April 15th Tea Parties

[peternap]

http://news.oldva.org/blogroll/tax-day-tea-parties-planned-across-va-tea-partytax-revolt-updates-and-links/

Tax Day tea parties planned across Va. (Tea Party/Tax Revolt updates and links)

There will be groups from all sectors including VCDL members and Open Carry.Org members, at the Richmond event. There will be an open carry dinner after the event at LuLu's.

The Richmond website is

http://www.richmondteaparty.com/

Tax Day tea parties planned across Va. (Tea Party/Tax Revolt updates and links)
Richmond Times-Dispatch ^ | April 5, 2009 | Tyler Whitley

Posted on Sunday, April 05, 2009 8:12:00 AM by abb

No one plans to dress up like Indians and dump tea into the James River, but a few Founding Fathers will be present when anti-tax protesters gather at Kanawha Plaza on April 15 to hold a "Tax Day Tea Party."

Part of a nationwide movement, Richmond organizers have recruited hundreds of volunteers to conduct skits, listen to speeches and voice protests against high taxes and big government spending.

Nationally, more than 300 such rallies are scheduled on April 15, according to the National Taxpayers Union. In Virginia, "tea party" rallies also are scheduled in Abingdon, Charlottesville, Franklin County, Lynchburg, Peninsula/Newport News, Reston, Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Winchester.

According to a Web site that is serving as a national online headquarters for the rallies, the protests are a grass-roots effort that arose from CNBC reporter Rick Santelli's Feb. 19 on-air criticism of President Barack Obama's mortgage rescue plan.

Among other things, Santelli said, "The government is promoting bad behavior," and that he was thinking of organizing a "Chicago Tea Party."

The site says that on Feb. 27, "Tea Party" protests took place in more than 40 cities, leading to the expanded effort for April 15.

Sara James, the Richmond Tax Day Tea Party project leader, said "it's almost like it was meant to be. Everyone is coming together for these events."

The Richmond event will feature Patrick Henry and James Madison impersonators, radio personalities, conservatives and, even, pork sandwiches to signify pork-barrel spending, James said.

A stay-at-home mom, James said she got involved because she fears for the future of her three children.

"I'm afraid they won't have the same opportunity I did," she said.

Three issues drew the protesters together, James said. They are high taxes, pork-barrel government spending and actions taken by the Federal Reserve Bank, she said.

[MountainDon]

Look up your state HERE...

[muldoon]

The google maps helps find some close as well. 
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=112875499027114938790.0004647d9f61bab744fd4&ll=38.272689,-96.679687&spn=27.495109,57.128906&z=4&source=embed

Be sure to look into anything you find, there seems to be a wide range of "flavors" out there.  Seems some people will protest anything and just jump on opportunities to do so.  Some are non-violent, respectful; some are calling for outright anarchy, some are putting the blame across a wide range of targets -- be sure to check to see what what the message is before assuming it is inline with yours. 

Even tho I have 4 that are closer, I am going to the one at the alamo in San Antonio. 

[Virginia Gent]

I'll be at the one in Richmond, Peternap!

I also plan to carry as well,  though I have heard rumors that people from groups like ACORN and such will be there to start trouble and try to make all who partake in such events, look like fools and such on TV. I suggest all who attend to keep their eyes open for any signs of trouble.

[Windpower]

It's called 'astroturf'

looks like a grass roots effort but it's manufactured

(I have noidea where the line through came from  )

Spontaneous Uprising? Corporate Lobbyists Helping To Orchestrate Radical Anti-Obama Tea Party Protests
Yesterday, Think Progress reported on Republican lawmakers planning to speak at anti-Obama "tea party" protests taking place nationwide on April 15. Last night, Eric Odom of the DontGo website — one of the organizers of the protests — wrote a blog post stressing that these protests are displays of "regular American in protest of government spending and extreme taxation," rather than something affiliated with a political party or special interest agenda.

