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[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

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[TitsMcGee]

101 Tea Party Sign Slogans

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

So, I spent about 2 hours at a Tea party yesterday. It was rather fun.

They expected about 200-300 people. Well over 1000 showed up and this is not a large community. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and a few races I could not readily identify were in the crowd.

My favorite sign said "I am a Democrat and this is not what I voted for!"

Edited April 16, 2009 by Gaf The Horse With Tears

[Rev.Reverence]

I saw one on a news broadcast (yeah..I watched it on accident)...looked more like a party than a protest...not a straight face in the house...peoples were TO HAPPY! Happy THEY got on the T.V. box...not that their cause was being covered...

[Der Nister]

I've heard reports about this on NPR (yea - I listen to it ). This has been brewing for a long time.

Over the last (I'd say) five years I myself have been telling people we (Americans) need to wake up to the fact that our government is *%#@ our asses on taxes. Most people just ignore me when I've said that (guess they enjoying paying taxes - dunno?).

I'm not throwing any stones at any one administration because they (at least for the last 80 years) all are to blame. We may have needed some of these taxes during WWII but that time is over and (imo) those taxes need to be over turned.

[candyman]

I am not so worried about taxes as I am with how the government spends the money. If they had a damn good reason to take my money then fine. My county has high taxes but they have been on budget for years and we are always getting great road repairs and stuff like that...so I give them that. However, my state and most others aren't very responsible. For example, the cigarette settlement that Wisconsin got, billions of dollars, was used to plug a hole in the budget which was there because of a high cost project to protect the environment that is now going to be gotten rid of. Now, they have raised cigarette taxes, and others, to plug the hole that was left when they used the billions in settlement money to plug a hole.

No more hole plugging. Taxes would not be as big of an issue if the money went towards what it was supposed to. The midwest has really crappy roads...which really doesn't make sense because we pay enough to keep them in great shape year round. However, urinals that don't use water seem to be more important than good roads that don't damage cars. If my cigarette taxes were actually going toward child health care instead of sending teams of assholes in custom painted buses around to tell children about the dangers then I would not mind them at all.

[Simon Bar Sinister]

So, I spent about 2 hours at a Tea party yesterday. It was rather fun.

They expected about 200-300 people. Well over 1000 showed up and this is not a large community. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American and a few races I could not readily identify were in the crowd.

My favorite sign said "I am a Democrat and this is not what I voted for!"

Was there any local media coverage of that event? I saw vid clips from lots of different cities, and I didn't see one non-white face in any of them.

[Rev.Reverence]

Was there any local media coverage of that event? I saw vid clips from lots of different cities, and I didn't see one non-white face in any of them.

I saw them..bitching about the Democrats they elected.

The peoples of other "races" were there as well.

It was a cool party.

[candyman]

Was there any local media coverage of that event? I saw vid clips from lots of different cities, and I didn't see one non-white face in any of them.

Video clips are all that will happen...there was one in Milwaukee with a few thousand people yet with the shitty media coverage it just looked like a handful of angry white people...the media really knows how to spin shit by now.

My uncle said that the media somehow missed the big march of the Black Panthers against the protest in Minneapolis...its ok though because only white people are wrong when they don't agree with something...

[Simon Bar Sinister]

My uncle said that the media somehow missed the big march of the Black Panthers against the protest in Minneapolis...its ok though because only white people are wrong when they don't agree with something...

were the BPs protesting the teabaggers or the government policies?

[candyman]

were the BPs protesting the teabaggers or the government policies?

They were protesting the Tea Party because they claim that it was against Obama...might be true but not because he is black...at least they didn't arm themselves like they usually do to make sure that some chubby white guy in a business suit doesn't get out of control.

Now we just need to drive the Panthers out of Milwaukee and white kids going to concerts can feel safe...

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Was there any local media coverage of that event? I saw vid clips from lots of different cities, and I didn't see one non-white face in any of them.

Yes, WINK news was there.

If the vids you saw were by the major media you most likely wont see anyone but but white people. The major media seems to be on a crusade to discredit this movement. They are focing on stereo types to make the protesters look bad.

BTW... it's not just Taxes. Infact, taxes are not even near the top of thier prioritys. This is about the people in office not listening to "We the People" for the last 80-100 years. It's about out of control spending. It's about selling our country to China and so much more.

[ttogreh]

You know, everyone says that 80 year number. Which makes me wonder what exactly happened about eighty years ago. Oh, yeah... the great depresssion. Now, how did we get out of the great depression again? Oh... right, massive government spending on both the domestic and foreign fronts. So... what kept us away from the old ten to fifteen year boom and bust cycles after the war? Oh, right... the regulatory structure built after the great depression.

