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8 a.m. ET: It's Tax Day, and aside from the traditional "wait in line at the post office" ritual, everyone is celebrating a bit differently. Conservatives across the land are organizing "tea parties," which, depending on whom you ask, are either inspirational displays of grassroots activism, or AstroTurf. President Obama will give a speech later this morning on "restoring fairness to the tax code," while other folks will take the opportunity to get free or discounted ice cream, cinnamon rolls and Chinese food.
Ari Fleischer is marking the day by writing that the current tax code is an "inverted pyramid scheme" and comparing it unfavorably to Bernard Madoff's scams. His complaint -- that millions of Americans at the low end of the pay scale pay little to no income tax. But a new survey out from Gallup shows that 41 percent of respondents believe lower-income people are paying their "fair share" of taxes, while 39 percent say they're paying "too much." That leaves only 16 percent in the Fleischer camp, though it turns out that the numbers are less sympathetic to lower-income people this year than they were in 2008. Overall, 48 percent say the amount of income tax they pay is "about right." Presumably, those people won't be attending any tea parties.
For about a half-dozen of Obama's Cabinet picks whose tax problems surfaced during their vetting, today provides an unwelcome opportunity to remind the public of those mistakes. They can at least take heart that there is a long tradition of rich and/or famous Americans skipping out on their taxes, though being lumped in with Al Capone probably wasn't high on Tim Geithner's wish list.
Here's a proposal for Geithner: As has been exhaustively chronicled, the newspaper industry could certainly use some help right now. The puppy story alone can't save us. So how about a tax holiday for hard-working reporters? Don't make up your mind about the idea right away, just let it percolate for a bit.
In non-Tax Day news, the Obama administration is once again paying homage to 19th-century Russia by naming yet another czar -- this one to keep an eye on the U.S.-Mexico border. The announcement comes as Janet Napolitano is scheduled to visit the border today, before she meets up with Obama in Mexico City later this week. That presidential trip is viewed as a sign that Mexico is gaining importance on the list of Obama's foreign policy problems.
Today isn't just Tax Day, it's also FEC Day, as congressional candidates are set to file their first-quarter fundraising reports. Here are some real or potential races to watch. Kentucky and New York should be particularly interesting, as both Jim Bunning and Kirsten Gillibrand need to raise enough money to fend off potential primary challenges. Up in New York's 20th district, Jim Tedisco stirred up some controversy by challenging Gillibrand's absentee ballot in the race to replace herself, even though she obviously has some roots in the district. The numbers in this contest continue to be confusing, though Nate Silver argues that Tedisco is "bound for defeat."
By
Ben Pershing
|
April 15, 2009; 8:00 AM ET
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Posted by: scrivener50 | April 15, 2009 9:43 AM
The GOP hijacked the Tea parties. If you look at all the Ron Paul people who helped start this sort of thing, they are gone. Teabagging is mainstream and very GOP.
The GOP needs ideas. Someonelse had this idea and they jacked it.
Posted by: tallertapas311 | April 15, 2009 10:14 AM
The author wrote "..Conservatives across the land are organizing "tea parties,"
It's not just conservatives. It is concerned taxpayers from the Left, the Right and in the middle.
Posted by: cwcsquared | April 15, 2009 11:22 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
POOH-POOHING THE TEABAGGERS IS A STRATEGIC BLUNDER THAT ONLY MAKES THE CRITICS LOOK ELITIST.
OBAMA SHOULD GO FURTHER -- ACKNOWLEDGE THE ANGER, LIKE ANTONY COMING TO 'PRAISE CAESAR, NOT TO BURY HIM'...
...IN SO DOING, DISARMING JUSTIFIABLE ANGER AND CHANNELING IT INTO SUPPORT OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL.
Same goes for mainstream media, which can't rid itself of the temptation to invoke double-entendre and a thinly-veiled contempt for those who dare to question what does look like excessive government intrusion into what used to be private enterprise.
These are legitimate concerns. By dismissing these concerns as the ranting of lunatics, the Dem establishment risks coming off as the elitists, the protectors of corporate privilege -- when the facts would tend to argue that laissez-faire GOP economic policies led the nation to economic ruin.
***
URGENT TO:
Attorney General Eric Holder
DHS Sec. Napolitano
DoD Sec. Gates
Treas. Sec. Geithner
DNI Dennis Blair, DNI Inspector General-designate Roslyn Mazer
Rahm Emanuel. David Axelrod, Jay Carney, White House
(staffs, please forward)
INNOCENT BUT TARGETED.
Google it.
YOU -- or someone close to you -- could be the next victim.
Unless Team Obama takes down the draconian Bush-Cheney extrajudicial punishment network...
...an array of secret "programs of personal financial destruction" and a government-funded army of citizen vigilante "community gang stalkers"... using the GPS satellite system to hunt and harass human prey (with the full knowledge of law enforcement)...
...coupled with the proliferation of mind- and body-degrading "directed energy" microwave radiation weapons -- the Zyklon B of a grassroots, military/intel- enabled civilian American Gestapo. These federal programs and policies have corrupted local law enforcement nationwide, allowing vigilante injustice to rule the streets.
Attorney General Holder, you must act NOW to restore human and civil rights in America.
Before the naivete of liberals empowers the saboteurs and Dr. Strangeloves who say "No!" to change.
Where is the civil rights division investigation that victims have demanded?
Or is there "nothing to investigate" -- because the government already knows all about this?
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vigilante-network-terrorizes-america
http://nowpublic.com/world/govt-fusion-center-spying-pretext-harass-and-censor
http://NowPublic.com/scrivener