Tea Party? (Davis, Bostonia, Ione: buying, public school, taxes)

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Should we continue to raise taxes when people are strugling as it is? Most people are cutting back. If the state or Feds raise additional taxes most will cut back even more. Then the State will need to raise taxes even more. We are now the most taxed state in the nation.

I'm not sure about the state, but the federal tax breaks Obama promised for the middle class have been showing up already in paychecks according to an article I read a few days ago. It doesn't appear that the middle class families who are struggling have seen federal taxes raised. So why are people protesting taxation when tax breaks are being handed out? Or is it for the bailout spending that was approved by the last administration?

[BayAreaHillbilly]

The protests are also against Big Government Republicans, not just Dems. Porkulus started under Bush 43. Let it be the straw that broke the camel's back. Maybe there will be massive tax rebellion ala the late 1970s.

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

The protests are also against Big Government Republicans, not just Dems. Porkulus started under Bush 43. Let it be the straw that broke the camel's back. Maybe there will be massive tax rebellion ala the late 1970s.

And as admirable as that sounds, the groups/people organizing and supporting these protests are Republicans planning on running against Democrats in power next year and beyond. They're talking a good game trying to make it sound bipartisan, but the fact that they're doing it now instead of last year speaks volumes. It's all political jockeying against the Democrats that just got into power (and who now have the unenviable task of dealing with this mess) for the next round of elections. Exactly how many bipartisan groups supported these protests anyway?

If the main issue is how the money is being spent, or the fact that it's being spent at all, I'd love to see the counter proposals from the groups who are organizing these events and supporting them. Though I doubt they have any proposals - they're just using this opportunity to grab the spotlight and criticize their opponents. Kudos to them for getting so much press.

Again, they would have had more credibility if they protested the previous administration in addition to this one.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Proposals:
- Line item Presidential veto
- Shut down Federal agencies that are redundant with state ones - i.e. Dept. of Ed, EPA, OSHA, etc
- Lower corporate tax rates to be competitive with those in Europe (that's right, I wrote Europe)
- Flat tax for all tax payers with a single income over 40K (or, pick your number, whatever) and double that for joint filers
- Eliminate the capital gains tax
- Eliminate taxes on savings interest
- Eliminate several deductions for farmers and treat farmers as corporations - just like any other small business
- US out of the UN and all other dumb internationalist orgs where we currently pay dues
- Focus the military on actual defense and security of the US
- No more aid of any kind to illegal aliens
- No more bailouts and other corporate welfare

I could go on but you get the idea.

[Puddy4LyF]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

Proposals:
- Line item Presidential veto
- Shut down Federal agencies that are redundant with state ones - i.e. Dept. of Ed, EPA, OSHA, etc
- Lower corporate tax rates to be competitive with those in Europe (that's right, I wrote Europe)
- Flat tax for all tax payers with a single income over 40K (or, pick your number, whatever) and double that for joint filers
- Eliminate the capital gains tax
- Eliminate taxes on savings interest
- Eliminate several deductions for farmers and treat farmers as corporations - just like any other small business
- US out of the UN and all other dumb internationalist orgs where we currently pay dues
- Focus the military on actual defense and security of the US
- No more aid of any kind to illegal aliens
- No more bailouts and other corporate welfare

I could go on but you get the idea.

Yeah, yeah, I know -- the Ron Paul fan club. I like Ron Paul too. We differ on one point though -- he doesn't believe government is responsible in any manner for health care. If you believe that's correct also, you need to do some international travel.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

To all you left wing idealogues: CA protests are particularly relevant now given Schwarzenegger and the legislature want to raise taxes an average of more than $1K a year on the middle class. And furthermore, Bush only started allocating major funds to "bail out" failing private corporations during the tail end of his presidency, not leaving much time to ramp up large numbers of people to do these sorts of protests. And furthermore, the economy is in poor enough condition to where people are furious given their employment prospects in the near future. And finally, most people were protesting the federal govenment in general, not Obama specifically.

[Puddy4LyF]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

most people were protesting the federal govenment in general, not Obama specifically.

I'll skip over your name-calling. I'm a pretty down-the-line guy and I go one way on one issue and one way on another, so I don't necessarily appreciate being called a left-wing ideologue solely because I am not with you on something.

Alot of our points was this: nothing that is going on now came out of nowhere. These problems have shown themselves before in profound ways before Obama was elected. If you felt the federal government was mismanaging the country, where were these protests during the Bush administration's horrific handling of alot of these issues? As much as you don't want to admit it, it's complete and utter posturing for 2012 and apparently, you're the only one who's drinking the kool-aid.

P.S. Can we atleast admit that protesting government waste by buying and destroying perfectly good tea - i.e. being wasteful - is ironic and hilarious? They do know the Bostonians didn't throw all of their own tea into the river, right?

[Woof]

It's a simple fact that to balance the budget California has to both raise taxes and cut spending, Excitus. There's no way to close the gap using one or the other, sorry. We can't print money like the Feds can.

However that might take a level of maturity and honesty that the motion picture capital of the world is incapable of achieving in time to prevent catastrophe.

Oh, the thread is about the tea-bagging parties ..... um, I guess they changed that to "tea parties" due to some unfortunate connotations ...... heh.

All I can say is we don't have much choice but to try what the consensus of economists appear to feel is necessary ..... unfortunately economists haven't been too good at their jobs lately ...... but it might be that nothing much can prevent international disaster. It's going to be a cliffhanger for sure whichever direction we go in.

Good lord, half the states are already starting to whine about secession now ...... Texas, Georgia, Montana, Vermont ..... if all that starts happening we might lose one of the important states also. It's a slippery slope!

[majoun]

Originally Posted by Woof

Good lord, half the states are already starting to whine about secession now ...... Texas, Georgia, Montana, Vermont ..... if all that starts happening we might lose one of the important states also. It's a slippery slope!

If Rick Perry actually did anything to try to achieve the secession of Texas, federal law enforcement would arrest him and anyone on his staff who attempted to carry it out. I suspect he's merely bluffing to gain political support just like George Wallace was when he threatened to nullify federal laws in Alabama. (Besides, secession didn't exactly work out too well for Texas in 1861....)

According to the Supreme Court case Texas v. White, a US state can only secede by means of an act of Congress or a Constitutional amendment, and not unilaterally.

[Roaddog]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

I'm not sure about the state, but the federal tax breaks Obama promised for the middle class have been showing up already in paychecks according to an article I read a few days ago. It doesn't appear that the middle class families who are struggling have seen federal taxes raised. So why are people protesting taxation when tax breaks are being handed out? Or is it for the bailout spending that was approved by the last administration?

My 8 dollars a pay day have not helped me any, all the money the government is spending is borrowed, someone has to pay this back and it will be the tax payer, the ralleys were not about Obama, it was about wastefull spending from the last and present administrations which will result in higher taxes, by 2011 payroll taxes will increase from 37.9 to 50% state sales taxes have already been raised, auto registration is being raised, It's not about this moment, it's about our future, many of the people who think this is stupid wont feel that way in one to two years from now.