This Is Why We Protest . . . For The MSM and Politicians Who STILL Don’t Get It

by Joss Armstrong | 8:24 pm, April 21, 2009 | Comments Off

The tea party activists have been mocked by the mainstream media and ignored by the politicians.

Rachel Maddow at MSNBC wonders how we can protest taxes when Obama is promising a tax cut to 95% of Americans.

Art Levine at the Huffington Post states “Faux-Populist “Tea Parties” Ignore Tax Breaks for Overpaid CEOs“.

Susan Roesgen for CNN interrupts more then one protester to argue, harangue, and generally behave like an angry fishwife while espousing conspiracy theories galore.  (To be fair she did get shouted down by individuals in the crowd in some instances; however I remember far worse occuring at the DNC.  Look for a post comparing and contrasting later.)

Bruce Bartlett (a guy whose book I liked) at Forbes argues that tax rates are at a fifty year low.

What the legions of Clueless otherwise known as our mainstream media don’t get:  This isn’t a partisan issue.  This is a debt issue.  Bruce Bartlett has the integrity to at least ponder, then dismiss, the thought that the tea parties are the natural result of Ricardian Equivelance, however in the end he pooh-poos this and chalks it up to good ol’ partisan politics.

The folks above either believe “It’s my party, right or wrong” or that everyone is operating under the “my party right or wrong” mentality.  After years of slogging in the political trenches, they just can’t believe that anyone would jump ship on their party over something as little as, oh, principles.

Lemme just break this down for the clueless:  I don’t care what you call yourselves, so long as you get off my back and out of my wallet.  Sadly, according to the Mainstream Media at this point if you aren’t a raging fascist and supportive of a command economy you are now “conservative,” I.E. “republican.”

To be fair there are a lot of people who are getting it right.  Jon Caldara hit the nail on the head in his opening statement at the Denver Tax Day Tea Party:

“I want to make one thing clear I think its something we all make clear, this is not a partisan protest. . . . do not forget that it was a different political party with their own out of control spending that teed up this ball for the current regime to knock out of the park.”

I giggled all the way through Grover Norquist’s live Q & A.  Some of the highlights:

Harrisburg, Pa.: There was a good turnout of tea protestors in Harrisburg. There was a noticeable sign denouncing the current government as being socialist. Do you agree with these sentiments, and would you encourage or discourage supporters from using words like “socialist”?

Grover Norquist: Obama, Reid and Pelosi are spending a great deal of money.

This is not socialism.

It is stupid.

One should understate one’s claims, not exaggerate them.

Socialism means the state ownership of the means of production.

Liberals want to run GM without owning it. That ideology begins with a different letter.

. . . Laurel, Md.: Since 95% of Americans are getting tax cuts under Obama’s plan and the increases are the very wealthiest Americans who got huge tax cuts under Bush, how is it “populist” to complain about Obama’s plan?

Grover Norquist: The claim that Obama will cut taxes for 95% and not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 is already stale.

His budget calls for energy taxes of more than $3000 for a family of four….aka cap and trade or cap and tax.

If you heat your home, use air conditioning your tax burden–as seen painfully in your home heating bill–is going up.

smokers have already been screwed. They tend to be lower income–save Obama himself.

And Obama calls for higher taxes on oil produced domestically so your gasoline in your car is going up….oddly not just rich people drive.

And that $500 tax credit. only for some and gone in two years…did you really believe that campaign line. How old are you?

Reason Magazine caught up with Matt Kibbe of FreedomWork.  Matt gets it.

Jerry Agar over at TownHall.com gets it, too, and he gives us a solution.

Because you see, it doesn’t matter if the media listens or doesn’t listen.  It doesn’t matter if the current politicians are ignoring us.  It doesn’t matter if the congress majority here in Denver closed the balcony so we the people wouldn’t disrupt their lobbyist deal-brokering.

We can do it without Washington.  I believe in us.  Don’t you?

Now let me talk about them.  The elected officials.  The incumbents.

Homeland security is already calling all of us here at this party a bunch of right wing radicals – so we may as well think about a radical solution.

The incumbents have to go.

A lot of Republicans are excited because they think this day is about them.  Don’t get me wrong.  The Democrats generally ARE the problem.  But how much help have the Republicans been lately?

George Bush talked about ending a huge government program – social security – but he backed off.  The Republicans did talk in 2001 about a looming housing crisis, but Chris Dodd and Barney Frank called them racists, so they spinelessly backed off.

When an incumbent politician of any party asks for your vote – back off.

They say that they “get it.”  But they “get it” in a government sort of way.  They always have a solution that involves another government program.  They won’t get it until they are startled into the realization that this is not about them.  It is not about Fox News as CNN seems to think it is.  It is about a political class and a citizen class.  The incumbent political class has to go.

I am not saying not to elect Republicans.  I am saying, elect new ones.  We have a lot of smart people in America who have not yet been elected to office.  Perhaps a new set of Democrats who were elected under this scenario would respect the people a bit more than Nancy Pelosi does.

Imagine a day in DC when every member of congress is brand new.  No long term deals and relationships.  No favored programs.  No favors to call in or to honor.

Democrats expanding government at an unprecedented rate is unacceptable.  Republicans expanding it a little bit more slowly is also unacceptable.

Sure this is a fun day.  But there are hard decisions to make, and hard work to do.  I am willing.  Are you?”

I am willing.  And if advocating voting out incumbents at election time makes me a radical, word up, DHS:

If this be treason, make the most of it.

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