The tea party protests, your opinion please...

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my view on this is rather simple, using the time honored right wing tradition of playing patriot, they are protesting just about everything liberal at the same time. It shows just how out of touch they are by using the word "teabagging" They scream that we are trying to take their guns, we can't b/c of the second amendemnt, however ,we can pass laws that stop the general public from owning high powered semi-auto paramiltary weaponry.As for taxes, they have been cut for everyone not making a quarter of a million, as opposed to bush, who raised taxes on everyone making under a quarter of million. The protesters are out of touch with modern america.

out of touch is exactley right. bunch of whiners, there lucky to have such freedoms in this country. if they dont like it here maybe they should go live in a country like libya and see what a trample of basic rights is really like. there just all pissed off that a republican isnt sitting in the whitehouse so they gotta create drama in the streets about how crappy the economy is and how terrible everything is, wich im sure isnt any of george bushes fault. its all barak hussian obamas fault because hes a terrorist

I don't like the federal income tax either, but a federal sales tax would also have some bad flaws.
Income Tax
Pros:
- Poor people don't have to pay as much, so it's usually a progressive tax (In some countries though, it's a flat tax).

Cons:
- Black market traders and illegal immigrants escape from it
- Have you seen income tax forms!? They're absolutely ridiculous!

Sales Tax
Pros:
- Much easier to collect. Everyone buys things, so everyone who lives here will end up paying some.
- No more IRS!

Cons:
- It would create a huge deadweight loss in markets with high price elasticity.
- Poor people end up paying a larger percentage of their income, which makes it a regressive tax.

[I realize these may not all be all the pros and cons.]

The black market is just as big a problem with a federal sales tax - maybe bigger. I have lived in a European country with a 20%+ sales tax, and it was common for businesses (especially service businesses) to give 25% discounts for people that paid cash ... those transactions were obviously never reported.

The United States existed for most of its history without any income tax at all. We only created the income tax in 1913. If we were to reduce US government spending to 1990s levels the government could eliminate the income tax altogether and replace it with nothing.

Most people think that the government is mostly funded by the income tax, this is wrong however. The road system is funded by state and federal gas taxes. Education is funded by local property taxes. The only thing income taxes are supposed to fund our social services, welfare, medicare, social security, ect. Before the government began providing these services they were provided by private charities, which were much more effiecent and provided better quality of care.

Before government got involved in health care, medicine was a charity and now its a business. Now health care is provided by massive corporations whereas before it was provided by churches and charities. People were required to pay what they could pay and no one was turned away, now they are forced to pay what the corporations and the government demand or go without care. The US used to have the best medical care in the world, and now we pay the most for care in the world and the quality of care is terrible.

Its really sad that no one seems to realize that the solution to our medical problems in this country is to get government out of medical care, rather than create more bureaucracy and more central control.

All we have to do is un-fight the first and second world wars, find a buyer for our missiles, planes and ships, eliminate the environmental protection agency, turn the GPS satellites into a pay-per-use service, and dismantle medicaid, medicare, and social security!

In case you didn't guess, I am rather skeptical of that claim - while spending and debt leveled off and declined in the 1990s, I still do not have any idea how we could have eliminated the income tax under Clinton. Is there a numerical analysis that shows how that might be possible??

yes, the goverment shouldn't ensure its citzens have affordable health care, help them when they are injured or unable to work! Yes, the sole, SOLE reason I am poor atm is because I am too lazy to get a THIRD job! Look at Canda, they got high taxes but that money ensures everyone can get health care. Oh wait, that is socialism, which is bad, we should go with unregulated capitalism, wait, we did that for 8 years and we are in a recession!

I want to go to one of those TEA parties.

Mr.Obama needs to listen to what the people are saying instead of being critical.

i wouldnt go to a tea party. america is probably the best country to live in, i really dont have any gripes with this place because look at other countrys. mexico for example, oh yah who wants to live there? europe with all there tard techno. sweden used to be cool, but now the only true country to live in over there are outside of the EU. a country like norway, my goodness. the whole middle east and south asia, and china suck. i hope you like missing limbs and being persecuted like a mother if you want to live there. jesus what awful places. south america and russia are also crappy. america is where its at and probably will be until the end of time

No, I agree with you. I am not naive.



I'd have to do some research to back this up, but from my understanding there have been at least a handful of cases where tax protesters have been successful. It's a jury trial, so that can happen. But again, don't take my word for it.



I paid my taxes. You put a gun to the back of my head and I'll do just about anything.



I agree that many are out of touch, but there is a duality to this. They would say they are out of touch with modern America because modern America is out of touch with their beloved Constitution.



That is an extremely unfair depiction.



Now I'm starting to get angry. These people are protesting because they feel they are losing their freedoms. Whether or not that is entirely true is arguable, but the "love it or leave it" argument will do nothing but enrage me.



How many times do I have to say this? The core of the movement is not Republican. Many actually despise McCain.



Maybe this isn't the forum for you. There is very little logic to your statements, but there is more than enough emotion. I acknowledge the role W. played in this mess, I despise the man. And umm, I don't think Obama is a terrorist? Come on now.



