The first question that one may like to ask is "Where were all these rabid proresters when the big spending began?" We heard nary a word from Faux News or Glenn Beck or even Newt Gingrich when W. Bush began spending tax dollars like a drunken sailor on shore leave to fund his unnecessay war(s) and to provide his rich cronies (his base "the haves and the have-mores") with tax breaks and a trillion dollar war budget - that we now know was so carelessly spent that there are billions (yes, with a "B") for which the federales cannot account. What is being missed in all this passionate anger that has largely been fomented by the right-wing media (the aforementioned Faux News and right-wing talk radio) is that Obama has lowered taxes for 95% of Americans (the very same people who are out on public property excercising their right to petition their government).
I am not crazy about paying taxes, but I understand that I live in a country that provides my fellow citizens and me with certain benefits - if my house should catch on fire I needn't search the phone book for a private firefighter. If I am the victim of a violent crime, I call the police and they come and take my report. I drive on roads that have been built with public funds. I enjoy parks that are available because of tax dollars. Although I don't have any children, I am glad to support my local school board in the education of the kids who live in my area, because I know the value of a decent public school education, being a product of that system, myself.
I listen incredulously to people being interviewed at these "grass-roots" (or more likely "astro-turf") rallies, and I hear them squawk about how they are sick and tired of paying taxes. Well, what do they propose? That we privatize all services - that worked out so well in Iraq. (Blackwater has had to change their name to "Xe" to continue doing business). Have these knuckleheads ever imagined in their dark, low-life nightmares that it might pay off to invest in this country? Our infrastructure, our highways, bridges, and mass transportation? That it might pay great returns to create jobs that free us from fossil fuels and transfer our energy to wind and solar and other renewalable sources?
So I say to all these "tea-baggers" (the double-entendre completely lost on these right-wing ignorant white - and they are overwhelmingly white - people) why don't you just go and run your own country? See who picks up your garbage and digs your sewer lines and paves your roads. And God help you if you lose your job or your child needs medical attention - you'd be up a creek wouldn't you? Nowhere to turn... Try that kind of society for awhile and get back to me and let me know how that works out for you. Go ahead and try.
Take a look at where all this may be heading: DHS Report on Right Wing Extremism. Scary sh*t!
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