[iamzack]

The really fascinating thing is that the original colonists were *****ing about taxes that were less than what people in England were paying... Colonists' taxes weren't even enough to cover the cost of running the colonies. Not to mention most of the colonists didn't even pay their taxes anyway.

I wonder if the current Tea Party will start looking to the Sons of Liberty.

I've always been taught that it was less about taxes than it was paying taxes to a government that ignored them when they needed help and prevented them from helping themselves. In fact, taxation is only a small bullet point mentioned once in the Declaration of Independence.

I really wish people would actually take the time to read the grievances...

Tea Party is generally about taxes, not about not being allowed to live west of the Appalachian mountains.

[sayoqod]

Exactly, and that's a lot of tacking.

Also, I think there are problems with the name, I understand the original intention behind calling it the 'Tea Party', but I wouldn't be surprised if more people nowdays associated that name more with Alice in Wonderland than Boston, and get visions of several mad people running around shouting at each other. This possibly does not help.

That's the mental image I got from the beginning

[Drogoth]

I'm just curious about how the Tea Party intends to lower the deficit while cutting spending AND lowering taxes. Cutting spending works while income remains steady. It doesn't work if your net income is still 0. Or in this case negative numbers.

I don't get it. Is there some disconnect where Tea Party members don't know what taxes are for? Do roads just pop into existence? Lights. police, schools, etc?

[achtung]

I don't get it. Is there some disconnect where Tea Party members don't know what taxes are for? Do roads just pop into existence? Lights. police, schools, etc?

I'm sure that private firms could handle those, in their eyes at least. I know most of them seem to be serious private school (translates to daily paid sunday school)  proponents.

[Polpolion]

The really fascinating thing is that the original colonists were *****ing about taxes that were less than what people in England were paying... Colonists' taxes weren't even enough to cover the cost of running the colonies. Not to mention most of the colonists didn't even pay their taxes anyway.

I wonder if the current Tea Party will start looking to the Sons of Liberty.

I've always been taught that it was less about taxes than it was paying taxes to a government that ignored them when they needed help and prevented them from helping themselves. In fact, taxation is only a small bullet point mentioned once in the Declaration of Independence.

I really wish people would actually take the time to read the grievances...

Tea Party is generally about taxes, not about not being allowed to live west of the Appalachian mountains.

And so that would imply that the entire link between revolutionary era "tea partiers" and modern tea partiers is null. That said, why did you bring it up?

(also the tea party with the colonists really wasn't about just taxes in and of itself. The Tea Act of 1773 actually reduced the price of legally imported tea in the colonies.)

[iamzack]

The really fascinating thing is that the original colonists were *****ing about taxes that were less than what people in England were paying... Colonists' taxes weren't even enough to cover the cost of running the colonies. Not to mention most of the colonists didn't even pay their taxes anyway.

I wonder if the current Tea Party will start looking to the Sons of Liberty.

I've always been taught that it was less about taxes than it was paying taxes to a government that ignored them when they needed help and prevented them from helping themselves. In fact, taxation is only a small bullet point mentioned once in the Declaration of Independence.

I really wish people would actually take the time to read the grievances...

Tea Party is generally about taxes, not about not being allowed to live west of the Appalachian mountains.

And so that would imply that the entire link between revolutionary era "tea partiers" and modern tea partiers is null. That said, why did you bring it up?

(also the tea party with the colonists really wasn't about just taxes in and of itself. The Tea Act of 1773 actually reduced the price of legally imported tea in the colonies.)

Well I didn't name the group, now did I?

[Polpolion]

The really fascinating thing is that the original colonists were *****ing about taxes that were less than what people in England were paying... Colonists' taxes weren't even enough to cover the cost of running the colonies. Not to mention most of the colonists didn't even pay their taxes anyway.

I wonder if the current Tea Party will start looking to the Sons of Liberty.