Today on Fox News — which has actively been promoting the protests — Glenn Beck pushed the tea party talking points, similarly claiming that the protests aren't "coordinated" and are fully organized by "regular" people. Watch it:




Despite these attempts to make the "movement" appear organic, the principle organizers of the local events are actually the lobbyist-run think tanks Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works. The two groups are heavily staffed and well funded, and are providing all the logistical and public relations work necessary for planning coast-to-coast protests:

– Freedom Works staffers coordinate conference calls among protesters, contacting conservative activists to give them "sign ideas, sample press releases, and a map of events around the country."

– Freedom Works staffers apparently moved to "take over" the planning of local events in Florida.

– Freedom Works provides how-to guides for delivering a "clear message" to the public and media.

– Freedom Works has several domain addresses — some of them made to look like they were set up by amateurs — to promote the protests.

– Americans for Prosperity is writing press releases and planning the events in New Jersey, Arizona, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, and several other states.

This type of corporate 'astroturfing' is nothing new to either organization. While working to promote Social Security privatization, Freedom Works was caught planting one of its operatives as a "single mom" to ask questions to President Bush in a town hall on the subject. Last year, the Wall Street Journal exposed Freedom Works for similarly building "amateur-looking" websites to promote the lobbying interests of Dick Armey, the former Republican Majority Leader who now leads Freedom Works and is a lobbyist for the firm DLA Piper.

Americans for Prosperity is run by Tim Phillips, who was Ralph Reed's former partner in the lobbying firm Century Strategies. The group is funded by Koch family foundations — a family whose wealth is derived from the oil industry. Indeed Americans for Prosperity has coordinated pro-drilling 'grassroots' events around the country.

UpdateThis afternoon, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, leader of the corporate-funded American Solutions for Winning the Futures (ASWF), blasted an e-mail to his supporters with a reminder to attend the protests, along with a "Toolkit" of talking points. Gingrich's ASWF is funded by polluters and helped orchestrate the "Drill Here, Drill Now" campaign last summer. ASWF has been an official "partner" in the tea party effort since at least March


http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/lobbyists-planning-teaparties/

[glenn kangiser]

OK - so it looks like the plan is to have the parties -- if pushed by Fox News it is part of the CFR agenda.

So here is a possible outcome....

The next thing they will do is have their shills make them out of control so they can institute martial law.

The shackle trains come in - pick up the protesters. 

Rush them to the FEMA camps. 

Much of the Fed opposition problems just got weeded out and like the Katrina victims that went to the camps, nobody will hear from them again.

[Sassy]

Here's an interesting article on the tea parties... just a few quotes, go to the link to read the whole article.

NOT MY TEA PARTY

by Brother Gregory Williams
April 11, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

Universal Service vs. Universal Choice

Over mankind's long history, there have been numerous successful attempts by some men to sell despotism as if they were offering the people liberty.[1] These surprisingly successful moments have been a part of emotional appeals to populations more anxious for the comfort of a promised solution than a people diligent in the honest introspection and self examination required to maintain a truly free society. The We the People Stimulus Package video[2] has been one of those moments.

Freedom of the people is dependent, not upon collective rights and privileges granted by governments, but upon the common exercise of virtue diligently practiced by the people. The virtue of a free nation can only remain viable if the people exercise them daily. "Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks, no form of government can render us secure."[7] "All who have ever written on government are unanimous, that among people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist."[8]

The growth of virtue in society requires free choice in the hands of the individual.

In the video We the People Stimulus Package, we see the quote "Ask not what your country can do for you..." under the title "Bring Back Universal Service." But the full quote reads "And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Kennedy also stated in that same address, "The world is different now... And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forefathers fought are still at issue around the globe — the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God."[15]


http://www.newswithviews.com/Gregory/williams104.htm

[peternap]

I'll be at the one in Richmond, Peternap!

I also plan to carry as well,  though I have heard rumors that people from groups like ACORN and such will be there to start trouble and try to make all who partake in such events, look like fools and such on TV. I suggest all who attend to keep their eyes open for any signs of trouble.

You going to the dinner afterward?

