Thursday was Tax Day, and more than 750 Tea Party-inspired protests are scheduled to be held across the country, including the Sarah Palin-helmed “People’s Tax Revolt” on the Washington Mall.

Paying taxes has never been anyone’s idea of a good time, but a populist revolt casting President Obama as a socialist King George III is a bit misplaced. While there is ample reason to be angry at unsustainable levels of government spending and fearful of future tax hikes, here’s an inconvenient truth: Americans are paying less in federal taxes this year.

That’s not all. According to a new report issued by Citizens Against Government Waste, pork barrel spending is on the decline as well—under Democrats’ control of Congress.

But don’t expect those facts to get in the way of spleen-venting sound bites that call for a new American revolution.

Our political debates have become increasingly dishonest, distorted by constant partisan spin. But as my math-whiz friends tell me, numbers don’t lie. So here are the facts as they relate to 2009’s tax burden.

To date, as the courageously consistent fiscal conservative economist Bruce Bartlett states in the pages of Forbes magazine, “No taxpayer anywhere in the country had his or her taxes increased as a consequence of Obama’s policies.” In fact, as Bartlett attests, “federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president.”

Do the views of the people involved in the Tea Party movement generally reflect the views of most Americans? Reflect most Americans: Tea Party 84%, All Respondents 25%

Do you approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job? Approve: Tea Party 7%, All Respondents 50%

Do you approve of the way Barack Obama is handling the economy? Approve: Tea Party 6%, All Respondents 43%

Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States? Born in U.S? Tea Party 41%. All Respondents 58%.

In general, is your opinion of the Democratic Party favorable? Favorable: Tea Party 6%, All Respondents 42%

In recent years, has too much been made of the problems facing black people? Too much: Tea Party 52%, All Respondents 28%

Which comes closest to your feelings about the way things are going in Washington? Angry: TP 53%, All Respondents 19%

If you had to choose, would you rather have a smaller government providing fewer services, or a bigger government providing more services? Smaller government, fewer services: TP 92%, All Respondents 50%

Newsflash for the Tea Baggers who want to take “their” country back. It ain’t yours.

Here are the FACTS: In 2008, California ranked 48th out of the 50 states with respect to the number of state workers per 10,000 residents.

And where is most of the state employment growth? In the 20 years ending in 2008, employment in the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation grew more than 123 percent and accounted for nearly one-third of all state job growth.