Quote:
Originally Posted by denverian
You pay taxes no matter where you live. Personally, I like paved roads, public parks, and police protection. But to the anti-tax maniacs, 1 cent would be too much. They want all the benefits of taxes, but they're selfish and don't want to pay their share.
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You are completely mischaracterizing the nature of yesterday's protests, the people that attended them and the movement in general. I suspect that you already know this, and are doing it purposely. The alternative is that you've been parroting what the far-left has been feeding you without actually bothering to investigate it yourself, and I think you're smarter and more reasoned than that. Am I wrong?
I haven't seen or heard a single person calling for the abolition of all taxes. No reasonable person is calling for that, and to say otherwise is being intentionally dishonest. There are certain obligations that the Federal government has to the several states, and most everyone understands that meeting those obligations costs money.
The far-left diverges from the rest of the country when it comes to what those obligations are, and how to go about achieving those common goals.
Most of the anti-tea-party rhetoric I've read in this forum over the past few days is obscene, to be frank, and about as mature as a six year old smearing peanut butter on a classmate. Virtually every post contained one of the following basic principles as the foundation of its message:
1. You lost. Get over it.
2. Unless you're rich, you're getting a tax cut.
3. Name calling, with no other message.
By far, the majority of the posts fit in category 3. To use a favorite word of the the left, it was repugnant. Those of you who engaged in that kind of behavior know who you are, and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Grow up and debate like adults.
The only category of argument with any merit whatsoever is category 2. Considering the nature of the specific theme for yesterdays protests and the symbolism of the date they were staged, there is some validity to that argument. It's true that most won't see any immediate increase in their income tax. Whether that reduction continues for longer than a year remains to be seen, however. Congress and the President(s) have spent an unfathomable amount of money in the past six months or so and it will have to be paid back - much of it with interest - somehow.
I don't know if the anti-tea-party folks are being deliberately ignorant or if their news sources are deliberately misleading them, but taxation is just one part of what the overall movement is about, and a small one at that. The primary motivation for the tea-party attendees is the insane spending,
including the bailouts. I've seen a lot of people that are denigrating the tea-party protesters who have also blasted the government for the bailouts. Guess what, guys - you're one of us. Also important is the fact that Congress isn't listening to its constituents. The entire country told them not to bail out the corporations, and they went right along and did it anyway. Money was passed out like candy, with about as much oversight, and
we the people are pretty ticked off about it.
Now I can't speak for everyone else with regard to exactly why they were there yesterday, but for me, my reasons for being there were, in order:
1. Stop the spending. Stimulating the economy to help bring about the end of a recession is fine, but what they've done is absolutely out of control, and very little of the stimulus plan money is designated to do that. Most of it is designated to growing the size of the Federal government, which brings me to point 2.
2. Reduce the size of government. Our Constitution defines the role of the Federal government. What they're doing now is so far beyond the scope of their duties, it's mind boggling. I'm fine with certain liberties taken to facilitate the growth and prosperity of the nation (e.g. interstate highway system), but not at the expense of personal responsibility (e.g. health care).
3. Congress isn't doing their job. Congress is supposed to be made up of citizens, from our own cities and towns, who are there to represent us at the Federal level and look out for our own values and best interests. What it's become is a collection of greedy, corrupt and power hungry charlatans whose only interest is collecting as much money as possible for their next campaign, with complete disregard for their constituents and what's best for them. It has literally become a shopping mall for legislative votes. This needs to end. I'm calling for a wholesale replacement of every single member of Congress next year - they need to be reminded of who they work for.
4. Taxes. Yes, I'd like to see taxes reduced for the top tiers and increased for the lower tiers. No, I'm not rich, and yes, my taxes would go up if I had my way on this. Too many people aren't carrying their weight in our society, but they're reaping all the same benefits. The current system is, literally and figuratively, redistribution of wealth in action. Not only do those who aren't paying taxes benefit from all the things bought by those who are, but people are literally getting tax refunds larger than what they paid in over the year. I always thought that was right-wing propaganda until yesterday, when my girlfriend did her taxes. The first half of the year, she had a regular job. The total withheld from her paychecks was about $70. We started our business in the 2nd half of the year, so nothing else was withheld. Her "refund" will be over $5,200. That's about 75x what she paid into the system. If that doesn't qualify as redistribution of wealth, nothing does.
Hopefully some of the anti-tea-party folks will have read this post with an open mind, and maybe even learned something about what happened yesterday. If that's the case, great. I don't really expect to see anyone admit to it, though.
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sue your 3rd grade teacher!