Unpatridiotic

I just cannot remember it always being this way. Since when did the idea of taxes become ipso facto a bad idea, no way, no how, under no circumstances. In my 33 years of public service I can remember a time when balancing the fiscal equation meant negotiating a taxing and spending regimen that appreciated the need for government spending on things other than national defense, public safety, and corrections.

And then again maybe I am just daydreaming, but was there not a time when both parties could defend the idea that certain social spending was acceptable not just from a compassionate perspective but also because of the actual benefits that would derive from a more just, more equitable, more diversified, better educated, and yes, more democratic society?

Yet today, conservative ideologues and politically elected lemmings, whose only calculus for leadership entails not wanting to offend constituents, threaten to derail evolutionary progress we as a society have slowly built over the history of the Republic. I neither believe that higher taxes, just for the sake of indiscriminate spending, is appropriate, nor that deficit spending during periods of economic growth is warranted.

However, I do believe that there is good economic rationale for increased spending to stimulate a stagnant economy, and that there are documented cases where social spending can render far more benefits to society than costs, in both an economic and compassionate sense. It seems to me that we are in a period of political bankruptcy where a significant minority refuses to entertain discussion of a fiscal solution that involves fully one half of the equation; namely, taxes.

And this is true at all levels of government; federal, state and local. It permeates all regions of the country, as evidenced in the various budgetary impasses affecting states from California to New York, and it is paralyzing public discourse and threatens to exacerbate the serious adverse economic circumstances affecting huge numbers of American families.

An example of the intransigence of growing numbers of Americans to the idea of rational discourse is the so-called Tea-bag revolution. I must admit, until only recently I had paid little attention to the movement, despite the considerable press attention they have garnered over the past several months, and assumed that they were capitalizing on the conservative mantra against new taxes, a position that seemingly has become the sole remaining political issue of a political orthodoxy that was resoundingly rejected in the last national election.

But I found myself in the unenviable position recently to come face to face with a group of self-described "patriots" of the taxed-enough already (tea) movement. All white, seemingly ordinary, non-descript post-retirement souls, looking more likely to be either loading up on buses to the casino or boarding a cruise ship than mounting a revolution, they politely recited their prepared talking points on why our idyllic democratic society was on the verge of total collapse. Always being one to accept a challenge I respectfully listened. So let's take a closer look at exactly what this movement is all about.

They came with paper, reams of paper. One paper, with a considerable amount of bolded words, underlined phrases, and numbered points was entitled Taking America Back, leaving one with the clear implication that we may have already slipped into a tyrannical abyss. The document regularly invokes the term patriots and "rejects the insidious tyranny and usurpation of our rights by government at all levels."

It rants against frivolous spending and advocates spending cuts across the board, thereby treating all spending as bloated and wasteful, although I am not sure they would heartily embrace large defense cuts, but according to the document they distributed they did not distinguish between entitlement spending and discretionary spending or defense spending from non-defense spending.

Interestingly, they decry public education spending and distinctly point out the need to eliminate funding for school sports. Now as a former athlete I sometimes have considerable heartburn over the inordinate emphasis on sports at all levels of education but still believe it plays a vital role in our education system, particularly given the alarming levels of childhood obesity we are seeing in our society.

They also reject the progressive income tax and support a flat tax. They reject automatic withholding of taxes, the corporate income tax and the so-called death tax. Although they refer to the flat tax as fair, there is absolutely nothing fair about a flat tax. It is regressive, it adversely affects the poorest the worst, and it rejects the notion that those who are most able should contribute more to the perpetuation of an equitable and just society. It assumes, blatantly, that most if not all people who don't work, won't work. This, of course, is patently absurd. Are there individuals who will not work under any circumstances? Yep. Are they a large majority of individuals? There is no empirical evidence to suggest this is the case.

They call for the adoption of the 9.12 principals and values. I was not aware of these principles so I looked them up on Wikipedia, and there again was the invocation of something called the Network of Principled Patriots. I will not focus on the values; they are just that, values, like honesty, courage, personal responsibility, humility, charity, etc. All things we should most assuredly be able to agree upon. The principles, on the other hand, are more problematic.

Let's take a look:

Principle 1. America is good. Okay, in general I have little problem with the proposition. However, this does not mean that we do not have our flaws and that we do not make mistakes, and with very little respect to Sarah Palin that we never need to apologize. Even good people make mistakes, and as a nation we have made some critically disastrous ones. So we must be careful here to acknowledge when we are right and when we are wrong. Just as we teach our children to do.

Principle 2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my life. Simply put, we are not a Christian nation; we are a melting pot of races, religions, and ideologies.

Principle 3. I must always be a more honest person than I was yesterday. Well, I don't get it. You are either honest or not, if you are honest today, you cannot be more honest tomorrow.

Principle 4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government. The absence of organized government is anarchy and chaos.

Principle 5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it. No problem here, does this also apply to I. Scooter Libby?

Principle 6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results. Okay, but what about a guarantee of equal opportunity?

Principle 7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable. I see, I got mine, you get yours. Well, just pay your taxes or else we will put you in jail.

Principle 8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion. Full agreement here, but according to Principle 5 you must contain that disagreement within the confines of the law.

Principle 9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me. Agreed.

