By: RmuseApr. 18th, 2011more from Rmuse

There are a few days on the calendar that most Americans attend to and all but two of them have their basis in religion. One may even consider that the two non-religious days to take notice of have a religious significance to some people whether it is a positive or negative significance. Independence Day is one such day that evokes religious-like passion and zeal from patriotic Americans even though for most people it is a day of fireworks and family picnics. The other important day in most Americans’ lives is tax day, and although there is no religious significance to the mid-April deadline to file tax returns, it elicits the same passion as Easter and Christmas combined.

Income tax incites mostly negative responses from most Americans unless they have overpaid and receive a refund or if they are poor and don’t pay any income taxes at all; the number of Americans who pay no taxes at all is great indeed. The good news for Americans this year is that taxes are lower than they have been for 50 years. There is one group that has made reducing taxes their primary issue and in spite of ultra-low tax rates are still pushing the lie that taxes are too high and must be reduced even more.

Across the nation, the teabags protested tax day again this year  as if their taxes have been raised to unprecedented levels from last year. President Obama lowered taxes in his first year in office, and in December extended the Bush-era tax cuts in order to secure unemployment benefits for millions of Americans. The president drew the ire of many supporters for keeping tax rates low for the wealthy in spite of the fact that every American taxpayer also had their taxes reduced. Republicans in Congress are maneuvering to make the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy permanent and use the issue as blackmail to further their corporatist agenda.

For many Americans, paying income taxes is not a cause for anger but a patriotic duty. Of course for Republicans and all manner of conservatives who claim to have a monopoly on patriotism, taxes are the result of oppressive machinations of Democrats and an affront to American ideals. Despite the fact that many of the nation’s largest corporations pay no taxes whatsoever, Republicans are calling for a reduction or elimination of taxes for corporations that enjoy the protection and benefits of past generations’ tax payments. It is a travesty that working Americans pay their share of taxes that corporations benefit from, but the same corporations are unwilling to pay their share regardless that they benefit from workers’ sacrifices and tax dollars. The corporate world and the extremely wealthy are leeches on society that receive government entitlements at taxpayer’s expense.

For the past two years, Republicans have protested investments in infrastructure, research and development, and the health law because they claim it will burden their children and grandchildren with debt not of their making. However, without tax revenue, Republicans are saddling future generations with a country full of stupid, uneducated citizens and a broken infrastructure that will effectively place America in the same league as Third World countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Of course, corporations and the wealthy will never have to experience America as a Third World country because they aren’t patrons of the same America as 98% of the population. They are though, beneficiaries of a powerful military and police and fire protection that they are unwilling to pay for and are attempting to privatize. They are selfish, greedy, and un-American for reaping the benefits of citizenship but are unwilling to pay their share.

Any American who balks at paying taxes dishonors their ancestors who paid their share of taxes for the benefit of the country and future generations. The highway system, bridges, schools, and hospitals Americans use today were paid for by our parents and grandparents’ tax dollars who believed investment in the future was worth paying for regardless that they may not have benefited from their investment in their lifetimes. Our ancestors though were not greedy. They had respect for the country that provided them with the opportunity to prosper as well as protect them with a powerful military paid for by tax dollars.

The Republicans today are in awe of the ultimate provocateur of greed and selfishness, Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand enjoys a renewed popularity whenever a Democrat occupies the White House, and this cycle is no different regardless that taxes are at their lowest rate in decades. Rand is the poster child of selfish Republicans who promote the benefits of a small government because they hate sharing resources with the American people and especially the poor. Republicans are so selfish, that in many states they have raised taxes on the poor and elderly to give tax breaks to corporations and the rich because in Randian philosophy the poor are pariahs on society and the wealthy are privileged and have a right to all the resources America has to offer. Taking from the poor and working class to give to the wealthy is not limited to the states. A perusal of Paul Ryan’s Path to Prosperity is evidence that at the federal level, Republicans follow the selfishness and greed promoted by Rand. The Republican philosophy that promotes stealing from America and the poor to enrich the privileged class is immeasurably unpatriotic.

Every American wants to keep what they earn and it’s a normal sentiment, but in the same token, every American enjoys good roads, schools, hospitals, and a powerful military and should pay their share.   Conservatives enjoy those items but they are unwilling to pay for them and are doing their best to prohibit anyone from paying for or enjoying the fruits of their labor. When Republicans take the limited tax revenue and hand it to the wealthy and corporations, they are depriving Americans of the infrastructure necessary for a quality life. It’s only fair that Americans who do pay taxes should benefit from their tax dollars instead of having them handed to the wealthy.

Most Americans pay their taxes and feel it is their patriotic duty to pull their own weight. Republicans like to deride entitlements, but they hand out corporate entitlements faster than Americans’ taxes are collected. Republicans should be ashamed for disrespecting earlier generations’ contributions that made America the great nation it is today, but as with all greedy selfish pigs, they have no shame. Most Americans would feel shame for not contributing or not building the future for our children and grandchildren. Americans who pay their taxes are the real patriots because they support our military as well as the country.

On this tax day Americans who pay their share can hold their heads high and know they are doing their patriotic duty. Teabaggers who protest paying taxes and Republicans who steal our tax dollars to give to wealthy corporations are traitors and do not deserve to live in America. However, most Americans are not selfish or greedy and gladly share their bounty with all Americans; even the selfish, unpatriotic Randian leeches in the Republican Party and teabagger nation.