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msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
Tea Party activists gather in the shadow of the Capitol to urge budget cuts.
From msnbc.com's Carrie Dann
As budget negotiations continued inside the halls of Congress Thursday, a gathering of Tea Party activists huddled at a cold outdoor rally on Capitol Hill to send a message to the deal-makers inside:
They're ready to pick a fight.
A few hundred people -- far fewer than the massive rallies seen before last year's midterm elections -- who braved the dreary weather urged lawmakers to push deep cuts to the federal budget even if it results in a temporary shuttering of the government, chanting "Cut it or shut it!" and punctuating cheers with calls to "shut it down!"
"If Harry Reid wants a fight, let's give it to him!" said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), one of a parade of conservative lawmakers who made remarks at the event sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots.
Many of the rally's speakers were careful to note that Democrats are "rooting" for a shutdown and that GOP budget-cutters hope to avoid a funding lapse that would turn off the government's lights.
Democratic leaders "want to turn you into their scapegoats and blame the Tea Party for shutting the government down," said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).
Rep. Allen West (R-FL) declared, "We are not here to talk about shutting the government down... But if you want to talk about shutting down the government, go over there and talk to Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!"
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) told reporters after his brief remarks to the crowd that a federal closure is undesirable but would not be catastrophic.
"No Republican wants to shut the government down. I don't think anybody here really wants a shutdown," DeMint said, "but we shouldn't be so afraid of a shutdown that we can't make the right decisions right now." He added, "We can't be cowed by this threat."
The preemptive finger-pointing over a potential shutdown likely stems from the scars of the budget fights of the mid-1990s, when the public soured on GOP leaders in the wake of a series of federal closings.
A full federal closure "is not going to be very popular with the American people," warned Clinton-adviser-turned-conservative-commentator Dick Morris, who instead suggested a "targeted shutdown" of agencies -- like the EPA and the National Labor Relations Board -- that are loathed by Tea Party activists.
"We don't have to close down the government. We're going to close down the parts of the government we can't stand!" Morris said.
That sentiment was met with cheers -- as well as a smattering of shouts to "shut it down!"
*** UPDATE *** Here's a dispatch from NBC's Catherine Chomiak:
As the continuing resolution currently funding the government inches closer to its expiration date of April 8, Tea Party activists rallied today for a budget battle. Reps. Steve King (R-IA), Mike Pence (R-IN), Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) fired up the crowd on a dreary day in Washington, D.C., with calls for a fight and threats of a government shutdown.
Congressman Pence, citing the current deficit, debt, and “defiant liberal majority in the Senate” said the time was right “to pick a fight."
“The debt stops here,” he said. “If liberals in the Senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, I say, 'Shut it down.'”
Representative and potential Republican presidential candidate Bachmann hit Democrats saying they are hoping for a government shut down. “That’s their plan," Bachmann said. "They want to shut the government down, and they want to turn you into their scapegoat and say, 'It’s the Tea Party’s fault for shutting the government down.'"
Paul urged the Tea Party members to keep up their political involvement. “The fight is just beginning,” he vowed. “Keep their feet to the fire, call them, email them, let them know that you are prepared for America to move forward, but only by balancing the budget and making government smaller.”
In addition to a fight on the budget, King showed support for his fellow House Republican saying, “We need to fight on Mike Pence’s proposal on unfunding (sic) Planned Parenthood… And we need to fight on cutting off the funding that implements Obamacare.”
Bachmann also got loud cheers from the crowd when she proposed sending “a change of address form to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.”
This is something Bachmann has said before and will probably be said again, as she continues to consider a 2012 presidential bid.
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The republicans will cave and meet the dems in the middle ! Just where the country is not like the teaparty fools.
...As tea party member show there true education, it become clear that they had a lot of financial help and a push for someone with a lot of money(Koch) ......
Teaparty - education?
