The 'silent majority' has to shut up. No seriously, they do. In order to be a silent majority they have to first - wait for it - be silent about something. And the current group that claims this title while planning and touting a "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties" or Tax Day Tea Party, is far from quiet.
"Silent Majority No More", reads the front page of the Tax Day Tea Party website. Fox News hosts are attending the gatherings around the country. Silent? Majority?
First, they have to be gentle. Stoic. But mainly, hushed. Then they have earned the right to call themselves the brilliant, Nixon coined 'silent majority'. He was referring to the people that weren't protesting. Hint, hint. Yes, a perfect moniker for lovers of all things rhetorical. The phrase implies that if you don't vocally disagree - you're by default on board. Genius.
So, Tax Day Tea Parties are planned for April 15 - tax day. Thousands of protesters (not all in the same place) are going to protest. Something. Obama probably. Government maybe; with politicians that hate government. Mostly Obama.
Their message is clear - they're sick of not being heard. As one commenter put it on taxdayteaparty.com, "Hi- tea parties across America-A great idea! Yes- We can have a voice in the direction of our country." Yes. Say it. And another, "This administration has made the people that have been paying attention mad as hell and we're not going to take it. Stand up, Stand up." Yes, stand up. You've been pushed around by Obama for too long - nearly 80 whole days. You poor long suffering muted people.
Wait, taxes? Are they angry about taxes? And there's a tea party? Like a revolt? Like the precursor to the Revolutionary War?
The Boston Tea Party was standing up to tyranny after years of neglect. Not standing up to being mad that your candidate didn't win. The tea was a symbol of the tone deafness and arrogance of King George. Everyone knew Englishmen (which the colonist were) could never live without tea, so British Parliament imposed a huge tax on it. So instead of Liptons being thrown into various bodies of water around this country - the symbolic equivalent would be cutting up your credit cards. Credit card companies are taxing Americans with no representation - but they know that Americans can't live without them. So where's that mutiny?
The Founding Fathers weren't hotheads. They didn't just 'get mad' and usurp a king's authority. They had real grievances, real ideals, real leaders and a really brutal, bloody struggle. The Fox News Channel Tax Day Tea Parties wasting perfectly good tea to protest government spending is like Jeep Cherokee sponsoring a Trail of Tears 5K. Yeah. Yeesh.
But they're mad! And they're 'teabaggin'. And the 'Mainstream Media' is just ignoring this super important story except for Fox News who's attached their name to the demonstration. Yeah. A mainstream media news channel part of a huge media conglomerate (whose charm to its loyal followers is that it's 'alternative') is beating the drum for this protest.
Your grassroots movement can't have corporate media sponsorship.
But heck, if you're an ear piercing minority calling yourself a 'silent majority' what's a little fact fudging between friends. It's a little archaic throw back to the Bush Misnomers (titles for things that don't match what they actually do) - the Clean Sky Initiatives (that aided in pollution) - The Patriot Act (that squashed The Constitution) or my favorite The State of the Union Address (the wedge for the divide was more like it).
Conservatives are either high-profile kvetchers or the silent majority. Not both.
Republicans are either breaking filibuster records or the silent majority. Not both.
You guys are heard. Like Phil Donahue once said to Bill O'Reilly on his show, "Loud doesn't mean right." Actually, Phil, these days - it does.
I am a member of the actual current silent majority (all the polls have Obama's job approval rating hovering over 60 percent, more than who voted for him). I want the stimulus bill to stimulate the economy. I want businesses and markets to be regulated just enough to ban legal pirates but not too much to make them dead in the water. And I hope that it works.
2 you can’t choose when and when not to have your representatives represent you. READ the constitution. It says that the will represent you and you WILL live by the laws enacted or suffer the legal consequence They represent you like them or not. And if you don't you can move to another country.
The stupidity of some people’s lack of knowledge of the constitution is mind boggling.
And if this was reversed and the Democrats were doing this the Republicans would have a field day.
Protest, write your congress person and try to act within the constitution, and if you can’t… Move!!!!!!
This is still the greatest country, greatest government IN THE WORLD. Don’t lose site of that reality. I and my fellow brothers and sisters served to make it so. Just try to remain in touch with reality during this crisis. This to shall pass.
We are all Americans living in this great country.
OK I take you back to THE CONSTITUTION article 1 section 8. Read it, believe it and obey it.
This crackpot Ron Paul and his followers are always trying to use the 10th amendment to imply the idea that states or individuals can abolish a federal law at their whim...
Let me be very clear as it is clear in the constitution....Taxing, regulating commerce, bowering money and coining money is solely under the power of congress. That means those people who were elected whether YOU like it or not..If you don’t as I will say again find a better country and MOVE.
PS-> Being in the silent majority means being silent while socialist and overly idealistic policies are being injected into our every day lives. I think we've been silent long enough...at least we have been silent long enough for Charles Schumer to declare "Traditional Values are dead." Guess it's time to speak
I stand in protest of corruption: for eliminating the role of lobbyists; for election reform; for term limits; for smaller government; for reducing federal debt.
