Thursday, April 16, 2009

Vermont Counter-Protesters Call For Tax Increases

From MyDD here.

Paying taxes is patriotic and as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society. Glad people are standing up and saying it:

Calling itself S.O.S., or Save Our State, the group held a small pro-tax protest in Montpelier, the national income tax-filing deadline, to drive home that taxes pay for needed programs and state employees perform necessary duties.

About two dozen people crowded around the state Tax Department's help window while organizers turned in single-signature petitions, designed to look like a tax form, that organizers called SOS-EZ forms.

They list 17 state programs that could be kept whole with what organizers say would be a modest tax increase.

"It's not just a day to worry about taxes; we value our institutions and the programs the state offers," said S.O.S. organizer Chris Curtis, an attorney with Vermont Legal Aid. "We can't pave our own roads. We can't keep our own courthouse doors open. It's frustrating that some days of the week the courts are closed."

The anti-tax orthodoxy of the right has just about ruined California since the GOP has a minority veto over any tax increases and the passage of budgets. People are starting to come around on the issue but obviously on days like today a very vocal minority makes it seem like quite the opposite is true.

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