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The In Box blog is a general news and discussion site for the News Department of North Country Public Radio. In Box contact information 
Latest NCPR News
The In Box blog is a general news and discussion site for the News Department of North Country Public Radio. In Box contact information
Latest NCPR News
What do Dave and Diane do for a living?
What do YOU do for a living Anon 12:54PM?
My taxes went down significantly this year. I am troubled by the government spending, but I am anything but angry about taxes because it seems like they are trending in the right direction.
I can tell you this I'm not standing in the middle of the street Harold. Too busy working Saturday through Wednesday.
I'm fine with them doing what they are doing but these nut jobs need to stop stuffing their political feelings down my throat. I don't care, and personally the next one to stop me to talk about "How our Country is going down the crapper" I'm going to punch them in the throat. Some of us don't care and have better things to do like work 60 hours a week to pay for groceries.
Funny, when people were protesting for civil rights, against various wars, marching in support of whatever cause they favored be it breast cancer awareness, gay and lesbian rights or gay marriage I didn't hear people talking about how they deserve to get their throats punched in or why they weren't at work. DW doesn't care about the country going down the crapper, but he wants to beat on someone. Anon 12:54 is too busy working to accept the fact other people have a right to voice their opinions. Sounds like SEIU thugs in the making.Some of you people disgust me. These people have just as much right to protest as anyone else, but because they are on the right they must be silenced. Remarkable, absolutely remarkable.
All I want to know is who are these teabaggers retired, unemployed public employees, private sector who make their wage off of gov't contracts? Who are they?
No one is questioning the right of these people to protest. I just wish they would look at the truth and not be led into nonsense by the likes of Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. Right now, middle-class American families are paying lower federal taxes than they have for decades. We are paying less now than we did even 2 or 3 years ago. Get the facts, people! Starting here: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3151.People can stand on the side of the road and make any claim they want. They can insist that the earth is the center of the Solar System. They can say the earth is 6000 years old. They can even say President Obama is a socialist. None of these things are true, but anyone who wishes can carry a big sign making the claim.
I'm not sure what these individual tea baggers do for a living… nor do I think I care… but recent analysis has shown that the states where the tea party is most popular are also the states that receive the most federal money. Now that I find interesting.
Who are they? People who see gov't spending their grandchildrens tax money. People who see a never ending trail of pork and campaign contributions in Washington. People who realize you CAN NOT spend your way out of a deficit. People who realize less than 50% of Americans even pay income tax. People who have watched government grow and grow and grow and become less and less efficient and responsive. They are black, white, Republican and Democrat and independent.Who are they locally? People that care about the issue that are willing to take the time to express their opinion.Some how I doubt there would be this concern if it was a pro-healthcare rally. This is only news because the Tea Party tends to be right of center.
If your taxes are lower it's because someone else is paying them for you.Those people may look angry to David, but I think they look pretty happy to be there.They're just voters, David. Does that scare you?
How do they make their money? Are they trust fund babies, gov't workers, retired private sector(read no ties to gov't in anyway), retired public sector. The point. I'll bet there is a hole lot of hypocrisy going on here. I have yet to find anyone in the NC who isn't touched by gov't in some way and of course in almost every case their program is valuable their program is worth while and of course should not be touched.
David must have gotten the fax from his handlers that says, "say that they're angry in all news casts".The guy with the tax sign has a big grin on his face. I'd say they're happy to be out there, too.Our "reporters" have to do what they're told and say what they're told to say.
They're just a focus group, herd them into a free speech zone citizens!
tea partiers absolutely have the right to protest, just as much as anyone else. and it's completely unacceptable to wish violence on them, as d.w. does.the problem with tea partiers is not in any way that they choose to voice their views, but that those views are so disconnected from reality.apparently "tea" is supposed to stand for "taxed enough already." well! you would think that with 98% of working americans having received a federal income tax cut in the past year, there would be a bit more enthusiasm for obama amongst this crowd.while about 47% of all households hold no federal income tax liability, surely tea partiers, with their deep awareness of taxation's impact on every corner of their life, know there's more to the story than that.like how that number is up from 38% just two years ago, owing to tax cuts from the bush and obama stimulus bills — tax cuts that you'd think the tea partiers would welcome.and more imortantly, like how income tax makes up only a portion of federal taxation. actually, only about 10% of all households pay no net federal taxes. and that's to say nothing about state and local taxes.taxes are apparently at their lowest level in the past 60 years. isn't that reason for tea partiers to stand up and cheer?