I have faith in the American public. In 2012 the teabaggers will be history, nothing more than a far right fringe element anyway. Anyone that has Michelle Bachmann as their spokesperson has serious problems..serious..
Not much difference between batsh$$t and full of sh$$t..
Do you know what is the literal meaning of "teabagger?" Wash your mouth out!
Heck no I say "Let's" follow the Tea Baggers example and take over the Republo part of their ONE PARTY! You know it was the Grand Ole Party of Lincoln and he WOULD Appreciate US restoring its HONOR!
The Demo wing of the "Rats" is Stuck up Obama's......... except for Dennis Kucinich anyway.
Vote PAUL/KUCINICH 2012 and lets put Men of Principle in charge for ONCE!
Apparently, the TeaBaggers didn't know the meaning, since that's what they were calling themselves. Until they checked with the grandkids, of course.
but Nader makes a REALLY good WATCH DOG so.........
BTW JC while you're at it ask them what a "Sock Puppet" is, OK?
Them little kiddies are just so technical I'm sure they can explain it to your "programing"!
Yeah, I think some arrangement of Kucinich/Nader/Paul mightn't be a bad idea. Hard to tell if ANYONE could do much of anything to alter the river of slime we've got flowing (without getting killed). Here's another gem from history:
“Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the United States in the field of commerce and manufacture, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” President Woodrow Wilson in The New Freedom, 1913.
In 1916 he had this to add, “A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities, are in the hands of a few men ... We have become one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world – no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men.” Quoted in Senate Doc. N° 23, 76th Congress, 1st session, 1939, p. 98 by Senator Robert L. Owen.
Time for a little adjustment to your meds, MUW? Maybe you should ask your grandkids about "straw men". I'm guessing they have better focus than you.
JC
Hahahaha
Oh Annonymous here's another One Line Sock Puppet to trace........
BTW I teach my Grand Kids "Technical" (well mostly)
Gee I truely love a good scandal and this one will be a BIG one!
qed, MUW.
Spend, don't spend. Cut, don't cut. Solvency, economic ruin.
I'm almost certain that the Tea Party is being financed primarily by the Koch Brothers . But lately it appears the main beneficiary of their actions is Obama. Their economic illiteracy will be Obama's red carpet for 4 more years in 2012. It's obvious they have virtually no understanding about the effects of such massive cuts in this anemic economy. Their formula for closing the deficits is cut, cut, cut. They ignore the other side of the equation; tax revenue. They probably beilieve that stupid conservative chestnut that the government spending never created a single job. They'll find out the hard way when teachers,poilice, municipal workers like garbage men and firemen in their own towns start getting laid off because the spedning cuts aren't followed by increased tax revenues, just downward spiralling as revenues decrease more from the layoffs.
George Soros spends his money where?
And for every one George Soros are there not about 20 fueling the republican/tea party?! I mean, come on...just look at the Citizen's United ruling (not exactly a ruling from the liberal side of the bench was it?)...which of course supports the corporate buy-out of this country.
Are these people mentally challenged? They say that the Democrats want to shut down the government all the while they stand there shouting "cut it or shut it". They really believe the American people are idiots don't they? By the sound of their chants they should be with the Democrats if what they say is true. Can't they see what the republicans are doing, they certainly aren't with the tea baggers. The speakers are all congressional republicans who stood there blaming the Democrats for shutting the government down when the crowd wants to shut it down. They need to seek mental health care right now.
The teaparty never ran on having any brains... in fact, lack of.... is the fastest way to become a member.
Goodnight, You're to be ignored, here and on the bread line.
True Republican Candidates, are focus on " 2016 ", they are intelligent enough to know know is the time to work with President Obama,.
A few hundred people show up to a rally in the nation's capital, and they deserve front page coverage in not one, but two articles?
Hell, even Concert Promoter FAUX News has been forced to admit that the pathetic attendance was probably due to the weather.
