Atlanta Tea Party

Brett stopped by the Atlanta Tea Party last night. He was downtown already (he is getting his MBA from GA State). When he arrived around 7:00 p.m. he said there were a few hundred people there with more pouring in by the minute. By the time he got home they were reporting 15,000 to 20,000 people in attendance.

I usually don't do any political talk on here since most consider it to be a very personal issue, however, now I will. I was very much in support of all the tea parties. For those of you who may now be aware, the parties were inspired by the Boston Tea Party which was a tax revolt in the 1700's. The parties yesterday across the country used the acronym TEA for "Taxed Enough Already" and I could not agree more. I am sick of the way the government has been operating the past months, bailing out those that fail to manage their money whether personally or professionally. I think we should let the market decide which businesses fail and let people take responsibility for their own decisions. This IS Capitalism. It may sound harsh but if you've spent beyond your means that's your fault and YOU should deal with the consequences. I know there may be stories out there where people truly got shit on, but for the most part people's situations are a product of their choices.

Brett and I live within our means. We've chosen to follow the Dave Ramsey mentality. We don't use credit cards and haven't in almost 3 years. We have no debt except for our house (which we are working to pay off). We don't buy anything we can't pay cash for. This includes vacations, clothes, car issues and even our furniture I posted about earlier. I'm not propping us up on a pedestal. We're just making conscious decisions with our money. And I feel like if I am, then what makes me responsible for other home owners that got in over their head and CEO's and companies?? Sure I want more and bigger and better. Isn't that (unfortunately) the American way? What happened to personal responsibilty? You make the choice, you should own it and pay the consequence, period. And if it effects your family and children then you need to become an even better choice maker. Choice is what makes us different from the whole animal kingdom. We have the ability to reason and think cause and effect and then make a choice. If you choose the wrong one then you should, and do pay the consequences.

This is what I think of the current government "stuff". I think it's a bunch of BS becuase the rapid growth of government is leaning too closely to Socialism. I have traveled many time to Eastern Europe; to Ukraine & Russia. I see where Socialism leads and where the citizens thoughts and values get thrown by the wayside. I don't want to go there.

The companies chose, people chose and they should be held responsible. Period. Not me or my family.

From Brett:

My problem with the current administration (and support for the TEA parties) is more about spending than the current taxation rate. The size of the government is heading toward European style socialism and you can look at France to see how well that works. Obama's budget will quadruple Bush's deficit who was no fiscal hawk. At this scale of spending, I believe a dollar spent by the government is inextricably linked with a reduction of freedom. The growth of government means more beurocrats deciding and dictating how you should behave and less choice. We're moving from the freedom of the individual to the collective society seen in so many failed states.

The TEA parties, although portrayed by the media as a right wing extremist movement, are extremely pertinant to the current tax situation. One could argue that Obama has "cut" taxes but this would be a dishonest statement. With astronomical deficits, the government is faced with limited choices. Government can print money and hide increased taxes in inflation, thereby robbing the value of our dollar without most of us noticing. Government could raise taxes on the "rich" and make our tax structure (where 10% of the country pays 72% of the taxes) even more progressive which would significantly alter the behaviour of our most productive (to the detriment of our economy). Our third option would be to ignore the deficit and let our children worry about the mess we've created. Either way, each option results in a negative externality that amounts to a "tax". I think this is what the TEA parties are really all about.