Lacking any real economic arguments, our friends at the Seattle Times editorial board whine “No, no, no to increased taxes,” by attempting to frame their status quoist opposition as part of some populist rebellion.
WEDNESDAY’S tax protests should not be brushed off — particularly not by state legislators contemplating tax increases.
Five thousand people rallied in Olympia Wednesday in opposition to more taxes. Others rallied in hundreds of places around the nation, making a point about federal spending and taxes, and also about state spending and taxes.
Some will discount all this by saying it was organized, or that the rally sprung from the fringe. Of course it was organized. All protests with people carrying signs and listening to speakers are organized.
But when organizers get 5,000 people to come to Olympia on a workday, it is evidence of a strong feeling.
Really? Fomented for weeks by FOX News and right-wing talk radio, and promoted locally by the Republican Party and the well-funded Evergreen Freedom Foundation, five thousand people show up in Olympia, and that’s reason enough for legislators to dismiss the notion of a tax increase? 5,000 protestors? That’s the magic number?
So… if I were to get five thousand and one people to show up in Olympia rallying to support a high-earners income tax, would that be equally compelling? Would that convince the Times that a tax increase should be considered?
No, of course not. They’d dismiss us as the organized fringe, a small group of true believers out of step with the mainstream… you know, despite the trio of recent polls showing support for a high-earners income tax steadily above fifty percent.
But I’ll tell you what… I’m up to the challenge. If the Times editors assure me that they would treat my pro-tax rally just as credulously as they treated the FOX teabagging party, I’ll bring at least 5,001 pro-tax protesters to Olympia. And if I can’t, well, I guess the people will have spoken.
The ST not only looks like the Weekly Reader, at this point in time, but their level of news analysis has sunk far below it.
We cancelled our daily subscription, but the Sunday version (/s PI) is so bad I think we will cancel that too.
otoh, the stimes informed me of this nugget about the only current “democratic” challenger in the 8th CD 2010 race (via slog) today:
“I’m not perfect, and I regret that I don’t have a perfect voting record,” DelBene, 47, said.
uh, more like any voting record, Suze.
please let the 8th have a candidate to defeat the phony moderate, torture supporter, and corporate darling Reichert who reported $194,000 in contributions and 157 donors who gave at least $200 [including] Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer [who] gave $2,400, as did Microsoft founder Bill Gates [and whose] donors included 42 political-action committees that gave $81,750.
I agree with Goldy. How DARE the Seattle Times say that the tax protests should not be brushed off. Didn’t they get the memo? Don’t they know they are supposed to be ridiculing them as “tea-baggers,” like Rachel Maddow does? Don’t they know they should be belittling the movement? Most other media outlets are. Doesn’t the Seattle Times know they are supposed to slant the event, like Goldy did, by highlighting only reporting on the most controversial opinions and signs at the protests?
Goldy, if you can get 5,001 pro-tax folks to hang out at Tacoma’s Krispy Kreme and then convoy down to Olympia for a pro-tax rally, then go for it! Heck, there’s probably a good chance that only a couple of guys and gals will even have to take-off from work to go.
Good luck!
Also, keep in mind that there’s no light rail or bus service between Krispy Kreme and the capitol steps.
i so love goldy’s baseless calls for more taxes. put it on the ballot bro and you will lose.
the slog interview with suzan delbene has this choice exchange with eli sanders:
Q: Why is it that Barack Obama can rack up a double-digit margin of victory in the 8th District but Democratic Congressional candidates can’t?
A: I don’t know that a Democratic congressional candidate can’t. I think that one hasn’t. It’s a combination of a lot of things, but in the end it comes down to who shows up to vote . . .
http://www.thestranger.com/sea.....id=1220631
Goldy, if you get 5001 people to rally for higher taxes on a weekday in Olympia and none of them blocks access to the capitol, destroys anything, spouts things like impeach Bush or anything unrelated, I’ll buy you a beer
The Senate passed the bill calling for an initiative to raise the sales tax for a while to close the State budget shortfall.
Goldy – put a cork in it about the income tax.
You want nurses to be fairly compensated, right? Tell your readers they must vote yes on the sales tax increase. You’re a progressive, and we don’t need backbiting in the party.
You don’t think the ST sales tax increase is more important than this sales tax increase, do you? I’d like you to make that argument – I really would!
HAHAHAHA!. Dumb dumbs, Goldy’s post ISN’T about the income tax or tea party protests! It’s about the Seattle Times Editorial Board. Again.
ivan @10,
ST and other local taxing districts have no option but to use the taxing authority granted to them by the state. But the state does have an option. That’s the difference.
And no, I don’t think I will urge my readers to vote for a sales tax increase. I may vote for it myself, but at this point in time I don’t see myself actively campaigning for it.
It would great goldy if someone would have put any pressure from progressive groups on the legislature. The largest rally by far this whole session was the anti-tax rally. No pissed off teachers or health care providers or people losing their health care coverage, at least not more than a couple hundred people. The progressive movement was a joke this session and hopefully they’ll regroup during the interim and actually get some folks down to Olympia next year. I’d be embarrassed if I were the leader of any of the unions, anti-poverty, or pro health care groups.
