last night, I went to a local tea party rally... - The Orange Mane

mhgaffney · 10-25-2010, 07:26 PM

The event was in Klamath Falls. I went to listen and learn and because I wanted to get a firsthand look.

I cheered and clapped along with the crowd of 150 people at some of the rhetoric -- we can all agree about some of the tea party complaints.

The fact remains, however, that the tea party movement is being financed not by the masses of Americans but by powerful industrialists and financiers -- such as the Koch brothers -- the third wealthiest men in the US -- for their own ends.

Therefore the Tea Party is not a true grassroots movement. It will be controlled by and reabsorbed into the Republican Party -- just as Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition (of which I was proud to be a part) was reabsorbed into the Democratic Party.

Today both parties are hopelessly corrupt. The only way out is to create a third party not beholding to either Dems and Repubs. Are the Tea Partiers ready to join with with the Kucinich bloc on the Left?

I see no evidence for this. At the rally I heard lines about "US exceptionalism" which is code for continuing US imperialism and wars. Evidently the local tea partiers do not understand what is happening.

The tea partiers also remain hypnotized by the myth of free markets. There never were any free markets. This is code for GATT, NAFTA, CAFTA, and continued globalism and predatory capitalism. More of the same.

I wanted to jump up and shout "Capitalism is destroying the planet! Why do you want to throw gas on the fire?"

I also wanted to shout "Jesus was not a Capitalist!"

I also wanted to shout: "Palin is supporting the creation of the world's largest gold mine -- in the best Sockeye Salmon spawning grounds on earth! So why are you supporting her?"

I never got my chance to say anything because there was no opportunity to ask questions or make comments at a mike. It was all about Ra Ra and getting out the vote for the Republican candidates.

It looks like we are about to go from the frying pan into the fire.
MHG

mhgaffney · 10-25-2010, 07:30 PM

October 22 - 24, 2010

So You Want Lower Taxes, a Return to Constitutional Protections and Clean Government?

Ten Questions for Tea Partiers

By RALPH NADER

http://www.counterpunch.org/nader10222010.html
Here are ten Questions for Tea Partiers that they want or do not want to answer. I say it this way because people who call themselves Tea Partiers do not have the same view of politics, government, Big Business or the Constitution. Their opinions range from pure Libertarian to actively furthering the privileges of plutocracy. Their income and occupational background vary as well, though most seem to be middle-income and up.

My guess is that most Tea Partiers come from the conservative wing of the Republican Party who are fed up with both the corporate Republicans like Bush and Cheney, as well as the Democrats like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.

With the above in mind, the following questions can serve to go beyond abstractions and generalizations of indignation and get to some more specific responses.

1. Can you be against Big Government and not press for reductions in the vast military budgets, fraught with bureaucratic and large contractors’ waste, fraud and abuse? Military spending now takes up half of the federal government’s operating budgets. The libertarian Cato Institute believes that to cut deficits, we have to also cut the defense budget.

2. Can you believe in the free market and not condemn hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate welfare-bailouts, subsidies, handouts, and giveaways?

3. Can you want to preserve the legitimate sovereignty of our country and not reject the trade agreements known as NAFTA and GATT (The World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland) that scholars have described as the greatest surrender of local, state and national sovereignty in our history?

4. Can you be for law and order and not support a bigger and faster crackdown on the corporate crime wave, that needs more prosecutors and larger enforcement budgets to stop the stealing of taxpayers and consumer dollars so widely reported in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week? Law enforcement officials estimate that for every dollar for prosecution, seventeen to twenty dollars are returned.

5. Can you be against invasions of privacy by government and business without rejecting the provisions of the Patriot Act that leave you defenseless to constant unlawful snooping, appropriation of personal information and even search of your home without notification until 72 hours later?

6. Can you be against regulation of serious medical malpractice (over 100,000 lives lost a year, according to a study by Harvard physicians), unsafe drugs that have serious side effects or cause the very injury/illness they were sold to prevent, motor vehicles with defective brakes, tires and throttles, contaminated food from China, Mexico and domestic processors?

