Gridlock one way or the other

Russell Dill said he is hoping for gridlock in downtown Peoria today.

It is April 15 — Tax Day — and Dill told me last week he expects several thousand people downtown to protest tax policies at the federal level.

I went down there today to watch what would unfold. You can watch the TV news tonight to see if the expected masses showed up.

I doubt they did. But, even a few people showing up is better than nothing.

“We’re upset about mis-spending and over-taxation,” Dill said.

Who isn’t?

“I think we should go back to most federal tax money being raised by tariffs and import/export taxes. We need to do away with income taxes at the federal level.”

I don’t know about that. But, there are some legislators at the federal level trying to come up with some new taxation ideas.

On April 2, I received the following from the office of U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Peoria).

Schock said a recent study by professors at Stanford and Rutgers estimated that suspending only 40 percent of the payroll tax could create between two and four million jobs.

Schock and Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho) announced legislation to give small-business owners and employees a 100 percent suspension of the payroll tax for six months. They call it the Reclaiming Earnings to Lift Individuals, Employers and Families, or RELIEF Act.

The proposed legislation would give a tax holiday to employers and employees of businesses with 50 or fewer workers.

The legislation was introduced just before the current recess of the congress. Schock and Minnick are working on getting as many co-sponsors as possible.

“In sharp contrast to the so-called stimulus package, the RELIEF Act will allow small businesses to keep employees on the payroll, hire new employees and make capital investments,” Schock said. 

“Instead of simply attempting to borrow and spend our way out of our current challenges, suspending the payroll tax will have a positive impact on individuals throughout the economic spectrum.”

Estimates put the economic benefits of a holiday on payroll taxes at about $120 per week for each of the 33 million American workers who are employees of small businesses.

Nearly three-quarters of American households pay more in payroll taxes than income taxes, and small business owners are stuck paying this tax, regardless of the profitability of their business.

The RELIEF Act sounds good until you dig a little deeper.

The RELIEF Act would put money back into the hands of workers, but it would also require small-business owners to reinvest their savings from the payroll tax holiday. Owners can hire new employees or purchase items to help their business become more efficient, productive and profitable, a press release said.

Dill is right — a message to Washington, D.C., is needed.

Dill, the local Tea Party volunteer organizer, said last week the Peoria rally looked like it would be unprecedented.

He said local organizers of the Tax Day Tea Party, The Campaign For Liberty and The Constitution Party, received nearly 2,000 RSVPs as of April 6, and the number was expected to swell to more than 3,000 or more by tax day.

“I am extremely surprised by the number. I expected a few hundred to support us,” Dill said. “It’s going nuts. It’s going like this all over the country.”

Dill said he does not expect everyone who supports their effort to show up, but he is confident a sizable crowd will show up to march on the federal courthouse.

Dill said it is a non-partisan assembly.

“We want to let our politicians know that we want our great American principles of individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money and free markets restored to their rightful constitutional place in our government,”  Dill said.

Dill said people he is hearing from are angry about government policies, bail-outs and over-taxation.

“We keep telling the politicians we are tired of the spending. They don’t pay any attention,” he said.

Dill said people from more than 500 cities nationwide are organizing Tea Party rallies in support of constitutional government.

“These events will send a message. It’s going to be hard to ignore,” Dill said.

“We have to get the attention of our politicians. Our great-great-grandchildren will be paying for the debt we have accumulated in just the last few months. We have to stop bailing out companies and other countries.”

One way or the other Dill is bound to find gridlock — if not in downtown Peoria today, it’s likely he will it when he tries to change minds in Washington, D.C.