Did you Know...

There seems to be a few misconceptions about the Tax Day Tea Parties going on in the US today. It is not some Republican Revival, it's not even just conservatives getting together in small groups of protest. There are Libertarians, Independents, and yes, Liberals attending as well. This is to be a non-partisan gathering of people who are concerned about upcoming taxation country-wide to pay for the bailouts, stimulus, upcoming universal health care, and so on. Regular people from regular families who are extremely concerned about the country's future.

Why do I care when I'm in Canada? Maybe it's because we should take notice of things like this and instead of taking everything the government gives us, grumbling a bit under our breath, and then just going along with it as if we have no choice in the matter... maybe we should stand up and shout a bit more often. Maybe we should show our representatives that we care and are interested in our own lives for a change. Maybe we should take notice of what is going on in the US and then get some guts and do it ourselves.
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Another issue I have noticed on the news and various blogs is the comparison of today's Tea Parties to the Boston Tea Party. First off, who says that the tea parties have to be about the exact same thing? Is there a rule about this somewhere, that the 1700s have the monopoly on future TPs? And if the past issue was concerning 'taxation without representation', how is that so different from today? Is it really 'representation' if the govt tells you that they are taking your money and spending in on programs that you don't want? Is that REALLY representation? So you could look at this both ways - the Boston Tea Party has been used as an INSPIRATION for the 2009 Tax Day Tea Parties; and that it's not necessarily true representation if these representatives have not even read the bills they have signed, have ignored hundreds of thousands of letters and phone calls from their constituents requesting them to STOP, and are hiding fun little earmarks within bills to snag a few more taxbucks. So - maybe that is ALSO 'taxation without representation', don't you think?