7. Can you keep calling for Freedom and yet tolerate control of your credit and other economic rights by hidden and arbitrary credit ratings and credit scores? What Freedom do you have when you have to sign industry-wide fine print one-sided “contracts” with your banks, insurance companies, car dealers, and credit card companies? Many of these contracts even block your Constitutional access to the courthouse.

8. Can you be for a new, clean system of politics and elections and still accept the Republican and Democratic Two Party dictatorship that is propped up by complex state laws, frivolous litigation and harassment to exclude from the ballot third parties and independent candidates who want reform, accountability, and stronger voices for the voters?

9. If you want a return to our Constitution—its principles of limited and separation of power and its emphasis on “We the People” in its preamble—can you still support Washington’s wars that have not been declared by Congress (Article I Section 8) or giving corporations equal rights with humans plus special privileges and immunities. The word “corporation” or “company” never appears in the Constitution. How can you support eminent domain powers given by governments to corporations over homeowners, or massive week-end bailouts by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department of businesses, even reckless foreign banks, without receiving the authority and the appropriations from the Congress, as the Constitution requires?

10. You want less taxation and lower deficits. How can you succeed unless you stop big corporations from escaping their fair share of taxes by manipulating foreign jurisdictions against our tax laws, for example, or by letting trillions of dollars of speculation on Wall Street go without any sales tax, while you pay six, seven or eight percent sales tax on the necessities you buy in stores?

Let’s hear from you Tea Partiers. Meanwhile, see the work of video-journalist, Steve Ference, who has interviewed and given voice to those among you in his new paperback “Voices of the Tea Party” published by Lulu.com on July 4, 2010. Contact VoicesoftheTeaParty@gmail.com.

Ralph Nader is the author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a novel.

Requiem · 10-25-2010, 07:35 PM

The reabsorbing of the Tea Party to the GOP has already happened, hell -- it is even happening by the Democrats. Even they are starting to spend money in advertisements against GOP establishment candidates in favor of those in the Tea Party so they can pull #'s away from the main R candidates for the election.

Anyone who has ever advocated that the Tea Party was a grassroots movement undoubtedly has the proverbial wool over their eyes. Not surprising, most in the country do. I wonder when it'll ever be pulled off or moved over -- probably not, by then it'll probably be too late.

Dukes · 10-25-2010, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Requiem

The reabsorbing of the Tea Party to the GOP has already happened, hell -- it is even happening by the Democrats. Even they are starting to spend money in advertisements against GOP establishment candidates in favor of those in the Tea Party so they can pull #'s away from the main R candidates for the election.

Anyone who has ever advocated that the Tea Party was a grassroots movement undoubtedly has the proverbial wool over their eyes. Not surprising, most in the country do. I wonder when it'll ever be pulled off or moved over -- probably not, by then it'll probably be too late.

It started as grassroots, but got hijacked by republican opportunists.

Requiem · 10-25-2010, 07:56 PM

I would have considered it grassroots had they actually formed their own political identity in the process instead of hiding under the guise of an established party. There are obvious reasons for this, but still. Being absorbed into a greater identity was inevitably going to happen because of their failure to start out the right way.

Rohirrim · 10-25-2010, 08:05 PM

America has a disease of its consciousness. Can't cure it. Can only wait it out.

epicSocialism4tw · 10-25-2010, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhgaffney

The event was in Klamath Falls. I went to listen and learn and because I wanted to get a firsthand look.

I cheered and clapped along with the crowd of 150 people at some of the rhetoric -- we can all agree about some of the tea party complaints.

The fact remains, however, that the tea party movement is being financed not by the masses of Americans but by powerful industrialists and financiers -- such as the Koch brothers -- the third wealthiest men in the US -- for their own ends.

Therefore the Tea Party is not a true grassroots movement. It will be controlled by and reabsorbed into the Republican Party -- just as Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition (of which I was proud to be a part) was reabsorbed into the Democratic Party.

Today both parties are hopelessly corrupt. The only way out is to create a third party not beholding to either Dems and Repubs. Are the Tea Partiers ready to join with with the Kucinich bloc on the Left?

I see no evidence for this. At the rally I heard lines about "US exceptionalism" which is code for continuing US imperialism and wars. Evidently the local tea partiers do not understand what is happening.

The tea partiers also remain hypnotized by the myth of free markets. There never were any free markets. This is code for GATT, NAFTA, CAFTA, and continued globalism and predatory capitalism. More of the same.

