A new face for the age-old tradition of opposing government taxation has formed in a group calling themselves the Tea Party. Taxed Enough Already has been active for a few years now, and while participation at protests on the local level seem to be dwindling, the topic of anti-tax politics is heavily discussed in the national and local media.

The protest of taxation is nothing new. The movement of people that snub noses at the government’s efforts to regulate and collect the national income has been around since man began to civilize. These feelings of repulsion toward taxes run deep in our American culture, as it was one of the core elements to the founding of our republic.

But the reality is that this tax-free utopia simply cannot exist.

The roads we drive on, the schools our children attend and the military that protects us are all funded by the collection of our taxes.

Despite this basic truth that a government requires taxes to operate, the Tea Party claims that unjust taxation and increases are destroying our nation, and some members are even calling for the impeachment of the president. Unfortunately, these falsehoods simply do not present the truth about our current tax policy.

Jointly filed married couples face almost no difference in the 2010 income tax rates as compared to 2009.

In fact, ceilings for the tax brackets have risen in every category for jointly filed married couples ranging from $50 to $750 of more income allowed before breaching the next bracket. What this translates into is a very small difference from the 2009 tax rates to the 2010 rates.

If anything, some families will actually move down a category and be taxed less. Most people will not see much if any difference in their returns.

The claims of many attending protests staged around the country are often not even tax related but rather attacks on the Obama administration and his “regime.” Perpetuated by self-proclaimed right-wing radio talk show hosts, the amount of misinformation spread among the public is overwhelming.

While our founding fathers had grievances with England taxing the populace of the colonies without representation, we do not find ourselves in that position today.

Free and open elections result in politicians of our own choosing entering office.

The simple fact is, if you don’t like the taxes you pay, voting someone else into power is the quickest and most civil way of changing policy.