My latest in the American News, assults on the English language and all:
The so-called “tea-parties” that took place around the nation on April 15, tax day, represent to some a laudable protest movement against increased government taxation, while to others they represented a collective rant by a right-wing fringe.
Some commentators, like CNN's Anderson Cooper, resorted to on-air vulgarity to disparage the protesters. Others, such as actress Janeane Garofalo, denounced the protesters as ignorant racists. Many, including CNN reporter Susan Rosegen, disparaged the protesters as mere tools of the Republican Party and Fox News.
Sinking to vulgarity and insult is the sign of bigotry mixed with self-righteousness. The likes of Cooper and Garofalo are likely quite proud that “we” are so much more sophisticated than “those people.” Rosegen is apparently unaware that there is this thing called the Internet, and that's how most protesters heard about the event. From what I observed, the hero of the protesters is dissident Libertarian-Republican Ron Paul, hardly the darling of the GOP establishment.
The better criticism of the protesters came from those with a little knowledge of history. The original Boston Tea Party was protesting taxation without representation, hardly the issue in our day. Also, most protesters were actually receiving an income tax cut under current policy, not an increase.
One could point out that if one is a smoker, the current administration has already raised your taxes. Also, the Obama cap-and-trade energy plan will, by their own admission, cause significantly higher energy prices for everyone, a kind of indirect tax.
Still, one must grant that while the coming Obama budget means much higher taxes for a few, for most Americans it means modestly lower taxes. This is why the protesters would have been far wiser to aim their invective at budget deficits, not taxes. Currently the federal government is $11 trillion in debt. In our current fiscal year we will run up $1.85 trillion more debt, about four times the previous record for a one-year deficit.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama's plan will create $9.3 trillion in debt over 10 years, or about $900 billion a year. Our long-term debt, future projected outlays minus expected revenue, is currently $56 trillion according to David Walker, former top accountant for the United States. That's $184,000 for every single American.
If we do nothing, in 40 years we will be able to afford interest on the debt and some, but not all, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. As Walker puts it, the rest of the federal government will be out of business.
Matt Miller, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center For American Progress and an Obama supporter, argues that Obama will have to eventually raise taxes on everyone to pay for all the spending he is engaging in now.
It is our children and grandchildren who are being taxed without representation. Due to deductions and credits, 40 percent of all tax filers actually have no income tax liability. That will increase to 50 percent under the Obama budget. We must raise taxes on everyone, which the tea partiers won't admit. Our leaders of both parties buy us off, promising generous benefits and tax cuts while leaving the bill to today's wealthy and future generations. Now that's worth protesting.
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