I wanted to jump up and shout "Capitalism is destroying the planet! Why do you want to throw gas on the fire?"

I also wanted to shout "Jesus was not a Capitalist!"

I also wanted to shout: "Palin is supporting the creation of the world's largest gold mine -- in the best Sockeye Salmon spawning grounds on earth! So why are you supporting her?"

I never got my chance to say anything because there was no opportunity to ask questions or make comments at a mike. It was all about Ra Ra and getting out the vote for the Republican candidates.

It looks like we are about to go from the frying pan into the fire.
MHG

Where is your proof that the "Tea Party" is being financed? You do realize that is an entirely volunteer movement, right? Those people arent bussed by organizations like your liberal wacko march attendees were. If they come by bus, its private citizens that foot the bill.

You're full of it and you know it.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 10-25-2010, 09:30 PM

Biggest Supporter of Tea Party Candidates is a GOP Operative

WASHINGTON — In the days leading up to the Delaware primary, Sal Russo hosted a radio fund-raiser, organized a political rally and pressed the case with reporters that Christine O’Donnell was the Tea Party’s choice for the United States Senate. He also set off what he calls a “money bomb,” pouring at least $250,000 into television and other advertisements promoting the little-known candidate.

With Ms. O’Donnell’s upset victory in the Republican primary on Tuesday, Mr. Russo, the chief strategist behind an upstart group called the Tea Party Express, had racked up another win.

But in becoming one of the movement’s most successful players by helping Tea Party favorites oust incumbents or trounce rivals in four states, Mr. Russo is also fast becoming among the most divisive.

Unlike many of the newly energized outsiders who have embraced Tea Party ideals, Mr. Russo, 63, is a longtime Republican operative who got his start as an aide to Ronald Reagan and later raised money and managed media strategy for a string of other politicians, including former Gov. George E. Pataki of New York. His history and spending practices have prompted some former employees and other Tea Party activists to question whether he is committed to, or merely exploiting, their cause.

Continued: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/us...o.html?_r=1&hp

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 10-25-2010, 09:32 PM

The Koch Brothers/Tea Party Alliance

Excerpts:

The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a “kingpin of climate science denial.” The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus.

In a statement, Koch Industries said that the Greenpeace report “distorts the environmental record of our companies.” And David Koch, in a recent, admiring article about him in New York, protested that the “radical press” had turned his family into “whipping boys,” and had exaggerated its influence on American politics. But Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said, “The Kochs are on a whole different level. There’s no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation, and obfuscation. I’ve been in Washington since Watergate, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times.”

-->

A few weeks after the Lincoln Center gala, the advocacy wing of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation—an organization that David Koch started, in 2004—held a different kind of gathering. Over the July 4th weekend, a summit called Texas Defending the American Dream took place in a chilly hotel ballroom in Austin. Though Koch freely promotes his philanthropic ventures, he did not attend the summit, and his name was not in evidence. And on this occasion the audience was roused not by a dance performance but by a series of speakers denouncing President Barack Obama. Peggy Venable, the organizer of the summit, warned that Administration officials “have a socialist vision for this country.”

Five hundred people attended the summit, which served, in part, as a training session for Tea Party activists in Texas. An advertisement cast the event as a populist uprising against vested corporate power. “Today, the voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests,” it said. “But you can do something about it.” The pitch made no mention of its corporate funders. The White House has expressed frustration that such sponsors have largely eluded public notice. David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser, said, “What they don’t say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens’ movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires.”

-->

In April, 2009, Melissa Cohlmia, a company spokesperson, denied that the Kochs had direct links to the Tea Party, saying that Americans for Prosperity is “an independent organization and Koch companies do not in any way direct their activities.” Later, she issued a statement: “No funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, or Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties.” David Koch told New York, “I’ve never been to a tea-party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me.”

