Thoughts on the Taxpayer March on Washington

So last weekend Erin, the Buckleys, and I happened upon the Taxpayer March on Washington on the way to a tour of the White House. With no prior knowledge of the event we suddenly found ourselves engulfed by tens of thousands of protesters marching down Pennsylvania Avenue with signs in the air. Here is an excellent video from the Buckleys' video blog with some footage from the march:

The Buckleys Take DC

It was an exciting experience. Protesting is one of the things I love about DC, and it was super fun to be in the midst of it.

At the same time it was a sobering experience, because I found myself confronted with a group who claimed to believe what I believe while misrepresenting it horribly.

"The Taxpayer March on Washington." It really sounds like something I could get behind. Do I believe Obama's stimulus plan was an unwise measure which will put us more in debt without accomplishing its goals? Yes. Do I think spending measures like CARS are ridiculous? Yes. Do I think our 40% tax rate (and ever climbing) is too high? Yes. Do I think we need to cut spending and reform the entitlement programs? Yes. Do I think astronomic levels of debt and deficit we face need to be reversed asap? Yes. Do I think if we continue spending like we are now, we are going to face serious problems in our future? Yes. Do I think huge government bailouts/takeovers of failing companies like GM are a bad idea? Yes. Could I go on? Yes.

So why didn't I join in the march? Two reasons. One, the march was too late. At the end of the Clinton era, we had a balanced budget, a government surplus, and the national debt was on the decline. But then ol' GW took office, and everything changed. George Bush Jr. introduced one of the largest tax cuts in U.S. history, launched two wars, devised a $1.2 trillion expansion of Medicare (the prescription drug benefit), proposed an expensive new education policy (No Child Left Behind), doubled the deficit, increased government spending more than any other president since LBJ, cut less federal programs than Clinton, expanded farm subsidies, didn't even wince when the Pentagon admitting losing track of $2.3 trillion, authorized a $700 billion bank bailout, fired treasury secretary Paul O'Neill after he opposed Bush's spending measures, and increased the national debt by 18%. Where were these protesters during the last eight years? Sure, Obama has kept the money train moving, but the fact that these folks are waiting until now to march suggests my second reason...

This protest wasn't about the fiscal state of the union. It was about abortion. It was about Obama being a communist / fascist / hippie / Nazi / Russian / Muslim / socialist dictator. It was about "burying Obamacare with Kennedy." It was about how "hey, stupid -- it's a Christian nation." It was about Acorn. It was about Pelosi. It was about "taking our country back." It was about gun control. It was about Obama being born in the U.S. It was about how "Czar" is a Russian word. It was about illegal immigrants. I saw all of these issues and more on signs last Saturday. The protest was about fear and hate.

When we first met the protesters I asked one of them what she was protesting. She responded angrily, "We're not taking questions!" and walked off. (I have the feeling she wasn't a very good protester -- I imagine her sign saying something like "Something is very, very wrong!" or "If you don't know what's wrong, I'm not gonna tell you!") When I asked a second protester what he was protesting, he responded "Obama." And I gotta hand it to him, he told the truth. This march wasn't about spending or taxes. It was about Obama, plain and simple.

If you would like to learn more about the direction our nation is headed in financially, I highly recommend the following clip. I promise, it's worth 30 minutes of your time. It's a shortened version of a non-partisan documentary I would also highly recommend called IOUSA, which premiered last summer -- long before Obama took office.

IOUSA

P.S. On Saturday Amy saw a counter-protest sign which read: "Sure are a lot of white people here..." Hilarious.