NYC Tax Day Protest Brings Tea-Bagging to City Hall

Has media coverage of the tea party protests been unfair? I found this video today that shows how various news outlets are reporting the story. It’s interesting to see the difference in perspectives:


http://www.newsy.com/videos/media_tea_party_brew/

That was a great link. Thank you for posting.

why the fuck are they protesting "higher" taxes when 95% of Americans just received a huge tax CUT thanks to President Barack Obama's tax cuts for the Middle Class and Working Class who happen to be the 95% majority of Americans who earn $250,000 a year and below? hello!? brain power? intellect? oh i forgot. that is "Socialism" and "sharing the wealth". heaven forbid!

Three months in office and already there are 2300 protests nationwide! Obama has got "one-termer" written all over him.

Obama 68% favorable.

Who cares about a "favorable" rating. Thats such a bs polling question, it could mean anything.

When people are asked specific questions about Obama's handling of the economy his support drops greatly.

According to a recent Newsweek poll, Obama's approval rating is 61% but but in the same poll, less than 1/2 of Americans support the way he is handling the economy (48%), taxes (48%), and the federal budget deficit (42%).

I feel so sorry for these rich protestors who can't afford professional signs, perhaps they already spend the bailout money.

Clearly everyone is taking crazy pills.

And why are we trying to save lives in this world?

I would be so embarrassed to be part of that demo if my earned income was less then 250K, I mean they all look pathetic with their makeshift signs and their poor appearance. Fox News should be shut down, they are dumbing America. I feel sorry for these people. I hope some were there since they mistook it for a sexual party and not this lame demonstration.

You are hastily judging people who are peacefully protesting. And why do you slam Fox news when they have zero to do with this article?

Don't be an opportunist. Leave that to Sharpton.

Gumba, I know your dumb ass was part of that demonstration, LOL. booy-yah stalker. when will your cousin/wife give you some love so you will stop stalking me? too much pasta make a Gumba too stupid as in your case. Bada Bing ... you know the rest. Gumba baby, LOL

...because the Muslim terrorist president wasn't even born in America...

will someone please stand up tell our uneducated brethren, President Obama was born in Hawaii—and we must reinforce, just because it's not in the continental United States doesn't mean it's not part of the Union.

Also, the money in the last 8 years under Bush wasn't going to the poor or unemployed at all, most of was going to back woods towns to protect them from the evil doers... and and lets not forget the $200 Million dollar-a-day war in Iraq (or over $1,000,000,000,000 to date) nah... lets keep fighting in a nation that Iran has been eyeing for over 20 years, sure, great idea.

Evil doers, LOL. the axis of evil, LOL. if you want to fight Iran go ahead and leave us all out of it. ARe you sure you aren't part of the AIPAC Lobby.

Read my post again, I don't support any of it (I do support, however a State of Israel just not the illegally occupied remaining territory). However, it can't be denied that Iran is surely eyeing Iraq when we inevitably pull out.

yes it can be denied, there is no indication that Iran is eying Iraq. and do you support the territories occupied in 1969 war returned to the Palestinian without conditions? I am done with the rhetoric for another war. We might need to save our resources for South Korea.

The Iranian Shiite influences are unprecedented within Iraq. When the west leaves, there will be a slaughter like no other seen in decades.

As for the, may I correct you (which tells me you know little), the 1967 war, more commonly known as the Six-Day War or the Third Arab-Israeli War, conditions? The West Bank was never Palestinian owned land, the Palestinians are refugees from the surrounding Arab nations, it belongs to Jordan since the war was with Jordan, Egypt, and Syria. The Sinai Peninsula was given back to Egypt in 1982 and Gaza which should have been given to Egypt was instead given to the Palestinians in 2005. The West Bank should be given back to Jordan as well, but I'd rather see Israel have control than the Palestinians. In fact, most Israeli Arabs would like to see that as well as would Jordan and Egypt. The Golan Heights, IMHO, should never be given back to Syria, the land is too valuable tactically and strategically speaking.

blah blah blah...

When you have done your home work, come back and we'll have a discussion.

This clip isn't even about the occupation and I know where you are coming from. You are a zionist and go to Israel and fight the Arabs, just don't drag us into again.

Ha! You really think I'm a Zionist! That's too funny... A guy knows a little history on the Near East and all of a sudden I'm being called a Zionist... You're so dumb it's comical—did your mother have any kids that lived?

No indication? Really?

Hmm.. gays, horse carriages, and now the Middle East. What else can you educate us on, o wise one?