Let me tell you why both parties should be concerned about "Tea Parties", and why I'll be attending. I am a former loyal Democrat who became an unaffiliated voter because I have had taxation without representation for the past 30 years. Silent majority......right!
There is a movement underfoot of people who question the wisdom of going into debt up to our eyeballs, who would prefer government stay out of our bedroom. We are not all right wing nor republican as you try to paint us. I worry about a private Fed with no accountability perpetrating the largest transfer of wealth in the history of man.
Follow the money. It's not going to the people; it's going to the oligarchy. How else can you explain the "heads" banks/hedge funds win, "tails" taxpayers lose?
Your comments would have more credibility if you would concede that at least some of the people may have sincere and real concerns about the direction this country has and is going in.
Maybe you shouldn't plagiarize... you ripped off what I wrote yesterday on the NYTimes Krugman article...nearly word for word. look it up everyone.
You're a loser. Come up with your own thoughts.
crap, what did you do, cut and paste?
You might be surprised that after the war the Americans were taxed more than under the crown, each state had taxes, the Continental congress had taxes and you had local taxes. and if you traveled from Maine to Georgia as you passed through each state you would pay their taxes.
And get Really14, you are parochially right on the clectorical; college. They had two problems
1. Travel distance was slow and long and mail and newspapers were as often late. They feared an uninformed electorate making decisions
2. the rate of Literacy at that time wa around 60-70 %s.
That's why the electrical college
And our money isn’t being printed out of thin air, there is NO such thing as an inflation tax. I might add, our money under Hamilton was money out of thin air. By assuming the debt of the states post revolutionary war, this gave the fledgling United States, capital and most importantly the US could establish credit from foreign countries. Today’s money price is based on the international market, the futures market, and consumer confidence.
Now in saying that there have been mistakes throughout the American history, First and foremost was slavery. And secondary was allowing the states to be in a position to leave. This due to the crisis during Jackson’s presidency when SC asserted that any state could abolish a law and secede. Jackson’s sending troops to SC shut them up but the law was on the book waiting for half century to use it again, with better support. This was also a tax issue. Interestingly both tax revolts were put down in a few days with either a show of military force or the threat of one. You protestors are lucky to have our current system or, as in the old day,
We are being sold out as the USA is being systematically being broken down so we will be willing to accpet a one world currency & the happy face fascism that comes with it.
I for one like the USA the way it was meant to be, not the revisionist junk that is going on now. Almost every burroacracy is UN-Constitutional. But no one seems to care if they can get a hand out form big bro.
Erik13
Comparatively, according to the CBO last month, excepting FY2010, when the budget will be 27% of GDP, the forecasts predict federal spending south of 25% of GDP through 2019. See http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10014/03-20-PresidentBudget.pdf
In short, what pulled us out of the GD, allowed us to win the war, and set us up for the incredible prosperity we've been riding for the last 50+ years was a massive, unprecedented infusion of federal spending.
That's probably why the President, Congress and most economists agree to the Stimulus Bill and all the other expenditures currently being considered. Giving you an extra $1,000 off your tax bill isn't going to bring us out of this mess.
As for your delusional notions about fascism, socialism, the UN or whoever or whatever you think is on the brink of gaining control of our government....Seriously?
You know, one of the reasons the Founding Fathers instituted the Electoral College was they wanted to ensure (not insure) intelligent individuals, free of political affiliations and state biases were making the all too important choice of selecting the next president. Comments like yours are perfect evidence that that decision over 220 years ago still stands the test of time.
One last thing, SPELL CHECK - your post is embarrassingly hard to read!
Tina says, "The Boston Tea Party was standing up to tyranny after years of neglect. Not standing up to being mad that your candidate didn't win. The tea was a symbol of the tone deafness and arrogance of King George. Everyone knew Englishmen (which the colonist were) could never live without tea, so British Parliament imposed a huge tax on it. So instead of Liptons being thrown into various bodies of water around this country - the symbolic equivalent would be cutting up your credit cards. Credit card companies are taxing Americans with no representation - but they know that Americans can't live without them. So where's that mutiny?"
We're standing up to a system that has been becoming more tyrannical almost from he get go. Yeah.....tone deafness? It's possible that this countries "leaders" do not have even the leiway to plead tone deafness, atleast King Georege was ACROSS THE SEA.
CREDIT CARD COMPANIES ARE PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS, AND THEY CAN BE CUT UP WITHOUT YOU GOING TO JAIL FOR IT. On the way side, I do not use a Credit Card.
Since there's no HTML I uppercased for emphasis, not to yell.
In Truth, and because I care.
That this clause authorizes congress "to do anything which in their judgment will tend to provide for the general welfare, and this amounts to the same thing as general and unlimited legislation in all cases...." That the power to tax is unsound because "there is no limitation on this power." "This power therefore is neither more nor less than a power to lay and collect taxes, imposts, and excises, at their pleasure."