Texas Tea Parties – TAXED ENOUGH ALREADY?

The way to find the events scheduled in both houses and in the committees is the “CongressDaily”, which is published in print daily when Congress is in schedule.   This has the schedules, but it also has some interesting commentaries.
.

Go Here to see this publication online.  (You will find restrictions based on having or not having a subscription).  In the section titled “CongressWeek”, are the subjects to be discussed in the two houses and in the committees.
.

For example, suppose you wanted to listen in on the developing scam on the Senate Rules – oops, didn’t mean to say that, rather,  The “Senate Filibuster Reform” session.  That’s Wednesday at 945 AM, 301 RSOB, “Full Committee Hearing”, 202-224-6352.
.

The phone number enables “listening in” remotely.  It’s like having your own private stealth bug into the committees!  Cool!  But I’m not sure how you find this data, eg, the specific time, place, and phone number of a given meeting, or the very existence of that subject being discussed, without having in your hands a copy of the CongressDaily.  Nice, but the subscription rate is over $4000 PER YEAR.
.

Hey, don’t worry – the sales rep offered me a special deal, just this month only, for half price.  Gee, I’m stupid.  I didn’t take him up…..Because Google, you see, is our friend.  Google takes us to…

http://www.capitolhearings.org/

which instead of a phone number, provides online real time audio.  The actual physical address of the hearing isn’t listed, but that’s easy to find once you’ve got the date and time.

Hey…wait a minute.  Are the people in DC including the Senators and Congressmen so stupid that they get this CongressDaily dead tree thing daily instead of just looking stuff up on the Internet?

How many $4000 – no wait, discounted $2000 per person subscriptions are provided to the staffs on our nickel?
.
One wonders if some of the considerations in these various committee meetings might change if visually identifiable Citizen Reporters attended.
.
A reminder that “We’re Watching”.

Reading this wonderful copy of the CongressDaily, (admin: This is a sort of daily newspaper produced in DC that has the dates and scheduled times of various government events, meetings and so forth) I was struck by an equally wonderful style of grammar.  Don’t take this as derogatory on the CongressDaily, but rather as a comment as to the audience they cater to and whose values and perceptions they mirror.

It’s used consistently by various editors and writers, and is well illustrated in the following snippet:

• “An official cost estimate was unavailable, but some back of the envelope arithmetic suggests that to hold the rate to 20 percent could require at least $100 billion over a decade to pay for it“.

Now let me translate this into Real-World-Outside-of-Washington DC-Speak:

• “Holding the rate to 20 percent would save taxpayers at least $100B over a decade”.

See the difference?  DC Doubletalk assumes all your money starts out as belonging to them.
.
Whatever they give you back – whatever they don’t take away in taxes – is a “cost”.
.
Wow.  Just wow. Is any more evidence needed as to why we need to turn over the incumbents?

http://www.brodenforcongress.com/Pastor_Broden_Letter_s/35.htm

March 4, 2010

To My Co-laborers For Freedom and Prosperity,
.
First let me thank you for all the hard work you have done on behalf of my candidacy and the 30^th District.  Your labor all over the District produced a positive result.  We were only 37 votes short of our March 2^nd goal to achieve 50% plus one!  Some people don’t think that every single votes matters, but let me tell you how important each vote is…
.
There are 242 Precincts in District 30.  If we had only gotten one additional vote for every 6 Precincts, we would have won outright!   One more vote in every Precinct would have been a huge win.  How many of us know at least ONE more person we could have swayed – probably all of us!  Yep, we were that close; however, we still ended up with 49.51% of all Republican votes, even though there were three people in the race.
.
As you know we are now in a run off with attorney Sheldon Goldstein.  I am encouraged about our race going forward because we got 31% more votes than Goldstein (3677 versus 2807).  I report that achievement not to have you relax with confidence, but to encourage you about how achievable the ultimate victory really is.  But your help is still needed going forward.
.
The run off election is TUESDAY APRIL 13^th.  Mark your calendar NOW and tell your friends not to forget that date!  Our challenge over the next six weeks is to keep our message alive in the minds of our voters; Pastor Stephen Broden is the only Republican candidate who can beat Eddie Bernice Johnson in November.  We will need phone callers, sign bearers and community walkers to maintain the enthusiasm and energy we need to win the Republican nomination.  Please let us know if there are events in your neighborhood where I can share my vision for prosperity for the 30^th District.
.
The key to winning the run off is in NOT taking even a single vote for granted.  Typically less than half as many people vote in a run off.  Let’s not let that happen with Broden supporters.  Turnout is all-important, and your continued financial support and labor for this campaign will ensure our collective victory April 13^th.
.
Please visit our website www.brodenforcongress.com to sign up to help us finish this race as a winner.  And hey, every contribution dollar matters just like every vote.  Please give whatever you can afford today.
.
With Deep Gratitude,
.
Pastor Stephen Broden
.
A Game Changer for The 30^th District
.
P.O. Box 1327

