April 15th - Tax Day, Part 2

Update: From The New York Times:

Tea Party supporters are wealthier and more well-educated than the general public, and are no more or less afraid of falling into a lower socioeconomic class, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The 18 percent of Americans who identify themselves as Tea Party supporters tend to be Republican, white, male, married and older than 45.

The article goes on to say:

But in follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”


Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.

Others could not explain the contradiction.

“That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?” asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. “I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” She added, “I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.”

From The Tuscaloosa News this morning:

Congress cut individuals’ federal taxes for this year by about $173 billion shortly after President Barack Obama took office, dwarfing the $28.6 billion in increases by states.

In the next few years, however, many can expect to pay more. Some future increases were enacted as part of Obama’s health-care overhaul. And former President George W. Bush’s tax cuts expire in January. Obama and the Democrats want to renew only some of them, thus raising taxes for individuals making more than $200,000 and couples making more than $250,000. Continue reading

Yet, Tea Parties are being held across Alabama and the country protesting this imaginary unfair tax burden. 

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said conservatives didn’t see any need to wait before protesting.“I thought that we were going to have to wait until the tax increases started to see popular unhappiness,” Norquist said at a Capitol Hill forum Wednesday. “Last year, people started reacting, the tea parties started organizing, in reaction to spending too much. They didn’t wait for the tax increases to come.”

I guess that would be like protesting war in case one breaks out in the future? If this is what it is like with tax cuts then what will they do for an encore?  I suppose when the rich are called on to be accountable they get working people who are barely scraping by to do their dirty work for them.

Historically, war appears inevitable and so do taxes. We get a lot of services for what we pay for but, unfortunately, some things could use a lot of work... and thus money.