Until the S & L crisis, which was a direct result of deregulation. How did we get out of that? Oh, yeah... massive government foreign policy spending under Reagan, which brought about huge deficits.

What has caused this current economic crisis? Oh, yeah... deregulation (and poor regulation) of the housing market under Clinton and Bush. What will we do about this? Hopefully, we will return to prudent and effective regulation of the economy, after we are done spending massive amounts of money on domestic projects.

It's the same old story. People that want deregulation create these astroturf Tea parties to get people that do not understand macroeconomics to protest that which has worked twice already.

See, the people that are happy with fifteen year boom and bust cycles don't have 401Ks. They have trust funds.

[creatureofthenyte]

I was watching the tea party coverage from Georgia last nite, and I saw two things that amused me, an african american guy wearing a t shirt that said " Obama aint my Momma" and another guy holding up a sign that said " CNN SUCKS!"

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

You know, everyone says that 80 year number. Which makes me wonder what exactly happened about eighty years ago. Oh, yeah... the great depresssion. Now, how did we get out of the great depression again? Oh... right, massive government spending on both the domestic and foreign fronts. So... what kept us away from the old ten to fifteen year boom and bust cycles after the war? Oh, right... the regulatory structure built after the great depression.

Until the S & L crisis, which was a direct result of deregulation. How did we get out of that? Oh, yeah... massive government foreign policy spending under Reagan, which brought about huge deficits.

What has caused this current economic crisis? Oh, yeah... deregulation (and poor regulation) of the housing market under Clinton and Bush. What will we do about this? Hopefully, we will return to prudent and effective regulation of the economy, after we are done spending massive amounts of money on domestic projects.

It's the same old story. People that want deregulation create these astroturf Tea parties to get people that do not understand macroeconomics to protest that which has worked twice already.

See, the people that are happy with fifteen year boom and bust cycles don't have 401Ks. They have trust funds.

80-100 years is the number people toss out when a general rant is going... but if you get really specific they will even tell you the year. 1913. So 96 years would be more acurate.

Thats the year the Federal Reserve was created.

Thats the year we became The United States of America Inc.

Thats the year the World Bank was created.

Thats the year we started charging Income Tax. (16th Admenment)

Thats the year that the Republic started to die and the Democracy started to rise.

(A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. - Thomas Jefferson)

[ttogreh]

So, it all boils down to this. Undiluted, chaotic capitalism is the mark of a constitutional republic, and the regulation of an economy by elected leaders is the mark of mob rule. Once again, black and white thinking with absolutely no middle ground whatsoever.

Honestly, Gaf, you do not have any nuance at all.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Is anyone asking for complete deregulation at these protests? Or are people asking, no demanding, smart regulation?

You would not know. You have not been to one. You really have no business trying to say what the people at them want.

and really, can you control your behavior just once and stop attacking me?

Do me a favor. Go read the Constitution and the Federalist papers.

Edited April 17, 2009 by Gaf The Horse With Tears

[ttogreh]

Translating your words into an unambiguous and understandable form is not an attack on you, Gaf. However, commenting on your lack of nuance could be bad form.

I am far too busy to spend any time at a protest where several participants have expressed themselves with these signs....

Moreover, I highly doubt this will continue to be very big in the coming months. In any event, these astroturf movements are being exposed as such.

Still, a protestation of the ever growing federal government can mean many things to many people. I do not doubt the sincerity of the individual protesters, but I do feel that their genuine anger is fueled by a lack of understanding of the complex issues at hand, and the confusion that that breeds.

In short, these people are pawns of those that would wish to manipulate the inevitable regulatory structure to create the next bubble.

[peelingchrome]

1. Moreover, I highly doubt this will continue to be very big in the coming months. 2. In any event, these astroturf movements are being exposed as such.

3. Still, a protestation of the ever growing federal government can mean many things to many people. I do not doubt the sincerity of the individual protesters, but I do feel that their genuine anger is fueled by a lack of understanding of the complex issues at hand, and the confusion that that breeds.

4. In short, these people are pawns of those that would wish to manipulate the inevitable regulatory structure to create the next bubble.

I've been sitting on the sidelines of this topic for too long now.

I'm not going to say that I always agree with Gaf. He can be inflammatory and occasionally argumentative. I've done some fact-checking on his statements as I've had time, however, and can say that most (if not all) of his statements have a very large kernel of truth to them (with the exception of his opinions because they are opinions and not facts).

