Personal Response to Tax Day 'Tea Parties' or Things I Know

Facebook has become, among other things, a political soapbox. Maybe I should be more broad and say the Internet itself has become a political soapbox. With access to thousands of people at the tip of our fingers, we can say whatever we want to whoever we want without having to look them in the face. I realize I'm doing the same thing by responding here, on the Internet, but as I can't travel to each and every Tax Day Tea Party, this is, it seems, my only option. First and foremost, I am confused by these Tea Parties. Why now? Why, when we are drowning in an economic crisis, is it the time to decide that the United States Government needs to change its spending policies? It seems a little late in the game. We are in a recession and the economy sucks, and I don't have any facts or figures to prove that besides my own personal bank account and debt (credit card, personal, and student loans). It's so easy to spend all this time pointing fingers and blaming this person and that person or this government policy or that government policy, isn't it? I know that it makes me feel good to say, "This is not my fault! This is your fault! I didn't cause this; I don't want to pay for it!" I've always been taught to "write what you know" - so here's what I know: No one wants to pay more taxes, obviously. That is such a moot point that I feel pretty simple for bringing it up. I don't want to pay more taxes, and neither do you. And as of my last few paychecks, my taxes have gone down, just like President Obama said they would. I know that, too. I'm not going to pretend that I know a bunch of facts about the economy. I don't. The truth is, I didn't really start getting into politics until the beginning of President George W. Bush's 2nd term, and I'm still figuring out what role I think the government should be playing in the lives of citizens. I don't know anything about the stock market. I don't understand how the value of a stock can change depending on the "market". I don't own stock, so I am not an investor. I do know that none of it is real. I work at a bank, and the amount of actual cash versus the amount of money individuals and businesses have in their bank accounts does not match up. That's why if everyone went to the bank and withdrew all their money, the majority of people would get screwed (1929 anyone?). An enormous portion of wealth in the world is purely numbers on a piece of paper. That scares me. I also don't know very much about credit. It bothers me that the system we use requires us to go into debt to do any of the following (unless you are independently wealthy, which I am not): go to college, buy a car, and buy a house. I'm a fan of simple living - and there are definitely alternatives to owning a house or car. For example, you can rent (like I do) and use a bike or public transportation or walk from place to place (which I don't - I drive a used car that my parents bought me). There are no alternatives to higher education, however. I went to a community college on a full-ride scholarship, but to continue my degree I had to take out student loans. It didn't matter if I was going to go to a state school or private school. I went to a private school for two years after community college and made it out with relatively low student loan debt (under $20,000). But it is debt just the same. And $20,000 might as well be a million when you don't have money. I've been supporting myself for almost a year. I pay my rent and monthly bills in full. I also pay for my tags and insurance on my car, and general vehicle maintenance. I'm lucky to have a supportive family, and when things get bad, I know I won't have to go out on the street. I also know people who don't have family to lean on in times of crisis, and I can't imagine how worried they must be when times get really tough. And times are really tough. I know that. I also know that in the last year, I had to cancel two of my credit cards due to outrageous increases in the monthly interest rates (in one case, they wanted to raise it to 25%). If I didn't carry a balance on those cards, it would be no big deal. But I do carry a balance, and if those minimum monthly payments increase, then I have to pay more in order to pay more than the minimum (there I go again - pointing out the obvious) and that means less money for other things - like groceries, vehicle maintenance, house maintenance, and monthly bills. I have been paying back my student loans, and I recently applied for a temporary deferment of those payments so I can pay down my credit card debt and build up some savings. It will help immensely just to have that little extra "wiggle room" a month. I've cut here and there in order to make it, and I know that by cutting my spending at certain businesses, it's hurting them. My lack of spending at businesses causes less money for workers, which causes layoffs, which causes more tightening of the belts, which causes more layoffs. It seems like such a hopeless downward spiral. Luckily, I still have a job with a steady income. How long before my job gets shipped over to India like so many jobs? Who knows? Companies can't afford to pay American workers because of our lousy economy - so they outsource our jobs to people who will work for less. Isn't that sad? It makes me angry. If there's no regulation on that sort of thing, then there's no job security. Who is big enough to regulate enormous corporations? It has to be the government. I know the government is supposed to be for the people, of the people, and by the people. I don't want a wealthy few deciding what the laws of the land should be. I don't want to be taken advantage of, and I don't want to see any of my fellow Americans fall by the wayside. Of course, there are going to be those who take advantage of the system and use it inappropriately. But there are thousands of people out there (like me) who need help. Hiring freezes, salary cuts, and increases in the cost of living are going to and already are tearing this country apart. I've been to the Tea Party websites, and I'm seeing a lot of right-wing propoganda. A lot of people comparing President Barack Obama to President Jimmy Carter. Lots of name-calling (it's really trendy to be calling President Obama a socialist, apparently). The site gives "solutions" for job security in America, including a decreased corporate tax, backing it up by saying that "small businesses are responsible for the overwhelming majority of jobs created in America. A reduction in the corporate tax rate would allow them to keep more of their money and hire more employees. " When I think of small business, I don't think of "corporations" like the one for which I work. The bank I work for is NOT a small business, but it does provide thousands upon thousands upon thousands of jobs for Americans (jobs that are slowly but surely being moved over to India). Enormous companies make their money off of people who are poor. My paycheck comes from account fees - maintenance, overdraft, non-sufficient funds, etcetera. Rich people do not overdraft, and usually if you have over a certain amount in your account, it is free. So it is the poorer people who are paying these fees, and giving profit to the corporation, and that corporation is sending the jobs away. Isn't that frustrating? Why would you want to give a tax break to companies who do this? Give a tax break to companies who DON'T outsource. Like I said before, I don't know much about politics, but it seems to me that people who fall on the more conservative side of the political scale are for less government and more business. But if the government is too small to regulate big business, then the big businesses become the ones who are in charge. Large, faceless corporations that care more about numbers on a page than people in a company really scare me. When we start thinking about Americans in terms of dollars instead of human beings, things start to become really horrifying. Money does not equal human value. The poor just seem to get poorer as the rich get richer. How can we stop this trend? I don't know. I'm not the President and I don't work in the government. I voted for Barack Obama, and I'm trusting him until he gives me a reason not to. I lived through the Bush Administration and the billions of dollars spent on the Iraq War, the "war on drugs" the "war on terror", No Child Left Behind (which gives standardized test scores a higher priority than actual learning). Where were these "fiscally responsible" protestors then? And what are the alternatives? It surely can't be that this economic crisis happened the moment President Obama took office. It sure does seem like a lot of finger pointing... Earlier I said I was taught to write what you know. So here it is: I know that people are more important than money. I know that all Americans deserve equal rights. I know that politics and religion should remain separate. I know that I am better off than a lot of people. I know there are a lot of people better off than me. I know that I want to see a change in ethics in corporate America and the US Government. I know that my opinion is war should be a last resort. I know that we reside on a living organism, not a rock, and we should care for that organism if we want to survive as a species. I know that what I value and what you value are different, and that's okay. I know that the right to free speech and the right to protest the government are both good things. And I know that I am not alone.