DeSoto, TX 75123-1327

214-717-1315

Some Tea party guys tried to hold a 10×20 foot American Flag from the balcony of the Sam Rayburn office building.

Not permitted, shouted the DC Capitol police from below.  Against the rules to hang things on the buildings or over the balcony  railings.    Even if they were just held instead of fastened (which was why they had four people up there, to hold it).  And apparently this was An Important Rule.

Yes, that’s a hand in the ready position on the service weapon by the one in the back.  Now, anyone with weapons  training will recognize what it means to use such posture, and likely most people would instinctively.  I’m sure the Capitol police have a difficult job, and crowds can be unruly.  These crowds were not, but perhaps these police had been warned about Dangerous Right Wing Radicals of the Tea Party Movement.

Take a good look at these two cops, because it’s all right there, really.

Chicago thug style politics at the nation’s Capitol.

Chicago style thug enforcement of health care by the IRS,  next.

So this flag didn’t complain.  It didn’t question the behavior of The Enforcers.  It simply went off looking for a place where it would be welcome.

I’m pretty sure that flag left Washington DC around midnight.

We’ll see how that same flag fares in November 2010.  And it may be back in DC in 2012, also.

In many parts of the country, Fox News has a number of  advertisers selling gold.  For the Glenn Beck show, there are many  such ads.  I like them.  They are downright entertaining.

“Gordon Liddy here for Rosland Capital”

…..he shoves a US dollar at you about the size of a thimble with a snarl, sternly advising “Buy Gold.  Buy your gold where I buy mine”. Liddy’s the guy from Watergate fame, and quite interesting in his own right.

In DC the Fox News ads feature mournful children with cancer, staring silently while the overlay says “Only $19 per month”.   Shortly thereafter there is an ad with sad, unhappy or starving cats, dogs and horses, saying “Only $19 per month”.

Yes, it’s a very very BAD MAN slinging a baseball bat at a helpless seal. And your money can help save that seal and many others like it! Poor baby seal. Such a mean mean man!

We didn’t see any of the gold ads on Fox News while in DC.  Zero.  Zip.  Nada.

My intent is not to smear the above mentioned non profits (although I’ve never liked appeal to guilt pleadings, with redemption offered at a monthly fee), but to note that they represent  consumption of disposable income. By contrast the theme of the Liddy ad is the preservation of capital, without what preservation there would be no excess for whatever the charitable cause of one’s choice might be.

Of course urging people to “Buy Gold” might not be welcome in the City of the Printers (and Spenders) of the Dollars.  And Washington DC is a sunshine and roses world,  radiating gentle feelings, compassion and happiness in all directions.

Isn’t it?  Then again, maybe there is no demand for the advertisers’ product – gold – in Washington DC.  People in DC may simply know that by executive order, the US government can take all the gold:

In The Great Gold Robbery, Bovard describes what happened in 1933:

On April 5, 1933, Roosevelt commanded all citizens to surrender their gold to the government. No citizen was permitted to own more than $100 in gold coins, except for rare coins with special value for collectors. Morgenthau announced on the same day that “gold held in private hoards serves no useful purpose under present circumstances.” Gold was thus turned into the same type of contraband as Prohibition-banned rum.

Roosevelt, in a later note to his Public Papers, justified the order because it “served to prevent the accumulation of private gold hoards in the U.S.” Roosevelt used the same “hoarding” rhetoric against anyone who owned gold that Stalin used against Ukrainian peasants who sought to retain part of their wheat harvest to feed their families. But while Stalin sent execution squads to kill peasants who had a few bushels of grain hidden in their hovels, Roosevelt was kinder and gentler, seeking only ten-year prison sentences and $250,000 fines for any citizen who defied his edict and possessed more than five Double Eagle gold coins.

