Tax protesters take time out for TEA
By the sound of their applause, the overwhelming majority of the 150 people who came to the Prince William County T.E.A. Party, otherwise known as taxed enough already, are not happy with the direction the state and federal governments are headed.
The multiple speakers who took the microphone at the James J. McCoart Government Center on Saturday galva-nized their belief that the current state of government is not working.
"It took Virginia 390 years to reach a budget of $36 billon, and it took only 10 years to double it. If that doesn't make you upset, I don't know what will," said Ben Marchi, director of the Virginia chapter of Americans for Prosperity.
The Virginia branch of the self-described economic watchdog group was formed in 2005.
Marchi went on to address another concern of many who attended—the cap and trade tax included in the American Clean Energy and Security Act passed recently by the House of Representatives.
The bill imposes a cap on the amount of carbon emissions by U.S. companies nationally. Companies would be given the option of purchasing permits from the government to continue emitting the same amount of Co2, although the federal government is expected to significantly ratchet down the amount of carbon allowed over the next 10 years.
The bill is now headed to the Senate and, if passed, it is expected to generate nearly $9 billion over the next 10 years. This could reduce future budget deficits by $4 billion, according to a letter from the Congressional Budget Office.
But Marchi said the bill isn't a good idea. "There would be a tax levied on everything that we use that requires energy to produce, from soap to toilet paper. That's a tax on every working family. That's a tax on people who don't even work," he said.
Marchi added that companies would undoubtedly pass the cost of the new tax to their customers, increasing the monthly cost of living for the average family by $150 a month.
Health care was on 72-year-old Don Donley's mind when he decided to attend the rally.
The Dale City resident, 72, said he feels threatened that government-controlled health care would limit his ability to get access to the health services he needs. He added the right to own guns has also become a major focus of many Americans.
"If you take our guns away, you are going to see a revolution in this country," he said.
Prince William County was once more recognized as ground zero for the illegal immigration debate by Jack Martin of the Federation of American Immigration Reform.
He said lawmakers in Richmond should pay more attention to the estimated 300,000 illegal aliens working in Vir-ginia.
"They should make all employers verify the work documents of all employees. Every state should be doing that and every state senate should be held responsible for that," said the Washington resident.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
Reader Reactions
Joni:
There was NO misunderstanding on my part about what you posted in a ;engthy and ignorant concerning unions.
You have cleverly attempted to leave out part of your allegations, sand your rephrasing of them omits some words.
czx…once a couple of months ago, I said that while we may think bankers/CEOs make too much (there was a thread going on about CEOs returning bonus money and at the same time another thread about car unions) and I said that CEOs signed contracts and we are a nation of laws and contracts need to be honored. PHDEE misunderstood and thought I said that CEOs signed contracts with unions, and has gone on and on and on and on for the last few months that I knew nothing of what I speak about unions when I said they were outdated and taken over by mob like bosses and needed to be disbanded. Unions steal billions from their members and even a solid union supporter of mine who always defended the unions was recently thrown to the wolves in her union after 30 years of paying dues…now, even she says they are nothing more than a front for mob type bosses.
They once served a great purpose, but no longer. PHDEES constant insults are thrown at me for something dee misunderstood.
Phdee?? Do you mean labor unions? They were good back in the day regarding child labor and working conditions and work hours, now they have become a bloated bureacracy, enforcing dues, cutting jobs, cutting benefits, outsourcing to other countries, cutting pensions, buying votes, etc. etc. LOL Chris Cummings
Very good,and all very true, which is why I said your original post was part true because it left out some very important information.
Your second post is spot on. As the very first Republican to ever win the White House, Lincoln may have only won because the Democrat Party was so bitterly divided that they basically shot themselves in the foot.
In the Lincoln-Douglas Debates while running for Senator, Lincoln began the debate issue on Slavery,however, it became an issue of States’ Rights vs Federal Rights. Even though Lincoln lost the run for the Senate, the issue was raised again when Lincoln ran for president. The states of the South knew that their gravy train would end if they were forced to give up their slaves, Lincoln knew that he could not allow the southern states to secede.
It is great to be able to discuss issues like history especially when the discussions can be so civil. Thanks for the new info and reminders. I love history and am reading the book about Andrew Jackson ‘American Lion’, it is a GREAT read (so far) if you haven’t read it yet. A couple of good ones (and ones that are still true in today’s world called ‘FDRs Folly’ by Jim Powell and New Deal or Raw Deal” by Burton Folsom. They are excellent reads that you will never hear about from school.
adam impressive…
Joni6100,
What I tried to explain is the reason the Civil War occurred when it did was because the Republicans took the White House. The Republican Party was founded in 1854 and their stated goal from the beginning was to end “The twin towers of barbarism,” one of which was slavery. When Lincoln ran for President he ran a regional campaign focused on electoral votes. He wasn’t even on the ballot in seven southern states.
In 1860 there was for all practical purposes a northern election (Lincoln beat Douglas), and a southern election (Breckinridge beat Bell). With only 40% of the popular vote Lincoln won the needed electoral votes using his regional strategy. The South feared the election of a Republican as President. When Lincoln won the election, South Carolina immediately succeeded and other states soon followed.
John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Quincy Adams are probably the best know anti-slavery political leaders. They were morally opposed to slavery. Lincoln was anti-slavery, but pragmatic. When he saw the opportunity to score politically (keep Britain out of the war), he seized the opportunity to take the moral high ground (end slavery in the rebelling states), following the model laid out by John Quincy Adams (using Presidential powers during the time of war).
adam, some true and some a stretch. You are right about the call to end slavery tho and while PHDEE may want to ignore the fact that slavery being around for thousands of years, was in fact coming to an end by the time America was founded.
While a large reason was the issue of state versus federal rights, the main reason for the start of the Civil war was not really to end slavery (even tho it became the “spoken” issue, it was MOSTLY ABOUT MONEY. The North was angry about the “free workers” in the south, it was decided that it had to end. The North could not compete with the South price wise because the South didn’t have to pay wages and they did. So, yes, in a way it began about slavery, it wasn’t for the moral reasons we like to think it was in the beginning.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1936/the_cause_of_the_civil_war.html
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/civilwarmenu/a/cause_civil_war.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080617173032AAjESqQ
England siezed indian lands and established slavery in the colonies, there was not a United States in the 1600’s. The whole point of Independence Day is to celebrate the establishment of this new country in 1776. The Declaration of Independence was written to make our case to the world as to why we should no longer be subject to British rule. Have you ever read it?
The issue of ending slavery was debated by the Second Continental Congress, but the most southern of the states would not go along. Those wanting to end slavery at the time this country was founded decided to fight that battle another day. They needed the southern states in what were already overwhelming odds in fighting the British.
I read a lot of crap on these comment pages from people who either don’t know history or choose to ignore it because of their agenda. Yes, slavery was an abomination. It was wrong. It is a disgusting practice. It is hard for me to understand why some people wanted it to continue, but it wasn’t like people were just letting it happen. From the founding of this country there were people dedicated to ending the practice. One of the founding planks when the Republican party was founded was the ending of slavery. This is why the Civil War occured when it did.
You have a Consitutional right to say stupid things; however, if you want to see social progress I suggest that you show some intelligence, graditude and hope in your writing.
So what was decided about taxes?
Surely you all don’t want a depression? You would be crying like girlie men if you had to give up your comfort levels.
It seems like the Tea Party was not very focused on taxes.
How many “folks” did you interview for the count at the Yea Party?
Advertisement