I don't know about you, but Federal taxes are over $1000 per month for me. Yes I have a good job, and make good money, but add on State, real estate, sales, FICA, and all the none taxes, license fees ect, and I am paying plenty. By the way the term is Tea Party. Tea bagging is what libs do for fun.
I believe they(members of the teabag party) identified themselves first as "teabaggers". Then after some attention for their chosen name wanted to re-identify themselves.
So, what federal, State, programs would you like to change and how?
I believe that both Dave and Diane are retired from jobs in education. Maybe they would like to return their pensions and forgo their health care benefits, and see how they would fare with "smaller government".
HT- it's not just the taxes paid, it's the SPENDING. While some peoples income taxes may have dropped the overall tax burden is rising. We simply can not continue to spend money we don;t have. That is what the Tea Party is all about. Responsible Gov't would not establish a long running system of deficit spending. That is what the Democrat/Republican machine has given us. It's not sustainable, it's not moral and it's not ethical.FYI- The "Teabagger" moniker came from the initial letter campaign that included sending tea bags (Tea Party- get it?) to politicians. It wasn't until later that some of the filthy minded perverts applied the "tea bagging" ( the immersion of the scrotum in a drink as a practical joke) aspect to the Tea Party.As for those questioning if public sector employees should participate, I find the question laughable. Of course they can. Responsible gov't doesn't mean there are no gov't employees. It means scale matches revenue and efficiency rules the planning. We don't have that now. Now we have redundant programs waste, fraud and abuse. Who knows this better than those that work within the system?
A recent survey of Tea Partier demographics shows how far outside the mainstream they are. As a Green, I don't have any problem with being outside the mainstream ("Without deviation from the norm, no progress is possible." -F. Zappa) nor do I have any problem with the media covering those outside the mainstream; in fact, I wish they'd do it more. But I wonder why even the media that tries to be objective gives the Tea Partiers exponentially more coverage than they've ever given any other non-mainstream political group. 40 people protest government spending and it's a big lead story. 40 people protest our random and sundry military aggression of the week and it gets barely mentioned or not at all.
Get rid of income tax and go to a VAT on nonessential items.
Since we seem to be the worlds policeman. The US should be paid for it. If we are going to be in the Pursian Gulf, Pursia needs to pay the US(I think they can afford it. Afganistan, payup Israel, time to pay the piper. No one rides for free.
Anon 9:02 & 9:06pm – I wrote "angry" because every person I spoke to at the rally specifically used that word.
"Since we seem to be the worlds policeman. The US should be paid for it. If we are going to be in the Pursian Gulf, Pursia needs to pay the US(I think they can afford it. "I hope this is a spoof of the ill-informed.
bret,Responsible Gov't would not establish a long running system of deficit spending. That is what the Democrat/Republican machine has given us.i completely agree with the first sentence. but i think you're really wrong to lump democrats and republicans together, at least on the federal level. i mean, look at clinton's record! the 93/94 democratic congress passed a really tough budget that raised taxes in places and cut spending in others, and it surely contributed to the loss of both their majorities, but the result was a real boom in the second half of the decade and projected budget surpluses for years to come.but when bush came to power, there were big changes in policy that led to big changes in results!obviously obama and the dems have spent a lot of money combatting the current recession, but that's because the current recession is the worst since the great depression. an economy the size of ours does not just eat a $2 trillion two-year shortfall in demand. i think it's pretty clear that the stimulus was too small rather than too big, but somehow i don't think that's the line of criticism of obama that you have in mind. and i guess you could try to criticize the health care bill except that it's very responsible and is projected to reduce the federal deficit!once the economy is soundly on the rebound, i fully expect obama to turn his attention to entitlement reform — i do certainly agree with you that entitlements, as currently configured, are not sustainable long-term.finally, i don't for a second agree with your characterization of "what the Tea Party is all about." in fairness, i think you're pretty consistent about railing away against spending as opposed to mythical burdensome levels of taxation (though maybe my memory is failing me a bit). but there's clearly a lot more to the tea party than that.* * * * *i also want to add that brian f. 8:41 makes a really excellent point. i guess it's just the latest episode in the travails of your liberal media.
What about corporate tax breaks?AMD, Paper Mills, etc…Thats a huge loss in tax revenue for the state and it could be the reason individuals like ourselves are making up for it.