At the lectern in Austin, however, Venable—a longtime political operative who draws a salary from Americans for Prosperity, and who has worked for Koch-funded political groups since 1994—spoke less warily. “We love what the Tea Parties are doing, because that’s how we’re going to take back America!” she declared, as the crowd cheered. In a subsequent interview, she described herself as an early member of the movement, joking, “I was part of the Tea Party before it was cool!” She explained that the role of Americans for Prosperity was to help “educate” Tea Party activists on policy details, and to give them “next-step training” after their rallies, so that their political energy could be channelled “more effectively.” And she noted that Americans for Prosperity had provided Tea Party activists with lists of elected officials to target. She said of the Kochs, “They’re certainly our people. David’s the chairman of our board. I’ve certainly met with them, and I’m very appreciative of what they do.”

-->

Americans for Prosperity has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement’s inception. In the weeks before the first Tax Day protests, in April, 2009, Americans for Prosperity hosted a Web site offering supporters “Tea Party Talking Points.” The Arizona branch urged people to send tea bags to Obama; the Missouri branch urged members to sign up for “Taxpayer Tea Party Registration” and provided directions to nine protests. The group continues to stoke the rebellion. The North Carolina branch recently launched a “Tea Party Finder” Web site, advertised as “a hub for all the Tea Parties in North Carolina.”

The anti-government fervor infusing the 2010 elections represents a political triumph for the Kochs. By giving money to “educate,” fund, and organize Tea Party protesters, they have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement. Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist and a historian, who once worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas-based think tank that the Kochs fund, said, “The problem with the whole libertarian movement is that it’s been all chiefs and no Indians. There haven’t been any actual people, like voters, who give a crap about it. So the problem for the Kochs has been trying to create a movement.” With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, “everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there—people who can provide real ideological power.” The Kochs, he said, are “trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.”

Full article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...0fa_fact_mayer

epicSocialism4tw · 10-25-2010, 09:35 PM

This is funny.

A couple of guys who obviously dont know anything about the Tea Party seem to think they have it all figured out!

One's a 9/11 troofer here hawking specious books, and the other's a propagandist.

You guys seriously think that your opinions are going to sway anyone here?

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 10-25-2010, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McSkillet

Where is your proof that the "Tea Party" is being financed?

Just gave the proof to you.

Too bad you live in far too pathological a state of denial to see it.

epicSocialism4tw · 10-25-2010, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L.A. BRONCOS FAN

Just gave the proof to you.

Too bad you live in far too pathological a state of denial to see it.

I know people in the movement, and I have been to meetings.

There are no invisible hands moving this thing. Its people who are so fed up that they finally feel moved to action. People who are shocked that there are literally communists that were placed in positions of power by our president. People who are just becoming aware of the hard-core socialist movement masquerading under the name "progressives", and want to knock the legs out from under it because they want their descendents to live in a free country.

You guys are way off base, and your attempts to libel the Tea Party are a joke.

Requiem · 10-25-2010, 09:45 PM

McSkillet right on cue again, trying to delude himself into believing he is apart of something more meaningful and greater than it actually is.

L.A. BRONCOS FAN · 10-25-2010, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Requiem

McSkillet right on cue again, trying to delude himself into believing he is apart of something more meaningful and greater than it actually is.

Notice he doesn't deny even one factual assertion from either of the articles I posted?

He just utters the magic word, "propaganda," and all those pesky facts disappear.

Requiem · 10-25-2010, 09:51 PM

Yeah.

The money flow to Tea Party candidates is extremely well documented, just as it is with Democrats and Republicans.

More power to the poor guy if he actually believes single-donor individuals were able to bring the movement into view of the mainstream.

Oh wait, isn't that what the Koch Bros. are about?

TailgateNut · 10-25-2010, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McSkillet

I know people in the movement, and I have been to meetings.There are no invisible hands moving this thing. Its people who are so fed up that they finally feel moved to action. People who are shocked that there are literally communists that were placed in positions of power by our president. People who are just becoming aware of the hard-core socialist movement masquerading under the name "progressives", and want to knock the legs out from under it because they want their descendents to live in a free country.

You guys are way off base, and your attempts to libel the Tea Party are a joke.

You are always good for a laugh or two.

McDrama:"I know someone who knows someone, who knows someone, that is involved"

"libel"

Taco John · 10-26-2010, 01:37 AM

People get hung up on labels when they should ignore them, and ignore them when they should examine them. The spark that ignighted the Tea Party hasn't gone away or been absorbed by the Republican party. Things are unfolding exactly as expected.

