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Tax Day Tea Parties and the Republican Party Establishment
Political Cartoon from Ed Gamble
Well, not so much.- Mitt Romney, a top contender for the 2012 nomination who has been cautious in his criticism of President Obama, will not attend a tea party, said his spokesman.
- John Boehner, the House minority leader, will attend a tea party in Bakersfield, Calif., with Rep. Kevin McCarthy.
- Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, is on official business overseas and won’t be participating.
- Eric Cantor, the House minority whip, is in his Virginia congressional district with no public events today, said a spokesman.
- Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who will likely consider a 2012 run, is out of town and not participating, according to a spokesperson.
- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, last year’s GOP VP nominee and a potential 2012 contender, won’t be attending any tea parties “that I’m aware of,” said a spokesperson.
The Tea Party movement is not about the GOP, in any case. But, the GOP better get the message.
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National Tax Day Becomes Protest Day – Will Tea Parties Change American Politics?
And, the funny thing is that the Tea Party protests are not so much about TAXES but how the Obama Administration and the Congress are spending the tax money.Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies — dubbed “tea parties” — to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org.
What’s most striking about the tea-party movement is that most of the organizers haven’t ever organized, or even participated, in a protest rally before. General disgust has drawn a lot of people off the sidelines and into the political arena, and they are already planning for political action after today.
Cincinnati organizer Mike Wilson, a novice organizer who drew 5,000 people to a rally on March 15, is now planning to create a political action committee and a permanent political organization to press for lower taxes and reduced spending. Tucson tea party organizer Robert Mayer told me that his organization will focus on city council elections in the fall as its next priority. And there’s lots of Internet chatter about ways of taking things further after today’s protests.
This influx of new energy and new talent is likely to inject new life into small-government politics around the nation. The mainstream Republican Party still seems limp and disorganized. This grassroots effort may revitalize it. Or the tea-party movement may lead to a new third party that may replace the GOP, just as the GOP replaced the fractured and hapless Whigs.
Michelle has more on the history of the Tea Party Movement.
So, will this movement survive past tax day?
Yes, fiscal conservatives have found the power of the internet and social networking genrerated grass roots organizing. The tax and spend mantra of the Tea Parties will united like minded individuals in a call to action that will translate into local political action and beyond.
Stay tuned…….
Technorati Tags: Tea Party
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April 15: Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party – Ventura County, California Tea Party Information
Flap has not really pushed the Tax Day Tea Party movement here because there are references to it all over Twitter and other sites. But, when the FAR LEFT Journolist starts memes against the movement it gives me great pause.And, so why the Tea Party protest?
But, Glenn has an extensive list of links that expands upon the GRASS ROOTS Tea Party movement.
And, Flap’s local Tea Party in Ventura County, California.Ventura
When: April 15, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Where: Sidewalks adjacent to Ventura County Government Center
Map: Click Here
Contact: EMAIL (Carla Bonney) 805-652-0667
Contact: EMAIL (Dale DeHart) 805-312-2800
Website: www.teapartyteams.com
Facebook Group: Ventura County TEA Party
Facebook Event: Tax Day RallySee you there.
Technorati Tags: Tea Party
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Tea Parties Forever and the GOP
Flap always wonders why the FAR LEFT like Paul Krugman are SO concerned with the state of the Republican Party?
So what’s the implication of the fact that Republicans are refusing to grow up, the fact that they are still behaving the same way they did when history seemed to be on their side? I’d say that it’s good for Democrats, at least in the short run — but it’s bad for the country.
Uh Huh…….
Ok, Paul, where’s the REAL beef?
Afraid of a tax revolt?
Update:
Now, Flap understands: Krugman is part of the Journolist cabal and it is their meme of the week.JournoList-approved Meme of the Week! But it’s just a coincidence that Krugman’s reading from the same script as Jane Hamsher, Steve Benen and Oliver Willis. Their smear campaign against the Tea Party movement isn’t “orchestrated” or anything.
Technorati Tags: Paul Krugman, Tea Party, Tax Revolt
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Poll Watch: 66 Per Cent Say Obama Likely to Raise Taxes on Those Earning Less Thank $250K a Year
Two-thirds of U.S. voters (66%) think President Obama is likely to raise taxes on people who less than $250,000 per year. That figure includes 47% who say he is Very Likely to do so.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 18% doubt that will happen.
