Instead of throwing tea bags, do something productive

By CHARLES M. ARLINGHAUS

A bunch of so-called tea parties being held today across the state and the country have the potential to either mobilize a useful check to influence policymakers or live up to their namesake, one of the most shameful acts in American history.

Activists around the country have organized a series of protests to take place on the same day federal income taxes are due, which is today. Using TEA as an acronym for "taxed enough already," protesters describe their rallies as tea parties, taking the name from the 1773 protest against tea taxes that we know as the Boston Tea Party.

The general idea is to bring together people who think that taxes are already too high (taxed enough already), and that rather than increasing our taxes in these difficult economic times, policymakers should restrain spending and leave more money in individuals' pockets.

The largest of these events in New Hampshire is the Manchester version at Victory Park at 5:30 this afternoon. It also happens to be the one at which I am speaking.

Although they have adopted the name of the shameful Boston Tea Party, this movement can only be successful if its leaders leave behind that horrible legacy and instead do something productive.

In 1773, colonists were upset at a tax on tea, an incredibly widely consumed beverage at the time. They tried to turn away ships carrying tea that was to be taxed before being sold to consumers. After protests failed, a mob gathered; its members disguised themselves as Indians and destroyed the tea by throwing it in the harbor and ruining it. The value of the shipments ruined would be in the neighborhood of $10 million today.

Upset about taxes, they took it out on someone else's private property while disguised as Indians. I don't like the tax the government is making you pay, so I'm going to destroy millions of dollars of your property. Almost everyone outside of Boston thought it was a huge mistake. Even Ben Franklin was horrified.

But today's protests needn't be as ridiculous and unproductive as the event they are named after. The point of a rally isn't just to gather people together so they can vent about how annoying the policy choices of other people are. Instead, the point ought to be to bring people together so they can more effectively advocate for their preferred choices.

The national financial picture receives a lot of attention and generates a lot of protest. State and local budgets receive much less attention even as they ratchet up spending and pass job-destroying taxes in the midst of a recession.

The simple truth is that pressure for spending is more immediate and more visible than pressure against raising taxes, except during a narrow few weeks before an election. After the election, when budget decisions are being made, there is a steady stream of people who have sensible-sounding ideas for spending more money -- a little bit here and a little bit there.

In the face of a problem like a recession, spending money has the psychological effect of appearing to do something. Restraining that impulse and keeping money in people's pockets is kinder to an individual, but it seems passive and a less forceful answer to the question, "what are you going to do about this?"

Surrounded by constant pressure to maintain certain programs and spend just a little bit more on this or that, human nature dictates that you will succumb at least a little bit in the absence of any countervailing pressure. This suggests an obvious role for people who are "taxed enough already."

While we depend on lawmakers to make choices between competing priorities, they need to hear more often from people who want spending restrained. Most lawmakers hear routinely from people who want more money for some program and almost never from people who want their taxes to go down. During election season, potential voters will complain about higher taxes, but then they go away for two years and leave the playing field to those who will cajole a bit more money for this or for that.

If you're going to protest today, make a commitment to stand up for what you believe by actually doing something that really matters. Contact the people who represent you, not to yell at them, but to lobby for your point of view. They need to hear from you. If you don't intend to do anything else, save everyone some time and just go throw a tea bag in the river and pipe down.

Charles M. Arlinghaus is president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in Concord.