Things That Make Me Laugh: Tea Partiers

Bruce Bartlett takes the p!ss out of the average Tea Partier's grasp of taxes in the US. Apparently David Frum and some folks polled about 57 of them about the current state of taxes in America - and let's just say they were found wanting:

The first question that was asked concerned the size of government. Tea Partyers were asked how much the federal government gets in taxes as a percentage of the gross domestic product. According to Congressional Budget Office data, acceptable answers would be 6.4%, which is the percentage for federal income taxes; 12.7%, which would be for both income taxes and Social Security payroll taxes; or 14.8%, which would represent all federal taxes as a share of GDP in 2009.

...

Tuesday's Tea Party crowd, however, thought that federal taxes were almost three times as high as they actually are. The average response was 42% of GDP and the median 40%. The highest figure recorded in all of American history was half those figures: 20.9% at the peak of World War II in 1944.

As useful as it is for some of these folks to vent their anger in public - I have to say the Tea Party is a bit of a joke. I mean, sure - be angry with government - but let's have a point, shall we? The fault lines present on some of their signs shows a group of people whose only uniting factor is they are mad at government.

Well, get in line, folks - and stop acting like you came up with the idea. I'd pay good money to see some of these Ron Paulites stand up and spout in front of a throng of Tea Partiers. I'd lay good odds that the crowd (or any card carrying GOP members) would storm the stage to shut them up.

Sheesh.

Oh, and this made me laugh, too but for different reasons.