You have to follow the money.
There are simply not sufficient numbers of people making over $250,000 a year to fund the increased spending that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress propose.
However, there are plenty of taxpayers that make less and WILL find their taxes increased, especially if and when Obama’s current budget is passed and becomes law.
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Poll Watch: Tax Cuts ALWAYS Better Than Increased Government Spending – Dissecting Paul Krugman
Nobel Prize Winning Economist Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman notwithstanding, Americans believe it is always better to cut taxes than increase government spending.
Paul Krugman, last year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for economics and a regular columnist for the New York Times, recently wrote that you should “write off anyone who asserts that it’s always better to cut taxes than to increase government spending because taxpayers, not bureaucrats, are the best judges of how to spend their money.â€
If you follow that advice, you’ll be writing off a majority of Americans. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 53% say that it’s always better to cut taxes. Only 24% share Krugman’s views.
Republicans overwhelmingly say it’s always better to cut taxes, and so do 50% of those not affiliated with either major party. Twenty-three percent (23%) of unaffiliateds take the opposite view and agree with Krugman.
Democrats are evenly divided—38% say tax cuts are always better while 34% disagree.
Krugman is a little more in sync with public opinion when he asserts: “public spending rather than tax cuts should be the core of any stimulus plan.â€
The poll finds:
- 34 % Agree
- 34 % Disagree
- 32% Not Sure
Then, there is another Krugman opinion: “it’s clear that when it comes to economic stimulus, public spending provides much more bang for the buck than tax cuts.â€
- 31 % Agree
- 42 % Disagree
On all of the questions surveyed above, American voters under 30 are more likely to agree with Paul Krugman.
There certainly appears to be a disconnect between American voters and the Far Left ELITIST Krugman. Is it because American voters are not academics and live in the real world?
Or do they simply have experience on how government spending can be wasteful and tax increases oppressive?
Take your pick…….
Technorati Tags: Economics, Paul Krugman
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California GOP Legislators to Vote To Triple Motor Vehicle Tax?
This supposed “DEAL” is NOT going to happen.
Reporting from Sacramento — State lawmakers began moving toward a deal this week to close California’s deficit with the help of steeper car fees that would cost many drivers hundreds of dollars annually, according to people involved in budget talks.
Under the plan, GOP lawmakers — most of whom have signed anti-tax pledges — would vote to triple the vehicle license fee that owners pay when they register their cars every year in exchange for a ballot measure that would impose rigid limits on future state spending. Motorists’ annual license fees would rise from 0.65% of the value of their vehicles to 2%. For a car or truck valued at $25,000, the increase would be $336.
Flap has heard from a California Republican Legislator who blasts this deal as a “liberal/L.A. Times rumor.”
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EU Airlines Green Tax Watch: £27 Green Tax on Long flights
TimesOnLine: American fury at plan to charge £27 green tax on long flights
AIRLINE passengers would pay up to £27 extra for a return ticket to cover the environmental damage caused by their flights, under European Commission proposals to address climate change.
Draft legislation to be published next month would require all flights arriving or departing from European Union airports to buy permits to cover their carbon dioxide emissions.
The document, a copy of which has been obtained by The Times, says that airlines would join Europe’s emissions trading scheme by 2011 and predicts that they would pass on the costs to their passengers.
The report estimates that passengers on flights within Europe would pay an extra €9 (£6) for a ticket, with the actual sum depending on the price of the permits. Those flying long haul would pay up to €39.60 (£27).
This will infuriate the United States and many other countries because it would affect all flights into and out of Europe, regardless of their origin or destination. US airlines would have to buy permits to cover their emissions on their European routes.
Trade War.
One that the European Union with their heavily subsidized airlines will lose.
But, hey, Europeans will either have to impose higher taxes or import more Muslim immigrants to pay for their economically failing economies. The EU’s decline will be exacerbated by this move.
Flap’s guess is that after the ruination of their tourism industry from the United States there will be some reconsideration/recapitulation.