The “tea-baggers,” are – very much like the dickless Troll – pathetic and irrelevant.
We should be belittling the movement – it’s nothing more than a BOWEL movement – again, much like every single word that comes out of diskless Troll’s mouth.
The real media, i.e., that not controlled by Faux Noise realizes this whole thing was a non-event.
Dickless Troll wants the Time to slant the event, like Faux News by hiding the signs that said “Send the N-word Home!”
The fucking hypocrites on the right represent the worst of America and THAT is just reason number 348 of 200,000 that we sent the cowardly GOP packing Nov 4.
It appears, again like Dickless Troll that the right is perpetually stupid and has learned nothing from its ass-kicking on Nov 4 – so, I guess we’ll just have to do it to em again.
It wouldn’t be a big deal for the unions to get 5,000+ people to march on the capitol. We’ve done it plenty before, but to what purpose? When state employees went on strike there were hundreds there every day and a series of well attended rallies around the state. What did Gary Locke and the legislature do? Placated them to end the strike and turned around and then reneged on every promise made during the strike.
5,000 or 500,000 on the steps of the capital has little or no impact other than to annoy legislators. Obviously campaign contributions from anyone outside the “business community” don’t either.
What (legal) methods do work? Maybe we need to be searching the beaches for a magic lamp.
Do it. Organize the event, send out a press release to the Times, and I’ll do my best to show up in support.
Yes–
Please organize a Tax Increase Rally!!
Love to see it.
You see, the income tax WILL NOT be tax neutral…it will be an increase.
So your rally would have to be a Tax Increase Rally.
By all means…PLEASE do it.
Republicans seem to be poor losers, don’t you think? Lose an election and what do they do? They call for secession and revolution. Like I said, poor losers.
Cynical,
I’ve never presented the high-earners income tax as revenue neutral. It is a tax increase on between .1% and 4% of households, depending on how you implement.
I wouldn’t mind seeing part of the revenues offset by a cut in the state sales tax, but I’ve always been upfront that this would raise more revenue.
So yeah… it’s a tax increase… on the wealthy.
It is time for the wealthy to pay their fair share. It is time for an income tax on the wealthy and time to eliminate the deductions that the wealthy pay their high priced lawyers to find for them. Hell, if I made as much as some of these people I would consider it my obligation to pay more in taxes.
Count me in! I’ll show up for the 5001 Convention.
Ivan, we all agree we need to fund government.
Now is the time to move away from the regressive sales tax and have an honest debate about an income tax.
Backbiting in the party? Come on Ivan
On a lighter note, a counter protest called the Donkey Punch.
Maybe we ought to GOOGLE it first.
CUT Govt in half. They dont do shit anyway except get in the way of productive people.
If any of you losers ever made some real money
and actually earned it you would feel a bit different about taxes. I think this whole mess
is funny as HELL! GO LIBTARDS!
@Moron 23:
Yup – let’s cut education, preventative health care and taking care of our old people – that really will help us out in the future. In the neanderthal vision of the republican party (as represented by the stupid and illiterate “Mark”, gov’mint don’t do nothin’ anyhow.
“Mark” (who I am sure works for under 10 bucks an hour cleaning dishes somewhere, but aspires to be a venture capitalist someday and ruin an economy of his own) thinks gov’mint should not regulate our drugs, our food, keep our water clean and the criminals off the streets – but he is perfectly willing to spend more than the rest of the world to “keep us safe” (’cause he hides under the bed at the thought of al qaida).
Thanks Mark, for brightening my day. We need the irreponsible third grade perspective on here every once in a while.
I agree we should cut the government in half – get rid of most of the military, the DEA, the war on drugs, all federal money spent on bullshit like anti-abortion education, we should stop giving churches tax breaks, close all prisons that house non-violent offenders and that will get us close.
@23
Look you dickless wonder, if they actually did anything, government workers might be worth the excessive taxes we pay.
The teachers don’t teach, the cops don’t respond to crimes, the department of ecology is shitting in the creeks, the department of fish and wildlife is giving the fish to the indians, and the damn city won’t use salt on the roads because it might get into Puget Sound.
So strangling the legislature by cutting off the checkbook seems like a pretty damn good idea.
24 and 25 Looks like a two-fer. Two govt workers in one shot. Worthless drags on society.
26 Delbert, why are you pickin on me?
We turned out over 30,000 teachers to protest education cuts and low teacher salaries a few years ago. The Seattle Times told us that was insignificant. We turned out over !00,000 for an Iraq war protest and the Seattle Times said that was insignificant.
http://www.pollingreport.com/
Hey CYNCYN – stop raping kids and start telling the truth.
Obama job rating approval/disapproval:
Cook/RT Strategies RV
60%/30%
Ipsos/McClatchy
63%/33%
Pew
61%/26%
CNN/ORC
66%/30%
CBS/New York Times
66%/24%
ABC/Washington Post
66%/29%
Sorry, meant @24