As everyone knows, late March/early April in DC is ever so much more inclement than, say, Wisconsin in mid-winter.
LMAO, what a non-story!
this is a great thing, now we can see if the Koch Brothers don't bus them in, they won't pay there own way !
LOL, I just took a close look at the photos attached; poor photographer was trying to do his level best just to fill the frame with humans!
It couldn't have been easy...
The numbers may have been a little small but you got the remember something every important.... most
Tea Party citizens are hard-working citizens. They are busy working so that the loony left socialist thugs collect their welfare checks.There are a lot of union protester because they don't have jobs. They collective bargained themselves out of their jobs. So the hard-working conservatives are supporting these union members. Also Tea Party people don't get paid to be at the rallies like the unions. Unions bus in union members from out of state and pay them to be there. There may be a lot of older people there, well, they can remember how great this nation once was until the present adminstration took over. It has no more to destory and divide this country than any other adminstration in the history of this country, has done more to destory this country than Wilson or Roosevelt even dreamed of doing.
Got to hand it to teabaggers...having a party when no one can show up. That is analogous to having a kid's birthday party on a school day. Typical!
just the thought, of Mrs. Bachmann "running" for president as the republican nominee,.....
Those in the tea party should consider moving to Alaska. Think about it.
- Virtually virgin country, you can make of it as you will.
- No infrastructure, roads, so the government hasn't interferred. You can keep it that way.
- It has vast natural resources that you can exploit.
- It has Sara Palin.
- Too cold for most people of color, it's white.
- It will be a lot easier to suceed from the union, it's not even attached, and you have Canada to separate you from the liberals.
- No state income tax...and free money back at the end of the year,,,,something for nothing, perfect for teabaggers.
I'm telling you, it's a great plan....think about it...
They are all talk but no walk. Obama gave them the go ahead to create their own healthcare reform as long as it was better than what we have now. The only one taking him up on it is Vermont...with a single payer program.
It's okay, shut it down. So all you teas who are over 65 won't get your social security checks, you won't get your entitlements, but your tea-congresspeople will get everything despite the fact that they are not working. Your veterans hospitals will close (no money), but go ahead. I'm sure you teas will be the first ones to complain. Your all just so good at it, anyway. Maybe your tea-congress will lend you some of that 174k they are making..Oops they got there own bills to pay, so to hell with you
you hit on the problem--THEY DON'T HAVE BILLS TO PAY!!!!!!!!
this is why government has no clue about what to do --they've all been on free ride so long.
I doubt they even pay to get a haircut..
Same problem exist with the border==most have never been and if have it's been with someone
telling them what they are seeing--it's the reason they are blind to the problem
Do you know what you get when you have a couple of tea baggers assembling - Media Coverage, what a shame we as a country have to be exploited by the GOP puppets thur our media, I forgot the media is owned by the GOP, and so is the Supreme Court. What happen to our country, when some tea bag hags with their anti freedom, anti democracy thinking has any substance, our we going to let these puppets for the GOP divide our country so the wealth barons can rob at will. Vote for the GOP and you vote to shut down democracy as we use to know it.
The teabaggers are a disgrace.
G-Dog wrote........Andrew Jackson who (optimistically, and prematurely ) had "I killed the Bank!" carved into his tombstone, survived attempted assassination; then there is this:
True but they said that about "Killing FDR" and he MADE IT. Why? Because of US (my Grandparents) OUT IN THE STREETS of America making sure in "No Uncertain Terms" exactly what would happen if FDR was assassinated by these Robber Barons!
Better to loose some of your money than ALL OF IT! But you are correct and assassination is something to watch for if America WINS.
My support of Dr Ron Paul comes from his 2008 statements of WE HAVE TO Prosecute these Liars & Thieves! I hope and believe he is a man of his word but that's why we need Nader THERE TOO!
Vote Paul/Nader 2012 Investigate/Prosecute/Incarcerate! America's Left, Right and Middle against THE BANKSTERS!
