Earl Hickey announces opposition to the TP Act

Well, kind of.

Tonight's episode of "My Name is Earl"--which you should be watching, if you're not, by the way, because it's really quite good--involved Earl's growing to believe that the government was good for nothing. After a series of hilarious hijinks stemming from Earl's desire to pay $500 in taxes he believes he owes the government (which he tries to pay at the "Government Offices" building), Earl and his brother end up dangling from ropes inside an empty water tower.

You'll just have to trust me on this.

Oh, and I should add a spoiler warning, although it would be pretty hard not to figure out that NBC wouldn't leave the title character and his brother to bake to death in a water tower.

After three days or so stuck there in the water tower, just as Earl is finishing a rant against the government, he looks up to see a diverse and representative sample of government employees looking down at him through the hole in the top, asking, "Are you fellas all right?"

And, indeed, they were, because government worked for them: The police, the public works people, the fire department--all of them came together to rescue Earl and his brother.

After paying for the fines he and his brother incurred for trespassing--the equivalent of what Earl thought he owed in taxes--Earl offers to pay the many-times-greater cost of rescuing the two of them. But, Earl notes, it turns out that rescuing is free for taxpayers.

And that, in essence, is what I believe the function of government is--it's there to rescue you, for free, when you need it. Some people (not naming names here, but his last name rhymes with Rothman) have decided that tying the hands of government is more important than making sure government has the flexibilty, resources, and ability to rescue the Earls in water towers when necessary. That Earl someday could be me, or you, or your parents, or your neighbors. But this Taxpayer Protection Amendment--the Bride of TABOR to some; the TP Act to me--is all about taking that away.

Earl Hickey knows: Paying your taxes is good karma. Rescuing people who need it--metaphorically and literally--should not play second fiddle to tax-hell fearmongering.