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Staff Photo by Dan Henry Stacy Griffin, left, speaks with Nancy Turner in front of the Country Place Restaurant during an anti-tax gathering with the Chattanooga Tea Party before the group travels to Washington, D.C., for the weekend.
Under the glow of the sign outside Country Place Restaurant on Shallowford Road, homemade posters, loads of enthusiasm and at least one tri-corner hat were on display as local anti-spending protesters prepared to head to Washington, D.C.
Bryan Haddock of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Tennessee told the crowd of more than 100 gathered outside the restaurant Thursday night that they were headed into "a battle of rhetoric."
"I will stand next to every one of you guys on the field of battle if that's what it takes," he said.
The trip to Washington, sponsored by the Chattanooga Tea Party group, is part of the national 9/12 Project organized by television and radio host Glenn Beck. The project will culminate in a Saturday march on the National Mall to protest federal spending.
The group of protesters going to Washington left at about 9 p.m. Thursday and will stay through Sunday.
Keith Talley, spokesman for the Tennessee Democratic Party, said protests are "part of the American way," but he said the national debate should "be more civil."
He said many protesters who were vocal in protests at the town hall meetings held by members of Congress last month were driven by "vested corporate interests" that want to "kill legislation" such as energy bills and health care reform.
"There's a lot of misinformation out there," he said.
But Melinda Crawley, who rallied supporters Thursday night, said the group heading to Washington represented the true grass roots. Ms. Crawley said she had a "bone to pick" with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has referred to Tea Party protesters as "astroturf" rather than sincere grass-roots protesters.
"You're not in touch with the American public!" Ms. Crawley said.
Someone in the crowd then shouted, "Pe-lousy!"
Another speaker at the rally, Patsy Nickle, said the protesters were filling the void left by the death of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who often was called the liberal lion of the Senate.
"I want you to roar!" she shouted into the microphone. "We are the new lion!"
ON THE BUS
Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Matt Wilson is in Washington, D.C., with the group of local protesters. He will be with them through their return on Sunday.
* On Saturday: Read coverage from the group's counter-protest at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
* On Sunday: Read about the 9/12 March on Washington.
I guess if you plan to honestly protest the federal gov you can’t ride to DC on interstate highways, ride the metro, drink or shower with federal subsidized clean water, eat food from subsidized farms or pay any of the expenses with govt retirement or social security.
Battle of rhetoric. That's accurate.
I guess it never occurred to EaTn the only money the federal government has comes from taxpayers in the first place. So the interstate and all the other examples provided, was paid for by taxpayers. So they are not beholding to the federal government for any of those things.
You see...those in Washington are like you..they need to be reminded the money they spend is ours...so we ask them to spend it responsibly.
Let me ask you something EaTn...how long would you allow a total stranger to come up to you, and without your permission, reach into your pocket and take your money before you would say you had enough and that you wanted them to stop?
Give it a rest dwj. No one's taxes have been raised a penny. Even if they are, you will not be paying any percentage that begins to rival rates that top income earners paid before Reagan was elected.
I have proposal for all those people who want to complain, protest, and ride to Washington to rant about an issue that isn't an issue.
You still have plenty of time to quit your jobs, or close your businesses before all this imaginary 'communist' taxation kicks in, so that you are not subjected to any additional taxes. Downsize like so many of us who are learning how to live on less, after years of Republican domination. We are reaping the reward of paying less in taxes too!! C'mon...it's not so bad down here!!
If you totally object to paying ANY taxes at all, why not join urban outdoorsmen and live on the streets? You too can learn the fine art of finding sustenance in a big metal can. If you're really creative, you too may find your cardboard home featured in next month's edition of Better Homes and Gardens.
The world is your oyster. It's your pockets and you are absolutely entitled to keep all you want in them. The paltry sum you probably pay in taxes wouldn't go towards ten minutes worth of the electricity bill for the White House, so I doubt that very many people have their hands in your pockets.
It's really just a matter of whether or not you truly have something to whine about in the first place, and if you have the courage of your silly convictions.
I don't think its so much of more taxes at this point. while taxes will always be a concern, it is more about this administrations BIG GOVERNMENT. all you naysayers will wake up and find our country in the middle of a socialism battle and will think what the hell is going on. This is what is going on. WAKE UP AMERICA
This is all about the underlying, hideous factor of the racism that is so deeply ingrained in the American character. The attempt to portray this president (Of all people!) as a socialistic, left wing extremist doesn't even pass the giggle test for people who have bothered to pay attention to their times and their history. Let's face it - Franklin D. Roosevelt, he ain't! They can't obstruct his agenda with a manufactured scandal regarding his personal life, as they did with Bill Clinton. eleven years ago. Their only hope is for enough of the American people to become really frightened by the Big, Bad Negro Commie. An ironic description when one takes into consideration how boringly moderate Obama really is.
Think about this: In the last presidential campaign only one of the nominees of the two major political parties was born in the United States - Barack Obama - John McCain was born in Panama. Do you find it as revealing as I do that it was the black guy had his citizenship called into question? How much more proof do we need of the overt racism that is inherent in that party - or in our own country for that matter? Honestly, this isn't rocket science, folks!
Joe Wilson and the nincompoops on the far right have opened a Pandora's Box that may very well prove difficult to close. What they are now doing - consciously or unconsciously - are prompting their brain-dead masses toward violence. and intimidation. Who can forget the knucklehead who showed up outside one of the president's Town Hall meetings in New Hampshire last month with a gun strapped to his leg? My biggest worry is that that little incident is merely a small illustration of worst things to come. If you are not seriously alarmed by what is now happening to our beloved country, you're not paying attention.
