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Trump the Tea Party on Tax Day

Progressives plan to counter Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann's lies tomorrow.

Peter Rothberg

April 14, 2010

Tired of the Tea Party? Well, tomorrow is Tax Day, and the Tea Partyers are going to be out in force in DC to hear Sarah Palin, Rep. Michelle Bachmann and many other complain about unfair taxation despite the fact that 95 percent of working Americans got a tax cut this year thanks to President Obama’s policies.

The reality that every Tea Partyer who earns less than $250,000 annually is receiving a tax cut of two percent seems to be obscured in the minds of many protesters. (Among the Tea Partyers, only 2 percent realize that during the administration taxes have decreased for most Americans — 44 percent believe taxes have gone up, according to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll.) Fortunately, a new coalition is determined to counter the confusion with the truth about “The Other 95%” of us who are happy we got a tax cut from Obama this year.

So instead of letting the Tea Party dominate the airwaves tomorrow, progressives nationally have called a rally tomorrow evening in Washington to counter the planned Tea Party and make clear that a majority of Americans favor the President’s tax policies. Get details and pass them on to all of your DC friends.

And while these dueling protests vie for media attention in DC, antiwar protests will take place coast to coast tomorrow, from Sitka, Alaska where Sitkans for Peace and Justice will have an opportunity to decide how they want their federal tax dollars spent by participating in a penny poll to Park Falls, Wisconsin, where a silent vigil will remember the dead from the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan with signs asking people to consider what the money going to war could pay for at home. For a state-by-state list of all actions planned, check the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee website.

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Peter RothbergTwitterPeter Rothberg is the The Nation’s associate publisher.


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