Opinion: It’s no garden party when anti-tax crusaders gather for a ‘tea party’
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Times columnist Chris Erskine, who has been known to wax poetic about sports and the life of a suburban dad (both Erskine specialties), decided to take in an anti-tax Tea Party the other day. As the Ticket has reported, people all over the country have attended them. Erskine writes:
You might have caught wind of this tea party movement, sometimes dubbed TEA (Taxed Enough Already). It first appeared in late February, with scattered protests around the nation, then grew to a reported 500 events on tax day, April 15. The grass-roots movement has sort of taken off, becoming more than a hiccup and less than a full-fledged revolt. There were some 1,400 tea party rallies scheduled across the nation this Independence Day weekend, billed as nonpartisan efforts to rein in tax-and-spend politicians. Significant? You be the judge. Honestly, I could come down two different ways on all of this: In times so tough, isn’t it a little cold-hearted to complain about paying your fair share? Or, are people so fed up with dishing out huge chunks of their income — and receiving so little visible benefit — that they think their “fair share” isn’t so fair anymore?
Erskine goes on to describe what transpires when anti-tax crusaders rallied recently in suburban Los Angeles.
If you’ve never been to an anti-tax tea party, here’s the deal. There are a lot of good Americans — about 500 at this rally — sitting around a stage in molded plastic chairs trying to stay awake. Tea is in short supply, and oddly, there is no beer (Huey Long would’ve sent an entire Budweiser truck). But the burgers are good, and the music — some live, some recorded — is stirring. What more does a political rally need? A few characters.
To read about those characters, click here for his whole column. In typical Erskine fashion, he blends humor (“Have you looked at a dollar bill lately? George Washington is weeping”) with on-point portraits of people being themselves. You might find them admirable, or appalling, and maybe even a little bit of both at once.
-- Steve Padilla
The Ticket, which always pays its taxes, goes inside politics several times a day. Click here for Twitter alerts of each new item. Or follow us @latimestot