The document continues that Oklahoma and Texas are leading the way in declaring their independence from the Federal government. I have read that the Governor of Texas has muttered the word secession, is that what we are spearheading here, a secessionist movement?

The document they passed out cites that Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, both Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and West Virginia would likely follow this example. It continues that should Mississippi act, so will Florida. Notice any trend here, well they spell it out.

The document states that you should "save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again", all this in defense of Tenth Amendment rights.

For those of you rusty on your constitutional law the Tenth Amendment states that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Personally, I don't see a connection to secession here.

Finally, there is an assault on immigration, under the title of Stop Illegal Alien Invasion, it calls for the incarceration and deportation of illegal aliens and celebrates Oklahoma's adoption of a law including DNA samples from any and all illegals to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes.

So this is what the tea-bag revolution is all about. Sounds unpatriotic to me, in fact sounds unpatridiotic. You can judge it for yourself.

Follow Lance Simmens on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lancesimmens

Comments

[tompoe]

First thing these jerks need to do, is stop using government services, like roads, water, electricity, phone. Walk the talk, eh? Don't pay taxes. When their parents need Medicare, don't let them. Walk the talk, big idiot. We call this thinking, unable to connect the dots, the bulb is really dim, and don't let the door hit you in the you-know-where on the way out.

[Liberal Angel]

That seems to be a pretty undeservedly fair assessment of that nutty movement. They want to withdraw from the Union... again! Patriotic? Methinks not. How is seceding from America any type of patriotic? The Tenth Amendment I'm 100% sure is not a right for the States to secede. We are a federal republic, not a confederacy. I wouldn't expect these lunatics to understand the difference. And for the life of me I don't understand how these people expect anything in society to work without taxes. They don't care about society, unless people want to be respected and their rights protected, then they rail against these groups as "un-American" for protesting their mistreatment. They only care about money and their guns.

[COPerez]

LA: "They only care about money and their guns."

And don't forget g*d. But not the liberal, loving g*d of the NT - they prefer a combination of the vengeful g*d of the OT and W.

[Liberal Angel]

So right. They care about their money so much so they can buy as many guns to kill as much of GOD's Creation as they can, because their god they think commands it.

[dzuh]

The right wing is calling for a revolution because they think President Obama is oppressing them as badly as King George oppressed the American colonists. Frankly, I think this very vocal minority is misguided, paranoid, deluded, and lacking in self-awareness (and that's putting it politely). Fundamentalist Republicans are now the mainstream, and by blindly seeking truth in false certainty, they now seem incapable of anything but the blackest and whitest of thinking.

Also thought the post was interesting in that we have somehow come to the point in which everyone is expected to have an ideology and to stick by that set of "rules" no matter what circumstances dictate. But such a belief ignores reality's inherent complexity, and that different situations and times call for different measures. There is nothing inherently good or bad about Capitalism or Socialism; however, unfettered free markets inevitably create extremes of wealth and poverty and other major ills, so we need government regulation of industry. These are simple facts that some people just can't seem to grasp because they're so focused on proving the "correctness" of their beliefs.

America's greatness is based on people and progress, not blind conformity to doctrine. That's why we kicked King George out of here in the first place!

[BobLablah]

Please answer one simple question: What is the highest percentage of income any citizen should pay? I I have not found a single democrat willing to answer that question, because they all know the top rate is already too high.

[COPerez]

How about the same rate they paid under Reagan? That's probably still a bit too low - I'd prefer the rate under that other lefty, Tricky Dick - but it's a good start.

[TryToBeFlexible]

How about 50%? If you make over 50 million a year, I don't see any problem in you paying at a rate of 50%. You would still have way way more than I will ever earn in my whole life.

PS. - I am a democrat. Now you have found a single democrat who will answer the question. Got any other questions?

By the way, in the 50's the highest income tax rate with 90%.

[BobLablah]

I agree with you. Of course, when you include state tax, city tax, sales tax, FICA, social security, death tax and property tax we're already way over 50% in many states and cities.

[ProgressiveVoice]

If you would like a simple question answered, then ask a simple question. I doubt you would find any politician or economist or ANYONE reliable or expert who would answer your question.

Are you referring to taxation during time of war? Economic prosperity or recession? By highest percentage, do you mean the top rate of our graduated income tax? Do you mean the percentage of income of the country's top earner? The average percent of income paid by all citizens?

Are you aware that the income tax was initially enacted to prevent the wealthiest citizens from amassing even greater wealth? Do you pay top tax rates on any of your earnings? When you say "the top rate is already too high" what do you mean? How do you know it's too high?

The greatest hypocrisy of the Republicans, going back to Reagan, is the glorification of the post-WW2 era as the "good old days" without even the slightest hint that during those golden years, the top rate for high earners was higher than it is now and, during part of that economic expansion, climbed as high as 90%. Can the Republicans or people like you, who insist that taxes are too high already, point to any period in history that can match the economic prosperity and stability of the 1950s and 1960s AND did it with lower tax rates?

[BobLablah]

Where exactly are the links to quotes from any republican glorifying the post WWII era as golden years? No cell phones, no internet, no thanks.

PS: Many people believe that the 1990s were the most prosperous of decades. I agree with Clinton's top tax rate of 39.6%.