Garcia Bronco · 10-26-2010, 05:58 AM

Mean while at the hall of Doom a union is spending 87 million that they got from obamas "stimulus" to fund democrats.

barryr · 10-26-2010, 06:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Mean while at the hall of Doom a union is spending 87 million that they got from obamas "stimulus" to fund democrats.

It is quite shocking there isn't more outrage over that. With all the hysteria about the Chamber of Commerce, who gives money to democrats too anyway, unions are spending millions upon millions for democrats and it's money they got from the stimulus that was supposedly to help create jobs.

TailgateNut · 10-26-2010, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garcia bronco

mean while at the hall of doom a union is spending 87 million that they got from obamas "stimulus" to fund democrats.

lol

TailgateNut · 10-26-2010, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barryr

It is quite shocking there isn't more outrage over that. With all the hysteria about the Chamber of Commerce, who gives money to democrats too anyway, unions are spending millions upon millions for democrats and it's money they got from the stimulus that was supposedly to help create jobs.

Erasing all doubt!

cutthemdown · 10-26-2010, 01:02 PM

There's a few hours you won't ever get back.

cutthemdown · 10-26-2010, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Mean while at the hall of Doom a union is spending 87 million that they got from obamas "stimulus" to fund democrats.

really? Is this documented?

Mile High Shack · 10-26-2010, 01:08 PM

The thing about the tea party is, it is a great idea in principal (less government, lower taxes, etc) the problem is how it's being executed, by white, old people (for most part)

America is changing and it scares the **** out of white old people, they can't imagine an America where they aren't in charge anymore.

On top of that, where were these people at all of GW2's presidency? He increased the size of government way more than Obama has at this point.

epicSocialism4tw · 10-26-2010, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cutthemdown

really? Is this documented?

Yes. That union donated more to political campaigns than any other donor including the chamber of commerce. It was also given stimulus money.

These clowns are using our tax dollars to fund their political attacks.

10-25-2010, 07:26 PM	#1
mhgaffney Ring of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,839	last night, I went to a local tea party rally... The event was in Klamath Falls. I went to listen and learn and because I wanted to get a firsthand look. I cheered and clapped along with the crowd of 150 people at some of the rhetoric -- we can all agree about some of the tea party complaints. The fact remains, however, that the tea party movement is being financed not by the masses of Americans but by powerful industrialists and financiers -- such as the Koch brothers -- the third wealthiest men in the US -- for their own ends. Therefore the Tea Party is not a true grassroots movement. It will be controlled by and reabsorbed into the Republican Party -- just as Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition (of which I was proud to be a part) was reabsorbed into the Democratic Party. Today both parties are hopelessly corrupt. The only way out is to create a third party not beholding to either Dems and Repubs. Are the Tea Partiers ready to join with with the Kucinich bloc on the Left? I see no evidence for this. At the rally I heard lines about "US exceptionalism" which is code for continuing US imperialism and wars. Evidently the local tea partiers do not understand what is happening. The tea partiers also remain hypnotized by the myth of free markets. There never were any free markets. This is code for GATT, NAFTA, CAFTA, and continued globalism and predatory capitalism. More of the same. I wanted to jump up and shout "Capitalism is destroying the planet! Why do you want to throw gas on the fire?" I also wanted to shout "Jesus was not a Capitalist!" I also wanted to shout: "Palin is supporting the creation of the world's largest gold mine -- in the best Sockeye Salmon spawning grounds on earth! So why are you supporting her?" I never got my chance to say anything because there was no opportunity to ask questions or make comments at a mike. It was all about Ra Ra and getting out the vote for the Republican candidates. It looks like we are about to go from the frying pan into the fire. MHG

