By Siebert Ickler, County Libertarian Party Chairman
County Central Committee members gathered for the second annual tax protest on the street corners by the Main Post Office and Las Cruces City Hall. Tax day protests are a tradition in the Libertarian Party and usually well received, generating some interest in the party or at least getting our name in front of the voters. Although the percentage seemed a bit lower than last year, once again the "Honk if you Hate Taxes" signs generated the most feedback. We did get some enthusiastic honks, thumbs up and smiles. Shari Vialpando, the pleasant Sun-News photographer / reporter took our picture and did a brief interview on the purpose of the protest. Her question was basically why Libertarians oppose taxes. First and foremost they are not voluntary thus violating the most basic principle of the Libertarian party against the initiation of force. Taxes are clearly excessive. The Las Cruces Sun-News had a chart in the February 7, 2007 edition stating that Federal taxes take 77 days of Americans pay each year and that state and local taxes take another 39 days. So almost half of all the days Americans work each year are devoted to paying taxes! She apparently found this to be the best "sound bite" because that's what made the picture caption. By comparison the chart said it took only 34 days work to pay for the year's food. And these are just the acknowledged direct taxes. Each item sold has its price inflated by the taxes paid by manufacturers and distributors and the money spent complying with regulatory demands. The Federal tax enables a large overpaid bureaucracy (the average Federal salary now exceeds $100,000 plus pensions including those merely elected to office) often devoted to depriving us of our liberties. Would not most Americans be able to easily afford health care if unnecessary taxes were reduced?
While the traffic seemed less than last year there were a large number of cars around 5pm. We left before the sun went down because we doubted that we would be seen well at night so we can still only imagine the late night peak. Quite a few people gave us no feedback, driving by without appearing to notice us or glancing at the signs and then continuing on their way. Some appeared to be having trouble reading the signs and there were many who might have honked except for their cell phones. Hopefully those who responded positively took note of our party identity and will vote for Libertarians should we succeed in getting any on the ballot or at least help us move the other parties in the libertarian direction.
This year we only got one negative verbal remark, "You're old" from a young passenger in a pickup truck and I doubt it meant anything other than that he couldn't think of anything clever. We were approached by a Quaker who discussed our areas of agreement and we vowed to try and align with them at any opportunities that presented themselves. I had a fairly lengthy discussion with a young man who came and stood by me and tried to convince me that the Republican Party agreed with our principles so I gave him a short summary of what I have learned from giving the quiz each month at the Farmer's Market, which is that those who call themselves Republicans agree with us on many of the economic issues and that those who identify with the Democrats agree with us on many of the social issues. Which means, of course, that Libertarians take the best of both parties espoused beliefs: freedom both in our personal and our economic lives. We also discussed the difference between stated beliefs and actual practice, at which point the "major" parties are distinguishable only in terms of whose friends get the taxpayers money. He asked about our possible candidates and noted our web sites and we parted quite amiably and hopefully have planted a seed.
In case some of the signs aren't readable following is a recap:
HONK IF YOU HATE TAXES
lpnm.us
LESS GOVERNMENT LESS TAXES
A LIBERTARIAN BELIEF
TAXES ARE REVOLTING
WHY AREN'T YOU?
VOTE LIBERTARIAN
LIBERTARIAN EQUALS LESS TAXES
WANT LESS GOVERNMENT LESS TAXES?
VOTE LIBERTARIAN
Hopefully these make our point that the Libertarian Party is for small government and less taxes. If you'd like more information please look over the sites on our links page or feel free to contact us.
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