Banco!

“Call” Political commentary by Chris Muir at Day by Day Cartoon

Janet Contreras: America is Coming!

Janet Contreras, author of the open letter to our nation’s leaders, was interviewed, however briefly, on the Glen Beck program last evening:

Janet Contreras on Glenn Beck Show

America is Coming!

The letter below, by Janet Contreras from Arizona, was read on the Glenn Beck program yesterday. It pretty well sums up how I, and millions of others, feel about the course set by our national leaders, in congress, and in the administration. Send this on to your elected representatives; demand a response! Tell them if they do not agree with these demands they will be ousted. Read Glenn Beck’s interview with Janet Contreras here.

Janet Contreras writes an open letter to our nation’s leaders:

I’m a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?

Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I’m not a racist. This isn’t to be confused with legal immigration.

Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don’t you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don’t trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we’ll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let’s have it. Let’s say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.

Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let’s just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don’t want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we’re morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we’re so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn’t ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don’t care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you?

Don't Tread on Us

Grass Roots America Understands and Has Spoken!

Revolution is Brewing by Chris Muir

“..Grassroots American Understands You Can’t Simply Spend Yourself into Prosperity…the Average American is Totally Disapproving of What’s Going on out There….Within the Beltway they Really Believe that Spending is the Right Thing to Do…that the Only Reason Roosevelt didn’t End the Great Depression was that He Didn’t Spend Enough..and Now They are Trying so Desperately to Spend so Much So Quickly!”

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD 6th) at a Tea Party in the rain; Frederick MD April 15, 2009

Story and Video from Frederick News-Post

frederick-md-tea-party (audio)

Credit: Bill Green Frederick MD News Post

The Middletown Press had good coverage of the Hartford Tea Party: (excerpt)

…Durham resident Jay Berardino, a member of the Board of Finance and the chairman of the Republican town committee, said he joined the thousands of tea-party protestors because “there is a limit” to taxation and government spending.

“There’s enormous government waste on the state level,” he said. “Elected officials — and I’m talking about the Democratically-controlled House and Senate — are out of touch with the average citizen. They live in a bubble, and this [tea party] is a way to burst it.”

As a taxpayer, Berardino said he opposes potential increases in sales, income and gas taxes; as a finance board member, he seeks relief from unfunded state mandates that burden towns like Durham.

Hartford Rally: Middletown Press Photo

There were rallies, large and small, in Hartford, New Haven, Norwich, Greenwich and Shelton (video) and…I’m sure I’ve left some out.

Along the harbor in Norwich, nearly 400 people gathered from 3 to 6 p.m. around the gazebo at Howard T. Brown Memorial Park to listen to speakers, talk among themselves and encourage vehicular traffic to honk in support of various messages scrawled across basic poster-board: “I am not your ATM,” “We’re TEAd off (Taxed Enough Already),” “Give me liberty, not debt.” Many of the signs were adorned with tea bags.

The rally began with Rich Curtis, one of the community organizers, reading a portion of the First Amendment, and 8-year-old Kayleigh Ezzell of Lisbon, there with her grandmother, co-organizer Jen Ezell of Canterbury, leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Overall, the rally was docile. There was only one chant – Curtis got the crowd to spell out “no pork.” (from The Day-New London)

Greenwich Rally

Friend Laurel from Virginia reports from D.C.:

Washington D.C. was cold, wet all day. We started talking about the rally on the subway, and others joined in and actually decided to come to the Event! We could hardly hear the speakers, because one woman paid for the sound system herself and could only afford what she could afford…but everyone listened intently, from 11am to 3pm, until we could respond with a resounding voice – in unison with the message. Almost 3,000 people spilled into sidewalks surrounding the Lafayette Park – some even walked over to the White House to spell it out for the NYT press. Many gave out free-bees, like a copy of the Constitution, bumper stickers, and yes, I gave out window clings….the poster signs were great….One fellow had a pic of George Washington, labeled as a terrorist! Everyone was polite within very close quarters. Absolutely no violence…lets keep that way!

Obama claims he wasn’t aware of the Tea Party Events, yet the White House has windows…Nancy Pelosi speaks from her experienced agenda giving credit to millionaires for bringing us out there… and CNN believes that FOX news master-minded it…while HLS labeled us all terrorists…a label now reserved for “tax paying, Christians who believe in working for a living!”

This administration is truly confounded, pointing fingers everywhere and blundering all over each other Their own stories don’t match up… maybe their losing control?

Well, we will see, its a good start, Congrats to all!
This is a grass roots movement because no one is in charge and many are jockeying for position…to be that focal point…I love it!

From the New Haven Register:

The crowd also included about a dozen students who walked to the harbor from Yale University. William Wilson, 22, a senior, said he was there to protest the bank bailout and the federal stimulus plan.

He said the the Yale College Libertarians have a tradition of doing a tax protest every April 15 and the tea party event was a perfect fit. Wilson said he was heartened by the fair number of Libertarians in the crowd, but he questioned some of the sentiments expressed.