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10-25-2010, 07:30 PM	#2
mhgaffney Ring of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,839	October 22 - 24, 2010 So You Want Lower Taxes, a Return to Constitutional Protections and Clean Government? Ten Questions for Tea Partiers By RALPH NADER http://www.counterpunch.org/nader10222010.html Here are ten Questions for Tea Partiers that they want or do not want to answer. I say it this way because people who call themselves Tea Partiers do not have the same view of politics, government, Big Business or the Constitution. Their opinions range from pure Libertarian to actively furthering the privileges of plutocracy. Their income and occupational background vary as well, though most seem to be middle-income and up. My guess is that most Tea Partiers come from the conservative wing of the Republican Party who are fed up with both the corporate Republicans like Bush and Cheney, as well as the Democrats like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. With the above in mind, the following questions can serve to go beyond abstractions and generalizations of indignation and get to some more specific responses. 1. Can you be against Big Government and not press for reductions in the vast military budgets, fraught with bureaucratic and large contractors’ waste, fraud and abuse? Military spending now takes up half of the federal government’s operating budgets. The libertarian Cato Institute believes that to cut deficits, we have to also cut the defense budget. 2. Can you believe in the free market and not condemn hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate welfare-bailouts, subsidies, handouts, and giveaways? 3. Can you want to preserve the legitimate sovereignty of our country and not reject the trade agreements known as NAFTA and GATT (The World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland) that scholars have described as the greatest surrender of local, state and national sovereignty in our history? 4. Can you be for law and order and not support a bigger and faster crackdown on the corporate crime wave, that needs more prosecutors and larger enforcement budgets to stop the stealing of taxpayers and consumer dollars so widely reported in the Wall Street Journal and Business Week? Law enforcement officials estimate that for every dollar for prosecution, seventeen to twenty dollars are returned. 5. Can you be against invasions of privacy by government and business without rejecting the provisions of the Patriot Act that leave you defenseless to constant unlawful snooping, appropriation of personal information and even search of your home without notification until 72 hours later? 6. Can you be against regulation of serious medical malpractice (over 100,000 lives lost a year, according to a study by Harvard physicians), unsafe drugs that have serious side effects or cause the very injury/illness they were sold to prevent, motor vehicles with defective brakes, tires and throttles, contaminated food from China, Mexico and domestic processors? 7. Can you keep calling for Freedom and yet tolerate control of your credit and other economic rights by hidden and arbitrary credit ratings and credit scores? What Freedom do you have when you have to sign industry-wide fine print one-sided “contracts” with your banks, insurance companies, car dealers, and credit card companies? Many of these contracts even block your Constitutional access to the courthouse. 8. Can you be for a new, clean system of politics and elections and still accept the Republican and Democratic Two Party dictatorship that is propped up by complex state laws, frivolous litigation and harassment to exclude from the ballot third parties and independent candidates who want reform, accountability, and stronger voices for the voters? 9. If you want a return to our Constitution—its principles of limited and separation of power and its emphasis on “We the People” in its preamble—can you still support Washington’s wars that have not been declared by Congress (Article I Section 8) or giving corporations equal rights with humans plus special privileges and immunities. The word “corporation” or “company” never appears in the Constitution. How can you support eminent domain powers given by governments to corporations over homeowners, or massive week-end bailouts by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department of businesses, even reckless foreign banks, without receiving the authority and the appropriations from the Congress, as the Constitution requires? 10. You want less taxation and lower deficits. How can you succeed unless you stop big corporations from escaping their fair share of taxes by manipulating foreign jurisdictions against our tax laws, for example, or by letting trillions of dollars of speculation on Wall Street go without any sales tax, while you pay six, seven or eight percent sales tax on the necessities you buy in stores? Let’s hear from you Tea Partiers. Meanwhile, see the work of video-journalist, Steve Ference, who has interviewed and given voice to those among you in his new paperback “Voices of the Tea Party” published by Lulu.com on July 4, 2010. Contact VoicesoftheTeaParty@gmail.com. Ralph Nader is the author of Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!, a novel.

10-25-2010, 07:35 PM	#3
Requiem ~~~ ~ ~ ~ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Earth Division Posts: 19,824 Adopt-a-Bronco: Gilgamesh	The reabsorbing of the Tea Party to the GOP has already happened, hell -- it is even happening by the Democrats. Even they are starting to spend money in advertisements against GOP establishment candidates in favor of those in the Tea Party so they can pull #'s away from the main R candidates for the election. Anyone who has ever advocated that the Tea Party was a grassroots movement undoubtedly has the proverbial wool over their eyes. Not surprising, most in the country do. I wonder when it'll ever be pulled off or moved over -- probably not, by then it'll probably be too late.