The Executive Order cited as legal authority the War Powers Act of 1917 and stated that the ban would be in place only for “the duration of the emergency”.  Gold was required to be turned in to the US federal government at $20.67 per ounce.  A few months after wards, the official exchange rate was raised to $35 per ounce. So the citizens were forced to turn the metals over for about half their actual market value, under threat of prison, but assured that the “emergency was only for a short time”.

And when was it finally okay to own gold again?  1974.  That must have been some “emergency”, to last from 1933 to 1974.
The possibility of political manipulation and governmental theft, as above described, argue against gold as a good investment.

It’s so much nicer and more sensible to give your money away right now at the tear jerker ads. You can prevent that baby seal being killed by mean people. And you’ll feel good inside.

Really?

1:30

Crowd on south lawn of Capital Sunday afternoon.

This is after the speakers had gone and the crowd considerably dispersed.  Now, do not think they are just idiots standing there.

A large number of them are lined up to go inside and talk to both friendly, and unfriendly Congressmen.  Up the street the same thing was happening at other buildings.  Now, a lot of people might ask about those attending Tea Parties “Uhh, what’s the point of standing around shouting slogans?”

No, you see – they were not just standing there.  They were lined up to go inside and talk to their Congressmen.  They were also going to talk to other Congressmen, including those who supported the Health Care bill.  Now I don’t know about you, but I would not want that crowd telling me they were going to vote me out!

View from balcony of Rayburn office building, after main crowd had dispersed into several sections.  Downstairs, people are queued up to go inside to offices of Congressmen.

Four blocks down from Capital Hill,  went to the Hawk and Dove bar and had milkshakes, beer and crab cake sandwiches.

This place was scripted in Vince Flynn’s great spy book,  “Consent to Kill”.  Thought it would be good if Flynn’s characters liked it.

And it was.

Abraham Lincoln was having a beer in the booth next to us.  I rather think he showed up to complain a bit the thug style disregard for the Constitution being bragged about by those in power at the moment. Now, I guess you just don’t know who you might run into in these sorts of places.  It just didn’t seem right to bother Lincoln to take his picture.

So I took some pictures of the interior after  Lincoln left.

Oh, a hint for the curious.

Lincoln was carrying a Tea Party poster.

Found a spot in the edge of a long white tent on the east side of the Capitol, where I could see the screen on this lousy computer.  Tent may have been used a few days prior for something, don’t know.  As it was, it was a handy cool spot.

Several people came by looking for a trash can, suggested they put trash in one corner of the tent.  Zero trash left on grounds by Tea Party protesters (compared:  considerable trash where the Immigration rally was held later).

Lots of people stopped by to just talk.

Why might it be that we seem to have a next generation that’s got it pretty well figured out?

The “Pro Health care” people started to come in.  One stopped to talk a bit – a guy from some lesbian/gay group who had dual canadian and US citizenship.  He was touting the wonders of the canadian system, but seemed to not understand how in the canadian system the central government pays about 30% of the health care bill to the providences, which then are on their own.  So unlike the States, the Canadian provinces can go broke on health care, but not the State.  Then he started talking about how he “Used to support Chavez, but doesn’t anymore”.    Oh, and “Bush was a Fascist”.  And “it was never really Communism, what they had in China”.  Enough of that.

Seems like the “pro health care” people, they try to wear orange caps or orange shirts.  A young twenties and teens bunch largely.  Mostly printed signs, but a few are home made.  Stark contrast with Tea Party signs, which are all home made.

Cheering every time the Congressmen come onto the balcony, some Congressmen held up one letter each to form “Kill the bill”.  The crowd is chanting kill the bill, too.  If tne immigration or Pro Obamacare groups are trying to chant something, it can’t be heard.

Some Democrat reps came to the balcony with a sign that said “Listen to Americans”.  It said Democratic, so that was a cue for that part of the now mixed crowd to start their thing.  Sort of a low level song with someone leading it.  But the Tea Party groups did not shout them down.

More guys with suits drifting around.  Congressmen are easy to identify, typical media-friendly white shirt blue tie or other garb.  Another plain clothes guy, distinctive cop shoes.    A reporter with a a helper, sending content to Europe – big camera, two guys in suits following them, talking German.  A guy running for Congress from Missouri stops by.  Fellow in a cowboy hat proudly tells his story of shooting the finger at Pelosi as she walked away with four Secret Service agents surrounding her,  Family with bible quote poster comes up, wants to give their interpretation of events.