That being said, I have to disagree with the part of your statement that I've quoted. I'll approach them in an item by item manner.

1. A quarter of a million people showed up to Tax Day Tea Parties, and that's just in the first 3 months of the current political regime. I'm confident that the movement will parallel the greed of the government (i.e. increased movement numbers will follow increased governmental greed). It's true that I cannot see the future, but it should be pretty obvious.

2. I disagree with your opinion that these protests are astroturfed. For those that are unfamiliar with the term, it relates to an artificially generated "grassroots" movement. I'll admit that not all of the protests were true grassroots movements, but (from what I've read) most were. Furthermore, the true movements were not allowing elected officials to speak at the gatherings. For one example click here. The reasons behind this were twofold: the protests were a way for the people to talk and for the elected officials to shut up and listen (the opposite of everyday life currently), and to keep the movements clean from astroturfer agendas.

3. That's part of the reason for the protests. The logic is simple: get a bunch of people pissed off enough to protest and then have educated people (usually the organizers) educate the protesters on the deeper causes of the issues they're protesting. The information is out there and the movement is about being informed enough to be upset followed by doing something to change what upset them in the first place.

4. Once again, I disagree with this statement. The whole point is to remove the regulatory structure that allows the system to be manipulated. I'm not saying I have a good idea what to replace the current system with, but there has to be something better out there. I'm pretty sure that most people would agree with me, once they learned how money really works in our country. Personally, I'm against any private institution that has unchecked governmental power, especially with regard to the flow of money. This is very similar to how I feel about Congress's ability to vote themselves raises. By the way, what did the FED do with all of that bailout money?

I'd like to wrap this up by saying that I agree with your posts at least half the time. I have, in the past, nodded along while reading many of your posts. As I have shown here, I cannot agree with everything you post however. As a complete aside, I would fear for the power mongers that run our country if you and Gaf could combine forces and take them head-on. THAT would be a movement I could get behind!

[Mean Salley]

I already dress like an indain, if I smasnh a few tea chests the feds are coming for mne

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

1. A quarter of a million people showed up to Tax Day Tea Parties, and that's just in the first 3 months of the current political regime. I'm confident that the movement will parallel the greed of the government (i.e. increased movement numbers will follow increased governmental greed). It's true that I cannot see the future, but it should be pretty obvious.

People are starting to add up the number... looks like over 500,000 people showed up.

[Rev.Reverence]

I'd like to wrap this up by saying that I agree with your posts at least half the time. I have, in the past, nodded along while reading many of your posts. As I have shown here, I cannot agree with everything you post however. As a complete aside, I would fear for the power mongers that run our country if you and Gaf could combine forces and take them head-on. THAT would be a movement I could get behind!

Bi-partisan?

[Reaper]

I was all for the tea party. I went thru San Antonio on Wednesday as the party was going on. I think people were happy not to just be on TV, but for the great show of unity on a particular problem. I don't know why media coverage was scarce. I heard a lot through Fox though and a lot of joking around by other media outlets. Why is it when a large group of people gather for a common sense problem, they are seen as hypocrites and crazy people? Isn't it supposed to be the opposite?

I hope to see more of these rallies in the future and want to attend one. And I am almost hardcore toward the middle of the political spectrum, even though I hate politics.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Translating your words into an unambiguous and understandable form is not an attack on you, Gaf. However, commenting on your lack of nuance could be bad form.

Fine example of Spin.

[asphyxian_doll]

You know, everyone says that 80 year number. Which makes me wonder what exactly happened about eighty years ago. Oh, yeah... the great depresssion. Now, how did we get out of the great depression again? Oh... right, massive government spending on both the domestic and foreign fronts. So... what kept us away from the old ten to fifteen year boom and bust cycles after the war? Oh, right... the regulatory structure built after the great depression.

Until the S & L crisis, which was a direct result of deregulation. How did we get out of that? Oh, yeah... massive government foreign policy spending under Reagan, which brought about huge deficits.

What has caused this current economic crisis? Oh, yeah... deregulation (and poor regulation) of the housing market under Clinton and Bush. What will we do about this? Hopefully, we will return to prudent and effective regulation of the economy, after we are done spending massive amounts of money on domestic projects.

It's the same old story. People that want deregulation create these astroturf Tea parties to get people that do not understand macroeconomics to protest that which has worked twice already.

See, the people that are happy with fifteen year boom and bust cycles don't have 401Ks. They have trust funds.

+1!