Or should I say "not making up for it."Poor infrastructure, lack of a modern rail system, failed pensions, etc…
I'm glad the Tea Party came to Canton and picketed. We need folks from all kinds of ideologies speaking up, making some noise and capturing our attention so that the complacent among us are challenged to think and hopefully vote in the next election.
I read yesterday that Exxon paid 15 billion dollars in taxes last year. None of it to the USA. That is something to complain about.
To correct one comment, I don't in general wish violence upon them, more that they would leave us who really don't care alone. I've had involvements with these people while going about my own business. First you say no thank you, they continue to rant and preach. I tell them to F Off, and they get angry at my use of freedom of speech and continue to rant at me. I'm a person who wishes to be left alone, down to not wanting to be 'greeted' when walking into Walmart or Home Depot, obvioulsy I'm not going to be a dick to those people, as I'm sure they don't want to greet anyone as much as I want to hear it.I'm just sick of the insanity of this world. What will come, will come, shi!t happens.
The problem is what tea party faction Pattie is supporting; this so called group seems to be all over the place, and not to mention racist and wanting to send us back 75 plus years. Be careful not to attach your wagon until you know what kind of donkey will be pulling it.
HT- You cannot seThparate the Republican/Democrat machine on spending. Go back to FDR and forward from there and you will see a pattern of taxing and spending on both sides. After LBJ started raiding the Social Security program it really got bad. And as long as you want to talk of the 90's lets remember it was the beloved Mr. Clinton who either started or raised the taxes on Social Security. A very nice thing to do to our seniors. The Democrats were and still are tax and spenders. Clinton was, Obama is. So was Bush and so will every other President until we say we've had enough. I won't get into the alleged surplus. Suffice it to say it was a claim based on static costs and revenue. Things don't stay static in the real world. I wish they would.The rest of your post- health care (it's already putting people out of work), the unneeded stimulus, the bailouts, the illegal takeover of GMC and Chrysler… I'm sorry but things like that do nothing to solve our problems. We owe too much, we're doing nothing about cutting costs and spending. MAybe you think Obama has a handle on things economically. I think he;s an empty suit that's in so far over his head he has no idea where to turn, so he does what his mentors say and follows their lead. I have zero confidence in him, and both the Democrat and Republican parties, to fix this mess. None of them have the backbone to tell people, "NO! you can't have it all, for free, right now!" That'd be the smart thing to do, but it would cost votes and no politician is interested in anything but staying in office.
8:25AM- I don't care if they were in education, they have a right to their opinion. Your line of thought would mean no one in a Union should be able to offer their opinion of the Union, that no one who works for a company should be able to speak out about what's wrong with the company. Should a retired military member be able to speak out about the military if he see's something he see's is wrong? Your reasoning is faulty.
What I don't like is the fact our debt is mostly with China. So our children and grand children don't need to worry about their tax dollars being spent, they'll have fine lives in the United States of China.But what I think will happen is this, the same crap that has happened in this country for the past 200 years. It'll go on, or it'll crumble. Either way, I'm building a wall around my property for when the Fallout happens.
It would be interesting to see how many of the Tea Partiers would support deep cuts in Social security, Medicare, education, etc.
I want to go back to Brian F.'s comment about the amount of media coverage the Teabaggers get; it's an important point. They held a convention that something like 600 people attended and got hundreds of hours of media coverage. Jeezum, I've been to bigger keg parties. Maybe I should start the Keg Party and get my story on NPR.
David:Having people telling you that they're "angry" is a lot different that saying "Plenty of anger here in Canton".I think they meant that they're "angry" with high taxes.You wrote to say that they are "angry people".Sloppy reporting at best.
Very pleasant, happy people, can be upset when someone takes away their hard-earned money.Doesn't make them angry people. But the national media wants them portrayed that way, and you seem to follow that lead.
Anon 903 and anon 905 sound a little cranky to me. Let your inner anger out. Embrace your anger, you'll feel better.
