But, but, but…you’re getting $400!…by John Allen
The tax day tea parties were a huge success by any measure. Drawing over 250,000 people nationwide on a weekday is a pretty impressive feat. Especially since most conservatives work for a living and have a hard time making it to an afternoon rally. This is a movement that the left is obviously trying to de-legitimize in it’s tracks so that it doesn’t gain a head of steam. The coverage of the tea parties by the mainstream media was so condescending and dripping with contempt that it’s tempting to think that they just don’t get it. But, the truth is, they do get it and that’s why they were in full attack mode. They understand that many Americans aren’t buying their big government, nanny-state, euro-socialist vision.
The footage of CNN reporter Susan Roesgen at the Chicago tea party was particularly distasteful. Of course, there was the typical tactic of finding the one idiot in the crowd with an Obama/Hitler sign and putting him on TV to paint all protesters as right-wing extremists (conveniently forgetting that Bush/Hitler comparisons were standard fare at anti-war political rallies for years).
And there was the unreal spectacle of a presumably educated reporter actually asking a protester what the idea of individual liberty “has to do with taxes”. One can only guess that she believes that the government confiscating increasing amounts of a citizen’s private property are not, in any way, an infringement on individual liberty. Pretty predictable for a liberal activist, yet pretty shocking for somebody who considers herself a journalist.
The best part, however, of Roesgen’s segment was how she inadvertently revealed the thinking of liberal elites and perfectly summed up what Obama is trying to pull on us. As the man she was interviewing was talking about individual liberty, she said “Do you realize that you’re eligible for $400?” And there it is. So simple, yet so revealing.
She should have just come right out and said, “Sure, the government is running up humongous debt and increasingly taking control of the financial industry, the auto industry, the energy industry and the healthcare industry. Your individual liberty is being usurped by government and you and your kids are going to be facing high taxes and sluggish economic growth for decades as a result of the current spending binge. But, you are getting $400. Can’t you minions just take the $400 and shut up?”
To Obama and the liberals, the $400 tax credit is a payoff. A paltry sum that is supposed to forever buy your gratitude and loyalty. The government puts $400 in your left pocket so that you don’t notice the tens of thousands that it’s taking out of your right pocket over decades in order to cover the debt and interest they are racking up to create a government-run utopia.
The concern the tea party protesters are vocalizing is about the future. We may be getting $400 this year (and maybe even in future years), but the enormous debt that is being generated all but guarantee huge tax increases in the near future. As Milton Friedman said, “To spend is to tax”. And, if you think that only the “rich” are going to pay that bill you are delusional.
President Obama, in his recent speech about the economy, said, “we cannot build this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock.” It’s more like he’s building his house on the backs of our children.
I know someone like Susan Roesgen or Barack Obama would never understand this, but there are people out here that are guided by something called “principle”. You can’t buy us off with goodies and handouts. When we vote, some of us aren’t doing so with our hand out saying “gimme, gimme, gimme.” Look, I have two young children. I could have taken Obama up on his offer of government funded pre-school and heavily-subsidized college tuition for my kids. That would have saved me a lot of money. And, I’m also a teacher, so I could have taken him up on his promise to dump more and more money into public education (as if that’s the problem with our schools). But, no thanks.
I have never voted for a candidate in any election that has promised to take money from someone else’s pocket and put it in my pocket. Ever.
There are actually people out here who don’t want huge government in exchange for $400 or even $4000. All we want is for government to provide the basics (roads, police, military, etc.) and then back off. Lower our tax rates so that we can keep as much of our money as possible. Yes, our money. If you work for it, it’s yours not the governments. Let us make our own decisions regarding what kind of cars we drive, food we eat and healthcare we recieve. Don’t make us pay for everyone else’s irresponsibility and lack of work ethic. Don’t burden us with high taxes on energy, capital gains, businesses, and even our own labor.
And stop trying to divide us along class lines so that we have a country where some members of society find it completely acceptable to “loot” the wealth of other members of society. This breeds resentment and division. Don’t “loot” from the rich. Try to get educated and work hard so you can be rich. As one sign read at a tea party, “Spread my work ethic, not my wealth”.
Those are the things we want. And, of course, Susan Roesgen and Barack Obama think we’ll give all of that up for $400. You can keep the $400. I’ll keep my principles of limited government and individual liberty.
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