After picking up H from school today, he and I drove into St. Augustine to attend the Tea Party. We didn't go armed with signs, we went armed with a camera and got some good photographs, heard some locals speak their minds, and were pleased by the reception of the traffic that drove by honking their horns.
No media was present, except for St. Augustine's local channel 22 with one lone cameraman there to record the event. The organizers, all local contrary to the spin of the liberal bloggers and the major media stations like CNN, were pleased by the turnout since our town newspaper, The St. Augustine Record, had not publicized the event with any diligence. Word of mouth, emails and blogs spread the news....that my friends is grass roots not ultra turf.
I've read some of the online news articles, listened to CNN's Rick Sanchez for a bit and watched some of the evening news to get an idea of just what impact the tea parties held nationally may be having. I wasn't surprised by what I read and heard; disappointed maybe, but not really surprised.
At CNN Politics/Political Tracker the comments were predictable.....i.e. Jim S wrote "95% of all American People receive a TAX CUT under President OBAMA's plan since April 1st 2009. Under Bush only 2% received a TAX CUT. What are these people protesting against? Almost like protesting against sunshine."
I guess Jim is happy with the $7.69 extra in his paycheck each week (or if he's married, $15.38)...after all, he can get 3.75 gallons of gas each week for that money..at least until 2010 when the Congress expects to faze out that "making work pay" tax cut to pay for Obama's new budget. I guess his happiness with that money in his pocket causes him to close his eyes and his ears to the real reasons behind the tea parties...like the fact that we're fed up with the spin of the media and our elected officials....
And I guess Jim isn't aware that Bush raised the child tax credit for everyone making $110,000 or less per year from $600.00 - $1000.00 per child; or that he increased the standard deduction from $7950 - $9500 for married couples or that he raised the income from $10,000 - $12,000 before the 10% tax bracket kicked in....(from $47,500 - $56,800 for the 15% tax bracket). No, I guess our Jim believed the "main stream media" when they said that Bush only favored the rich in his tax cuts.
I didn't see a whole lot of rich folks there...the parking area wasn't filled with caddies and Porsche's and hummers but with regular folk vehicles. There weren't a whole bunch of cigarettes and cigars being lit up either. But we weren't all "low-income, uninformed people" either as another Ticker poster stated.
Then there are those who want to know where we were when Bush was increasing the deficit and pushing the TARP....We were the ones calling and emailing our representatives telling them to vote NO on it and the ones who were ignored by those same representatives....and the Tea Party was as much about that as it was anything else...taxation without representation's modern definition is shown by how our representatives don't listen to us and pass legislation they haven't read....and its bi-partisan since both Republicans and Democrats voted for the TARP. And it kinda makes some of us angry when we can have our assets frozen and our home invaded for not paying taxes but the cabinet of our current president can't seem to get theirs paid correctly...
Then there are those who ask why the Republicans didn't protest when Ronnie's tax rate was 10% higher then what Obama is proposing.....well, since under Carter the highest incomes were taxed at 70% anything Reagan did was a welcome doing.....and when Clinton raised the wealthy rates again, his increases were still less then the taxes had been under Carter...and under Ronnie inflation had gone down, unemployment had gone down, interest rates were under 20% again, the median household income increased by $4000, and we didn't wait in mile long lines for gasoline any longer...there was a lot of good happening to offset those tax increases.
And of course, then the followup is "what about when Bush was raising the deficit?" Well, we were involved in a war against terrorism as a result of the 3000 folks killed on 9/11...and did those folks notice that the Republicans LOST the majority in 2006...because of their spending? And Bush's deficit pales when you consider the fact that Obama's budget will increase spending more than all previous presidents combined....but oh, I forgot again...that's because of Bush and his tax decreases on the wealthy....