[Pox Eclipse]

I'll be at the one in Richmond, Peternap!

I also plan to carry as well,  though I have heard rumors that people from groups like ACORN and such will be there to start trouble and try to make all who partake in such events, look like fools and such on TV.

Heh. Like ACORN is some sort of shadowy bunch of rabble-rousers bent on subverting freedom.  Here is a more accurate description of ACORN, from a friend on another messageboard:

ACORN is a progressive populist branch of leftism, their defining characteristic is an unfathomable optimism and earnestness. They remind me most of hippies I knew who "cleaned up", cut their hair, and started doing campaign work for Bobby, and then McCarthy. They believe that they can tinker with the steam engine that presses the life's blood from the working class, tinker with it long enough and they can transform it into a solar powered rainbow extruder.

They are so well-meaning, it sets your teeth on edge, so sincere, it makes you want to drink. These people don't hatch plots. They hatch organic, free-range chickens.

[Sassy]

A good article on the tea parties  http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94895 

[Sassy]

They're watching you! 

Federal agency warns of radicals on right
9-page report sent to police

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/14/federal-agency-warns-of-radicals-on-right/

[Virginia Gent]

You going to the dinner afterward?

Sadly I have to work that night, so I can't go. However, if I have a lotta fun, I might anyways and just call in late 

Heh. Like ACORN is some sort of shadowy bunch of rabble-rousers bent on subverting freedom.

You mean they aren't?

[SpoonyG]

They're watching you!

Federal agency warns of radicals on right
9-page report sent to police

The Police State Cometh.

[Squirl]

I just hope the Tea Party's morph into protests against the bailouts.  If you watch the original Santelli clip, it is very disgusting to me.  They were discussing congress passing a law to change the bankruptcy laws to allow judges to adjust mortgage balances and payments from home owners the banks.  He went on a rant against bailing out "loser" home owners.  The people cheering him on were derivative traders on the CBOT working for investment banks that received billions in bailout money.  So they were complaining about helping "loser's" while they were indirectly receiving a government bailout. The other part is that CNBC and Santelli are paid by a lot of advertising from those same investment banks. Windpower is right.  A lot of this started as astroturf.  The banks were pushing these as against the government changing the laws to help home owners and hurt the banks.  I just hope it back fires and against the banks being bailed out too.  I have seen this stuff manufactured for all sorts of agendas.   There are large advertising firms that have hundreds of staffers in major cities that sit on the internet and type these things up and make posts on any site they can find.

The government has been keeping tabs on every protest group right or left for hundreds of years.  I believe the worst was Nixon with his enemies list.  I don't agree with it, I am just not shocked by it anymore.

[pagan]

Don't forget the blood sucking parasites we all know and loath called lobbyists. They're paid handsomely to wine and dine politicians and put forth an agenda favorable to whoever pays them. Lobbyists permeate the halls of all state capitals and the capital in D.C. and are on site all day everyday. Are you able to sit at your state capital all day to pressure your elected "leaders" to work for you? Can you spend that much time in Washington D.C.? Of course not. But corporations pay people to do it for them.

[peternap]

Don't forget the blood sucking parasites we all know and loath called lobbyists. They're paid handsomely to wine and dine politicians and put forth an agenda favorable to whoever pays them. Lobbyists permeate the halls of all state capitals and the capital in D.C. and are on site all day everyday. Are you able to sit at your state capital all day to pressure your elected "leaders" to work for you? Can you spend that much time in Washington D.C.? Of course not. But corporations pay people to do it for them.

NOW WAIT A MINUTE!

That's like lumping all Mormons together or all blacks or all of anything. Some and in fact many lobbyists like myself, are NOT paid one cent. In fact I pay my own annual registration fees  and parking and lodging and meals...to the tune of several thousand dollars a year.

Further, I do my own record keeping for the required annual report. Think taxes get complicated, file an annual report.

I don't buy gifts or meals and I'm not especially nice to members of the General Assembly I don't like. I get my point across through the group I represent. It's called "Throw the bastards out" politics !

