My syndicated column today spotlights two related phenomenon: the Tea Party revolt on the streets and the “Going Galt” revolt with our wallets. For new readers who are just learning about the protest movement and want to join, the best organizational resources are Tax Day Tea Party (nationwide April 15 events), Twitter #teaparty, PJTV’s list of upcoming protests,
Re-TeaParty (send teabags to Washington and find July 4 events), and TCOT Report. And one more good one: New American Tea Party.
Some tinfoil-hatted kooks are still pimping their conspiracy theories about the movement. The latest: Aha! Malkin once gave a speech to Americans for Prosperity and AFP organized the Denver anti-pork protest two weeks ago before Santelli went on his Tea Party rant last week, ergo it’s all a vast plot!!!!!!
Protesters should take this nonsense as a sign of success. You haven’t really made it until you’ve aroused the paranoia of the unhinged Left.
***
“Going Galt:” America’s wealth producers vs. wealth redistributors
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009
Enough. In a word, that is the message of disgusted taxpayers fed up with the confiscatory policies of both parties in Washington. George Bush pre-socialized the economy with billion-dollar bailouts of the financial and auto industries. Barack Obama is pouring billions more down those sinkholes. The camel’s back isn’t just broken. His neck and four legs have all snapped, too.
Enough. Last Friday, thousands of Americans turned out to protest reckless government spending in the pork-laden stimulus package, the earmark-clogged budget bill, the massive mortgage entitlement program, and taxpayer-funded corporate rescues. Contrary to false left-wing blog smears that the hastily-planned impromptu events were “Astro-turfed,” the crowds were packed with first-time grass-roots activists. They were people with families and day jobs whose usual definition of “community organizing” involves neighborhood yard sales or their kids’ soccer matches. They were members of the silent majority who decided to be silent no more.
Enough. These “Tea Party” protests spanned the sunny Santa Monica pier to the icy streets of Chicago and Cleveland to rain-drenched Atlanta, overflowing grounds of the St. Louis Gateway Arch, massive crowds in Greenville, S.C., several hundred each in New York City and Washington, D.C., and all points in between. Like those who demonstrated before them in Seattle, Denver, Mesa, Arizona, and Overland Park, Kansas two weeks ago, the Tea Party participants held homemade signs that said it all: “Your mortgage is not my problem;” “Liberty: All the stimulus we need; “No taxation without deliberation.”
The speed and scope with which they mobilized were due not to nefarious outside conspiracists, but to social networking websites Facebook and Twitter (where a burgeoning network called Top Conservatives on Twitter became the central clearinghouse for information). Planning for a new wave of demonstrations on April 15 has begun at www.taxdayteaparty.com.
Enough. While they take to the streets politically, untold numbers of America’s wealth producers are going on strike financially. Dr. Helen Smith, a Knoxville forensic pathologist and political blogger, dubbed the phenomenon “Going Galt” last fall. It’s a reference to the famed Ayn Rand novel, “Atlas Shrugged,” in which protagonist John Galt leads the entrepreneur class to cease productive activities in order to starve the government of revenue. (Not coincidentally, Rand’s novel sales are up and John Galt references punctuated many of the Tea Party demonstrations.) Dr. Smith was inundated with stories like these:
“I have frozen hiring in my firm…No investments will be made in taxable accounts (only 401k/IRAs). I am buying silver and gold instead of CD’s or stocks with non-qualified money/savings. I have stopped taking new clients (thus freezing my income). I barter more and more. Spend less. I stopped Leveraging assets (don’t borrow).”
“I have cut WAY back–I’m no longer buying retail, driving out of a 10-mile radius, spending money on eating out, and am no longer putting my money in a savings account. I am using the money to pay off all of our debt. It has made our family closer, more appreciative…”
Another blogger at Pursuing Holiness wrote: “Last year my family paid nearly a thousand dollars a month in federal taxes, and we are not by any stretch of the imagination rich. I’m going to make it my business to cut that amount in half, using every legal means possible and reducing my income so there is less to tax.”
Enough. Those business owners are not alone. This week, ABC News spotlighted upper-income earners going Galt in response to President Obama’s proposed tax hikes on families with incomes of $250,000 or more. A Lafayette, La. Attorney told the reporter she was cutting back on her business to avoid the tax threshhold: “Why kill yourself working if you’re going to give it all away to people who aren’t working as hard? Tax hikes have consequences. Incentives matter. Only self-deluded wealth redistributors living in la-la-land believe otherwise. Another business owner, Dr. Sharon Poczatek, explained:
“The motivation for a lot of people like me — dentists, entrepreneurs, lawyers — is that the more you work the more money you make,” said Poczatek. “But if I’m going to be working just to give it back to the government — it’s de-motivating and demoralizing.”
