Two Cents Worth

May we have a rational discussion please? I'm sorry Glenn, Sean, and yes you, Rush...I'm going to have to ask you to leave.

On April 15, we were able to actually witness history repeating itself as many people, a few perhaps rational, most of them not, took to the streets to protest the mere existence of President Obama under the guise of protesting taxes. Inspired by the Boston Tea Party (which took place on December 16, 1773), these protesters shouted on behalf of the very wealthy of our beautiful country who will see a tax increase next year while the protester's themselves will see a tax decrease. This is either a great example of middle class guilt or mere cluelessness but looking back into the history books, if these protesters had really wanted to emulate the Sons of Liberty, there were far better tactics that could have been employed.

The rallying cry of the Boston Tea Party was "No Taxation Without Representation!" and for obvious reasons. The colonists had no one representing them in King George's Parliament and they were being forced to pay taxes on every day goods like tea, paper, sugar, etc. Where did the tax money go? To England, of course! King George did nothing to help the growing colonies financially. Due to these types of taxes, the American citizens had to give up items that they had previously relied on, much like someone today who is making 1.8 million dollars! Under Obama's tax plan next year, that same man will only bring in about 1.7 million dollars. Think of the many things he will have to give up in his life in order to scrape by and for what? So children in his country can have better schools? Can the Obama administration be anymore selfish and controlling? And who is representing this man in Washington? Congressmen and women? Senators? Let me hear you! NO TAXATION THAT ISN'T REGRESSIVE!

Before the infamous dumping of the tea in Boston Harbor, the Americans found other ways to protest the tax. They stopped buying the items that were being taxed. Tada! No profit to be had for King George. Tea was smuggled in from Dutch merchants and there was a national boycott of products. If the Republicans wanted to be historically accurate, they should be boycotting the very things that their tax dollars are paying for. That would mean staying off the roads, not going to Police or Firefighters if their services are needed, not allowing their children to watch Sesame Street, college students dropping out of their institution of higher learning, staying out of National Parks, taking the Support the Troops magnets off their cars, not accepting Medicare, not seeking any medical help if needed, not supporting or working with pointless social programs like United Way or Americorps or even a soup kitchen as programs such as these only encourage laziness and living off of the government, shall I go on? Ok.

They should be doing everything they can to stop any military activity, break all the criminals out of prison, deal with their own garbage, water, and sewer needs, never partake in public transportation, refuse to import or export goods, not purchase or eat any foods grown on farms, let the orphans run rampant and fend for themselves, not accept any medical or scientific break through that could improve the quality of life and seriously, don't even bother going to a library. This is all just the tip of the iceberg.

Here is where I find myself even more confused. They feel strongly (obviously) that Government doesn't have a place in our piggybanks but they do feel that the Government has the right to (and should) rule over a woman's body or the personal relationship between two consenting adults. I don't understand. My tax dollars are now being spent on my country, to make our society stronger, better, and more viable for the future rather then being wasted on an illegal war (FYI, more money will be spent on the "War on Terror", than President Obama is spending now to get our country back on track). I, as an American citizen, am getting something for my money. And it is not taxes that are causing the bankruptcies and foreclosures and floundering economy. It is an ideology that is driven by selfishness, greed, and entitlement. Health Care companies denying coverage for people who need it, banks being misleading to borrowers, the ever rising costs of a college education. THAT is the problem which our President is AWARE of and is trying to fix in the best way that he and his administration see fit. He wants every American to have the opportunity to prosper while our last "leader" was content to just watch the wealthy swim in their gold coins like Scrooge McDuck.

A lot of Republicans think that the vast majority of our tax dollars go to support the Well fare Queens (because only women are on well fare) who just sit around and do nothing and have not a care in the world as they live off the hard work of others. While this is untrue (our Defense recieves the most of our tax dollars) are there people out there who do abuse the system? Of course. There always will be. But there are far more people who really need the help that is being provided and are doing everything they can to make their lives and the lives of those around them, better. Single moms trying to raise their kids to have a better future while working two or three jobs, people who are disabled and would give anything to be able to work again, elderly people who have no family to help care for them. Are you gong to deny aide to your fellow Americans because a very small handful are being idiots? Do you know who else abuses the system? The very people that President Obama IS taxing ( 3% more...yup, that's right, their taxes are going up by 3%), the wealthy that pull out all the stops to avoid paying up to the Government, with off shore accounts (but if an immigrant sends money out of the United States to his starving family in another country, he's a terrible waste of space), blatant tax evasion, etc. And you do realize that President Obama falls under the small bracket of people that will have to pay a tad more in taxes right? As do the very Liberal Hollywoodians. They're not complaining. Why? They know the only outcome of such an expenditure will better their country and will have no negative impact on their own standards of living. Another twist of irony is that the economists who are unhappy with President Obama's economic plan, are upset because they think he isn't spending enough and that there needs to be even more government regulation of the banks.

Remember the good ole days when we protested loss of life instead of "loss" of money? Remember when speaking against the President was nothing short of treason? Remember when we just called for Bush's impeachment for actually committing war crimes? None of the protesters at the Tea Parties seemed to be around and whipped into a frenzy when W took a national surplus and turned it into national debt and also allowed the positions of the President and Vice President to be above the law. And in the end, what were the Tea...people really protesting? They were protesting President Obama himself. In the almost three months that he has been in office, could anyone please name one radical change from President Obama himself, that has happened that has directly influenced their personal freedoms and way of life in a negative way? And how do people feel about the fact that President Obama, in these lone three months in office, has received more known death threats than any other president during their entire terms?

Ah yes. May we dive into that dark cave for a moment? If that were to happen (and God forbid that we ever see that day), it would not change the policies that are being said to be the problem. The job would be passed on to Vice President Biden. Oh, just get rid of him? Well the next two in line for the Presidency happen to be every Republican's worst nightmare: Madame Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Clinton. So if it's the destroying of the Democratic agenda that is sought after, it would be an abysmal failure. If it is just out of sheer hatred, then know that not only would our country be rocked to the core, but two young girls would be robbed of their father. And why? Because Glenn Beck cried over nothing on TV?

There is nothing wrong with dissent. That is the wonder of a democracy. I don't mind the protests, I mind the misinformation. There are two sides to every story and while some were making their side known loud and clear and violently so, remember that the majority of the country still feels like this.

Freedom is wonderful. Our country is wonderful. The American Dream is wonderful. I don't begrudge rich people for the money they have. I don't begrudge people who have a different political or religious opinion than I do. However, while I value personal responsibility, I believe strongly that we are our brother's keeper. When we think of what is best for the entire team, the greatest results are yielded.

Of course, that's just my two cents.