Party on! It's Tax Day! Today many American cities and towns are holding their version of the "Tax Day Tea Party" to protest what has become perhaps the most important
non-partisan issue of our day: tax dollars - the amount good 'ole Joe American is taxed, where those funds are going, and, highlighted in such difficult times like these, why Joe is footing the government dole rather than feeding his own family (Oh, b/c the government could feed them so much better, of course :).
Historically, this has been an important issue to Americans. I mean, it did start us on the road to independence from Britain and all. Now we are on the brink of begging the Chinese (who save about 25% more of their discretionary income than we do) to bind us back to the 1700s by buying our debt since our own banks and private investors have positioned themselves unable or downright unwilling.
It seems the homemakers of America have more sense than our own Congress and Treasury Department as Ericka Franzi shows us here in one of the local paper op-eds out of Ashville, NC:
Op-Ed In Asheville Citizen Times and Asheville Tribune2009 April 12
At a time when the word “prosperity” is no longer identified with this nation, it is inconceivable that our government continues to spend tax dollars as though the supply is endless. Millions of Americans are out of work or have been dropped to part time status. We all have fewer dollars to spend, and the dollars we do have in our wallets buy less at the market. Yet, in their infinite wisdom, elected officials on Capitol Hill and in State Capitals nationwide continue to spend our tax dollars at an unprecedented rate. We have been promised time and again, from both sides of the aisle, a close inspection of spending and surgical excision of waste. Always finding an expedient reason to postpone the fulfillment of that promise, the cutting of the pork gets set aside and our government grows, our spending grows, our debt grows, and our economic crisis grows.
Our corporate tax rates are among the highest in the world. The United States regularly practices double taxation in the form of estate taxes, gift taxes, and other wealth transfer taxes. Those who generate wealth, thereby nourishing our economy, are punished by the American tax code. Our taxes are a burden to enterprise and a drag on our economy. The only entity that benefits from the current level of taxation in this country is our bloated government.
Just last week, our US House, a group of individuals who passed a massive spending bill that they admitted to not even reading, approved another tax law that retroactively taxes private industry bonuses at 90%. This tax was to make up for a mistake they made in the law they passed unread. Such a tax is unconstitutional and confiscatory. Americans ought not stand for it.
Our current level of national debt is not payable in this lifetime or the next. Lawmakers in Washington have spoken from their soapboxes about the predatory lending practices that resulted in mortgage customers who couldn’t afford homes getting mortgages and becoming homeowners. How is that any different from our government, knowing the American taxpayers can’t afford all of the projects the government believes are necessary, writing us a $1 trillion loan for “stimulus”? Who’s the predatory lender now? And who’s the poor borrower who’s going to be paying for it for generations to come?
What happens to the value of your money in the bank when the Treasury Department decides to print 1 trillion more dollars and pump them into the system? Did you know that in the last year, our money supply has doubled? Does that mean your money is worth about half what it once was? Think about it. If your money was once worth $100 and, after the Fed printed billions of dollar bills, it is only worth $50, didn’t they steal your money? They certainly robbed you of its value without your consent.
Businesses succeed and businesses fail. No business should ever be subsidized or propped up by the government. The result of rewarding failure with tax dollars, as we have seen more than once with the automotive industry, is dependence upon the public dole and refusal to reform. When business is allowed to fail, it either reemerges stronger, or it makes room for more successful ventures in its place.
All of these issues are non-partisan issues. At one time or another, politicians on all sides of the political divide have been duplicitous in delivering us the situation in which we now find ourselves. To claim otherwise is disingenuous. As Americans, we must rise above the partisan political fray and realize that these issues strike at the very core of our American form of government. Should we allow these abuses to continue, we may not find ourselves at liberty to argue over partisan politics in the future. Should our Republic crumble beneath us, our party affiliations will matter little.
Whatever your political persuasion, come out to the Asheville Tax Day Tea Party on April 15 at 4:30 pm in front of the Asheville City Building and Buncombe County Courthouse and lend your voice to the chorus of opposition to the above abuses. No more out of control spending. No more confiscatory taxation. No more adding to the debt our great grandchildren will be paying for us. No more devaluing our dollars. No more bailouts. Let your elected officials know that you have had enough.
Erika Franzi
Asheville Tea Party Organizer
Homemaker, wife, mother of 4, area business owner
A shot of my kids enjoying the new trails
Party on! It's Tax Day! Today many American cities and towns are holding their version of the "Tax Day Tea Party" to protest what has become perhaps the most important non-partisan issue of our day: tax dollars - the amount good 'ole Joe American is taxed, where those funds are going, and, highlighted in such difficult times like these, why Joe is footing the government dole rather than feeding his own family (Oh, b/c the government could feed them so much better, of course :). 
It seems the homemakers of America have more sense than our own Congress and Treasury Department as Ericka Franzi shows us here in one of the local paper op-eds out of Ashville, NC:
Just last week, our US House, a group of individuals who passed a massive spending bill that they admitted to not even reading, approved another tax law that retroactively taxes private industry bonuses at 90%. This tax was to make up for a mistake they made in the law they passed unread. Such a tax is unconstitutional and confiscatory. Americans ought not stand for it. 
Businesses succeed and businesses fail. No business should ever be subsidized or propped up by the government. The result of rewarding failure with tax dollars, as we have seen more than once with the automotive industry, is dependence upon the public dole and refusal to reform. When business is allowed to fail, it either reemerges stronger, or it makes room for more successful ventures in its place.
Whatever your political persuasion, come out to the Asheville Tax Day Tea Party on April 15 at 4:30 pm in front of the Asheville City Building and Buncombe County Courthouse and lend your voice to the chorus of opposition to the above abuses. No more out of control spending. No more confiscatory taxation. No more adding to the debt our great grandchildren will be paying for us. No more devaluing our dollars. No more bailouts. Let your elected officials know that you have had enough.