We are also the most effective force in Va politics!

Want to get rid of the Lobbyists, fine, Better start burying your guns and putting alcohol where you want that ID chip!

I don't wear a suit. I dress like I always dress. I don't want to impress them, I want to scare the hell out of them. I want them to know that I have X registered voters that are ready to send them to the bread line if they don't honor their wishes. 

No...most of my members can't sit at the Capital all day. They depend on me to do it for them.
Myself and my peers ARE the line between you and them.

[pagan]

I work in politics as well and have daily contact with lobbyists. I watch them buy lunches and dinners for the politicians. I watch them put forth measures specifically designed to aid whoever pays them. And yes, just like you, they all think they stand on the front lines of the battle between obstructive government and freedom. You are putting forth an agenda for the group you represent, paid or not, and that's why you must register as a lobbyist.

[peternap]

I work in politics as well and have daily contact with lobbyists. I watch them buy lunches and dinners for the politicians. I watch them put forth measures specifically designed to aid whoever pays them. And yes, just like you, they all think they stand on the front lines of the battle between obstructive government and freedom. You are putting forth an agenda for the group you represent, paid or not, and that's why you must register as a lobbyist.

Damn right we have an agenda. We fought the REAL ID act to a dead standstill and ran it out of Virginia. We fought to have the concealed laws loosened and to get rid of one handgun a month and to allow small farmers to raise food and sell it without going through a forest of red tape.

We have Alaska style carry laws on our agenda and one of my favorites, to keep the damn dog hunters off of private property BECAUSE private property rights, is a top priorty with us.

If that makes me a blood sucking lobbyist, so be it and it makes me glad as hell that I represent people that only want to live in quiet freedom instead of folks that just want to sit on their asses and bitch!

[MountainDon]

Sounds like you are on top of the personal freedom isues, Peter. 

[NM_Shooter]

It will be interesting to see how the "authorities" treat the TEA Party participants.  

Don, do you remember the mass protest last year, in which we had a couple thousand Mexican protesters roaming through the streets of ABQ, waving Mexican flags, and bringing traffic to a standstill?  I don't remember any arrests at that time.  I may be suffering from selective memory though.  

[MountainDon]

No arrests that I recall on that item. 

But it seems that APD got raked over the coals on something relating to demonstrations in the past year or so.   

[pagan]

Peter,

Please relax for a second, ok?

You must fight against these issues because corporations are fighting for them.

Who stands to make a crap load of money from Real ID? Why do Monsanto and ADM want government control and oversight of the organic and natural foods markets? Why do large corporate farms want greater government control and oversight of small scale independent farms? Why does the milk industry want to prevent farmers from selling whole milk from their farms?

This is all about corporations furthering their control on the American population and removing what little freedom remains through the threat of government intervention.

I agree with your positions and commend you for fighting and stopping these intrusions on personal freedom. My point remains that you lobby for your causes while others lobby for theirs, or for who pays them, and the ability for someone to have his or her voice heard is gone; stolen by corporations and the wealthy. Those people you represent cannot make their voices heard because of a socio-economic system that forces them to work while laws are being written and passed; therefore they rely upon you to represent them in government.

[ScottA]

Important Announcement

Due to the economy, recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas and oil, as well as current stock market conditions, the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

[pagan]

Read this morning that republicans are attempting to capitalize on the Tea Parties to help them retake congress and the white house. Yup, like they had nothing to do with this mess and they have the answers to fix things. Sadly there were many people who fell for their line of crap, so it appears they might have a chance.

[NM_Shooter]

Peter, I am glad that folks like you are not relaxed. 

I am hoping that events such as these TEA parties will re-shape the Republican party into a respectable and re-electable group.  Unfortunately, there are only two effective parties to play under.  It is taking the US a very short amount of time to recognize our current elected officials are the worst choice this country has ever made. 

One of our first action items needs to be to toss out the old members of the Republican party who have grown soft.  What is that bible quote about hot or cold to drink but no lukewarm?