The hedgefund operators that literally made billions of dollars love the people in the tea party crowd because if they had their way, those billionaires that produced no jobs and added nothing to the economic health of America would be able to keep more of that money with tax cuts. The tea party crowd most likely thinks it is wrong for financiers and hedgefund guys to make that kind of money the way they do.Go figure? I think the tea party needs to think a little deeper on solutions. Obama wanting to lower taxes for the people in that photo, and raise them for people making over $250,000 is not a bad idea. It just is not as simple as they make it out to be. The military is the fastest growing part of the budget. What do they want to do about that. Pork , if eliminated completely, would not amount to .01% of the budget.I want them to go away, and not come back until they have ideas that make a difference. And please, no more of this Constitution stuff. Most of them could not pass the simplest test on what it says or ever read the thing in their lives. Tea party people have to stop with the sound bites and buzz words handed to them , think for themselves, and stop being led circus acts like Palin before they can hope to make a difference. Republicans are playing them for fools, just like they always have.
10:25- Your arrogant comments show you have not even begun to grasp what they're saying. Stop listening to the MSNBC/Moveon.org talking points and listen to what the ideas are!
Here's a liberal quote:"Obama wanting to lower taxes for the people in that photo, and raise them for people making over $250,000 is not a bad idea. "That's what we're up against.
It's a progressive quote, too.Progressives don't like to be called liberal, even though they are.
This "tea-party" phenomena is the concoction of Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and FOX News.Through repeating and repeating of lies and misinformation, the above folks (and there are others responsible) have managed to get several hundred thousand rabid, right wing reactionaries all steamed up and bubbling-over with a lot of hot air and heated rhetoric.Oh, and for the loony-tunes who keep saying that the tea-partiers are representative of American society because the movement includes Republicans and Democrats, whites and blacks – huh?Of the many dozens of video clips I've seen taken of these poor, misguided and misused tea-party citizens, I have seen perhaps 3 black folks in attendance, and no Democrats came forward to self-identify as such.There have been lots and lots of tea-partiers who have come out of the woods (metaphorically speaking) who do identify themselves as Republicans or Conservatives, and they appear to be caucasion. Why are they out now and not when G. W. Bush was Prez? Because the President of the United States is wishfully thought of by them to be a Kenyan, muslim, Marxist, Nazi usurper who has no legal or constitutional right to hold office.But, no, they are not racists. They just love America like Glenn Beck does. America circa 1950 that is.
Anon 7:38You are right. There is a problem when the American way of life is to take money from someone else and give it to "me".When did we stop becoming a nation of hard-working, self providers?
Yeah, and the big lie is that they will stop at $250,000.Wait until it becomes anyone making $75,000, then $45,000, then everyone.Whoops. Once you start reaching into someone else's pocket legally, no one's wallet is safe.
Thanks to Bush and his illegal military attack on Iraq, the national debt IS indeed out of control. But the Teabaggers are blaming the debt on the Obama administration. One question for teabaggers – including the carpenter interviewed on NCPR who said he took care of himself when he was out of work for 3 months. Do you folks have any compassion whatsoever for people who are: disabled, infirmed, chronically ill, lacking a trust fund, or otherwise have no ability to make an income? They are the people we all pay taxes to support and I believe it is our obligation as a civil society to do so. OF COURSE there are those who obtain benefits who should not – I agree, let's root them out and eliminate the fraud – but to suggest that we all are able to pull our own weight 100% through our entire lives is pure tunnel vision fantasy – a skill well developed by these right-wing whackos.
Boy, I thought I was a Knucklehead. I may have to pass the title on to a teabagger. The idea is that everyone pays their fair share. Those who have made over $250,000 have benefitted far more over the past several years than those who made less. It is time to make the tax code more fair–not to soak the rich, just more fair. As far as spending goes we progressives (or liberals, call us whatever you want) didn't want to spend money on a war in Iraq but we had to. Sometimes things don't go your way–even when you are correct in your beliefs and the other side is not. If you want to protest and lobby for your ideas, good. But be responsible. Please do a little research on your own about your positions. Get your information from a wide variety of sources. Check those sources for accuracy. And think about those who went before you who sacrificed for you, to allow you to have a better life, and be a little willing to pass that on. And please don't start with the argument that Obama has spent us into the poor house. He came into office with $10 or $11 trillion in debt. There is plenty of blame to go around.
You know what amazes me is people do not even realize that we, all of us, right now- are paying for every single thing that has ever been passed in the gov. in all of our history !!!!! It is a riot to me that these people, most of them older, don't understand that! You nut cases— It is the way it is. I do not hear you screaming about your medicare or social security checks when they roll in . Grow up THINK ! And we absolutely should have universal health care!