This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
News Anti-Tax Protest Packs Pioneer Square
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 10:17 PM
Maybe "anti-tax" isn't the best way to sum up the patchwork of passionate protesters at today's Tax Day Teabagging Party in Pioneer Square. The protest issued a come-one-come-all invitation to people upset at the current state of the union, whether they're mad about the bailout, mad that Obama is a raving socialist in cahoots with the Europeans or just mad about gays. Much of the resulting thousand-person crowd seemed to be straddling that fine far-fringe line between libertarians and anarchists. At one point a large group chanted "U!S!A! U!S!A!" while simultaneously waving signs demanding an end to federal government.
The event was quite a human spectacle. One woman waved an American flag quilt with a stitched hammer and sickle for stars. "Don't tax me bro!" read one protest sign. "We must not allow lying communists to take over our country by subterfuge!" read another. I sat next to three mom types from Beaverton (two Republicans, one Democrat) who said this was their very first protest. On my other side was a student, Casey Blackstead, who was there to gather research material for a paper about the Patriot Act and rather reluctantly held a sign bearing a James Madison quote. "This is a little crazy," she said, eyeing the 'No Taxation!' signs of the surrounding crowd, "We can't just completely throw out taxes."
State and local politicians are fighting an uphill battle in East Portland and other anti-tax areas this session, trying to convince constituents that raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy is necessary to save services and schools.
KPAM radio station provided some of the evening's more prominent speakers, but what they said was mostly unintelligible over the murmuring of the crowd. Luckily, Oregon Tea Party organizers distributed handbills printed with an American flag and the night's "Talking Points":
Renew the Revolution!
Liberty is all the Stimulus we Need!
No Public $ for Private Failure!
Repeal the Spending, Regulation, & Taxation or Retire!
1
I'm fascinated by the couple in the first photo with the "Oh hell no" sign. Who are these people? Is there a conservative hipster movement? Fascinating.
2
Blabby - you haven't heard? It isn't hipster or conservative. There is a growing movement of people who are not posting inane comments on every article. Instead these people are getting out of the house! Growing increasingly angry with our society of greed and actually doing a little something about it.
3
They're libertarians, dude. Give the holocene crowd some financial success and you always get a handful.
5
Mizzzzzz -
Where have you been? Portland is Chinook for, "getting out of the house, growing increasingly angry with our society of greed and actually doing a little something about it." Of course, when a Republican is in office we're terrorists. When a fringe group of Libertrains dwarfed by every anti-Bush rally in the city drools around they're somehow doing something new.
Where have you been? Portland is Chinook for, "getting out of the house, growing increasingly angry with our society of greed and actually doing a little something about it." Of course, when a Republican is in office we're terrorists. When a fringe group of Libertrains dwarfed by every anti-Bush rally in the city drools around they're somehow doing something new.
6
Reagan and Rand are both misspelled! (I'm always late to these things..)
Seriously Portland, all eyes on the Rose Quarter as far as I'm concerned. 100 days?
Seriously Portland, all eyes on the Rose Quarter as far as I'm concerned. 100 days?
7
Now, if those of us on the left held a teabagging rally in Pioneer Courthouse Square, it would be a completely different thing... And I'm pretty sure we could draw a few more than a thousand people!
8
Eh, I don't know....
The anti-bank bailout protest drew a paltry 200 max.
But then, it didn't have the massive pr push, the mega-media support and thinly veiled call-to-action of conservatard radio pundits.
The Oh Hell No couple either look like they haven't gotten out of the house since 1987 or they're subtle pranksters.
The anti-bank bailout protest drew a paltry 200 max.
But then, it didn't have the massive pr push, the mega-media support and thinly veiled call-to-action of conservatard radio pundits.
The Oh Hell No couple either look like they haven't gotten out of the house since 1987 or they're subtle pranksters.
10
Yeah, quote Ol Ronny about limited gov't. One of the MAIN reasons we are in the financial clusterfuck of today is due to his policies of deregulation. We'll let financial institutions police themselves so that big bad gov't and their regulatory oversight don't hamper "freedom".
Also I agree with Rich23 - I think that couple are pranksters. I love subtle smartassery..........even if I don't pull it off so well.
Also I agree with Rich23 - I think that couple are pranksters. I love subtle smartassery..........even if I don't pull it off so well.
11
Why is socialism such a bad word? Ignorant mother fuckers. We've had a half-assed socialist system for quite a while now, anyway. Public schools, anyone? Now if we could just give them a little more money so they can be effective.