And now Glenn Beck is all set to become the Martin Loony King of the Far Right with his March on Washington today.
Isn't life interesting?
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan Goshen, NY
EaTn: This country, including the interstates, subways, food.., was built off the backs and money of the 'people', not the Government. The Government has no money or power unless it is taken from the 'people'. You are ignorant.
Alprova: You are correct. Nobody's taxes have been raised, yet. It is coming. This administration figured out that they could spend our money, before taking it from us, then say, "Oh! Look what a mess we're in. We have to tax you to save the country." Liars, cheats, and socialists!
Tom Degan: You are full of it buddy. The fact is, you and everybody else knows NOTHING about the Emperor Hussein Obama! You can't show me his school records, his birth certificate, or ANY financial information. Nothing! Zip! Get educated and stop throwing propaganda and rhetoric around.
You folks who are for Emperor Obama and his socialist administration better wake up and look at the facts, because you are getting screwed like the rest of us, but are too ignorant to realize it.
Have a nice day... on the backs of us real Americans.
Alprova spun: "....Downsize like so many of us who are learning how to live on less, after years of Republican domination. We are reaping the reward of paying less in taxes too!! C'mon...it's not so bad down here!!..."
And that is the sum of the left's philosophy. Don't reach for more, don't try to achieve, don't attempt to become successful in the greatest country on earth. Instead, everyone should have an equal level of everything. It's not "fair" to try to do better than somebody else, even though your success would probably lead to offering employment to those who have made different choices. The government should take all the money away from those evil rich bast*rds and spread it around evenly until we're all equally miserable. There's your leftist utopia.
Tom Degan has the same sick, twisted thought process as that nutcase from Hollywood Jeanine Garafolo...if one dislikes the President's policies, they are automatically branded a racist. Shouldn't that mean then that all people of color who did not like GWB's policies were automatically racists, too? Of course not, only white people can be racists, according to bigots like Degan and Garafool.
How pathetic.
Tom Degan whined in his racist diatribe: "Who can forget the knucklehead who showed up outside one of the president's Town Hall meetings in New Hampshire last month with a gun strapped to his leg?"
Tom, you forgot to mention the BLACK guy that showed up outside a town hall in Phoenix with two guns and the fact that MSNBC deliberately did not show his face so they could claim that these were dangerous angry white protestors. Gimme a freaking break.
Lightenup, you fail to grasp the significance as to WHY many of us are living on less. I assure you, I am not living on less because I CHOSE to downsize my income. I was FORCED into it.
Corporate America, you know...the big companies that have been driving small town America into bankruptcy courts all over our land for most of the last decade, gave me no choice but to close my doors four years ago. That, and a car accident where my wife was hit head-on by a red light runner, finished off our finances.
Take a look around you. It's everywhere you look. Jobs that paid well, that offered the better benefit packages, and that provided an incentive to spend years on the job are all but gone.
Corporate America, and this downsizing of America is a byproduct of the Republican institution and I detest it with every breath. Why anyone who makes less than a top level income, supports those clowns is beyond all comprehension. You're nothing to them.
I was once an achiever. I will achieve again.
I am a small business person who spends my money with, and invests ONLY, in small businesses.
That's what made this country, and that is what will save it once again.
I am still waiting on: Definition of "real Americans" and who the "Government" is.
Alprova,
I am truly sorry to hear about your wife's traffic accident.
Isn't it safe to say that virtually every big business began as a small business? At what point should a small business be stopped from becoming more successful so there are no "big" businesses to rail against?
Lightenup, thank you for the kind words. Thankfully, the worst is behind us.
I've owned three businesses in my life. I was not a greedy employer. I provided incentives and benefits for my employees, and was proud to do it. I know that I was not alone.
Contrast that to companies like Wal-Mart. Some interesting figures have been released pertaining to that one company.
A study found that the taxpayers are paying out $1.5 BILLION dollars a year to support Wal-Mart employees and their families in federal and state social services.
In Tennessee, 25% of the 37,000 workers who are employed by Wal-Mart can be found on TennCare rolls. The average store level employee can look forward to around 34 hours per week.
In urban areas where Wal-Mart has taken root, people who work for retail have had their wages reduced on average, 4.7 billion dollars per year. Every time an employee of a competitor either quits or is laid-off, newly hired employees come on board for less per hour than the employee they replace.
Near my home, Wal-Mart abandoned a leased property, after previously and contractually agreeing to occupy it for many years to come. They moved three miles to avoid a penny sales tax that the city collected where it was formerly located. The city footed the bill to place all the utilities on the property, and it had to eat about half the costs because they up and left.
Wal-Mart has defaulted on agreements like this all over the country, and it stinks to high heaven. They dare anyone to sue them for it too. Politicians have been known to run interference for them in the states where they have a strong foothold.
Wal-Mart has used obscure laws and politicians to force people to sell homes and land that has been owned by families for decades or longer, in order to further their goals. In Alabaster, Alabama, descendants of slaves were forced to sell land that had been owned since the 1860's, to make way for a new Wal-Mart and the increased tax revenue that it represented. $400,000 versus a few thousand per year will make any politician throw caution to the wind.
Multiply the above by all the other large companies that have taken over America, in sectors of employment that include retail, food, commercial trucking, warehousing, and health care.
Take into consideration how so many people have had their lifestyles slashed, because wages and benefits have declined over the past 15 years, and you just might start to understand that all is not great for everyone as a result of big business.
The pennies that are thrown at investors do not make up for what has been lost in our communities, and it never will.
It's very much like our Government's policy when our military accidentally kills a civilian. Our Government mails them a check to ease their pain and suffering.
Eventually, when the money is gone, they understand that they were duped and the grief really sets in.
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