Anti-Tax Tea Parties Held Across U.S.

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

I went to one today, and it was great. I'd say 600-700 people here in Bloomington, IL. It's really gotten me pretty fired up and angry. And anyone who wants to say that these were partisan events likely did not go to one. There was just as much anger directed at Bush as there was Obama over the spending. It was great to see hundreds of people like me and millions more across the country who, along with our yet-to-be-conceived children are being enslaved and placed trillions of dollars in debt.

that's encouraging. i suppose i can disagree rationally with a bi-partisan tea party that vents anger at Bush and the GOP for their spending over the last 8 years as well as the stimulus package. rational people can disagree. only an irrational person, however, started to care about this on January 20, 2009. so long as there's adherence to the principle, and it seems like you're saying that there was, then i really don't have a problem with it.

one thing i think that's actually good about Obama is that he's getting criticism from both the Right (these tea party things or whatever) as well as the Left (Paul Krugman), which leads me to believe that he's actually as much of an honest broker as we could ask for in this situation.

so long as the disagreements remain rooted in principle, then i think all of this is very healthy.

And that CNN lady was a joke. She should be fired. People who are calling these events nothing but anti-government, extreme-right radical demonstrations clearly must feel threatened by them. At the very least, they have no idea what the hell they're talking about.

don't fall over ... but i agree with you here as well. she should have let him talk, even though that guy had no idea about what he was talking about.

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by 2861U2

I think a majority of it is spending. The people I saw and heard from were certainly more pissed at the spending than the taxes.

As for why there wasn't anything like this last year- I'm not sure. If there had been local events like this in the fall, protesting Bush's spending and the bailouts and all, I would have probably shown up. I think these suddenly sprouted up because people are seeing that it's both parties who were/are irresponsible and spending money we don't have.

the reason why this didn't happen last year was because Bush was in office. you didn't have the organization possible then as you do now. these Tea Parties were orchestrated by Pajamas TV, Fox News, and several GOP Congressmen (Dick Armey specifically).

so they are, by definition, hypocritical.

it's good to hear that not all the participants were.

now, i could be mistaking you for another poster, but i assume you were every bit as offended by the protesters who were calling for Obama to be hung or those calling him Chairman Maobama as you were by those anti-war protesters who wanted Bush and Cheney locked up or whatever else.

yes?

because i'm just looking for consistency here.

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by floweravalanche

We most stop the spending!

not that you have to agree with it,

but can you tell me what the reason is behind the stimulus package and the increase in spending?

[Tiger Edge]

Have you seen some of the crazy pictures from these events?


Except it's exactly not the same.




Actually, no he didn't. But thanks for trying.


I would have loved to have gone to one of these things with a sign that just read, "LOUD AND ANGRY WORDS"


Nothing shocks me anymore. NOTHING.


But when Bush hangs out with the Saudis, it's good for the country.


Zero taxes! Fuck yeah!


A fascist communist. Brilliant.

[A_Wanderer]

Agh, commie nazis!

[MrsSpringsteen]

Pajamas TV? What is that?

Nice sign w/ the swastika. That really increases credibility.

I was hoping one of those people knows what lies in the shadow of the statue. That would be fun, to go up to them at those rallies and just keep asking them that...

[Irvine511]

^ see, while all that is shocking ignorance, it's just as unfair to take out a few signs from many protesters.

i attended many anti-war rallies over 2003-7, and i know that the mainstream was very middle of the road, middle American, and rational. it's too bad when a few fringe elements get all the media attention.

so i'm assuming that these tea parties were much the same.

right?

or are they just filled with people who don't know a thing about economics?

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

Pajamas TV? What is that?

Pajamas TV

Joe The Plumber did lots of man-on-the-street reporting for them during the December 08 Gaza War.

for real.

[Tiger Edge]

You know, on the news this morning they talked to the Secretary of Homeland Security about some report published yesterday about the threat of extreme-right terrorism from our own citizens and how likely it would be for an attempt to be made on Obama's life. I laughed it off saying that they are really demonizing the right, but after looking at these photos I wouldn't be surprised if one of these nuts decided to start a "real revolution" by assassinating Obama.

[Tiger Edge]

Originally Posted by Irvine511

^ see, while all that is shocking ignorance, it's just as unfair to take out a few signs from many protesters.

i attended many anti-war rallies over 2003-7, and i know that the mainstream was very middle of the road, middle American, and rational. it's too bad when a few fringe elements get all the media attention.

so i'm assuming that these tea parties were much the same.

right?

or are they just filled with people who don't know a thing about economics?

