By Rick Moore

"I have been amused a little over the past couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes. You would think they would be saying "thank you.'" -- President Barack Obama

As Tax Day came to a head this year, many states held Tea Party protests to vent the common man's frustration with the current political climate. Oklahoma was no different with large protests amassing on the grounds of the Muskogee Civic Center Plaza, Tulsa Expo Square, Tulsa Civic Center Plaza, and the Oklahoma state Capitol. I received reports of more than 350 attendees at the Muskogee event during business hours, and more than 3,000 people at the Tulsa Expo event after work. The Oklahoman reported more than 1,000 people attending the Capitol. The question that several people seemed to be asking is why were 5,000 people so upset or motivated to interrupt their normal lives for the purpose of attending a political event?

One very well known personality tried his hand at this question. "I have been amused a little over the past couple of days where people have been having these rallies about taxes," President Obama said. "You would think they would be saying "thank you," he continued.

He missed the point. Just since January of 2009, Democrats have enacted $670 billion in tax hikes. That equates to more than $2,100 in new taxes for every man, woman and child in the United States. According to the Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, at least 25 new taxes or tax hikes have been signed into law since President Obama took office, and at least 14 of them violate his pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class.

People are fed up with the Democrats' out-of-control spending. President Obama's budget for Fiscal Year 2011 is an astounding $3.8 trillion, which includes a nearly $1 trillion income increase by letting much of 2001and 2003 tax cuts expire. He would own the two largest tax hikes in U.S. history if he allows the 2001, 2003 tax cuts to expire. According to the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama's budget will lead to $20.3 trillion debt by 2020, equaling 90-percent of our gross domestic product That means for every $10 the American economy generates, President Obama will be creating $9 in new debt

Former Governor Mitt Romney discusses one reason why nations decline in No Apology: The Case for American Greatness. Romney referenced a statement that President Ronald Reagan attributed to a late-eighteenth-century Scottish-born English lawyer and writer named Alexander Fraser Tytler. "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority only votes for candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship."

Romney opined that whether from Tytler or from Reagan, the observation remains: "If citizens in a democracy foster short-term self-interest rather than promoting the long-term interests of the nation -- placing themselves above their descendants -- there is little likelihood that they will vote for visionary, transformative leaders who advocate difficult change and sacrifice. When popular opinion places self above nation and the present above the future, nations slide from power to weakness. The self-interest of the common citizen can be just as hazardous to national strength as that of the rich and powerful."

Obviously, people are tired of this present day mentality. The electorate is more than tired of having the Democrats foist a government-run health care down our throats to the tune of $2.5 trillion. Yet, President Obama believes we should say "thank you." For what? Bailing out GM to the tune of $36 billion and Chrysler with another $11 billion? And, just when we try to throw on the brakes the Obama Administration gives us a so-called Stimulus Package costing us another $862 billion (CBO numbers) which is basically used to finance more debt by state governments. And, let's not forget the $3 billion spent on the cash for clunkers program.

So, what does this mean for a family of four earning $125,000 per year? According to Gerri Willis of Fox News and the National Taxpayers Union, your taxes will increase from $13,131 in 2009 to $18,419 in 2015 -- $5,288. But, let's now take a look at another section of the middle class: a family of four earning $75,000 per year. How would President Obama's plan affect you? Your taxes will nearly double from $3,394 in 2009 to $6,163 in 2015 This is assuming the Bush Tax Cuts will be allowed to sunset. This is really going to punish the middle class.

Think about it. That's over $5,000 you could have placed in your child's college fund, purchase your child's first vehicle, or take a much needed family vacation. Now do you see why people are taking time away to attend a political event for the first time? They see it as an investment in their future.

Another reason why people are attending Tea Parties is the spiraling ascension of the national debt. By year's end, our national debt will reach a record $14 trillion. That's more than $45,000 per person in America. In ten short years, the annual interest on the debt will be $770 billion and, by 2025, the debt will surpass the nation's gross domestic product. The real test will be when our government can no longer roll over our debt because no other country or individual will want to buy our worthless Treasury bonds. The government will be forced to either print more money or tax everyone until the debt is paid off. So, pick your poison: inflation like a runaway train or being taxed to oblivion

One day prior to Tax Day some members of the Tea Party released 10 planks of the "Contract From America" which was developed through a seven-week online contest by more than 450,000 votes. The contract is heavy on fiscal restraint and limited government and light on social issues. The No. 1 issue is protect the Constitution. That's followed by reject cap-and-trade, demand a balanced budget and enact fundamental tax reform. And then comes number five: Restore fiscal responsibility and constitutionally limited government in Washington. The bottom five planks are end runaway government spending; defund, repeal and replace government-run health care; pass an all-of-the-above energy policy; stop the pork; and stop the tax hikes.

