Ah, the teabaggers were out yesterday... And they were angry! Over what, exactly? That's a good question.
Most Americans, and even most teabaggers (!!!!), think their taxes paid this year were fair. Oh, and this was largely thanks to President Obama, Senator Reid, and Congress Members Berkley and Titus working to cut taxes for 98% of Nevada's working families!
So why again were the teabaggers out protesting? Oh yes, they were angry! Well, our friends at Progress Now Nevada organized a progressive tax fairness rally at the post office (across from McCarran Airport) to remind folks what our real tax problems actually are. Here are some pics from yesterday's rally.
(And btw, props to The Sun for actually doing a fair write-up, and for actually taking a couple of their own photos. And no, I'm not just saying that because I'm in one of them! :-P )
Yes, a couple teabaggers showed up to try to start something. One of our supporters ended up drawing one of the 'baggers into a rather polite conversation over all the good things that are supported by our taxes, such as the roads, the schools, the military, the parks, and more. Meanwhile, the other one who showed up later argued angrily with Erin Neff over income tax and immigrants. He was saying something about "I pay my income taxes so the illegals can send all their kids to the public schools!", and Erin had to remind him that there is no state income tax in Nevada, and that everyone (including undocumented immigrants) pays the sales tax that's relied upon to fund our schools. And that's precisely the problem, we've learned the hard way here in Nevada that our regressive and antiquated tax structure that relies on sales taxes (that mostly affect working-class families) and casino revenue is not enough to properly fund our state and all the services we expect.
So maybe Jon Ralston is simultaneously admiring the teabaggers' passion while fearing their stupidity, but I'd rather do neither. I'd have more admiration for them if they were to actually bother to learn the issues and what they're supposedly so angry about. And I'd maybe fear them if they had shown to be a politically potent force, but all I've seen from them so far is a whole lot of hot air and nothing else.
