires would lead a faux-populist revolt is comical. They somehow held their populist instincts in check as George W. Bush and the Republicans cut taxes on the idle rich and put the screws to the working stiffs.
Bush’s tax policies were a godsend to the Paris Hilton class, but they sent the country on the road to bankruptcy and helped ruin the economy. But now that we the people have decided to set things right, now that we’ve hired Obama to fix the mess conservatives created, now they’re protesting?
Not only does Begala shamelessly subscribe to the lie that taxes are something “our government asks,” but he decries the organic grass roots movement as a creation of Fox News to help the Republican party. Does he not remember the anguish in the Conservative movement with the bailout bill in 2008? And again, THIS IS NOT ABOUT TAXES. It is about the spending that will lead to higher taxes down the road.
No matter the criticism, here’s to the Tea Party protesters who felt compelled to get out and fight for the future of their country. Job well done.