We're not looking to replace the income tax with a federal sales tax. We just want to get rid of the income tax. It would not be difficult to run this country without an income tax. The first step is the legalization and taxation of ALL drugs. It can be done if they didn't have their heads up their collective ass.



Legalize and tax drugs. Eliminate the military-industrial complex, eliminate the prison-industrial complex. End the war on drugs. If you did that, we would be able to eliminate the income tax and have MORE revenue.

The price of tea has already gone up sharply.

With these scumbags buying up teabags just to dump into some pond or river somewhere, my tea wil just wind up getting more expensive.

okay, the reason behind the income tax is simple, how do you ensure that the guy who can pay 10 accountants and lawyers actaully pays his taxes? Answer, tax what he makes! The average american doesn't hide assets offshore, a CEO who makes $5 million a day can, so to ensure that CEO is paying taxes, you make sure that he has to pay something. And why are you in an uproar? folks, Bush raised taxes on everyone making under a quarter million. Obama is just letting the tax break lapse. I promise America will not implode.

well i invite you to stop paying your taxes and see what happens

AGAIN what freedoms are they losing? none. so there tea partys are absolutley histaricle and serve no purpose other than to garner attention, to something they should have been crying about along time ago when dubya was in office

well lets remember that when gerorge bush came into office he inherrited a surplus. and quiet a large one wich he managed to dwindle away into record deficits. where was the tea partys then? oh thats right there man was in office! suprise, suprise! all political leaders are hypocrites. and is on full display here

if i dont make any sence you really dont make any sence by wanting to legalize all drugs. wow what a great idea that is! do you know how many problems that would cause? the benefit of of collecting taxes from it isnt worth the risk. yeah lets have everyone doped up on herion driving cars, planes and boats. jesus christ! and great idea, i'd love to be on the regulatory commision for this. where are you going to put all the prisoners? maybe the can all live next to you

Where do I start? The 1st and 4th Amendments have become "flexible". The right not to be taxed directly. The right not to be detained illegally. The right to a jury trial. The right not to be tortured. The right not to be spied on. The list goes on and on.



You can find them humorous, but to say that you know the intentions of every man, woman and child participating in these protests is incredibly arrogant.



I absolutely agree with this. There were plenty voicing this opinion during W.'s time in office, but there are many more that are being reactionary because we have a black liberal in office. That is unfortunate.



I agree that SOME of the people in the movement are hypocrites. But you're not recognizing the core yet again. The core are NOT REPUBLICAN. Why can't you understand that?

And what are you talking about political leaders? Even if it was taken over by FOX (very unfortunate), the movement is a grassroots movement, with no real leaders to speak of (except for perhaps Ron Paul).



I've merely gone over your head. It is not just a great idea, it is the GREATEST IDEA.



I play poker for a living, and thus I am well versed in the concept of RISK vs. REWARD. The problems are already there friend. By legalizing drugs you don't eliminate all those problems, but you make them FAR more manageable.



On the contrary, it's a home run. What risk? Read the actual studies done by people who know more about this than you or I. Legalizing drugs does not increase use.



This is just stupid. Of course there would be laws, just as there already are, that make DUI/DWI a crime. And do you really think merely having the drugs illegal stops some heroin junkie from driving around high?

You need to understand the way this would work. It's not like you go in a store and buy heroin. You go to a using facility, where you are given clean tools for use, are offered preventative information, are treated with respect (so you might respect yourself and quit), and you can use in a safe, clean environment.



These people would not be prisoners if it was not for the war on drugs. You need to understand what makes them criminals. Those that use must get the money to use, because the drugs are very expensive. This results in property crime, muggings and the like. Those that sell are merely trying to get that money in an environment where there is not much money to be made in a legal manner. You don't eliminate this sort of cyclical crime by merely making drugs legal, you need to offer sincere social mobility in the form of good schools, good communities, good infrastructure and GOOD police.

I could just go on and on with this, but you clearly have no understanding of the realities of the situation we find ourselves in.

well I disagree with vibrate on the tea party protest (To me it is simply right wingers who are pissed a black liberal is in office to the point of invoking godwin's law!) I am in agreeance with the drug legalaztion. Take cali, if pot was legalized and taxed, cali would reap a $14 BILLION in taxes, and when compared to tobacco and alocohol, pot is pretty much harmless. I repeat WHEN COMPARED! <---- see that line right there? Read it before you try to say I said pot is harmless, okay? As I was saying, on the scale of "evil" Pot ranks low yet the majority of the billions of dollars spen on the "war on drugs" is mostly spent on, guess what, pot!

There is certainly that element to the protests cognito, but as I said before, it's unfair to characterize the intentions of individuals based on the misplaced intentions of a few very loud and obnoxious people.

I should also say that I'm not just talking about pot. I mean legalizing all drugs. The harm of the substance is greatly outweighed by the harm of the war on drugs.

I'm not saying we shouldn't try and stop people from using, but we have to recognize that punitive measures are useless. We need preventative, educational measures, along with a true desire to provide economic opportunities for those who see none.