12
Blabby, I think they're pranksters, as someone else mentioned. Look what the girl is wearing. They look like they just walked out of goddamn American Gothic. The guy is even holding the sign like the pitchfork in the painting.
14
I read "Atlas Shrugged" in it's entirety, and I sincerely wish that anyone who actually finds merit in the book would go start their secret elite society, somewhere else.
15
where "doing a little something about it" = standing around with other ignorant twats and holding a sign
17
Ah. The Ron Paul and Campaign for Liberty email list makes an appearance.
Accumulating mailing lists is why candidates run pointless campaigns attracting marginalized communities with vertical donating interests.
Follow up here - let's see the results of the overnight online donating.
Start with this guy - Steve Bierfeldt, Director of Development
steve@campaignforliberty.com
stevebierfeldt@gmail.com
914.420.8669
Accumulating mailing lists is why candidates run pointless campaigns attracting marginalized communities with vertical donating interests.
Follow up here - let's see the results of the overnight online donating.
Start with this guy - Steve Bierfeldt, Director of Development
steve@campaignforliberty.com
stevebierfeldt@gmail.com
914.420.8669
18
I went to this damn thing and brought a plate of fresh-baked scones. If there was any tea to be had it was long gone by the time I got there.
19
a) Govt mandated lending began the real estate fiasco.
2) I fail to see evidence of any anti-gay sentiment referenced in the posting
2) I fail to see evidence of any anti-gay sentiment referenced in the posting
20
> I fail to see evidence of any anti-gay sentiment referenced in the posting
There isn't any referenced, and there wasn't any at the protest. It's just that some people see the world through the lens of sexuality, and sexuality alone. They can't imagine why people who disagree on some things can make common cause on others. Because they all hold the same views, they believe that all people hold one of two sets of sharply defined political views. They can't imagine that some people could be socially liberal but against the massive increase in government spending and deficits.
Like I said, small minds.
There isn't any referenced, and there wasn't any at the protest. It's just that some people see the world through the lens of sexuality, and sexuality alone. They can't imagine why people who disagree on some things can make common cause on others. Because they all hold the same views, they believe that all people hold one of two sets of sharply defined political views. They can't imagine that some people could be socially liberal but against the massive increase in government spending and deficits.
Like I said, small minds.
21
"The protest issued a come-one-come-all invitation to people upset at the current state of the union, whether [blah, blah, blah] or just mad about gays." -S.Mirk
I think that's the reference, Mr. Voluptypus.
I think that's the reference, Mr. Voluptypus.
22
> a) Govt mandated lending began the real estate fiasco.
Completely untrue. More than 60% of the people who received subprime loans had credit scores high enough to qualify for prime conventional loans. There was an entire goddamned industry that formed around subprime loans--they couldn't sell enough of them.
Completely untrue. More than 60% of the people who received subprime loans had credit scores high enough to qualify for prime conventional loans. There was an entire goddamned industry that formed around subprime loans--they couldn't sell enough of them.
23
Completely true. I said BEGAN the fiasco. Community Reinvestment Act+ Fannie and Freddie.
And Mr voluptuous: "... mad that Obama is a raving socialist in cahoots with the Europeans or just mad about gays. "
And Mr voluptuous: "... mad that Obama is a raving socialist in cahoots with the Europeans or just mad about gays. "
24
Lets be honest: questionable politics aside, these people still look ten times more sane and respectable then the usual rabble you see at any general-mass-liberal gathering.
Re: government's responsibility for the crisis: It's not just the lending, the government also provided artificial protections for many of these banks, helping them get far bigger then they ever should have, in the first place.
The problem was never deregulation. As we've seen over the past year, deregulation leads to stupid, over-sized companies going bankrupt. That's a good thing. The problem is that the government brought these too-big-to-fail companies into existence, in the first place.
Re: government's responsibility for the crisis: It's not just the lending, the government also provided artificial protections for many of these banks, helping them get far bigger then they ever should have, in the first place.
The problem was never deregulation. As we've seen over the past year, deregulation leads to stupid, over-sized companies going bankrupt. That's a good thing. The problem is that the government brought these too-big-to-fail companies into existence, in the first place.
25
Kyle-
I didn't realize "looking respectable" was such an important criteria for having a valid political opinion. Politics has a dress code?
And regulation was about preventing monopolies. Deregulation allows monopolies. Particularly in the financial sector.
I didn't realize "looking respectable" was such an important criteria for having a valid political opinion. Politics has a dress code?