We can't forget those who try to tell us what the original tea party was really about....like the poster who said it was because the King of England had cut taxes.....guess that poster didn't read the whole blog or something...cuz the only tax that was cut was on the East India Company which the King wanted to benefit from the exporting of Tea to the colonists...forcing Colonial importers of tea to pay the tax and effectively putting them out of business...kind of like our government today deciding which businesses to bail out and which not to, which mortgages deserve saving and which do not.....of course, the Boston Tea Party was about a lot more then just the Tea.... just as these tea parties are about a lot more then income taxes.
And finally, you and I live under a budget, our state governments must balance the budget every year, yet our federal government does not live under this same stricture. They continue to increase spending on entitlements and on pork that benefits small groups of people with no real idea of how to pay for it all....except to continue to borrow money from China ( who doesn't think we're all that great an investment any longer) and to increase taxes on the rich openly while hiding the tax increases on the rest of us in hidden fees and cap and trade. The Tea Parties were about that as well.
Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding about the Tea Parties is the fact that there has always been a silent majority in this country...I've never been to a protest in my life before this one. I've never written a blog before this one. I've kept my opinions to myself and voted according to what I believe in....just like a lot of those who attended today's tea parties. We endured mostly in silence the horrible attacks against President Bush and quietly wished that he would defend himself against those attacks, but he felt that it was "beneath the office" for him to engage in verbal warfare.
There's a growing number of folks who voted for change this past election who are not happy with the change they foresee coming. And there's 55 million of us who didn't vote for that change. We're not going away, we're not giving up, and we're planning on another round of change in November 2010.....when we vote out those who have not listened, who have not read, and who seek to continue to mislead the American people with spin and outright lies.
photo link
"We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too." President Elect Barrack Obama Election Night Speech
Did you hear us today, President Obama?
No media was present, except for St. Augustine's local channel 22 with one lone cameraman there to record the event. The organizers, all local contrary to the spin of the liberal bloggers and the major media stations like CNN, were pleased by the turnout since our town newspaper, The St. Augustine Record, had not publicized the event with any diligence. Word of mouth, emails and blogs spread the news....that my friends is grass roots not ultra turf.
I've read some of the online news articles, listened to CNN's Rick Sanchez for a bit and watched some of the evening news to get an idea of just what impact the tea parties held nationally may be having. I wasn't surprised by what I read and heard; disappointed maybe, but not really surprised.
At CNN Politics/Political Tracker the comments were predictable.....i.e. Jim S wrote "95% of all American People receive a TAX CUT under President OBAMA's plan since April 1st 2009. Under Bush only 2% received a TAX CUT. What are these people protesting against? Almost like protesting against sunshine."
I guess Jim is happy with the $7.69 extra in his paycheck each week (or if he's married, $15.38)...after all, he can get 3.75 gallons of gas each week for that money..at least until 2010 when the Congress expects to faze out that "making work pay" tax cut to pay for Obama's new budget. I guess his happiness with that money in his pocket causes him to close his eyes and his ears to the real reasons behind the tea parties...like the fact that we're fed up with the spin of the media and our elected officials....
And I guess Jim isn't aware that Bush raised the child tax credit for everyone making $110,000 or less per year from $600.00 - $1000.00 per child; or that he increased the standard deduction from $7950 - $9500 for married couples or that he raised the income from $10,000 - $12,000 before the 10% tax bracket kicked in....(from $47,500 - $56,800 for the 15% tax bracket). No, I guess our Jim believed the "main stream media" when they said that Bush only favored the rich in his tax cuts.
I didn't see a whole lot of rich folks there...the parking area wasn't filled with caddies and Porsche's and hummers but with regular folk vehicles. There weren't a whole bunch of cigarettes and cigars being lit up either. But we weren't all "low-income, uninformed people" either as another Ticker poster stated.
