Taxed Enough Already: A Gilmer Tea Partier in his Own Words

FYN had the chance to speak with Tea Party member Bob Nero at last Friday’s Tax Day Rally on the Ellijay square. Though Mr. Nero is not an official spokesman for the party, he was happy to shed some light on the ground-level political objectives that drive the Tea Party movement.
When asked “What are the main issues that concern you?”, Bob replied “Spending is the main issue”. He went on to discuss what he sees as the current administration’s tendency to “flip flop”, or be indecisive and ambivalent, on issues such as spending. “We’ve got to cap spending…if we don’t do that, we’re doomed.”

When it comes to taxes, Mr. Nero is convinced a flat tax of the “Fair Tax” type is in order. “We need an across the board tax. If we just tax the rich, it’s impossible for them to pay all the taxes. It’s gotta be across the board for a certain amount of time until we get this economy turned around.” He went on to explain that he believed the rich shouldn’t be taxed because it would upset them, and discourage them from “helping” the non-elites by giving them jobs.

Mr. Nero doesn’t currently see too many inspiring political leaders on the horizon. “Right now there’s not many that I see…I don’t see any real standouts so far (for the 2012 presidential election), but it’s still a bit early. I’m not going to go ahead and commit myself to any of them. I’m going to see what we’ve got on offer.”