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Why Tax Protestors Have Got It Wrong

By Rick Ackerman Posted on April 16, 2009, 2:06 am EDT Last Updated April 16, 2009, 2:07 am EDT

With Tea Party protests erupting across the U.S., we wonder whether the anger will mutate into riots once taxes are actually raised. So far, though, and as far as we’re aware, all of those extravagant stimulus packages have yet to cost Joe Taxpayer a dime.  How can this be, you ask, when the U.S. Government supposedly has gone trillions of dollars deeper in hock to pay for it all?  Some will explain that it’s just “Buy Now, Pay Later!” on an epic scale.  But considering that no one has been taxed for all the goodies yet, one could almost believe that the money has been plucked from trees. And that sounds like win-win to us, as long as we don’t dwell too heavily on the fact that it’s just a dirty rotten lie.

 tea-party

Better that we should take the stinking lie and run with it – which is to say, believe, for just a moment, that even when all the costs of FDR’s Second Coming kick in, most of us won’t have to pay for it. Mr. Obama has explicitly promised this, saying he is only going to raise the taxes of five percent of American workers.  As for the remaining 95 percent, they supposedly will see their taxes fall, even as the filthy rich – i.e., anyone making more than $250k – shoulder the burden of a multi-trillion dollar public works program, “affordable” health care for everyone, TARP, and everything else on the Democrats’ 40-year wish list. 

Working Stiffs

So then, what was yesterday’s Tea Party all about? Here in Denver, the crowd looked like mostly working stiffs, not the kind of white-shoed muckety-mucks of the corporate world who will soon be footing the bill for Mr. Obama’s fiscal lollapalooza. But there they were, placards and posters raised in ire, protesting the onerous new taxes that Mr. Obama has promised they will never have to pay. If the President’s spinmeister’s had been doing their job, there would have been no Tea Party, only 130 million taxpayers blissfully content not to be among the five percent who have been chosen to pay.

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  • Grass Ranger April 16, 2009, 3:46 pm

    Read the Karl Denninger take on the Tea Party phenom at:
    http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

  • D Graham April 16, 2009, 2:52 pm

    What is amazing in this “new economic math” episode is that not only are we committing to incredible budget increases (proposal is a “Bush Gone Wild” increase of 28% under BO), but tax receipts are contracting faster than anyone imagined. That tax stone has been bled dry. The annual deficit could easily run at $2T+ for a long, long time. Then consider the lunacy at the local and State level. Government NEVER contracts once the seed of the weed establishes roots, committing the taxpayer to an enormous foundation of bills for services which are never fully delivered (name one). The BO supporters deservedly railed against Bush’s spending, but are silent now. Huh. I guess poverty will make us all socialists….not quite.
    I just don’t see how this ends well.

    Viva La Revolucion! Some time ago, I suggested to my wife that this nonsense would force the Country apart into a sincere replay of the Civil War with States seceding. She rightly rolled her eyes at my silly exaggeration. Yet, Texas just said it! I realize that Texas is likely just saber rattling, but even I am surprised with the rapidity of the escalation of words and commend them for having some gumption. Gold and guns don’t seem to be so stupid after all. The Bankstas will look pretty silly eating their dollars and wadding up dollar spitballs.

    &&&&&&

    Yes, tax revenues are indeed drying up as fast as dew on cactus. The Obama lie as blatant as his promise not to raise taxes for 95% of Americans is the tax-policy “assumption” that the U.S. economy will be growing by 4% just two years from now. RA

  • Frank P. April 16, 2009, 2:31 pm

    Too bad the protest organizers didn’t frame it more to the point – as “deficit spending”. Then the Obama people wouldn’t have an outright spin as they do with the “new taxes” theme.

    The real “producers” in our society will all pay – and probably sooner rather than later. The purchasing power of our savings will shrink in proportion the all the phony money being printed to cover this new debt. Unfortunately, most people don’t realize this liberal scheme is a back door way of transfering wealth, or they just don’t care . In the end… this will “kill the goose that lays the golden eggs”.

  • Edwardo April 16, 2009, 1:15 pm

    My problem, amongst others, with the tea party activities, falls along the lines you suggest when you captioned “Now that was a tea-party.” Indeed it was, and now as then, that sort of civil disobedience is exactly what is required to effect real beneficial change from a thoroughly recalcitrant government. Having said that, I suspect the day of real protest is coming, and I’m told, that in preparation for some genuine surly displays of dissent, the FEMA camps designed to house the unruly mobs are already built.

  • Kevin Desmond April 16, 2009, 12:16 pm

    The tea parties that sprung up across the land had less to do with taxes and more to do with government expansion and putting everyone of us and our future ancestors into the poor house. We will become a nation of surfs toiling for the very people whom we elected. It wasn’t about political parties either as we are now starting to realize that we have basically one party with two heads. Government has procrastinated long enough. The people must now lead the way and force or pull the politicians to deal with the many issues that have lead us to the door step of economic bankruptcy. The American free enterprise spirit lives strong and I felt for the first time in a long while that just maybe we can work our way out of of this jam if enough people wake up and start to participate and make their voices be heard. The system is broken and we allowed much of it to happen on our watch. It’s up to us (you and me) right now to make things right for all those who are yet to come. No it wasn’t just about taxes at all, it was about getting this great nation back to the divine principles that our founding fathers stood and died for and time is running short.

  • DOM April 16, 2009, 11:33 am

    Rick lots of good points here from you and the other commentators. I think as others have said, the protests are not just about taxes but the bloated Federal, State and Local budgets.

