American Conservative Daily

Full frontal conservatism for all American freemen and women!

As you can see it was a pretty tame affair. No broken store front windows, no burning cars, no police in riot gear.  Get a look at this angry seething mob in the picture below. The Department of Homeland Security will probably want to keep a close watch on that guy with the “Collect more taxes, why?” sign.

The guys from WMUR Channel 9 were probably thinking the same thing as they looked for a story in the crowd. Give ‘em credit, though. They showed up with a camera

Of course, while the celebration in Manchester was not exactly a seismic event, combine it with the rest of the Tea Parties that were going on at the same time nationwide and you’ve got a real story. That is, if you want to report it. WMUR and the Manchester Union Leader chose to report it.

‘MANCHESTER – The spirit of tax fighter Mel Thomson inspired tea party protesters assembled at Victory Park to chant “Ax the tax! Ax the tax!”

At
the Tax Day rally, one of a half dozen held yesterday around the state,
residents expressed their disgust for federal spending and corporate
bailouts.

Protesters waved signs that criticized President Barack
Obama’s first days in office, warned about socialism and questioned the
whereabouts of “personal responsibility.”

U.S. flags. Black
balloons. Rousing soap box speeches. It was the very picture of
grass-roots activism, with a heavy Republican tilt. Organizers said
they hope it is more than a grand photo opportunity, that the people
who turned out in large numbers continue to mobilize and to hold their
elected local, state and federal officials accountable.

They had the right audience.

“Everybody’s
ticked off,” said Karen Poza of Manchester. She said she objected to
the federal economic stimulus spending and the social agenda of the
majority party on Capitol Hill.

Holding a sign, “Stimulate
business, not government,” Lisa Freudenberg of Wolfeboro said the
protest cuts across party lines. Though a Republican, she said
unchecked government spending must be “a people issue.”

“Enough is enough already,” she said. “No more taxes.”‘

The mainstream press has spun the Tea Parties as nothing more than right wing anger over the prospect of higher taxes.  But taxes are the issue only to the extent that they provide the average citizen with at least some leverage for forcing politicians to hold down government spending.  It’s the spending that’s the real problem.  And spending in itself is not necessarily all that bad.  The big danger we face, now more than ever, is that our tax dollars are about to be spent lavishly for the benefit of a particular political party.  Like all “stimulus” bills, this one is designed to keep incumbents in office, and as it happens the incumbents who are pushing the stimulus are Democrats. 

We are losing control of our elected representatives, if we haven’t lost it already. The tea parties offer some hope that we may get it back, but the average citizen has to stay engaged.  Otherwise America as we know it could very well disappear, and the America that comes after is not likely to be a better place than the one one we have now.

Update:  Karl Rove makes some good observations in his Wall Street Journal column.

Mr. Obama plans to boost federal spending 25% while nearly tripling
the national debt over 10 years. Americans know that this kind of
spending will have economic consequences, including new taxes being
imposed by the new progressives.

It hasn’t gotten a ton of attention, but people are fed up with the
complexity of their tax code and ready to do something about it. The
Tax Foundation’s 2009 Annual Tax Attitudes (which was conducted Feb.
18-27, by Harris) shows us that many Americans are willing to trade
popular deductions for lower rates and a simpler code. There’s also
been a flurry of interest among Americans in replacing the current
system with a national sales tax or a flat tax.

The open question is whether Republicans will be boosted by the
nascent tea-party movement. House Republicans smartly offered a
proposed spending plan this year that would freeze nondefense
discretionary spending, suspend earmarks for five years, and reform
entitlements. But cutting spending won’t be enough. Taxes matter — and
will matter more in the coming years.

The 2009 Tax Foundation survey found that Americans believe that
taxes should, on average, take just 15.6% of a person’s wages. And 88%
of Americans in the same poll believe that there should be a cap on all
federal, state, and local taxes of 29% or less — there is still a
constituency out there that will favor tax cutting politicians.

But to tap into that constituency Republicans will have to link
lower taxes to money in voters’ pockets, and economic growth and jobs.
They must explain why the GOP approach will lead to greater prosperity.
Such arguments are not self-executing. They require leaders to make
them, time and again, as Reagan once did.

Some liberals believe that the recession has made tax-and-spend
issues passé. But political movements are often a reaction against
aggressive overreach by those in power. Mr. Obama’s response to the
financial crisis — a government power grab and budget explosion — has
put spending and taxes back on the front burner. The tea parties are an
early manifestation of that. More is sure to follow.

We’re witnessing a blatant power grab, the most aggressive overreach in the history of our nation.  If we don’t succeed in blocking it now, we never will.