10-25-2010, 07:56 PM	#5
Requiem ~~~ ~ ~ ~ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Earth Division Posts: 19,824 Adopt-a-Bronco: Gilgamesh	I would have considered it grassroots had they actually formed their own political identity in the process instead of hiding under the guise of an established party. There are obvious reasons for this, but still. Being absorbed into a greater identity was inevitably going to happen because of their failure to start out the right way.

10-25-2010, 08:05 PM	#6
Rohirrim Partisan Human Cannonball Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Twixt Hell & Highwater Posts: 49,099	America has a disease of its consciousness. Can't cure it. Can only wait it out.

10-25-2010, 09:30 PM	#8
L.A. BRONCOS FAN Mo' holla fo' yo' dolla! Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: In a bunker in an undisclosed location Posts: 52,697	Biggest Supporter of Tea Party Candidates is a GOP Operative WASHINGTON — In the days leading up to the Delaware primary, Sal Russo hosted a radio fund-raiser, organized a political rally and pressed the case with reporters that Christine O’Donnell was the Tea Party’s choice for the United States Senate. He also set off what he calls a “money bomb,” pouring at least $250,000 into television and other advertisements promoting the little-known candidate. With Ms. O’Donnell’s upset victory in the Republican primary on Tuesday, Mr. Russo, the chief strategist behind an upstart group called the Tea Party Express, had racked up another win. But in becoming one of the movement’s most successful players by helping Tea Party favorites oust incumbents or trounce rivals in four states, Mr. Russo is also fast becoming among the most divisive. Unlike many of the newly energized outsiders who have embraced Tea Party ideals, Mr. Russo, 63, is a longtime Republican operative who got his start as an aide to Ronald Reagan and later raised money and managed media strategy for a string of other politicians, including former Gov. George E. Pataki of New York. His history and spending practices have prompted some former employees and other Tea Party activists to question whether he is committed to, or merely exploiting, their cause. Continued: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/us...o.html?_r=1&hp

10-25-2010, 09:32 PM	#9
L.A. BRONCOS FAN Mo' holla fo' yo' dolla! Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: In a bunker in an undisclosed location Posts: 52,697	The Koch Brothers/Tea Party Alliance Excerpts: The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers’ corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst’s Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a “kingpin of climate science denial.” The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus. In a statement, Koch Industries said that the Greenpeace report “distorts the environmental record of our companies.” And David Koch, in a recent, admiring article about him in New York, protested that the “radical press” had turned his family into “whipping boys,” and had exaggerated its influence on American politics. But Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said, “The Kochs are on a whole different level. There’s no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation, and obfuscation. I’ve been in Washington since Watergate, and I’ve never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times.” --> A few weeks after the Lincoln Center gala, the advocacy wing of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation—an organization that David Koch started, in 2004—held a different kind of gathering. Over the July 4th weekend, a summit called Texas Defending the American Dream took place in a chilly hotel ballroom in Austin. Though Koch freely promotes his philanthropic ventures, he did not attend the summit, and his name was not in evidence. And on this occasion the audience was roused not by a dance performance but by a series of speakers denouncing President Barack Obama. Peggy Venable, the organizer of the summit, warned that Administration officials “have a socialist vision for this country.” Five hundred people attended the summit, which served, in part, as a training session for Tea Party activists in Texas. An advertisement cast the event as a populist uprising against vested corporate power. “Today, the voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests,” it said. “But you can do something about it.” The pitch made no mention of its corporate funders. The White House has expressed frustration that such sponsors have largely eluded public notice. David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser, said, “What they don’t say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens’ movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires.” --> In April, 2009, Melissa Cohlmia, a company spokesperson, denied that the Kochs had direct links to the Tea Party, saying that Americans for Prosperity is “an independent organization and Koch companies do not in any way direct their activities.” Later, she issued a statement: “No funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, or Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties.” David Koch told New York, “I’ve never been to a tea-party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me.” At the lectern in Austin, however, Venable—a longtime political operative who draws a salary from Americans for Prosperity, and who has worked for Koch-funded political groups since 1994—spoke less warily. “We love what the Tea Parties are doing, because that’s how we’re going to take back America!” she declared, as the crowd cheered. In a subsequent interview, she described herself as an early member of the movement, joking, “I was part of the Tea Party before it was cool!” She explained that the role of Americans for Prosperity was to help “educate” Tea Party activists on policy details, and to give them “next-step training” after their rallies, so that their political energy could be channelled “more effectively.” And she noted that Americans for Prosperity had provided Tea Party activists with lists of elected officials to target. She said of the Kochs, “They’re certainly our people. David’s the chairman of our board. I’ve certainly met with them, and I’m very appreciative of what they do.” --> Americans for Prosperity has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement’s inception. In the weeks before the first Tax Day protests, in April, 2009, Americans for Prosperity hosted a Web site offering supporters “Tea Party Talking Points.” The Arizona branch urged people to send tea bags to Obama; the Missouri branch urged members to sign up for “Taxpayer Tea Party Registration” and provided directions to nine protests. The group continues to stoke the rebellion. The North Carolina branch recently launched a “Tea Party Finder” Web site, advertised as “a hub for all the Tea Parties in North Carolina.” The anti-government fervor infusing the 2010 elections represents a political triumph for the Kochs. By giving money to “educate,” fund, and organize Tea Party protesters, they have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement. Bruce Bartlett, a conservative economist and a historian, who once worked at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a Dallas-based think tank that the Kochs fund, said, “The problem with the whole libertarian movement is that it’s been all chiefs and no Indians. There haven’t been any actual people, like voters, who give a crap about it. So the problem for the Kochs has been trying to create a movement.” With the emergence of the Tea Party, he said, “everyone suddenly sees that for the first time there are Indians out there—people who can provide real ideological power.” The Kochs, he said, are “trying to shape and control and channel the populist uprising into their own policies.” Full article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2...0fa_fact_mayer

