Tax Day. Fox News is flogging Astroturf "tea parties" underwritten by corporate lobbyists, while its pundits warn that raising the top income tax rate to the level it was under Bill Clinton constitutes "socialism." The Wall Street Journal editorializes about the evils of the estate tax. Ari Fleischer, Daddy Bush's old flack, is trotted out to complain that "redistribution of income" through the tax code "is getting out of hand."

Really? Here's the grim reality. Since 1980, when the conservative era began, inequality has reached Gilded Age extremes—while top-end tax rates have been cut. The wealthiest few captured ever more of the nation's income while successfully lowering their tax rates.

Complete article: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009041615/taxing-matters

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009041615/taxing-matters

Where Were the Teabag Protests 8 Years Ago?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hale-stewart/where-were-the-teabag-pro_b_187066.html

Under Reagan, the budget was never balanced and debt ballooned. In fact, under Reagan the total debt/GDP ratio increased from a little over 30% to a little over 60%. Yet there were no protests. And the fact the budget was never balanced didn't seem to bother anybody. Of course, you could argue that the current teabaggers weren't around then so this doesn't count.

But when Bush took office the exact same thing happened. According to the Cato Institute, the Republican Party became the "Grand Old Spending Party." Bush was the biggest spender since LBJ.

To anyone with an ounce of common sense, it's obvious what's going on. Republican/conservative rank and file are protesting because they are out of power and their leadership is terrible. But they aren't protesting spending; they are protesting the Democratic Party's governance. And that is fine. But please, don't tell me it's about spending or debt. If that were the case, you guys should have taken to the streets years ago.

http://www.internetweekly.org/2009/04/cartoon_teabagging_the_movie.html

"...Though the "tea" in tea party supposedly stands for "Taxed Enough Already," no American household or business will face higher taxes this tax day. In fact, the economic stimulus package signed into law by Obama enacted one of the largest tax cuts ever for middle-class families, making good on Obama's campaign promise to cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. The first benefits from these cuts arrived in paychecks earlier this month. What's more, a recent Gallup poll found that Americans' views of income taxes are among the most positive since 1956. In his budget proposal, Obama has recommended raising the top income tax brackets back to rates under the Clinton administration and closing corporate loopholes, two issues he campaigned on, in order to strengthen America's economy by funding health care, clean energy, and education reform. Well-heeled corporate lobbyists are helping engineer today's "tea party" protests as an act of opposition to the Obama agenda."

Complete article: http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2009/04/pr20090415/index.html

                    http://www.allhatnocattle.net/4-15-09_teabagging_joe_the_plumber.htm

Rachel Maddow Brilliantly Mocks GOP 'Teabagging'

In what well could be Rachel Maddow's most hilarious segment yet, she ruthlessly mocked the GOP's new found love for teabagging:

WATCH VIDEO:  (6 minutes but worth watching in entirety)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30145811#30145811

http://www.allhatnocattle.net/4-15-09_teabagging_joe_the_plumber.htm