The electorate will not only send a message to Washington in November, but also to Oklahoma City as many of President Obama's issues bleed into 2300 North Lincoln Boulevard. A SoonerPoll found 56-percent of likely Oklahoma voters to believe that Attorney General Drew Edmondson should join 19 other states' attorneys general in a lawsuit against the recently passed healthcare reform law. Among those who have favorable opinions of Edmondson, 49.3-percent think he should join the lawsuit. However, Edmondson said his Attorney General Office will only enter a Florida lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law if required to do so by legislative action. The Florida lawsuit says, "The Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying health care coverage."

Since Edmondson is running for governor on the Democrat side of the aisle, one would think he would take a few notes from the AG of Louisiana. Louisiana is a unique state as the governor is Republican, but both the House of Representatives and the Senate are Democrat-controlled. Additionally, state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell is also a Democrat. Caldwell stated the health-care legislation would add a minimum cost of approximately $350 million a year to Louisiana to implement this act as this is an unfunded mandate. He also opined that people are not given a choice to "opt-out" legally. Unlike mandatory rules governing Medicare and Medicaid, this new federal law will penalize and punish citizens for simply electing not to buy the mandated health insurance.

Why Oklahoma's Attorney General Drew Edmondson chooses not to recognize these same legal questions is beyond comprehension. As a result, former state Representative/practicing attorney Kevin Calvey and 15 other Oklahomans filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma against President Barack Obama, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Attorney General Eric Holder, and Secretary Timothy Geithner.

And, as we go to press, Speaker Chris Benge and President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee are planning a lawsuit challenging the federal health care law as well. The shocking news is that Edmondson has ostensibly lost his political confidence with the political community as Speaker Benge said, "This issue is so important, we do not want the attorney general, who has made his position on the lawsuit well-known, to represent Oklahomans who neither want nor can afford this legislation. Our concern is that the attorney general's effort would be lackluster, at best. we have an obligation to our citizens to challenge this unconstitutional bill, which will lead to unprecedented control of a large portion of the U.S. economy. The high taxes required in the law will be a burden that we cannot afford. The federal government does not have a good track record when it comes to estimating costs of similar programs." President Pro Tem Coffee said, "The attorney general has made it abundantly clear that he wants no part of this lawsuit. Why would we want to retain an attorney to represent our case when he doesn't believe in it?"

I can drive the conservative point home even better on a local level. Our Wagoner County Assessor has completely failed when it comes to interpreting State Question 676. A brief background on this legislation: This measure limits the fair cash value of real property for property tax purposes. If improvements have been made to the property, the increased value to the property will be assessed for that year. The increase cannot exceed 5-percent each year. In addition, an Attorney General opinion on September 7, 2001, states: "The fair cash value of locally assessed real property shall not be automatically increased five percent (5%) each year, the five percent limitation on the increase in the fair cash value shall not be cumulative, and the five-percent limitation shall not be considered as a twenty-percent increase every four (4) years." What has people fuming is that the Democrat Wagoner County Assessor wrongly interprets the Act to mean she can arbitrarily increase our property tax five-percent every single year simply because she feels the county treasury needs more money. Typical liberal approach to eliminate shortcoming, instead of increasing the tax base. I and others are highly motivated to vote this person out of office in November.

Just as the Boston Tea Party served to rally support for the early revolutionaries; the Obama Administration tax-and-spend policies have continued to pack together with state and local liberal policies as fodder for modern revolutionaries in November. Instead of traveling half-way across the country to fight, we merely have to drive a few blocks to our local polling place to cast a ballot. And, make no mistake, the ballot will have a punch.

Rick A. Moore serves on the Ethics & Religious Liberty Committee of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and is State Committeeman from the Wagoner County Republican Party. He has been a conservative activist in the Oklahoma Republican Party for nearly two decades, and is the NE Bureau Chief for the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper. He may be contacted at: rdmoorefam@mac.co