A lot of the photos were taken from Alamo Square. I haven’t seen anything about the overflow area at Hemisfair Park, so I don’t know if those numbers are accounting for that or not.

Esthier on April 16, 2009 at 2:25 PM

I’ll take it a step further. If I owed taxes that weren’t taken out of my paycheck, I’d pay it as quickly as I could. Why? With Napolitano and Holder in their respective slots and a DHS report like the one Janet’s okay with, I’d be scared not to do it. I mean, her first name is ‘Janet’.

ernesto, our rally was all about firing Congress, term limits and throwing the bums out based on the signs. No politicans spoke or even came. No party was promoted. The best sign I saw was a picture of a beautiful small child (six months) with the words “I owe how much?” under the picture.

Cindy Munford on April 16, 2009 at 3:50 PM

Im sure some of the smaller ones steered clear of partisan antics, but the NYC rally had a smattering of state legislators…along with newt effing gingrich. But Gingrich made the very important point about primarying anyone who votes yes on the budget period. repub, dem, they gotta go. That’s how i feel, but theres obviously some partisan feelings among those i find myself agreeing with these days.

A word on police. Though this was my first demonstration as an attendee, this wasn’t my first protest as an observer. Usually the police are present in force: Riot gear, equestrian detail, and plenty of bicycle patrolmen. I spotted exactly three uniformed police officers. None mounted or in riot gear. Either the police didn’t think the turn out would be this large or they hold a different opinion of this crowd.

Perhaps I’m delusional, but I feel (I know I should be thinking, not feeling, but this is a deep gut sort of thing which I’ve come to trust) that this whole TEA party affair marks a turning point in American Politics. The gathering in Portland wasn’t sponsored or lead by a political party. There were Libertarians, Republicans, and even Democrats in attendance but they were there as individuals rather than party members. The ability of the 21st century American to inexpensively communicate with one another across vast distances and organize events like this in such short order, to my mind, heralds a new era where the influence and power of political parties significantly reduced. The political parties were formed to provide a service to the citizenry and now the citizenry is proving that it can perform that service for itself. It may be that political parties may be becoming obsolete.

this debt must end. we do things like wreck the global monetary system (see: nixon/gold standard) when we decide we don’t have to pay for sh*t.

ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 2:59 PM

Agreed. We can’t live like this.

Yeah…. Bush and others have been guilty of this… but the Obama Admin has taken it to a whole new level.

Its like the difference between a little wind, and a Hurricane, somtimes an order of magnitude changes the very nature of the thing in question…

Romeo13 on April 16, 2009 at 3:12 PM

obviously. doubling down was the exact wrong thing to do, in terms of the national debt. but my anger, nor my presence at the really, would not be soothed by the wholesale election of republicans. many at these rallys make it seem like thats the case.

Government Services
The Federal Reserve System, through the Reserve Banks, performs various services for the U.S. Treasury and other government, quasi-government, and international agencies. Each year, billions of dollars are deposited to and withdrawn by various government agencies from operating accounts in the U.S. Treasury held by the Federal Reserve Banks.

The Federal Reserve Banks also issue and redeem instruments of the public debt, such as savings bonds and Treasury securities. They have certain responsibilities for allotment and delivery of government securities and for wire transfer of securities. In addition, the Reserve Banks make periodic payments of interest on outstanding obligations of the U.S. Treasury, federal agencies, and government-sponsored corporations.

Essentialy, you pay your income tax to the Federal Reserve Bank, who holds it for the Government… BUT, they do not daily balance the books… what really happens is the Fed Res LOANS money to the Fed Gov for ongoing needs, and then periodicly, they use the non interest accruing Income Tax assets to “balance” the books… plus the Vig of course.

Add in that the Fed can use this Income tax witholding money for the base of Fractional Lending… and the FACT that the Fed Res Bank pays not income tax…

And you begin to get an idea of how screwed up this whole thing is.

borrow for the wartime tax cut. also why it was dumb to borrow to fight the cold war, or vietnam. dumb to borrow for the great society.

this debt must end. we do things like wreck the global monetary system (see: nixon/gold standard) when we decide we don’t have to pay for sh*t.

ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 2:59 PM

Yeah…. Bush and others have been guilty of this… but the Obama Admin has taken it to a whole new level.

Its like the difference between a little wind, and a Hurricane, somtimes an order of magnitude changes the very nature of the thing in question…

Romeo13 on April 16, 2009 at 2:56 PM

exactly right. thats also why it was dumb for Bush to borrow for the wartime tax cut. also why it was dumb to borrow to fight the cold war, or vietnam. dumb to borrow for the great society.

this debt must end. we do things like wreck the global monetary system (see: nixon/gold standard) when we decide we don’t have to pay for sh*t.

Question…
If the gov doesn’t pay interest on your withholdings every pay period…ahh..
Does that mean they’re practicing sharia finance in some way? /sarc

jerrytbg on April 16, 2009 at 2:53 PM

lol as facetious as that is i suppose we should be entitled to interest on those withholdings. since we all know those funds go straight to all kinds of other stuff.

We’re being lied to.

You CANNOT grow government, yet give a tax break to 95% of the people without going into futher debt…

Obama’s “Tax cut” gave me $400 of MY KIDS MONEY! It was a BRIBE, pure and simple.

Its unsustainable, and anyone with half a brain knows it… but are having problems articulating it…

Its common sense that you cannot borrow your way out of debt… and There aint no such thing as a free lunch…

Yet our government, and political parties which control that government, are trying to convince us that we are wrong, and they can “create” a free lunch, somehow….

ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 2:41 PM

DITTO!!! It would have been a good time. Glad you had a fun. I got a half-a$$ farmer’s tan. We had mounted police outside of our venue and they were quite the photo-op. They probably thought it was boring but it beats the alternative.

the organizers even joked that this would be the only rally in NYC where the parting words would be “and remember to pick up trash on the way out, we’re not slobs”

I love that. I always hate it when I go to an event with a group I care about where they leave trash everywhere. I hope they all promote that.

Yay! I’m doing a little happy dance around the office for you. It sounds like you enjoyed yourself and no one was arrested for breaking windows or clashing with police.

HornetSting on April 16, 2009 at 2:35 PM

Not only did no one break windows, but the NYPD was thanked both at the beginning and end of the rally, and the organizers even joked that this would be the only rally in NYC where the parting words would be “and remember to pick up trash on the way out, we’re not slobs”

Cindy Munford on April 16, 2009 at 2:35 PM

Ahhhh Dont Tread on Me woulda been PERFECT! But yes the blond was quite the looker. As were most of the attendees of the afterparty. It still wasn’t what it could’ve been though, as you weren’t there =P

Same here and we usually get back a refund. Maybe it would be smarter to get as close to no refund as possible.

Cindy Munford on April 16, 2009 at 2:32 PM

I’d certainly recommend that. Just goes along with the, “you can use your money better than the government can” mentality.

Cause you’re right. They keep it all year long and pay no interest to you on it.

A very memorable moment was when a state representative, Charlie Copeland (R), took the mic and made a speech about the original Boston Tea Party. He told the tale of one 15-year old participant. Turned out to be his great great great grandfather (I could be off by a ‘great’ or two). Very cool that we have a descendant of a participant in that historical event serving us in Dover.

The organizers asked that people not display signs that were offensive, partisan, or otherwise unnecessarily provocative, and the crowd was compliant with that as far as I could tell. The crowd was alive with energy. But the thing that struck me the most about this event was the feeling of comeraderie. Everyone was friendly to one another and greeting others with a genuine smile and a hello. We were there for a common cause: to speak out against the INSANITY and our of control deficit spending in Washington.

ernesto on April 16, 2009 at 2:31 PM

I was hoping for a little bit of “Don’t Tread On Me” by Metallica to run with the apparent theme at our rally but I am pretty sure that the blue hairs would not have been amused. But was the blonde singing bluegrass cute? You have to look for the pony in the barn.