Suck it, Tea Party: I love Tax Day

How I learned to stop being a lazy American and pay my part for what matters

Like a lot of Americans, I've spent a small but deeply unfortunate fraction of my recent life puzzling over the Tea Party's Tax Day Extravaganza of Irrational Grievance, or whatever they're calling it.

As a longtime resident of the Boston area, it's especially galling to see a bunch of angry old white people -- many of whom, we learned recently, are on the federal dole -- behave as if their democratically elected officials are foreign despots. It would probably behoove the Fourth Estate to draw a thick line between genuine victims of colonialism and sore losers.

Still, if you're looking for a cheap excuse to get the Fox News Militia fired up, Tax Day is a gimme. And why not? As viewed from the comfy confines of conservative punditry, taxes are a form of bureaucratic robbery.

You dittoheads know how it works: Every April 15, millions of decent, hardworking Americans get shaken down by the IRS, whose sadistic geeks make them fill out really complicated forms, then send checks. This moolah is handed directly to welfare queens and illegal immigrants, who are required to mate in the hopes of producing a Mongrel Super Race of Criminal Freeloaders. If there's any dough left over, it goes into the Super Secret Christian Baby Abortion Fund.

http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/04/15/tax_day/index.html

the thought of half my taxes going to war, evangelical coercion, and unneeded weapons systems makes tax day particularly galling.

the part that goes to helping the poor and keeping national parks open? that's cool.

party, special cake, lots of presents.

OK, so it's my mother's birthday. Still ...........

we had universal health care, affordable higher education, and weren't engaged in these stupid useless wars.

I'm willing to pay more in taxes provided I get more for them.