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culture
Tea Parties Planned for Tax Day
Kaitlynn RielyPosted: Apr 15th 2009 8:25AM
Filed under: Culture, Breaking News, News, Media, Notre Dame
The Internet has been buzzing lately all about parties happening on Tax Day. Tea Parties, to be exact.
I never got an invitation, but I'm more of a coffee drinker. It'd be a bit of a pain to purchase tea bags just to dump them in a body of water.
Like the great pre-Revolutionary War colonists who came before them, American taxpayers are up in arms and want to protest "higher taxes and out-of-control government spending," according to a column in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday. It's hard to tell who exactly started this movement, but the columnist asserted that this is not the work of a "right-wing conspiracy," but rather, average Americans who are using the expanding power of the Internet to organize an imitation of an event that took place in 1773.
According to the Wall Street Journal column, the protests began in mid-February with bloggers in Seattle, Wash., then grew when CNBC commentator Rick Santelli delivered his now famous rant against President Obama's policies, advocating that people organize a tea party in Chicago on July 4.
From that rant, a movement was born. Now these flash mob protests are apparently planned across the country on Tax Day. The Tea Party movement is one of the top trending topics on Twitter, and on Facebook a group called Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party has more than 35,000 members.
I'm always up for a party. And those are big numbers. I'd love to fly home to watch protesters dump a million tea bags in Lafayette Square in Washington D.C, as the protest organizers say they will, according to a Washington Post story.
Imagine if we took that tea and, provided it was caffeinated, gave it to American workers. Think of the productivity we'd see on Tax Day!
On second thought, the people organizing the Tax Day Tea Party probably don't need any more caffeine. This grass-roots movement has grown surprisingly quickly. A lot of people are comparing it to Obama's use of the Internet in 2008 to increase enthusiasm for his campaign. Except, with Obama, there were a lot fewer teabags. And fewer unfortunate inappropriate jokes. (I'm not explaining it. Look it up.)
A Web site called Tax Day Tea Party purports to be the online headquarters for the tea partiers. A "revolution is brewing at a city near you" they say. Besides being clever at wordplay, the site's creators have also done a good job of listing Tea Party events occurring in every state.
Over on her Web site, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin has a playlist of songs for the Tea Parties. I recommend the reader-suggested rendition of "American Pie."
If you cannot make it out to a local Tea Party, the Republican National Committee has a way for you to participate. Go to their Web site and you can mail a postcard to President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Harry Reid or Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Best of all, you can choose one of four varieties of tea bags to send along with your postcard.
At the White House briefing Tuesday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said he is not sure if Obama knows about the planned parties, but Gibbs said he personally is not monitoring them.
If the Tea Parties don't work, perhaps some other famous event in American History can be re-staged? A flash mob to cry that the British are coming or a re-enactment of Washington crossing the Delaware?
If nothing else, all this flash-mobbing will improve our collective knowledge of this country's history.
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theBIRD
9:30AM 9:30AM Apr 15th 2009
So AOL lets any idiot just post a Blog...and then helps them spread it? When I saw the link, I thought this was going to be from an actual reliable source. Not some blabbering idiot. Who the hell is Kaitlynn Riely??? I thought I might learn something interesting, but all I learned is that AOL is a Joke.
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buffpeb
9:41AM 9:41AM Apr 15th 2009
Where was all this when bush was in office?
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Streit Rhoades
10:18AM 10:18AM Apr 15th 2009
I've seen several video clips of the 'Tea-baggers' on Fox "News". One of their many themes is to protest higher taxes, yet the people participating in the protests hardly appear to be people that make more than a quarter of a million dollars a year(with the exclusion of Newt Gingrich). What are these stupid rednecks protesting? The tax cuts Obama is giving them? It's just another example of the handful of Republican billionaires manipulating the poor, stupid southern redneck Republicans and using them to further their own selfish agendas. I congratulate the billionaires and I pity the pathetic 'Tea-baggers'.
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Steve
3:09PM 3:09PM Apr 15th 2009
I am protesting in San Francisco today so you could hardly call me "Southern Redneck". Libs keep thinking this way and you will soon find yourself "insignificant" once again. Liberal arrogance is a true turnoff.
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dtmarcell
9:21AM 9:21AM Apr 16th 2009
those tax cuts your talking about are the bush tax cuts that dont expire until 2010.obama just didnt take them away sparkie
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FireEagle
12:05AM 12:05AM Apr 17th 2009
Streit,
Did you get that off of your Communist News Network (CNN). You really do not get it do you. Obama and the democrats are handing you a tax rebate of $14 per week with one hand while the other hand is removing money from your wallet with the other hand. That is just one of the issues.
We are paying increase sales taxes.
More taxes on Cell phones, You just do not realize all the taxes you pay and they are going up.
The other issue is they are selling treasury bonds to China and then spending it. This money has to be repaid. Just the interest on the debit is $81,000 for every man, woman and child in America.
If we were to confiscate all the money held by all the rich people in American we could not pay of the debit of 11 Trillion dollars. That is why we had the Tea Parties. We are passing this debit off to our children and grandchildren to pay for generations to come.
This is a grass-roots movement that is just the start of things to come unless the government stops spending our future.
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Georgia
10:18AM 10:18AM Apr 15th 2009
And you've noticed how little attention AOL and the liberal media have given to this. But they have jumped onto calling those of us who feel our laws on immigration should be enforced........terorist! And yet, some of you keep voting in these dishonest people.
