tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36404602.post8752024950219308658..comments2023-10-26T05:08:20.977-04:00Comments on Connecting.the.Dots: The Untaxed Tax ProtestersROBERT STEINhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11999996852219220599noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36404602.post-2012347414558973692010-04-21T09:01:36.780-04:002010-04-21T09:01:36.780-04:00Actually, Tea Partiers are upset that such a large...Actually, Tea Partiers are upset that such a large percentage of the American public pay no income tax; that puts the burden squarely on the shoulders of the other half who are. Right? So taxes keep going up for people with jobs, people not leaching off the system (i.e. the Tea Party patriots themselves, who as it turns out are better educated and wealthier than the general public: via NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html).Fuzzy Slippershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13021615731454709413noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36404602.post-17633833620109615092010-04-16T20:50:53.329-04:002010-04-16T20:50:53.329-04:00The attitudes in the NYT poll of Tea Party charact...The attitudes in the NYT poll of Tea Party characteristics fit very nicely with the fact that 47 % of Americans paid no federal taxes. The Tea Party is a well educated, well off 18% of the population who believe that they are paying for others who don't work hard enough. The 47% are obiviously the slackers who the tea party complains about, and the tea partiers could be taxed less if those lazy good for nothings would just pull themselves up by their bootstraps.<br /><br />Joking aside, this 47% statistic is likely to inflame rather than pacify the tea party.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07768059583507397078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36404602.post-1770266001553681032010-04-16T04:14:27.042-04:002010-04-16T04:14:27.042-04:00I can't believe I'm defending the tea part...I can't believe I'm defending the tea party nutcases and weirdos, but I find the whole "half the tea partiers don't pay taxes therefore they can't complain" argument disingenuous.<br /><br />Whether you pay *personally* a million dollars in taxes, or if you pay nothing in taxes, that does not invalidate anyone from holding the opinion that the American public *in general* is paying too much in taxes. The concept of paying less in taxes as a nation, while naive and misguided, is a valid idea. Whether or not you actually pay taxes on a personal level is not a condition necessary to argue that point -- being an *American citizen* is.<br /><br /> - mlhradiomlhradionoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36404602.post-38778618786542702312010-04-15T18:29:02.402-04:002010-04-15T18:29:02.402-04:00Excellent post Robert. As usual you hit the nail s...Excellent post Robert. As usual you hit the nail smack on the head. Somewhere there has to be a kernel of reason in the minds of even the most irate partisans, and they badly need to get in touch with it. As you suggest, history is a guide and is an excellent informer of what are useful sensibilities... and what aren't.JSpencernoreply@blogger.com