    Not raising taxes to pay for new programs right away sends confusing market pricing signals to consumers (taxpayers). So what we have is all these goodies that seem to fall from trees while nobody pays for them. The Federal government just keeps borrowing and will keep doing so until there is nobody to borrow from any more. The vast majority of the voting public is so ignorant (not stupid just uninformed) about these matters that when it comes time to do the right thing, they will not even know who or what failed them. Likely, they will blame the wrong thing (capitalism) and then that will be it for this country.

    I am in the everyone will be screwed camp for sure.

    Heavier sarcasm works for me. Just ask my wife. LOL.

    DOM

  • Phil C April 16, 2009, 10:46 am

    I felt somewhat the same. I got the impression some didn’t know the whole truth. Things like this will more be paid via the “hidden” tax of inflation that the rich have more tricks to evade. Although I caught one saying “Abolish the fed” so, definitely some knew the core of the cause of all this.
    But what I’m more angry is the republican politicians who are complaining already within a few months of the democrats administration of this spending while missing the past amazing 8 years of gigantic spending under the previous administration. What, they were hibernating for all that long?

  • donniemac April 16, 2009, 9:46 am

    There seems to have been a number of different protests going on. From the No More Bailouts crowd to the Cut Taxes crowd to the No Gun Ban crowd plus the little old I am a Right Wing Extremest (too bad McVeigh did not run around with that sign) person, the one disturbing thing I saw yesterday was the vitriol directed at the president. I would think that it was racist, but I remember the same kind of venom directed at Bill Clinton.
    What I don’t understand is why Mr. Bush and the 6 years of a horrendous Republican Congress rubber stamping everything the administration wanted and allowing them to hide the huge spending deficits seems to be left out of the discussion. Then again, as Clinton was called our first black president, maybe this is all racist.

  • Tony Halsey April 16, 2009, 8:04 am

    I believe that the majority of clear-thinking Americans are more than fed up with the arrogance of the federal government. We realize that they are the ones that got us into this mess in the first place. It’s a bit like the Catholic Church offering counseling to victims of sexual-predator priests.
    I’d like to continue my protest with a tar & feathering of Chris Dodd and Barney Frank .

  • Gerald Clifton April 16, 2009, 6:04 am

    Rick, this the first time I have ever heard you sound naive. We all will pay. Rich, poor, and alike. The rich will pay most, it is true, on line 37 (or 44…or whatever line the fill-in number is located nest to), but EVERYBODY will pay in the more subtle areas, the areas of life that don’t get abstracted into lines, dots, and concrete arithmetic totals.

    Somehow, all dollar earners and dollar savers will get screwed. And, if THAT ain’t taxes, what the hell IS?

    Will SAVERS win? At zero to 2%??? Will laid-off workers win? If my memories of grade-school arithmetic are accurate, it is better to pay taxes on something, than pay no taxes on nothing.

    I agree that the “tea parties” (or, in reality, the media coverages of same…) amount collectively to 48 hours worth of venting, political grandstanding, and media pandering. Such is the nature of “tea parties,” these days — too many cameras for ANY method-actor to ignore, and somebody has to film it all and report it. Nothing will come of THEM. But, the long, dull grind is still ahead. And long, dull grinds bring out far more accurate consensuses than one-day media dress-ups.

    Still, EVERYONE will get screwed. Either in, or out, of hierarchical order. It’s all merely a matter of sequence and recognition.

    &&&&&&&

    Gerald: See my response to G Miller. Next time I try for sarcasm, perhaps I should lay it on a little heavier? RA

  • DougBo April 16, 2009, 5:58 am

    Is this like about a Trillion dollars back when we were told by Dick Cheney “this war won’t cost us a cent – Iraqi oil will pay for it”?

  • g miller April 16, 2009, 5:31 am

    You missed the boat on this one. Do you really believe that ‘Bama won’t raise taxes on 95% of the people, with the support of a liberal congress? Dream on. I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you. The “working stiffs” you so patronizingly refer to were a combination of small business people, professionals, some real working stiffs, students, and many others. I know because I was at two of them and networked with friends that participated in 12 more.

    Most people will end up with higher taxes, because:
    1. Obama is lying , as he frequently does.
    2. The math is against it. He will need much more money than the greatly depleted “Rich” will be able to come up with.
    3. Other taxes, such as social Sdecurity, Medicare, cigarettes, liquor, capital gains, death tax, and more, will be raised, deduction rules are already under review to be tightened.
    3. The remaining “Rich” will find ways to duck their share and will even wheedle more bailouts from the govt., which is run by Goldman Sachs anyway.

    &&&&

    I think you may have missed this boat in the first paragraph: “But considering that no one has been taxed for all the goodies yet, one could almost believe that the money has been plucked from trees. And that sounds like win-win to us, as long as we don’t dwell too heavily on the fact that it’s just a dirty rotten lie.”

    RA

  • Grass Ranger April 16, 2009, 4:37 am

    I have noticed a couple of the news networks also focusing on the anti-tax component of the Tea Parties but the drift I got from those who were attending the protest in my home town was different. Most were more focused on the level of government spending and the levels of government debt that are being piled up. The concern of several was more on the level of taxation on their children and grandchildren. My own view is that after the current bout of deflation, we will see in our own time a serious bout of inflation due to the ongoing monetization of private and public debt by the Fed and the Treasury. The Fed can never seem to hit the bullseye with their interest rate manipulations and Treasury debt deals.


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