A few things caught my attention about yesterday's TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties. First off, how very normal the attendees looked. If one were to believe Janet Napolitano, we should have been looking at a bunch of fatigues-wearing, gun-toting Aryan Nation and Ruby Ridge types. We should have also expected to see effigies of Obama being burned or hanging from a noose. Another thing that struck me was how the media coverage largely focused on reaction from elected officials (i.e. the targets of these tea parties), not what was being said at the rallies. Any attention that was drawn to the attendees contained the following: 1) these were all orchestrated by conservative think-tanks and talk radio, 2) attendees are nothing more than anti-government malcontents, and 3) the attendees fit the Department of Homeland Security's description of the "right-wing extremist". The drive-bys also had a penchant for referring to participants as "teabaggers". Use urbandictionary.com to look it up, because I'm not going to explain it here (this isn't a public high school sex ed class).
Now, I attended one of the the tea parties here on the central coast of California. There were anywhere from 1500 to 2000 people. This was just one of the seven tea parties held between Ventura and Monterey (that I know of). The crowd had people of all ages, ethnicities, and walks of life. Attendees were unfailingly polite, even when the event was over and everyone was trying to vacate the parking lot. There were no riots, no burning cars, and no one attacking the police detail. In short, we were better behaved than most California protesters (unlike the protests that followed the passage of Prop 8).
In addition to protesting higher federal taxation, we were also protesting higher state taxes and onerous environmental regulations based on incomplete or fake research. California has the seventh largest economy in the world. Why is it then that California is in tank with an ever-increasing budget gap, while we have the highest income tax rate in the nation (and the sixth highest per capita total taxation)? Our current legislators think that the solution is to increase our income taxes, our sales tax, the fuel tax, the alcohol tax, the tobacco tax, and our vehicle registration fees. On top of these increases are new taxes on services such as auto repair and veterinary care.
Why do we have regulations in our state that stifle economic growth in the name of "environmental preservation" when there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that these measures actually work? The last thing California needs is the tax base leaving for places like Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. Or, in the case of some of my wiser friends, Texas. On a side note, can I adopt Rick Perry as my governor? Between that, and having Rudy Giuliani run for mayor of Los Angeles we could really clean up California. All I'm saying is think about it.
Who's going to pay taxes to support welfare benefits and state employee retirement plans? Illegal aliens and welfare recipients don't pay income taxes and theoretically don't pay very many other taxes, either. Even supposedly recession-proof industries like engineering and health care are suffering here, thanks to an orgy of lawsuits and state-funded programs ruining any prospect of private sector survival. California, and other welfare states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York are prime examples of what the rest of the nation will become if people don't wake up and take action. The tea parties were a great first step...now we need the follow-through to bring about change that we can really believe in (without the aid of a teleprompter).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Teabaggers indeed!
I passed a few tea baggers at the rally in Lansing MI and one sign caught my eye it read "Save 90% Outsource Government". Now HOW does that make any sense. Are we do send everything overseas? We might save some by privatizing some functions, but in the long run we would once again be subject to "taxation without representation" as it was in the original Tea Party and there would be many more special interest groups etc involved with the private parties that have taken over running the government.
There are way to save money and some of it is involves cutting down on paperwork so it doesn't take 3 hours to order and 4 days to receive a $300 worth of office supplies!!
Special interests groups already control our government at the federal and state level (and in some counties). Look at all of the political favors that Obama is paying back to the abortion, gun control, and enviro-wacko lobbies. That is why McCain-Feingold was such a sham. We as citizens (who make up the membership of these special interest groups) essentially exercise our freedom of speech with our money, based on which organizations we support.
I agree with you, not everything in the government can be privatized. I'm not sure how well private law enforcement would work. However, things like public works and education need to be localized. In some of our local communities, we even have engineering firms and construction companies signed on to maintain public infrastructure, rather than having a municipal department for this function. Invariably, the service and quality of work is far superior to anything that is done by a mid-level bureaucrat (not to mention less expensive).
The lack of efficiency in government at all levels is due in large part to government employees at the peon level justifying their existence. That, and each bureaucracy adds some overhead to every fee that you're charged. Think of it as the material surcharge that you get when dealing with a contractor (except it's just to push paper, not install new kitchen cabinets).
Post a Comment