“I was a little bit disappointed to see a lot of mainstream Republicans who didn’t complain when Bush was doing this stuff, all of a sudden starting to complain now that Obama is doing it. That was a little bit annoying, sort of felt like they were corrupting our message,” said Wilson.

As for the tea, after it steeped in the sun all day, the bags were removed and the liquid was poured into the harbor, a symbolic reference to the Boston Tea Party.

Much more at Michell Malkin…and at RadioVice Online….And finally a roundup of photos from around the nation; a picture gallery from the Tacoma (WA) News Tribune:

Pleasanton CA

Joe the Plumber in Lansing MI

Tea Parties: A Mass Movement of Ordinary People

…a mass movement of ordinary people who don’t feel that their voices are being heard doesn’t bode well for the party that positioned itself as the organ of hope and change….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.

Wall Street Journal 4/15/09 via Drudge

Be sure to read Michelle Malkin’s piece today on how it all started.

Now here’s the WSJ article:

By GLENN HARLAN REYNOLDS

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.

Reuters

A rally and march in protest of higher taxes in Santa Barbara, Calif., April 4.

So who’s behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize. For a number of years, techno-geeks have been organizing “flash crowds” — groups of people, coordinated by text or cellphone, who converge on a particular location and then do something silly, like the pillow fights that popped up in 50 cities earlier this month. This is part of a general phenomenon dubbed “Smart Mobs” by Howard Rheingold, author of a book by the same title, in which modern communications and social-networking technologies allow quick coordination among large numbers of people who don’t know each other.

In the old days, organizing large groups of people required, well, an organization: a political party, a labor union, a church or some other sort of structure. Now people can coordinate themselves.

Stamford CT Tea Party: March 28, 2009

Stamford Tea Party 3/28/09

Sunday’s Hartford Courant reported in some depth about the growing Tea Party movment that is providing a medium for fed-up citizens to voice their anger at the tyrranical power grab orchestrated from Washington by the Obama gang.

Critics dismiss the phenomenon as little more than a sharply partisan attack on President Barack Obama and the Democrats. But the protesters say their cause represents something bigger: a collective yell of “I’m not going to take it anymore” from the American taxpayer.

The movement takes its name, and much of its imagery, from American history. Participants — including home-schooling moms, Libertarians and Rush Limbaugh Republicans — compare themselves to the 18th century patriots who dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation.

In Chicago, the protesters included a man with a bullhorn who was dressed as Samuel Adams. In Sacramento, some in the crowd carried signs that read “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” And in St. Louis, an estimated 1,000 people stood on the steps of the Gateway Arch and tossed loose tea into the muddy waters of the Mississippi River.

Saturday’s Tea Party in Stamford was a huge success by all accounts; approximately 150 people with signs and costumes attended. Here’s video:

Here is the contributor’s description of the video and the event:

Starting about 9:30 AM EDT a highly motivated contingent of a modern-day legion of the Son’s Of Liberty assembled in downtown Stamford, CT. Their agenda was to make noise. A noise loud enough to be heard in Washington DC.

Perhaps 150 brave citizens can’t shout that loud, but this morning they were heard in Fairfield County.
Unified chants of “It’s Not Your Money” and “Dump Dodd” echoed across the intersection……………Broad Street, Atlantic and Bedford Streets.

The TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party phenomenon is just beginning. April 15 may unleash over a thousand (1000) nation-wide. Small towns in Connecticut are getting involved……

.
Many similar events are scheduled for April 15 (Tax Day) so stay tuned!

Frank Short Photos

Some other resources for news and information about the Tea Party actions:

Radio Vice Online

Thomas Paine Video

Zapem Politics Portal

Glenn Beck Show

Frank Short Photos
Connecticut Tax Day Tea Party News

Sen Judd Gregg (R-NH): America Headed for Bankruptcy

This on CNN today from the guy who was tapped for Commerce Secretary but declined the offer when he saw what was going on in the Obie administration: (emphasis added)

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Even though he was almost a member of the new Obama administration, New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg Sunday slammed President Obama’s approach to handling the country’s fiscal outlook.

Watch: Gregg warns of fiscal ‘crash’

“The practical implications of this is bankruptcy for the United States,” Gregg said of the Obama’s administration’s recently released budget blueprint. “There’s no other way around it. If we maintain the proposals that are in this budget over the ten-year period that this budget covers, this country will go bankrupt. People will not buy our debt, our dollar will become devalued. It is a very severe situation.”

Gregg, known as one of the keenest fiscal minds on Capitol Hill, also told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King that he thought it was “almost unconscionable” for the White House to continue with its planned course on fiscal matters with unprecedented actual and projected budget deficits in the coming years.

“It is as if you were flying an airplane and the gas light came on and it said ‘you 15 minutes of gas left’ and the pilot said ‘we’re not going to worry about that, we’re going to fly for another two hours.’ Well, the plane crashes and our country will crash and we’ll pass on to our kids a country that’s not affordable.”