Posted on 05/02/2009 8:56:22 AM PDT by Signalman
PASADENA - Dozens of people gathered on the steps of Pasadena City Hall Friday to advocate for lower taxes, government spending, and stand up against what they view as a burgeoning socialist threat.
There was also a local bent to the protest, with protestors focusing on Proposition 1A, the state proposition that would add $16 billion in new taxes over the next two years. It would also put in a spending cap designed to keep expenditures low.
Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy, who attended the rally, claimed the spending cap is a sham.
"It's not a real cap. All they have to do is raise revenues and it goes up," said Foy. "The issue is a spending problem not a revenue problem."
The proposition is the result of a compromise plan passed this year after months of impasse in which Democrats advocated new taxes and Republicans pushed for spending cuts to help solve a massive budget shortfall.
Friday's protest was similar to protests that took place nationwide on Tax Day last month. It focused not just on taxation and spending but also foreign policy, and the general idea that the political left had taken over the country.
"Just like in Cuba, like in Venezuela, those that dissent are marginalized at best, and jailed or killed or worse," said Andrew Breitbart, a Washington Times columnist who addressed the crowd.
Signs carried by protestors were focused more on tax policies, both in the state and throughout the nation, and several crowd members said taxes were their main concern.
"I'm here to protest high taxes: the tax system that forces some people to pay taxes and lets some people not pay," said Dirk Hudson, an Arcadia resident who carried a tea pot, a symbol of the national tea party movement.
The protestors condemned the Obama plan to raise taxes that would go into place in 2011. Under Obama's plan, higher tax rates would only apply to individuals who earn $200,000 or more or couples who Taxing Times Special Section: Taxes, and how they impact residents and businesses in the San Gabriel Valley. make $250,000 or more. The taxes won't cover the spending increases, critics said.
"You can't spend three times as much as your predecessor who you criticized for deficit spending, and say you are not going to raise taxes to pay for it at some point," said Breitbart.
The protest also had a bit of a theatrical flair, with several participants dressing up as socialist dictators including, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, and Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin.
Victoria Jackson, a former Saturday Night Live actress, took the stage and sang: "People we have a problem, a half of us are ignorant... the liberals, the socialists, the communists" while strumming a guitar.
One man, Matt Clark, a 69-year-old Pasadena resident heard the protest from his nearby apartment. He yelled back at protestors to stop criticizing President Obama, and was briefly allowed to take the stage.
He was quickly booed off.
"I kept hearing derogatory things about the president from up in my apartment," said Clark after his short-lived appearance on stage. "I don't really know what they are protesting about, but what I heard was not right."
Though most speakers focused on Obama, and the political Left, they event was billed as non-partisan. Several speakers, and event participants, also condemned Republicans for spending too much and not being true conservatives.
"I'm here because I am sick of politicians' lies... it's the same thing with the Republicans as it is with the Democrats," said Suecenne Fordham, a Pasadena resident whose carried a sign illustrated with a pitchfork spearing the word `hope.'
“Ventura County Supervisor Peter Foy”
Tell the Pols to stay home...they got us here, for cripes sake...
“...killed or worse?”
LOL!!! I didn’t know there was something worse than being killed. Any guesses what it is?
Just a light moment for me. These folks did a good job.
Way to go protesters. I can’t wait until we have another Tea Party in our area. I don’t want the momentum to slow down.
He was quickly booed off.
A LaGrange, Ohio, family whose food co-op connecting local consumers with local farmers was raided by sheriff's deputies is fighting back with the help of two organizations aimed at protecting the basic rights of Americans.
"We hope that the Lorrain County Court of Common Pleas recognizes that government is overreaching in this case and is basically engaged in intimidation tactics to frighten people into believing that they cannot provide food for themselves," said Pete Kennedy, a spokesman for the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.
The organization, which is intended to protect and defend the rights of farmers and consumers to have direct commerce, has announced it is working with the Center for Constitutional Law at the Buckeye Institute, which has filed a court complaint alleging authorities "made a haphazard unannounced entry into the property with guns drawn, as other officers surrounded the property, with guns drawn, then "confiscated the family's personal food supply, personal computers, and personal cell phones."
The complaint names the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the Lorain County General Health District and the state's attorney general. A spokeswoman at the Department of Agriculture said its officers were at the scene in an advisory role. A spokeswoman at the county health agency refused to comment except to explain it was a "licensing" issue regarding the family's Manna Storehouse.
To read the entire article go to: Food co-op hit by SWAT raid fights back
Am I the only one who thinks that Victoria Jackson comes off as so stupid and such a charicature that she’s not a great spokesperson? The first time I saw her I thought she was mocking Republicans?
I’m still not sure.
I saw her once on Hannity’s Great American Panel and was uncomfortable.
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