The perpetual Borrow-Spend-Panic-Repeat machine in Washington depends on the capitulation of the wealth producers. There’s only one monkey wrench that can stop the redistributionist thieves’ engine. It’s engraved with the word:
Enough.
(Photo credit: Free Colorado)
***
I’ve pulled together a video round-up of last week’s events. Enjoy!
Smart Girl Politics put together a nice video of the nationwide Feb. 27 Tea Party protests:
Find more videos like this on Smart Girl Politics
comments (109)
I was at the Houston event, thanks to the notices posted on this blog.
I got blisters on my head from not wearing a hat, but I got some really good photos (under Politics).
I met a radio talent who started a conservative website.
michelle, my parents are depression babies, and lifelong roosevelt democrats, and i recieved a e mail from my father this morning cursing this administration and passing out an email which correlated the poverty rates in democrat controlled cities. i even invited him to check out your blog and listen to rush, which 5 years ago was fighting words. even old dogs can learn new tricks if you mistreat them enough.
One wonders what form the Second American Revolution will take.
- Constitutional Convention?
- Or armed rebellion, culminating in an overthrow?
- Or another version of sweeping away the Articles of Confederation with something entirely new?
Your children and grandchildren will have to come up with the answer…
Compsting for Beginners
Victory Garden Seeds
Heirloom Seed Company
Once other people like me, “safely” below $250k start losing their jobs, maybe people will wake up.
Obama’s new name:
Robbin’ da Hood.
He steals from the rich, and gives to his Democrat pals.
What a merry band of Chicago thugs...
If you think that these “tea” parties are NOT having an effect check out the latest “news” on the Blue Dog Democrats starting their own “revolution” and NOT supporting the messiahs “mo money” $410 Billion omnibus bill.
Another site to check out:
http://www.resistnet.com/
March 4th, 2009
From the DNC’s CNN:
Mr. Elton appears on the far left of this July 2008 photo of Alaska elected officials who supported Obama during the campaign.
Palin foe gets administration job
March 3, 2009
From CNN’s Lauren Kornreich
(CNN) – Alaska State Sen. Kim Elton, one of the leading officials to pursue an investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin during the heat of the presidential campaign, has taken a high-level job in the Interior Department.
Palin reacted in a short statement Monday, the day Elton announced his move to Washington.
“Senator Elton pledged his allegiance to President Obama last summer,” said the governor. “We wish him well as he moves on and hope that he uses this job for Alaska’s benefit.”
Palin was the target of an official investigation last year over charges she improperly dismissed a public safety commissioner who refused to fire her sister’s ex-husband, a state trooper. Elton led the legislative investigation of the incident…
Elton will serve as Director of Alaska Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior.
It is somewhat surprising that CNN would report this, together with its context.
Probably they imagine it will encourage more politicians to do the right thing for the Democrat cause, especially during election campaigns.
CNN wants to show that they will be rewarded in the end.
Indeed, it would be interesting to note what happens to the rest of the Democrats in the photo at the top, most of whom were on the panel that tried to bring down Governor Palin with their trumped up charges.
(Thanks to BillK for the heads up.)
22 Comments »
Photo of the Day: Marines Not Impressed With Commander Cut-& Run
Let's face it.
The military hates the
Cut & Runner and the feeling is mutual:
Click to EnlargeVia
Free Republic.
After all, Obama once said that even
genocide was no reason to keep US troops fighting in Iraq. And, he never has admitted that he was wrong on Iraq.
Here's the video.
Obama Administration Announces They Will Punish Oil Companies For Non-Existent Global Warming
Arctic
sea ice growth finished the year in 2008 at the same level as 1979.
The
oceans have been cooling since 2003.
Sea ice is
growing at the fastest pace on record.
Greenland's
glaciers are stabilizing.
There are
growing fears of a coming freeze worse than the ice age.
Alaskan Sea Glaciers are advancing for the first time in 250 years.
And, for the second straight year the Earth is, in fact,
cooling... not warming.
This
US Climate Map October 2007-November 2008 showed that temperatures were well below normal throughout the US in 2008.
It looks like Al Gore was a bit off in
his prediction that North Pole will be completely gone in 5 years.
But, it doesn't matter to the Obama Administration...
Today tax cheat Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner announced the Obama Administration intends to punish oil companies for non-existent global warming.
Reuters reported:
U.S. oil and natural gas producing companies should not receive federal subsidies in the form of tax breaks because their businesses contribute to global warming, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Wednesday.
It was one of the sharpest attacks yet on the oil and gas industry by a top Obama administration official, reinforcing the White House stance that new U.S. energy policy will focus on promoting renewable energy sources like wind and solar power and rely less on traditional fossil fuels like oil as America tackles climate change.