10-25-2010, 09:35 PM	#10
epicSocialism4tw Tebowing the long haul all the way to the title Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: TX, USA Posts: 37,072 Adopt-a-Bronco: Champ Bailey	This is funny. A couple of guys who obviously dont know anything about the Tea Party seem to think they have it all figured out! One's a 9/11 troofer here hawking specious books, and the other's a propagandist. You guys seriously think that your opinions are going to sway anyone here?

10-25-2010, 09:45 PM	#13
Requiem ~~~ ~ ~ ~ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Earth Division Posts: 19,824 Adopt-a-Bronco: Gilgamesh	McSkillet right on cue again, trying to delude himself into believing he is apart of something more meaningful and greater than it actually is.

10-25-2010, 09:51 PM	#15
Requiem ~~~ ~ ~ ~ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Earth Division Posts: 19,824 Adopt-a-Bronco: Gilgamesh	Yeah. The money flow to Tea Party candidates is extremely well documented, just as it is with Democrats and Republicans. More power to the poor guy if he actually believes single-donor individuals were able to bring the movement into view of the mainstream. Oh wait, isn't that what the Koch Bros. are about?

10-26-2010, 01:37 AM	#17
Taco John 24/7 Broncos In Elway I Trust Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 49,742 Adopt-a-Bronco: Peyton Manning	People get hung up on labels when they should ignore them, and ignore them when they should examine them. The spark that ignighted the Tea Party hasn't gone away or been absorbed by the Republican party. Things are unfolding exactly as expected.

10-26-2010, 05:58 AM	#18
Garcia Bronco Hokie since 1993 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 46,001 Adopt-a-Bronco: Tom Jackson	Mean while at the hall of Doom a union is spending 87 million that they got from obamas "stimulus" to fund democrats.

10-26-2010, 01:02 PM	#22
cutthemdown A verbis ad verbera Zimm to HOF Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Long Beach Posts: 32,874	There's a few hours you won't ever get back.

10-26-2010, 01:08 PM	#24
Mile High Shack Ring of Famer Cock-a-doodle-do Join Date: May 2001 Location: Somewhere Posts: 17,010	The thing about the tea party is, it is a great idea in principal (less government, lower taxes, etc) the problem is how it's being executed, by white, old people (for most part) America is changing and it scares the **** out of white old people, they can't imagine an America where they aren't in charge anymore. On top of that, where were these people at all of GW2's presidency? He increased the size of government way more than Obama has at this point.