“Tea Party” Will Protest Any Raising of N.C. Tax

Organizers are hoping that hundreds of people will gather at Corpening Plaza on Monday evening to send state legislators a strong message: Don’t raise our taxes.

The conservative John Locke Foundation and the N.C. Citizens for a Sound

Economy are holding the “Tar Heel Tea Party” to give out information about the state’s budget crisis and to urge taxpayers to unite against another tax increase.

The Winston-Salem visit is one of three planned over the next two weeks. The groups will be in Wilmington on Wednesday and in Raleigh on April 8.

The first anti-tax rally was staged in July on the mall behind the legislature. About 700 people participated, some dressed as Uncle Sam.

The state is facing its worst budget crisis – a projected $900 million to $ 2billion shortfall.

The General Assembly will convene May 28, but some legislators and Gov. Mike Easley are already proposing ways to make up the deficit.

John Hood, the president of the John Locke Foundation, said that the time has come for legislators to drastically cut spending and get rid of unnecessary programs.

“We’re in an environment where government takes too much of our money and spends too much,” Hood said. “We need to reduce spending instead of raising taxes.”

Last year, legislators raised taxes by more than $1 billion over two years.

The increases include raising sales taxes from 6 percent to 6.5 percent; an increase in income taxes for high-income earners; and higher taxes on interstate telephone calls, satellite TV, HMOs and Blue Cross, liquor, luxury cars and fertilizer and seed for non-farmers.

Hood is offering suggestions to help solve the problem. He said that the state work force needs to be trimmed and that the state should tap into the $836 million Hurricane Floyd relief fund.

That money was set aside two years ago to help storm-ravaged regions, but about $400 million of the relief package remains unspent.

Easley has indicated in the past that he might be willing to borrow money from the fund if the legislators agreed to pay it back.

Hood also wants to put more pressure on the governor to return $209 million he is withholding from local governments in state-collected tax reimbursements.

He believes that the only way to get that money back is to go to court.

“Local governments should sue the state,” Hood said. “The mayors showed some statesmanship in offering the governor alternatives instead of pilfering money from local governments. Their good-faith efforts have not been reciprocated. It’s not the state’s money.”

Kernersville resident Joyce Krawiec, a member of Citizens for a Sound

Economy, is spreading the word about the rally locally.

She has handed out fliers and talked to groups, including the Forsyth County Republican Women.

“I think it’s important because I think people need to know what’s going on in our government and be active participants instead of sitting on the sidelines,” Krawiec said. “They need to let our legislators know that they need to stop raising taxes and cut spending.”