"We don't believe it makes sense to significantly subsidize the production and use of sources of energy (like oil and gas) that are dramatically going to add to our climate change (problem). We don't think that's good economic policy and we think changing those incentives is good for the country," Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee at a hearing on the White House's proposed budget for the 2010 spending year.
But, don't worry.The Democratic Congress and Obama Administration are pushing
billions upon billions of stimulus dollars on expensive and ineffective
green energy and
cap and trade programs that will cause millions of Americans to
lose their jobs. Cap and trade will also
cause electricity costs to skyrocket.
More... A news study on climate discovered that
global warming is on hold:
Discovery News reports scientists are puzzled that temperatures have flat lined since 2001 despite rising greenhouse gas concentrations.
Scientist Kyle Swanson from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee says, "This is nothing like anything we've seen since 1950. Cooling events since then had firm causes… This current cooling doesn't have one."
El-Rushbo Challenges Unicorn Rider to Radio Debate
Oh, this was terrific...
After the Obama White House
coordinated attacks on El-Rushbo with democrats, the media and liberal groups,
Rush Limbaugh challenged Barack Obama to debate his socialist New Deal agenda today.
(
JibJab)
Of course, Obama won't go on Limbaugh's show to debate the ideas.
Without a teleprompter?... No way.
This was brilliant move by Rush.
It put the focus back on the White House... and their
horrid record.
Via the
Rush Limbaugh website:
RUSH: It is on the record -- thanks to Politico.com -- since last fall, the White House, led by Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff to Barack Obama, has been targeting me, your host, your harmless, lovable little fuzzball. Their standard operating procedure: they need a demon to distract and divert from what their agenda is. They need a demon about whom they can lie so as to persuade average Americans that they're the good guys, the benevolent good guys, and the mean SOBs are their enemies trying to stop this great young little president from doing miraculous and wonderful things.
Here is a new ad that this union bunch is running in Washington, DC, ladies and gentlemen. And, of course, it's been picked up all over the Web. You guys, if you haven't done so, you gotta go to RushLimbaugh.com. The DNCC, whatever it is, they have a questionnaire up there. It's hilarious. I have to give 'em credit. You can see it right now at RushLimbaugh.com.
...But make no mistake about it. Emanuel is the leader of all of this. Carville and Begala are just trying to ride my fame into their fortune and become relevant again. Begala and Carville, don't confuse them with the powerbrokers that are managing this. It all Emanuel. Begala and Carville are second-rate talking heads on CNN. CNN has no audience. Rahm Emanuel is the power behind the throne -- and don't let his effeminate nature and his ballerina past mislead you on this. He may look effeminate (he was a ballerina at one time) but he has the feral instincts of a female rat defending its young. Well, take a look. When Emanuel and Carville and Begala are together (and I've seen pictures) it looks like a reunion of the Village People. (singing) Y! M! C! A! They are really the official greeters in Roswell, New Mexico in Area 51 where Carville was born.
My point here is that these are really odious, empty, nasty people who are feasting on their own arrogance. They are power hungry. But, you know what? They've never had a serious debate over ideas. Their goal is to destroy opponents, which is what they're trying to do now. They don't want to engage opponents. Their idea of victory is the destruction of the opponent. They're not for a level playing field. They want to clear the playing field so that their ideas do not have to undergo any scrutiny. So what do they do? They leak stories to the Politico intended to create impressions about their own importance and their brilliance, when in fact they aren't even bit players on the nation's stage. This is Emanuel, and this is Obama.
...But I have an idea. If these guys are so impressed with themselves, and if they are so sure of their correctness, why doesn't President Obama come on my show? We will do a one-on-one debate of ideas and policies. Now, his people in this Politico story, it's on the record. They're claiming they wanted me all along. They wanted me to be the focus of attention. So let's have the debate! I am offering President Obama to come on this program -- without staffers, without a TelePrompTer, without note cards -- to debate me on the issues. Let's talk about free markets versus government control. Let's talk about nationalizing health care and raising taxes on small business.
Let's talk about the New Deal versus Reaganomics. Let's talk about closing Guantanamo Bay, and let's talk about sending $900 million to Hamas. Let's talk about illegal immigration and the lawlessness on the borders. Let's talk about massive deficits and the destroying of opportunities of future generations. Let's talk about ACORN, community agitators, and the unions that represent the government employees which pour millions of dollars into your campaign, President Obama. Let's talk about your elimination of school choice for minority students in the District of Columbia. Let's talk about your efforts to further reduce domestic drilling and refining of oil. Let's talk about your stock market. By the way, Mr. President, I want to help. Yesterday you said you looked at the stock market as no different than a tracking poll that goes up and down.
More... The White House continued to
attack CNBC host Rick Santelli today-- more than
a week after the CNBC correspondent criticized the mortgage bailout plan.
UPDATE: White House Spokesman Gibbs
admitted today, after
they got busted, that attacking the media may not be the best idea.
