Camden: D’s, R’s Misread Tea Leaves

35 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  Don_Sausser on April 20 at 9:59 a.m.

  “But the real question for Republicans is: Protest what?/Jim Camden”

  Easy question, Jim. Those republicans, democrats and most others with no affiliations were not there only protesting taxation, but the rate of increase in taxation over the last several years, regardless of politcal party.

  Many on this and other blogs have tried to turn it into a “hate Obama” thing. That is a convenient way to ignore the issue.

• 

  Arch_Druid on April 20 at 10:24 a.m.

  I’d tend to agree Sausser that the tea party goers were protesting many things. However, the red ink, bailouts, national debt, on and on and on were going on far longer than Obama had been in Washington, D.C. let along becoming POTUS. If bloggers make an issue of this, only NOW do these people get off their rears and protest this, it took them long enough, in fact it took them DECADES. Under the circumstances, I highly doubt that the bloggers making it a hate Obama thing were necessarily wrong. The hate Obama faction did come out in protest too.

  As for the effect they may have on state and local politics… Idaho is a GOP state, will more Dems get put into the Idaho state legislature? Don’t hold your breath. Will Washington necessarily swing red? Don’t hold your breath. The tea party goers out venting are fellow travelers of what ever ideology they already hold.

• 

  cantyoureadthesigns on April 20 at 10:25 a.m.

  What “rate of increase in taxation over the last several years” has occurred, Don?

• 

  toadman on April 20 at 10:26 a.m.

  Political dissent is always good. It expresses an alternate view, and I applaud people for voicing their view in a civil way. However, as Don mentions above, the issues are often muddied by unhelpful side-tracked opinions that have nothing to do with the core issue being protested. It presents an un-unified muddle to those of us looking on from the other side of the ideological fence. We often think “just what is it they’re protesting? Taxes? The fact that Obama won?”

  For my own part, I have yet to see an increase in taxes because, well, the taxes for this April 15th were set in place by the previous administration…right? So, in that sense, nothing’s changed. As I’ve said before, my paycheck seems to have increased slightly as of April 1…I’m assuming that’s the middle class tax decrease Obama promised…but I’ll have to double check on that.. it could be a fluke.

• 

  Cis on April 20 at 10:26 a.m.

  I found the day had a ironic side effect…which trying not to be self serving about my own blog… but…. I did post today on that subject …the ironic side of Tea Bag Party day…
  I don’t want to be a comment hog, so guess you will have to click on the right side for From a Simple Mind for my thoughts on the day.

• 

  Don_Sausser on April 20 at 10:34 a.m.

  Can’t read, I have no official references, try Google. I don’t know about the protesters but my experience starts with my own tax bills, from City of Coeur d’Alene up to Federal. :)

• 

  Phaedrus on April 20 at 10:58 a.m.

  This is a mistake Democrats often make, countering an emotional argument with a process-based response.

  He’s right, who needs facts to muddy the waters.

• 

  cantyoureadthesigns on April 20 at 11:04 a.m.

  There are no official references, Don, to federal taxes going up in the “last several years” because it’s simply untrue, though apparently millions of ignorant people believe it to be true. But repeating it doesn’t make it true.

• 

  Cabbage Boy on April 20 at 11:07 a.m.

  “This is a mistake Democrats often make, countering an emotional argument with a process-based response.”

  And they should know better. Being they typically are the “emotions voters.”

  But they are good at bringing a butter knife to a gun fight.

• 

  toadman on April 20 at 11:13 a.m.

  “But they are good at bringing a butter knife to a gun fight.”

  Hey man.. sometimes it’s all we have.. besides, I love butter more than guns anyway.

• 

  Cis on April 20 at 3:35 p.m.

  And then what happen to the millions of tea bags?
  Can’t give them away as they have been contaminated by
  the handling. So they are sent to the landfills or burnt?

  So what does that tell all of us? There was probably millions
  spent for the tea bag party day. To protest what?
  “Money wasted, spent foolishly, for waste?”
  
  Anyone else see the ironic part of this, besides me?

• 

  toadman on April 20 at 3:41 p.m.

  “Anyone else see the ironic part of this, besides me?”

  :-)

  You made me smile, Cis. I was thinking this same thing, but was afraid to mention it.. lest I get labeled a Tax Lover..

  heh…

• 

  Sisyphus on April 20 at 3:59 p.m.

  Dead on Cis. A quite cogent observation. I see that Don is confused as to why he was teabagging.

  “The Tea Parties were relatively well attended in the Inland Northwest.”—wtf? Compared to Boston? We had four times as many at the race for the cure. We had approximately that many actually race Robie Creek last Saturday. If Obama can pack 14,000 into the Taco Bell Arena with little impact, I’m thinking all the tea cozy’s in the world ain’t gonna make a spit a difference.

  “Being they typically are the ‘emotions voters.’”—(insert emoticon here) yeah you’re all calm and collected when you talk about abortion. Funny how that and the other wedge issues, like prayer in school and the ten commandment displays, are all about the cold clear logic.

  C’mon Cabbage, all we wanted was a president with a command of just one language. Just one. ;-)

• 

  Cabbage Boy on April 20 at 4:11 p.m.

  Sis, name once that I have been anything other than calm and collected while discussing your “wedge issues” here.

  Yeah Obama can read that teleprompter with amazing clarity. Kudos for setting your sites high and achieving it.

• 

  Gary D Rhodes on April 20 at 6:22 p.m.

  It’s not tax and spend, it’s print and spend that was a reason to protest.

  Many of us would like the Constitution followed, not some slow decent into a UN controlled world where our sovereignty is usurped.

  Sorry you are so confused Toadman. We were not given orders as to what we should put on our signs.

• 

  Whippersnapper on April 20 at 6:28 p.m.

  Our country has a national debt of almost 12 trillion dollars. It’s going to climb dramatically with bailouts and more stimulus money, it may even double in eight years.
  Our taxes are relatively stable from year to year.
  What does that mean? It means the tea party folks can do math. They understand that we can’t keep spending like this and we may past a tipping point already.
  Don’t let your hate for Bush or your love for Obama blind you. Bush doesn’t get a pass for his overspending. It stank then and stinks now. The only way to get back on track is to shrink government to what we can actually afford. That means an austere, unhelpful federal government, but in the long run, paying off the national debt will free up trillions in credit that can only help our national economy and the looming crash when we can no longer even pay the interest on our borrowing, much less pay the principle.
  A wise man once said (paraphrased) that to hand out money, you must first take it from someone else. Right now they’re taking it from our children.

• 

  Phaedrus on April 20 at 7:28 p.m.

  We were not given orders as to what we should put on our signs.

  It must have been a strongly worded suggestion, or else group think is rampant in that crowd because there were the exact same phrases at rallies across the country.

• 

  Gary D Rhodes on April 20 at 7:40 p.m.

  I wonder why Toadman had such trouble discerning the theme then?

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