Then there are those who want to know where we were when Bush was increasing the deficit and pushing the TARP....We were the ones calling and emailing our representatives telling them to vote NO on it and the ones who were ignored by those same representatives....and the Tea Party was as much about that as it was anything else...taxation without representation's modern definition is shown by how our representatives don't listen to us and pass legislation they haven't read....and its bi-partisan since both Republicans and Democrats voted for the TARP. And it kinda makes some of us angry when we can have our assets frozen and our home invaded for not paying taxes but the cabinet of our current president can't seem to get theirs paid correctly...
Then there are those who ask why the Republicans didn't protest when Ronnie's tax rate was 10% higher then what Obama is proposing.....well, since under Carter the highest incomes were taxed at 70% anything Reagan did was a welcome doing.....and when Clinton raised the wealthy rates again, his increases were still less then the taxes had been under Carter...and under Ronnie inflation had gone down, unemployment had gone down, interest rates were under 20% again, the median household income increased by $4000, and we didn't wait in mile long lines for gasoline any longer...there was a lot of good happening to offset those tax increases.
And of course, then the followup is "what about when Bush was raising the deficit?" Well, we were involved in a war against terrorism as a result of the 3000 folks killed on 9/11...and did those folks notice that the Republicans LOST the majority in 2006...because of their spending? And Bush's deficit pales when you consider the fact that Obama's budget will increase spending more than all previous presidents combined....but oh, I forgot again...that's because of Bush and his tax decreases on the wealthy....
We can't forget those who try to tell us what the original tea party was really about....like the poster who said it was because the King of England had cut taxes.....guess that poster didn't read the whole blog or something...cuz the only tax that was cut was on the East India Company which the King wanted to benefit from the exporting of Tea to the colonists...forcing Colonial importers of tea to pay the tax and effectively putting them out of business...kind of like our government today deciding which businesses to bail out and which not to, which mortgages deserve saving and which do not.....of course, the Boston Tea Party was about a lot more then just the Tea.... just as these tea parties are about a lot more then income taxes.
And finally, you and I live under a budget, our state governments must balance the budget every year, yet our federal government does not live under this same stricture. They continue to increase spending on entitlements and on pork that benefits small groups of people with no real idea of how to pay for it all....except to continue to borrow money from China ( who doesn't think we're all that great an investment any longer) and to increase taxes on the rich openly while hiding the tax increases on the rest of us in hidden fees and cap and trade. The Tea Parties were about that as well.
Perhaps the greatest misunderstanding about the Tea Parties is the fact that there has always been a silent majority in this country...I've never been to a protest in my life before this one. I've never written a blog before this one. I've kept my opinions to myself and voted according to what I believe in....just like a lot of those who attended today's tea parties. We endured mostly in silence the horrible attacks against President Bush and quietly wished that he would defend himself against those attacks, but he felt that it was "beneath the office" for him to engage in verbal warfare.
There's a growing number of folks who voted for change this past election who are not happy with the change they foresee coming. And there's 55 million of us who didn't vote for that change. We're not going away, we're not giving up, and we're planning on another round of change in November 2010.....when we vote out those who have not listened, who have not read, and who seek to continue to mislead the American people with spin and outright lies.
photo link
"We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn – I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too." President Elect Barrack Obama Election Night Speech
Did you hear us today, President Obama?
I love how people try to point out that 95% of America will get a tax cut, but only ~40% of America actually pays income tax. Then they forget that Obama wants to implement cap and trade, which would cause every day services (heat, gas, electricity, etc) costs to skyrocket. All a slight of hand.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, after all this "stimulus" every American, whether with alzheimers in a nursing home, or in utero owes the federal government nearly $900,000.00 just for the priveledge of breathing and living in what USED TO BE A CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC!!! That figure will only increase. The politicians like Nancy Pelosi are having too much fun living in the luxury we have provided them. It's time to send EVERY overspending, constitutionally illiterate, corrupt, tone-deaf,self-annointed king or queen packing! THAT IS what the Tea Parties are all about. We're fighting for our country in the same way our forefathers did and we're not backing down. Preach on, sistah!
ReplyDelete