Captain Ed has EU To Put Green Tax On Intercontinental Flights
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European Air Fares “To Double” As a Result of Green Tax
Timesonline: Air fares ‘to double’ as Europe votes for green tax
AIR passengers will be charged up to £40 extra for a return ticket within Europe to pay for the environmental impact of their journeys, under plans approved by the European Parliament yesterday.
MEPs voted in favour of the “immediate introduction†of a tax on jet fuel for flights within the 25 member states of the EU. The charge would double the cost of millions of budget airline flights.
The MEPs said that the scheme should cover all flights arriving at or departing from EU airports rather than just intra-EU flights, as had been proposed by BA. But the scheme is likely to be limited to flights within Europe in the early years to avoid legal challenges from the United States and other countries. MEPs also accepted the proposal for a separate environmental tax to cover the impact of nitrogen oxides and condensation trails emitted by aircraft.
The Europeans sure know how to kill their tourism business.
Oh well, better business for the United States and certainly for Boeing.
Technorati Tags: Europeanairfares, airfares, Europe, BritishAirways
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House of Representatives Watch: House Approves Line-Item Veto?
White House budget director Rob Portman is seen on Capitol Hill, May 11, 2006. President Bush’s drive for line-item veto power to control deficit-spending is facing resistance in the U.S. House of Representatives where the outcome of a vote scheduled for Thursday is in doubt, Portman said on Tuesday.
AP: House approves watered-down line-item veto
President Bush would receive greater power to try to kill “pork barrel” spending projects under a bill passed Thursday by the House.
Lawmakers voted to give Bush and his successor a new, weaker version of the line-item veto law struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998, despite a recent series of lopsided votes in which they’ve rallied to preserve each other’s back-home projects. It would expire after six years.
The idea advances amid increasing public concern about lawmakers’ penchant for stuffing parochial projects into spending bills that the president must accept or reject in their entirety.
The House passed the bill by a 247-172 vote. Thirty-five Democrats joined with most Republicans in voting for the bill; 15 Republicans opposed the measure and others voted for the bill despite private reservations.
The measure must still pass the Senate, and that’s by no means a certainty.
The bill would allow the president to single out items contained in appropriations bills he signs into law, and it would require Congress to vote on those items again. It also could be used against increases in benefit programs and tax breaks aimed at a single beneficiary.
Under the proposal, it would take a simple majority in both the House and the Senate to approve the items over the president’s objections.
Well, this bill is better than nothing but NOT by much. And this bill is far weaker than the bill passed while Bill Clinton was in office – but later declared overtruned by the U.S. Supreme Court. In that particular bill, the President could strike out an item from appropriations or tax legislation and the Congress would have to overturn this veto by a 2/3 vote.
The Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional two years later because it let the president single-handedly change laws passed by Congress.
It’s not clear that the new spending control tool would be very effective. Congress easily mustered the two-thirds margins needed to override Clinton’s 1997 vetoes of military construction projects. More recently, lawmakers have united to reject attacks by a lone conservative, Rep. Jeff Flake (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., to strip from spending bills the very kind of projects the new line-item veto is aimed at attacking.
But, the pork-laden federal budget has to be controlled. There is too much parochial spending. If this legislation fails in the U.S. Senate, then the House should introduce a constitutional amendment and give the President a stronger and true line-item veto.
Stay tuned….
Captain Ed has Line-Item Veto Passes House
The roll call vote can be found here. Voters concerned about earmarks and corruption should note those who opposed this measure. The following Republicans decided to back away from the line-item veto:
Aderholt
Buyer (there’s a name for you!)
Emerson
Hobson
Jones (NC)
Lewis (CA)
Northrup
Otter
Paul
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Simmons
Simpson
Sweeney
WalshThe inclusion of Jerry Lewis, the head of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, comes as no surprise. After all, Lewis sent $11 million in earmarks to Trident Systems, whose president paid Lewis’ stepdaughter almost a third of all the money raised by his PAC, for which she was employed. Lewis doesn’t want to lose his political heft and ability to direct federal funds to the beneficiaries of his family — which gives us more reason to cheer this vote.
Technorati Tags: lineitemveto