Well I definitely know that there are sensible people protesting out there who know what they are talking about, but some of this ignorance can't be ignored. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone call Obama a fascist after claiming that he wants to drive this country into socialism.

Just last night I gave my dad a tea bag as a joke and he went totally off on me about how he is "Taxed Enough Already." Except your taxes just went down.
Then he said that Obama "made me pay taxes" this year when I earned less than $10K last year. I had to remind him rather forcefully that taxes were not taken out of my paycheck at that job and if that had been this year instead of last year I would have paid much less in taxes.

Then he shut up.

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by Tiger Edge

Well I definitely know that there are sensible people protesting out there who know what they are talking about, but some of this ignorance can't be ignored. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone call Obama a fascist after claiming that he wants to drive this country into socialism.

Just last night I gave my dad a tea bag as a joke and he went totally off on me about how he is "Taxed Enough Already." Except your taxes just went down.
Then he said that Obama "made me pay taxes" this year when I earned less than $10K last year. I had to remind him rather forcefully that taxes were not taken out of my paycheck at that job and if that had been this year instead of last year I would have paid much less in taxes.

Then he shut up.

yeah, i don't get the tax thing. people's taxes are, like, historically pretty low. and all Obama wants is to go back to those horrible, oppressive, Sheriff of Nottingham-esque mid-1990s levels of taxation.

i don't see how it's quite right that the richest Americans now earn a greater percentage of the overall wealth than ever before, yet they're the only group who have seen their tax rates plummet.

spending, however, i think honest people can have disagreements over.

taxes, however, are a fact of life and a necessary evil.

[BVS]

Originally Posted by Tiger Edge

Well I definitely know that there are sensible people protesting out there who know what they are talking about, but some of this ignorance can't be ignored. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone call Obama a fascist after claiming that he wants to drive this country into socialism.

I'm sure they are out there too... BUT WHERE?

I really haven't heard an intelligent well informed response as to what yesterday was really truly about and why it wasn't consistent with spending during the Bush years.

Even Beck tried really hard to make people think this wasn't about Obama yet forgot and went on a rant about Obama.

Those signs are great, and like Irvine said protests in general do bring out the quacks, but unfortunately the "cut taxes not defense" is now a common way of thinking by many, they just don't get it. I keep hearing that we don't have the money to pay for this and that, yet there is always this mindset that military spending just come out of thin air, that's not real money, that doesn't count.

If someone could provide me with, or at least a link to, a well informed reason for yesterday I would appreciate it.

[BVS]

Racism is dead people. We were all slaves at one time, get over it... We're all just Americans, we don't see color.

[Tiger Edge]

The more interesting sign is "Your tax dollars pay for illegal immigration" in the back of the last one.

No, your tax dollars pay for border patrol. Everything to these type of people is so black and white. My tax dollars fund this, my tax dollars fund that. Well they also fund the exact opposite. My tax dollars fund putting books into my library, and lunches for kids who can't afford to pay for their own food at school. They also helped bomb innocent people in Iraq, and helped a soldier fend off an array of bullets with a bulletproof vest. Why don't they understand this? You sometimes get what you want, you sometimes don't. You can't allocate where your money goes.

[elevated_u2_fan]

Originally Posted by Tiger Edge

Equating Obama with Urkel... that's pretty clever... in 1990.

[Tiger Edge]

When does he climb into the machine and become the suave Stefan?

[elevated_u2_fan]

oh snap, I remember that, or when he used to guest star on Fresh Prince

[Irvine511]

Originally Posted by elevated_u2_fan

Equating Obama with Urkel... that's pretty clever... in 1990.

Urkel is likely the only black person in that person's cultural lexicon.

[MrsSpringsteen]

Tempest In A Tea Party: The "Daily Show" Takes On Teabaggers (VIDEO)

http://www.gallup.com/poll/117523/Am...spx?CSTS=alert

[Irvine511]

still, can someone answer me this?

why did it take Obama pushing through a package containing a massive public works package and significant homeowner aid to get conservatives out marching in the streets?

are those only worthwhile projects in Iraq?

it seems to me that there might be an undercurrent of intra-class warfare amongst working class whites?