Now the pro immigration people are coming in and walking through the crowds.  Some angry talk from their side, some agitation.  Lots of brown faces led and pointed which direction to go by a couple of anglo white guys.

But some of the groups of immigration protesters were led by hispanics, too.  Oddly, though, they were all tightly organized into groups of about 30:

Maybe they were bussed in and each group was one busload?

East entrance to Capital, groups are lined up on opposing sides.  The right side of the street, a line of “Catholics for Health Care Now” blue identical signs, maybe 150 people.

The left side of street, 1000-3000 Tea Party protesters are visible from this corner.  Total this weekend likely 30K+, yesterday after the main group dispersed we say 3 crowds easily 5k+ each by numerical estimate.

The group with preprinted  “Catholics for Health Care Reform” do zombie chant on cue.  Several Demoncratic reps used this line for photo ops, including Barney Frank.  Cameramen following by some prearrangement.

Tea Party cheer each time a Rep comes out on the balcony and signals a thumb up or down.  But this is procedural vote and the rumour is they have the votes to pass it.

Plain cloths agents in the crowd, leave their radios on speaker.  Perhaps 75 capital police deployed this area.  Crowds look polite, some jeering and a few insults.  Lots of insults when Barney Frank went by.

At 4:38, the crowd disperses and it’s more quiet.  Rumor is that they are going to vote around midnight.  I read into that, possibly wrongly, that nobody wants to be the deciding vote.  4:53 and all day on Clif’s Energy Bars, time to take a break.

Update:  Yes, in the dead of night, approaching midnight, they bought off the remaining few holdouts to allow passing the bill.

Talked with one of several guys that had a sign “Who is John Galt”.   This person taught high school, history and politics.

Suggested he get to the Objectivist conference Vegas July 2-10 this year.

Several people stopped and asked “Who is John Galt?”  Amusing.  More knew the story.  One said “It’s got to be moved to the non fiction section”.

Another said “Check out the Dvd of Rand’s “We the Living” production in the 1940s, and the Fountainhead movie.

And yet another “Even if you are disgusted with Rand, read it to find out that what’s happening was predicted over 50 years ago”.

One doubts that emphasis on the past Progressive agenda is embedded in teaching by an educator who takes the time to show up at the Kill the Bill rally with the Galt sign.

One of the guys that came by and chatted at the White Tent was a preacher who said he’d been coming to DC for 20 years on various issues.

I asked, “what’s fun to do around here?” and after he understood that we’d been through a lot of the museums including Air and Space, he said “Well, there are capitol tours and so forth”. So I asked okay, what is interesting seeing as far as the business of government goes?

The answer?  “Get a pass from your congressman’s office for the visitors gallery for the Senate and Congress.  Then you can check the newspaper for the schedules of hearings and see what might be interesting”.

So I said, sure, but say that I was interested in the Environment committee Boxer had.  That doesn’t mean that whatever might be going on would be interesting.  Not at all.  It could be the most boring day of the year, procedural issues and such, or just a discussion that by nature was boring.

And then comes the cool stuff:

“Oh yeah.  If you want to see Congress at it’s best, go to the gallery of one of the committees when a complete nutcase idiot is running it or on the floor.  Like – what’s that lady – Waters – yeah…Go to a committee meeting where Maxine Waters is talking – it’s sheer comedy”.

Stupak agreed to an Executive Order promising to restrict abortion under the health care bill in order to sell his votes. This outraged a lot of people, because the Executive Order doesn’t have the power of law.

But it most certainly does have the power of law when, where and if the Congress simply rubber stamps the edicts of the Supreme Leader. In such cases, the edicts of the moment become the law, and law ceases to have significant impact.

This has happened before. Argentina, which in 1900 was the economic powerhouse of South America. After experiencing encountered a similar reality, Argentina descended into hyperinflation, economic collapse and social chaos, which it has not emerged from yet.

“We were called the hand-raisers
We were devoted, committed
We voted with our eyes closed
As the party asked us to

We were called the hand-raisers
We legislated without remembering
And our voters were betrayed
And we didn’t hear their boos”

From the documentary “Argentina’s Economic Collapse”. You see, step by step, the economic collapse of Argentina was voted in.