BTW Sir Baron if ya'll get Paul you have to deal with NADER!!!!
MUW, you've expressed high regard for FDR (as many people did, and have) so here's one from him.
“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the large centers has owned the Government of the U.S. since the days of Andrew Jackson.” FDR in a letter to Colonel Edward Mandell House, 1933
I've been keeping up with your posts here, and the prospects you've mentioned as third party possibles each have good points. A couple of things concern me about Ron Paul, one of which being his expressed desire to return to the gold standard. Gold is a commodity the value of which is subject to the same manipulation as paper--and there doesn't seem to be sufficient gold in the world to actually credit people with enough of it to cover all expenditures made. Anyway. It's been obvious for quite a while that the Presidents do not have the control many people believe.
G-DOG I'm sorry it can't be a 3rd Party because they will get NO "Air Time". Instead it has to be the Republo's because the Demo-Rats refused to have a primary Challenger to Obama-Cheney in 2012.
Republo-Rats will get AIR TIME and we can even use some of the "Koch Boys" Money to do it!
So......take a deep breath.......hold your nose........Register like a Tea Bagger.....and.........
Vote Paul/Nader 2012 Investigate/Prosecute/Incarcerate EVERONE of them Oligarchs!
G
there's not enough Gold in the World to return to the "Gold Standard" but like some of the more enlightened countries abroad we should base the "True Blue" on a "Commodities Standard" for America Like Gold + Silver + Silicon + Copper + Oil + Steel etc.......... somethings REAL. Never again allow OUR Dollar to be based on "PAPER" alone.
At least that way the "Robber Barons" have to CORNER" a bunch of Markets and that is MUCH HARDER.
I think we have ALL seen recently how much the "Full Faith and Credit" of our Government is worth. Otherwise they will ALWAYS play with OUR Money for themselves. Lock it down and break them up!
I don't really mind using paper, it's cheap, and has reasonable anti-counterfeiting applicable--but your idea of a basing it on a conglomeration of material might make it difficult to screw with, ...not a bad thought! I'll have to think that one through a bit!
I'm for getting to bottom of who waltzed away with (up to) 3-4 trillion dollars--oh yes, I'd like to know. This idea of no investigations or prosecutions makes me wonder what's going on! The fox has been guarding the henhouse--that's for sure. And I guess you're right about a third party or write-in not being feasible...hmmm...a Republican nominee?--don't see how that'll happen in our electoral system. I'd sure like to see term limits for Congress, a change of seniority rules (equal representation), and legislation around Citizens United too...but, if wishes were horses then beggars would ride!
Across the nation, Repub Hoods are stripping the poor and giving more tax cuts to the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations in their states. They are also, state by state, stripping workers of their decades old collective bargaining rights and slashing education funds. The middle class gets ripped off at both the national and state levels. The poor are left defenseless.
America is not the land of the wealthy and home of the poor, unless we allow it to happen.
Let's see what they say when all of their jobs get outsourced and right-sized...keep on drinking that tea.
Hey EVERYBODY !!!!!!! Quit wasting time ,energy,brain power and emotion on these posts....Nobody on either side is gonna change anybody on the other sides mind.... I'm a hard core "union thug" and found myself posting like a maniac and losing sleep over what the "enemy" was saying and amazingly believing....here is the one FACT that is undeniable.....REPUBLICANS ALWAYS TAKE THE SIDE OF BIG BUSINESS OVER PEOPLE......HAHAHAHAHA......After all that "quit wasting time" crap here I am pontificating again....This @!$%# is tearing us all apart and I see no end to it......Eff it...Let the culture war continue
Sorry Al it isn't just the...
REPUBLICANS ALWAYS TAKE THE SIDE OF BIG BUSINESS OVER PEOPLE
It's the Demo-Republo-Rats who always (insert above). There is no difference and as long as the MIDDLE allows the Left and Right to "Share the Blame" US will never be FREE of THEM Billionaire Banksters!
