Tax Day fix requires more than 'tea parties'

John Kass

Then they'd whip out their canes and give us a sound thwacking for willingly giving so much of our labor to government in the form of taxes, and for ceding, like so many sheep, individual economic freedom to the central planning authority.

But the founders wouldn't have needed the canes on Wednesday, the day that Americans who aren't big shots in the Obama administration traditionally file their federal taxes. Grass-roots protesters and libertarian think-tank organizers gathered in towns across the country in a series of "tea parties" to rail against the insatiable federal leviathan.

Predictably, Democrats, the Hopium smokers in the media and the left-wing blogs condemned such "tea parties" as gatherings of right-wing wackos.

"I assume we'll be ridiculed as some fringe element, but I don't consider myself a right-wing wacko. I'm a stay-at-home mom with three young children," said Kim Visokey of Winnetka, one of those in the crowd in Chicago's downtown federal plaza.

Visokey said she's not terribly politically active. But she came to hear Democrats and Republicans, Libertarians and conservatives rip on the federal government for spending us into servitude.

"I don't think the Founding Fathers would enjoy what we've become," Visokey said. "They'd be embarrassed. They organized this country on the principles of limited government. But here we are, in Chicago, in Illinois."

There seems to be no limited government in Illinois, where a group of family political clans dominate Democratic politics, with the Republican establishment serving as willing enablers, or jesters.

Reporters didn't have to work hard to find critics of President Barack Obama. But if they only asked, they'd have found that many in the audience were equally concerned with how the Republicans under President George W. Bush spent federal dollars like drunken sailors. Anger over the orgies of Democrat and Republican politicians feasting together has brought out the "tea party" protesters.

"What critics of this don't understand is that we're upset with President Obama, yes, but also upset with Bush administration bailouts, and how Obama has taken that and compounded it with all his spending," said Mike Lennox, a real estate manager.

"Democrat, Republican, I don't care about the excuses. What we're tired of is all the lies and the corruption," Lennox said.

Clearly, the message was heard, as Obama himself hoped to demonstrate how his administration was helping "working families" pay lower taxes. Locally, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger—the hapless puppet of Mayor Richard Daley—announced he was also cutting sales taxes: A whopping quarter of a penny.

"So if you spend $100, you save 25 cents in taxes?" asked Mike Lyons, who works at the Board of Trade. "A quarter-of-a-cent tax cut? You've got to be kidding."

Although it was good theater, what happened on Tax Day was about something more than criticizing a liberal president. It was about an unorganized group redefining conservative/libertarian principles after so many Republican cheerleaders abandoned themselves to the failed "big government conservatism" of the Bush years.

Obviously, such events are open to manipulation by seasoned political operatives.

As Democrats and their mouthpieces rip on the "tea parties," Republicans and their mouthpieces will try to hijack the symbolism.

So, to satisfy those who, like Obama, seek a post-partisan American politics, I've got an idea. I offered it up years ago, but in honor of the "tea parties" I humbly offer it again. Here goes:

All American elections should be held on Tax Day.

Under my plan, there would be no federal withholding taxes from paychecks. That sleazy political trick is only about numbing us to the extent of the federal tax bite. Under my plan, such tricks would be relics of the partisan past.

Instead, every American would pay a quarterly tax. We'd write our national and local tax checks to the government on Election Day, April 15.

And only after writing the checks could we vote.

Clearly, politicians would hate my idea, since voters would be angry.

But we wouldn't be arguing about "tea parties," would we? We might not even need them any longer.