Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tea parties aren’t just for little girls. Last night, Americans around the nation voiced their anger about tax increases at area tea parties, named for the famous Boston uprising that led to the revolution. University of Kansas students William Stewart-Starks, Lawrence senior, and Michael Shoykhet, Olathe junior, attended a party at Johnson County Community College to join in the tax day protest.
“Tax increases are unfair and we need to do something about it,” Shoykhet said.
Will Stewart-Starks, Lawrence senior, passes out flyers during the tea party tax protest at Johnson County Community College Wednesday. Thousands of protesters came out to show their disdain towards the federal government on tax day.
While the only tax law that has been passed under the Obama administration was a $116 billion tax cut for the working class, legislation that would raise taxes is currently working its way through Congress. But the nuts and bolts of the increase wasn’t what drew Stewart-Starks to the protests. He said he wanted to support opening a dialogue about the issues that affect students when they don’t even know it.
“I don’t believe people understand where their money is going from income taxes,” Stewart-Starks said.
Michael Lynch, assistant professor of political science, said it was important for students to be able to track where the finances of the country come from and go to. The recent passage of the stimulus bill was President Obama’s attempt to jump-start the economy and to help working Americans get out of debt. Some of the proposed increases include a heavier tax on energy producers, cigarettes, and individuals making more than $100,000 of taxable income per year.
Protestors had concerns that the government was putting future generations into debt to pay for current problems. Congressman Todd Tiahrt of Kansas’ fourth district spoke at the JCCC tea party and said that the tax system needed to be reformed, not increased.
“We need to rebuild our country from the ground up, not from the government down,” Tiahrt said.
One of the groups sponsoring many of the demonstrations was Americans for Prosperity, a Washington, D.C., based group that supports cutting taxes and limiting government involvement in Americans’ lives. According to the group’s Web site, the purpose is to advocate public policies that promote entrepreneurship.
Derrick Sontag, state director of the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said the goal of the tea parties was to get American citizens involved and aware of where their tax dollars were going, especially with the recent passing of the stimulus package.
“You cannot spend your way into prosperity,” Sontag said.
Thousands of Kansans turned up at local tea parties, including ones held in Topeka, Kansas City and Overland Park. Sontag said he hoped the turnout would encourage more people to investigate the current tax system.
You can view proposed tax increases: http://www.leg.state.or.us/houserepublicans/tax_bills.pdf
— — Edited by Chris Horn
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