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StephanieInCA
11:07AM 11:07AM Apr 15th 2009
Happy Teabagging Day, America! Don't forget to check Teablogging.net throughout the day for bite-sized teaparty updates!
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Patty
11:25AM 11:25AM Apr 15th 2009
Dick Cheney used to "tea bag" W.
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boredinclass
2:51PM 2:51PM Apr 15th 2009
Funny how when a Republican president is in office, if people protest the government they're called "anti-American" and told to "love it or leave it". But when a Democrat is president, suddenly you're anti-American if you're not protesting and trying to overthrow the government.
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Suwannee
5:01PM 5:01PM Apr 15th 2009
I went to a tea party in Trenton Florida today. Then to Gainesville. My friend went to Jacksonville. Enjoyed it. My reasons are not about Obama or Bush. But government , Congress and Representatives that do not represent the tax payer only the high paying lobbyist and large money corporations. Spending is out of hand on government level. We should have started tea parties years ago then maybe Washington would not be as corrupt. Over our IRS is someone who cannot do Turbo Tax. And now we have the CEO of Fannie Mae over the Tarp.
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dennis higgins
5:09PM 5:09PM Apr 15th 2009
Gee I missed this party, I also missed the previous 8 tea parties held during the Bush Adm. They must have kept a lid on them, huh????
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Streit Rhoades
10:12AM 10:12AM Apr 16th 2009
Steve, I live in NYC and there are even rednecks here. It's not a thing that is exclusive to the South, just much more prevalent there. These events drew less than 10,000 people in Califormia. Your state has a population of 36 million.
DTMarcell, you could not be more wrong about the tax cuts. I am not referring to the expiration of the Bush taxcuts for the top two persent. That is a seperate issue and those will expire in 2011. I am talking about the Obama tax cuts for 95% of us. Don't you read the news or watch any legitamate news coverage(meaning NOT Fox)? Did Rush forget to mention these tax cuts announced yesterday and promised by Obama since he announced his candidacy? Why am I not surprised?
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RH
3:22PM 3:22PM Apr 16th 2009
Are you talking about that extra 20 big dollars I barely notice on my paycheck? Hey, how about I get to keep the 10 grands I pay into federal taxes a year and Obama can keep that dainty 400 bucks a year and we'll call it even, okay? I don't know about you but I calculated that I get to spend aout 40 cents per dollar I make, until I get to keep 100% of the money I earn, you can tell everyone in Congress to go meet Lucifer.
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Streit Rhoades
4:04PM 4:04PM Apr 16th 2009
Why are you so stupid? You're complaining about your taxbill, a bizarre reference to $20, etc. What you paid yesterday was under the BUSH tax plan. Don't you understand anything? If you make less than 250,000.00 a year(and I KNOW you make less than that) OBAMA JUST LOWERED YOUR TAXES. You will be getting a tax rebate and your rate has been lowered. Are you brain damaged?
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RH
9:28PM 9:28PM Apr 16th 2009
I see that calling people stupid is really classy and intelligent, if that is what you want to represent here. I am referencing to the 400 dollars tax credit that Obama authorized under the stimulus plan and I am saying that I will give back my 400 dollars if Congress stops spending out of control like a leaky water faucet. Honestly, that 400 bucks is not going to help me much especially spread out through the whole year. Obama has not yet implemented his tax cut plans yet, seeing how he is reluctant to discuss anything in details (or he just doesn't have any plans at all). Until I see that my taxes goes significantly lower than I will believe it.
I don't make 250k a year and so do you but my employer does and so do employers of my family and friends. I know that my boss gets testy when business goes down and always look to cut workers' hours or freeze pay to cut cost. I can imagine if his taxes goes up he will look for ways to save money. So it is B***S*** that raising taxes for the rich is not going to affect the others. Frankly, I can't see how taxes can be lower now that the national debt is at 10 trillion dollars.
By the way, Bush's tax cut doesn't expire until 2010, so I don't really know what Obama tax cut you are talking about. About that 20 dollars, you would have seen a 20 dollars increase in your paycheck (biweekly) starting April under the tax credit from that stimulus plan. That requires someone to actually earn a paycheck to notice though. By the way, don't call me stupid, only people with low or no IQ calls other stupid.
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FireEagle
12:56AM 12:56AM Apr 17th 2009
one from the CBO, the other from MIT. The two predict, if the Cap and Trade provisions of new Obama budget are passed, every American family, rich or poor will be forced to pay as much as $1,600 to $3,000 a year for gas to fill their cars and heat to warm their homes.
Imagine that, an "energy tax" on everyone from the guy who said he would only raise taxes on the rich.
Tea parties in California drew alot more than 10,000 people but it was just a grass-roots effort. Next one will be bigger.
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richard fusilier
12:26PM 12:26PM Apr 16th 2009
Unions are busting our former world reknown automonbile industry and that motley non-traditional pirate types in the seat in Sacramento are "hoisters" in the first degree.
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NALA
12:26PM 12:26PM Apr 17th 2009
I WENT TO A TEA PARTY IN MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, IT WAS GREAT! A LOT OF PEOPLE PROTESTING FOR THE HIGH TAXES AND BIG GOVERNMENT.
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Mary
12:45PM 12:45PM Apr 17th 2009
I'M PROTESTING IN MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA, IT WAS AMAZING !
A LOT OF PEOPLE VERY UPSET WITH THE HIGH TAXES AND A BBIG GOVERNMENT.
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