I've always been taught that it was less about taxes than it was paying taxes to a government that ignored them when they needed help and prevented them from helping themselves. In fact, taxation is only a small bullet point mentioned once in the Declaration of Independence.

I really wish people would actually take the time to read the grievances...

Tea Party is generally about taxes, not about not being allowed to live west of the Appalachian mountains.

And so that would imply that the entire link between revolutionary era "tea partiers" and modern tea partiers is null. That said, why did you bring it up?

(also the tea party with the colonists really wasn't about just taxes in and of itself. The Tea Act of 1773 actually reduced the price of legally imported tea in the colonies.)

Well I didn't name the group, now did I?

Modern tea partiers are going to become a terrorist organization bent on creating a government in which they have a say on whether or not they get taxed? I'm afraid I don't understand what kind of point you're making.

[esarai]

What's hilarious to me is their militant advocacy for undoing the very institutions that keep citizens safe, and I'm not talking about the local public service ones.  Imagine the crap we'd get ourselves into if we shut down all the federal government regulatory institutions?  They're leaky enough as it is now, but if they just weren't there in the first place... hell, that's what we'd get. 

 I say we should let them have their way, and then the rest of the United States would wake up (provided the Tea Partiers don't gerrymander or engage in blatant voting fraud or some other dastardly power-grab) and think 'oh **** we're dumbasses, this sucks,' and their movement would end almost immediately.  Thing is, I don't trust these people enough.  People who think anarchy is the way to riches should not be engaged in politics in any way.

[Lucika]

Someone really should form the Coffee Party.

[iamzack]

they already did

[Kosh]

they already did

like this one?

[iamzack]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Party

[Nuclear1]

Tea Party's mostly formed by a bunch of poorly-educated white people who hate runaway spending (because Fox told them it was bad), socialists/communists (because the Cold War told them it was bad), and big government (because Glenn Beck told them it was bad).

Bear in mind, I guarantee you 90% of Tea Partiers don't know the difference between socialism and communism, and how the Democratic Party is nowhere near even the most remote definition of socialist. 

And the one thing I've always found interesting; the Tea Party sat by idly for eight years while Bush expanded the government and absolutely exploded the deficit, but as soon as Obama was elected, they decided it was a problem?  (Oh wait...I forgot...Bush was a white Republican...)

I also don't know why everyone's surprised that the TP is turning violent; what did you expect out of a group that it named itself after a group of colonists that dressed up in Native American war attire and destroyed an entire shipment of cargo?

[Titan]

Technically, the US is a socialist state by definition, rather then a democracy.

Or so my teacher said. It wasn't some nutballs political statement, it was something that I remember her having good reasons for pointing out.

[Nuclear1]

The US is a representative democracy with a mixed economy rather than a pure democracy with a laissez faire system.

Socialism isn't really a government system.  It's more of an economic system.

[Polpolion]

Technically, the US is a socialist state by definition, rather then a democracy.

Or so my teacher said. It wasn't some nutballs political statement, it was something that I remember her having good reasons for pointing out.

yeah your teacher has a really interesting definition of socialism.

[Flipside]

I remember being told once that Communism is like trying to run a company entirely with middle management, no-one to make policy decisions or the coffee...

[Kosh]

hate runaway spending (because Fox told them it was bad)

So a $1.4 trillion deficit is nothing to worry about?

[Nuclear1]

Never said that.

Mostly pointed that out to illustrate Tea Party hypocrisy when it comes to who's making the runaway spending happen.  They seem to take a much different attitude to a Republican president doing than they do to a Democrat.

I remember being told once that Communism is like trying to run a company entirely with middle management, no-one to make policy decisions or the coffee...

  The best part of waking uppppp is commiiieesss in your coffffeeeee

[General Battuta]

hate runaway spending (because Fox told them it was bad)

So a $1.4 trillion deficit is nothing to worry about?

Proportionally I'm not actually sure we're doing that badly compared to some historical instances.