Thoughts for the Tax Day Protests

By Chris Fitzsimon

Chris Fitzsimon writes a blog, the Fitzsimon File, at NC Policy Watch. Earlier this week, he published this piece on the hypocrisy of the tax day Tea Party protesters, which he has given us permission to reprint in full:

Thursday is April 15, tax day, so get ready for the annual onslaught of government bashing and wild exaggerations about the taxes we pay from folks holding protests on streets paid for by tax dollars while being protected by law enforcement officers funded by our tax payments.

If somebody has a heart attack, a taxpayer funded EMT will respond. If a fire breaks out, people at the rally know the publicly funded fire department will rush to the scene.

Many seniors in the crowd will complain about the government that just paid for their latest visit to the doctor. Many speakers with degrees from state universities will rail against the taxes that paid for much of their college education.

Many of the people carrying signs blasting big bad government will have recently cashed their social security check or pension payment from the State of North Carolina.

Then the ralliers will head to lunch at a restaurant where their tax dollars made sure the food is safe and the electrical wiring is sound and won't cause a fire while they are complaining about the size of their government.

Any signs or empty soda bottles left on the sidewalk by the anti-government protestors will be picked up by employees of the government the ralliers despise.

Some parents will leave lunch to pick up their children from the schools our tax money funds where they learn from the teachers our tax dollars pay. Others will stop by the daycare center that our taxes make sure is built to code and take their kids to the park that our tax dollars bought for all of us to enjoy.

All this while breathing the air that our tax dollars make sure is safe to breathe and standing on land our tax dollars make sure is not contaminated with chemicals that can harm us.

Then the ralliers will head home and turn on the lights powered by the area's nuclear plant that our tax dollars make sure is operated safely and make dinner using the water from the system our tax dollars fund before giving their kids a bath as the water disappears into the sewer system that the government operates.

Then the protesters will stuff their homemade signs into the trash and roll the can and the recycling to the curb so it can be picked up and hauled away by the government that the signs condemn.

Then it's back into the house that is also protected by the police and firefighters that our tax dollars pay and turn out the lights and sleep soundly knowing that no bombs or missiles will fall in the night because of the men and women in the armed forces that our taxes support.

Then the alarm clock will sound, bringing the protesters another day to complain about their government.

NC Policy Watch is a project of the NC Justice Center and a public policy organization trying to change the way elected officials debate the important issues facing North Carolina. Learn more at http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/.