And regulation was about preventing monopolies. Deregulation allows monopolies. Particularly in the financial sector.
26
But this post isn't about political discourse, it's about snickering at pictures of those silly conservatives. I'm just saying that if that's the game were going to play, there's no way the liberals can win.
And there's a big difference between what deregulation might allow, and what history has shown us it actually does.
And there's a big difference between what deregulation might allow, and what history has shown us it actually does.
27
tpancio- public political opinion is, in one way or another, about swaying the thoughts and feelings of others into accord with yours. In light this, it has a dress code just as much as a job interview or a loan interview. If you think that the effort that someone puts into the image they portray is meaningless, then you're an imbecile.
28
Boxxy- Good point. Dress to persuade rather than dress to impress. All politics is ultimately about image.
Kyle- Also a good point- history has shown repeatedly that deregulation often leads to profiteering, crisis and collapse and that too much unregulated capitalism may lead to efficient financial evolutions but stomps a bunch of living breathing people's real lives along the way.
I see both points, really- on the one hand, General Motors needs to die. From an economic point of view they are poison. From an environmental point of view they are poison. And they are one of the last great industrial pseudo-monopolies. But HOW we kill them could mean the difference between 40,000 families being able to feed their kids this month or not.
And the government did contribute to the bloated financial instruments and mega-conglomerates that led to this current crisis. But they did it by not regulating stringently enough when they had the chance- both the scale and the products of the financial services sector became like kudzu- impossible to get rid of, entwined in everything, and choking the sunlight from the native trees and business trying to quietly make their way through the world.
Kyle- Also a good point- history has shown repeatedly that deregulation often leads to profiteering, crisis and collapse and that too much unregulated capitalism may lead to efficient financial evolutions but stomps a bunch of living breathing people's real lives along the way.
I see both points, really- on the one hand, General Motors needs to die. From an economic point of view they are poison. From an environmental point of view they are poison. And they are one of the last great industrial pseudo-monopolies. But HOW we kill them could mean the difference between 40,000 families being able to feed their kids this month or not.
And the government did contribute to the bloated financial instruments and mega-conglomerates that led to this current crisis. But they did it by not regulating stringently enough when they had the chance- both the scale and the products of the financial services sector became like kudzu- impossible to get rid of, entwined in everything, and choking the sunlight from the native trees and business trying to quietly make their way through the world.
29
I'm always late to all this. But here's my two cents. The safest place to be to influence progress is in the center. You know, the spot where orgasms happen. It's a mathematical law that action breeds reaction, and in that process, momentum is lost. Stay in the middle, politically, IF YOU WANT PROGRESS, not because you like it. And finding the middle is a tickling, sensual, enlivening experience, I swear, I've been working on it for years.
I'm too tired to give a lot of good examples, but
I'l try a few.
Abortion: the middle thinks third-trimester abortion should be treated as infanticide. The middle abhors unwanted children and thinks abortion should be free and instantly accessible to anyone in their first trimester.
Gay marriage: the middle is scared of homophobes and wants to keep them happy, so they are resigned to waiting until the homophobes die off. So the middle stays away from gay marriage and supports civil unions instead, because they know that gays are more intelligent than most and could give a fuck whether it's called marriage or union, but rather care fundamentally about the rights conferred.
Unions. The middle understands that unions are bad news for certain things and fine for others. For example, many of us have concluded that unions have wrecked US public education but have been great for grocers, carpenters and a lot of other professions.
Drugs: the middle wants full legalization of all drugs with a concommitant investment in public awareness, readily available comprehensive treatment, and lots of jail time for people who involve kids in their dope.
I'm going to bed now.
I'm too tired to give a lot of good examples, but
I'l try a few.
Abortion: the middle thinks third-trimester abortion should be treated as infanticide. The middle abhors unwanted children and thinks abortion should be free and instantly accessible to anyone in their first trimester.
Gay marriage: the middle is scared of homophobes and wants to keep them happy, so they are resigned to waiting until the homophobes die off. So the middle stays away from gay marriage and supports civil unions instead, because they know that gays are more intelligent than most and could give a fuck whether it's called marriage or union, but rather care fundamentally about the rights conferred.
Unions. The middle understands that unions are bad news for certain things and fine for others. For example, many of us have concluded that unions have wrecked US public education but have been great for grocers, carpenters and a lot of other professions.
Drugs: the middle wants full legalization of all drugs with a concommitant investment in public awareness, readily available comprehensive treatment, and lots of jail time for people who involve kids in their dope.
I'm going to bed now.
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