Obama: Get The Dread Out Of Tax Deadline Day
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama declared on tax-filing day that he aims to ease the dread of deadline day with “a simpler tax code that rewards work and the pursuit of the American dream.”
“For too long, we’ve seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that increased the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams,” Obama said. “That has to change, and that’s the work that we’ve begun.”
His words were hardly met with universal applause. Across the country, protesters met at statehouses and town squares to oppose Obama’s federal spending since he took office. Organizers said they wanted to channel the spirit of the Boston Tea Party’s rebellion.
In El Paso, a group planned a protest at the State Line Restaurant from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday.
“The system is severely broken, and we the people let it get that way,” said Des Moines businessman Doug Burnett. “What can we do? My answer is revolution.”
Outside the White House, protesters threw an apparent box of tea bags over the fence. U.S. Secret Service officers cleared Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Park near the compound and sent in a robot to inspect the suspicious package while the White House went on lockdown.
The Secret Service later said the package was not dangerous.
Obama also met with several working families to underscore his efforts to make the tax code more fair and less complex.
Obama noted April 15 “isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite date on the calendar.” But he said the day is a reminder to leaders in Washington that they have a responsibility to the people who elected them.
The president noted that he’s asked his economic advisers to report back by year’s end on possible tax changes.
“We need to simplify a monstrous tax code that is far too complicated for most Americans to understand but just complicated enough for the insiders who know how to game the system,” Obama said.
He added: “It will take time to undo the damage of years of carve-outs and loopholes. But I want every American to know that we will rewrite the tax code so that it puts your interests over any special interest. And we will make it quicker, easier, and less expensive for you to file a return, so that April 15 is not a date that is approached with dread each year.”
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