But we can never give up WE THE PEOPLE did NOT in 1932 now did US? It was as least as "Dark" then during the 1st Great Depression as it is during OUR 2nd (both caused by the same crew)!
Please keep a Stiff Upper Lip and all that.......... (oops sorry to quote the Bloody British)
AMERICA NEEDS OUR UNIONS AGAIN!
BTW My Profession doesn't have a "Union" It Seems I/We make too much money. I here we can join the IBEW though.........
Good one,rlp0903.
WOW 300. What an impressive (LOL) number of people the Tea pottyers brought out.
They are a minority, nothing more. Why are they being allowed to influence the direction of our country?
Republican tea potty Governors in Wi and MI are showing the country just how bad things will be if we let those nutbags run the country.
Imagine President Michelle (Chicken-Little) Bach Bach Bachman. I'm LMAO while a chill runs up my spine.
Well friends (and foe's) this poor ole gray mule gots to call it a night cause them Banksters want my money so I gots to go to work another day. But it is FRIDAY and Thanks to the Good Lord and the American Unions I still get my WEEKEND (some poor folk don't)!
Just Remember it is WE THE PEOPLE who really decide things in America (just like in1932) so..........
Vote Paul/Nader 2012 Investigate/Prosecute/Incarcerate these new "Robber Barons" just like we've done so MANY Times before!
Republicans are legislating with budget cuts. Social programs they disdain are being stripped of funding. The evidence is not consistent with saving revenue in a fair and rational way. It is slashing and burning for social change. Every Republican controlled state has saved so much that they are making tax revenue cuts for the wealthy and powerful. Beyond saving money, they are systematically stripping union rights for workers. That reduces union dues and weakens unions' ability to fund campaign donations, primarily beneficial to the Democrat Party which has traditionally fought for workers rights and to keep the wealthy and powerful from manipulating and exploiting the public and corrupting the democratic process. The Party was founded around President Andrew Jackson's basic belief that the people's democracy needed protection from powerful banks and corporations, whose assets and influence far exceeded that of the common man*.
(*This was pre-Marx, pre-socialism, pre-union, and pre-Republican)
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I didn't write this, but I could not have said it better!
I think Obama is the absolute best thing that has happened to America since Reagan.
He has thoroughly destroyed the potential for the progressive movement to ever again be in a position of power.
He has caused a reawakening in the core values that made America the greatest nation on Earth, as is reflected in the diverse yet united themes of the various Tea Party-style grassroots activists groups that have organically swept the nation.
He has caused us to go back and learn the true history of our Founding Fathers, the creation of America and its roots in Christian principles despite decades of revisionist history and indoctrination by the progressives trying to smear those truths.
He has made it possible for us to look over the cliff that the progressives are rushing America toward s and see the destruction of our Constitutional Republic by the progressives who want to “fundamentally transform” America into just another weak European-style welfare state with no sovereignty left under a new one-world order.
He has shown us that progressives want to dismantle the free-market system and replace it with socialism, stifle the First Amendment, and on, and on, and on.
Thank you, God, for giving us Barrack Obama, for now we are truly awakened never again to fail our civic responsibilities to this great nation, and will rise to our just and righteous position as the beacon of freedom for the world once more.
Pseudo-patriotism, wishful thinking, delusion, historic mythology, propaganda, and self-righteous apeal to God may be good for a sheet of fiction, but has no logical meaning. You claim to be a Christian? You are at varience with practically every thing Jesus actually taught. Way to go, Pharisee.
Typical Redneck Peckerneck logic let's screw everyone then blame it one the Black guy...
Works for me! But when describing the guy, do it correctly Lizard - he's the HALF-WHITE guy with the fly-away ears.
This wouldn't be the first time the government has "shut down" due to inability to pass a budget. Just more hype.
Due to unwillingness to pass a continuing resolution.