Washington (CNN) – Just about every blockbuster movie is followed by a sequel, or two. The tea party cross country caravan, it appears, is no different.
A Tea Party Express official tells CNN that they’re planning a third national tour in late March and early April that will culminate in the nation’s capitol on April 15, tax deadline day.
Levi Russell, a spokesman for the group, which is organized by the conservative political action committee Our Country Deserves Better, says the slogan for the tour is “just vote them out.”
Russell says that with the crucial 2010 midterm elections just months away, the tour will spotlight members of Congress who they consider the worst offenders when it comes to fiscal policy. While both Republicans and Democratic lawmakers will be targeted, Russell acknowledges that more Democrats than Republicans will be on their scopes.
More Dems than Righties targeted? Who didn’t see that coming?
The Our Country Deserves Better PAC was on the campaign trail for John McCain in 2008. From CNN, August 2009:
Then Tony Harris did an interview with Mark Williams, the chief spokesman for Our Country Deserves Better PAC, the organization behind the “Tea Party Express.” And while Harris did try to ask Williams some skeptical questions, it was a very congenial segment.
Most of all, Williams was able to flatly deceive the CNN audience about their purpose and intent. Harris asked him whether or not the entire thrust of the “tea parties” was to attack President Obama’s policies — a reasonable point, since these “partiers” were nowhere to be found when George W. Bush was busily busting budgets and running up massive deficits in the name of tax cuts for the wealthy.
Harris, though, pretended throughout the segment that they were purely a nonpartisan outfit only angry about over taxation. Which is a large wagonload of hooey.
The “Our Country Deserves Better” PAC, in fact, was founded in August 2008 — before the election — specifically to oppose Barack Obama and his policies. (They called it “drawing contrasts between Senator Barack Obama and John McCain”.) In October 2008, for instance, Williams was out on the stump campaigning against Obama as a “socialist” on a previous bus tour called the “Stop Obama Express”. They’ve also runs ads comparing Obama to Hitler.
After McCain got spanked in November, 2008, the Our Country Deserves Better PAC became rebels without a cause – until the health care reform issue became prominent in the news and money from AHIP and others started circulating to various organizations. The tea-bag protests became a well organized and well funded effort to help defeat the public option by interrupting the normal August recess town hall meetings. The Rachel Maddow Show addressed the issue of how a well organized effort was planned and financed to high-jack town hall meetings:
Here’s my shocking truth: I think that news of even more Tea-bag protests coming next year is wonderful! It gives the American citizens, the normal ones, the ones that will actually make a difference in November 2010, another chance to see just how loony the right-wing has become. It is important, though, to point out that the main stream news media has given just a little more credibility to these fake grassroots organizations and their crazy-talk slogans than they deserve. It would be important for us to speak to that issue, but leave the sign toting nut jobs alone.
As a matter of fact, I think it would be beneficial for progressives to attend as many of these tea bag protests as possible. Progressives should bring signs that have populist slogans. Here is a few of my ideas for signs (I have no imagination, so come up with your own):
“More Public Sector Jobs!”
“We Need The WPA NOW!”
“Balance the Budget – No More Wars On Credit!”
“Tax Cuts For The Middle Class!”
“Stop Taxing The Poor! Tax The Rich!”
“Repair Our Roads And Bridges!”
“Stop Sending Our Jobs Overseas!”
“Buy American Products!”
“Fair Trade, Not Free Trade!”
“Protect American Jobs – Tax Imports!”
“More Investments In The Power Grid!”
“Invest In Our Nation’s Education! – Increase Pell Grants!”
Hundreds of tea party protests are scheduled in cities and towns across the country for tax day. But the curious don’t need to wait till April 15 to get a sense of what these protests might be like. Several events happened on Feb. 27, less than two weeks after CNBC’s Rick Santelli howled about irresponsible government spending and called for a Chicago tea party in an impromptu rant. And several people brought video cameras to those events. Herewith, a roundup of some of the best vids, which hopefully provide clues for what to expect on tax day:
Vids in a minute. First of all let me say that the “tea-party” tax protesters seen in the video no doubt make under the $250,000.00 threshold for the tax roll-back. Their taxes will not be affected one cent. The whole point of them protesting taxes is moot.
Secondly in importance of what needs to be said is the fact that the national debt being protested was accumulated under George W. Bush.
Thirdly, Obama’s budget seems large, but he has promised transparency, and an end to the budget gimmickry that Bush pulled. The best interview is with the lady who stumbles on the question about the national debt if it were Republicans that raised it to the point of where it is now.
The best part of this video is the woman (Starts at about 2:30. Keep watching, she’s on about three times.) being questioned about exactly who got us into this mess. She says something to the effect of there’s no use in pointing fingers, yet there she is at a protest. Isn’t that what protests are for? Pointing fingers?
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Astroturfers Plan More Tea Bag Protests (TRMS Video)
Re: CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive – Tea Party Express, Part Three « – Blogs from CNN.com
More Dems than Righties targeted? Who didn’t see that coming?
The Our Country Deserves Better PAC was on the campaign trail for John McCain in 2008. From CNN, August 2009:
After McCain got spanked in November, 2008, the Our Country Deserves Better PAC became rebels without a cause – until the health care reform issue became prominent in the news and money from AHIP and others started circulating to various organizations. The tea-bag protests became a well organized and well funded effort to help defeat the public option by interrupting the normal August recess town hall meetings. The Rachel Maddow Show addressed the issue of how a well organized effort was planned and financed to high-jack town hall meetings:
Here’s my shocking truth: I think that news of even more Tea-bag protests coming next year is wonderful! It gives the American citizens, the normal ones, the ones that will actually make a difference in November 2010, another chance to see just how loony the right-wing has become. It is important, though, to point out that the main stream news media has given just a little more credibility to these fake grassroots organizations and their crazy-talk slogans than they deserve. It would be important for us to speak to that issue, but leave the sign toting nut jobs alone.
As a matter of fact, I think it would be beneficial for progressives to attend as many of these tea bag protests as possible. Progressives should bring signs that have populist slogans. Here is a few of my ideas for signs (I have no imagination, so come up with your own):
“More Public Sector Jobs!”
“We Need The WPA NOW!”
“Balance the Budget – No More Wars On Credit!”
“Tax Cuts For The Middle Class!”
“Stop Taxing The Poor! Tax The Rich!”
“Repair Our Roads And Bridges!”
“Stop Sending Our Jobs Overseas!”
“Buy American Products!”
“Fair Trade, Not Free Trade!”
“Protect American Jobs – Tax Imports!”
“More Investments In The Power Grid!”
“Invest In Our Nation’s Education! – Increase Pell Grants!”
More?
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