[Atlanta Tea Party]…scheduled for April 15th (tax day) at the Capitol building. Hannity will be doing his show live as he protests the “wasteful spending” of the Obama administration.
What if Obama supporters threw a “Reconstruction” party? A protest of a different sort, this would point out Georgia’s failing transportation system, the lack of adequate health care and poor trauma care, and the upcoming hike on property taxes through the death of the Homeowners Relief grant.
Keep it local, specific to Georgia. Make it a celebration of Obama’s adminstration, as we cherish his help in providing much needed funds to alleviate our poor state representation. Point out that Rep. Broun and Rep. Deal refuse to ask for federal funds in their district. Illustrate the bone-headed decision to provide $1 billion dollars in tax cuts to Georgia corporations while we can’t even balance our own budget without federal help.
Rarely does it benefit a Georgia Democrat to tie themselves to the national party, but in this case, it would also be an indictment of the piss-poor GOP leadership that has driven our state into the ground on just about every measurable indicator. SAT scores? Among the lowest in the nation. Life expectancy? Median income? Take your pick, Georgia is near the bottom in everything meaningful to a middle class existence.
A Reconstruction Party.
I'm still struck by the tea party meme... that was about taxation without representation. Aside from D.C. nobdy in the states can argue they have no representation. They could argue for better represenation and I'd even show up (instant run-off voting!!!). They could argue money in politics is drowning out the voice of human beings. I'd show up for that too! But tea party?
I couldn't believe I actually agreed with Ben Stein this morning:
These tea parties strike me as off-base, in some respects, though they evoke a certain principle that rings true, or at least possibly true.
First, I don’t quite get the taxation uproar. As far as I know, no new taxes of any size have been enacted. The only new tax I can spot immediately in front of us is the “cap and trade” levy on carbon emissions, which would be a tax on energy consumers. And even that, based on a questionable idea, doesn’t seem imminent.
When the recession ends, though, we will be facing very large budget deficits, even under the best projections. Unless the Federal Reserve is just going to print money — usually a dangerous road to inflation — how will we pay for government, except through taxes? And who has the money to pay, except the rich? So unless I am missing something, don’t we have to tax the rich, defined in some sensible way?
That’s just arithmetic. I wish that lowering spending were an option, but it’s not. Politicians talk about cutting spending and going through the budget, line by line, looking for waste. It never happens — except that sometimes, the military budget is cut, which is the last thing we should cut in a world as dangerous as ours. And right now, over all, the military budget isn’t being cut, although some programs are being reduced while others are expanding.
So, I don’t quite get the tea parties, although I do applaud citizen activism.
I'll be covering the Tea Party here in Henry. Hopefully get some good photos, ideas, and a better understanding of the positions being articulated. I enjoyed going with Deana and two of our friends who were Huckabee supporters down to Macon during the election, hopefullly this will be productive and useful for me as well. One thing i've learned is that actually observing and listening, helps a person better understand not just the surface issues, but what lies unobserved below the surface. We can't have productive governance without better understanding. So i'm giving them a post to make their point. I might try to snag an interview or two.
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