Nevermind I didn't realize it was from the Edge, the zionist who spews who many nasty remarks. you have real issues. LOL

I have my opinion and yes resort to name calling since I don't fall for your rhetoric. Why don't you at least state what indications there are that Iraq is eyeing Iran instead of resorting to name calling. You are behaving like a child who doesn't get his way. And in regards to gay, i have nothing to educate people on gays. Gays as you refer to them are people and are entitled to all human rights just as Muslims and Arabs. Lastly, I like how people attack me with the horse carriage issues. It is not funny at all that another NYC carriage horse was recently rescued from slaughter and that these horses are so mistreated and abuse. You really should your true character or lack of character.

I meant you really showed your true character or lack of character (Auto spell check)

As a Democrat, I'd go out there and teabag with those Republicans, but I wouldn't give them the sweat off my balls.

Poor Folks that watch Fox are dumb. It is the rich not their dumb poor asses that should be protesting. they can't really afford good signs but less good clothes. Pathetic.

poor english is less good too.

Every time he posts it makes me think of http://engrishfunny.com/

i meant much less, thanks for focusing on the structure and not the message,

pawed!

Anyone notice the woman on the bottom-rights' sign reads "Banrupt" instead of "Bankrupt"?

hehe sign fail :)

Haha, good spot.

What a fucking idiot. Humanity fail.

Gah, they changed the picture :(

Oooh! A conservative protest and Gothamist is all a-shakin'?

Loose or win an election everybody has the right to protest the in-power administration's policies. For eight years, there were anti Giulani protests and then anti Bush protests. Those men were constantly called things that were orders of magnitude more vile than anything said yesterday. So what? Why the thin skin all of a sudden.

BTW, it's not just taxes that these people are protesting but deficits that will be greater than those of all previous 43 Presidents combined! It's the trans-generational robbery that these guys are worried about.

If the protesters were worried about increasing deficits they would have started protesting eight years ago. I think it is more likely that people were protesting yesterday because they feel uneasy about having a black president with a funny-sounding name.

precisely

i bet 99% of these idiots are paying less in taxes thanks to obama

i hate stupid people

4... you are not correct. they did not envision an income tax and we did have one until almost 100 years later. The problem I have with whats going on is both the complexity of the tax code we have (most of Obama's cabinet has not filed correctly) and also the fact that government never shrinks in size and net taxes always go up. Individual types of taxes may go up or down, but when totaled they always go up to pay for more waste and bloat.

Whether or not they envisioned an income tax is irrelevant, imo.. and that may not even be an accurate statement. I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure they were silent on the issue (note: The 16th Amendment was not required to tax income.. it was required to disburse the revenue from those taxes without any regard to enumeration, etc.)

But my point is that they were not fundamentally against taxation. My comment was not a defense of the current tax code.

(1st attempt didn't seem to go through..)

Whether or not they envisioned an income tax is irrelevant, imo.. and that may not even be an accurate statement. I'd have to double check, but I'm pretty sure they were silent on the issue (note: The 16th Amendment was not required to tax income.. it was required to disburse the revenue from those taxes without any regard to enumeration, etc.)

But my point is that they were not fundamentally against taxation. My comment was not a defense of the current tax code.

(1st attempt didn't seem to go through..)

Here here. Most of the people who were visible with signs at this thing probably represent the more right wing in this country but not the entire crowd at these protests. A lot people there were fed up with the complexity of taxes and the incompetence of our elected officials. It's not about hating taxes, its about holding our representatives accountable and doing a little upkeep to get our tax system in order.

"Just breathe through your nose."

If these people want to surrender their rights to call upon the services and protection offered by social security, public assistance, public school, police and fire departments, the armed forces, the national guard, the USDA, the FDA, and the SEC (however flawed these might be), not to mention the use of public roads, bridges and tunnels, then they really shouldn't have to pay taxes. I wish them lots of luck.

Exactly. Their Taxes pay the salaries of the Armed Forces (All underpaid IMO), Police, Public teachers, etc.

How Odd that there were no Massive protests despite the Deficit reaching record levels over the last 8 years.

Go Figure! Guess it was ok then.

I was teabagged once. It made me feel funny.

Where's our bailout?

It's still a stupid name. We ARE represented in Congress by the people we freely elected. Obama BEAT McCain badly. Just because these clowns don't like what the majority voted for in 2 elections doesn't make them martyrs.

I wonder where all these tea-baggers where while President Bush was presiding over the largest overall increase in inflation-adjusted federal spending since Lyndon B. Johnson. Even after excluding spending on defense and homeland security, Bush was still the biggest-spending president in 30 years.

I would assume in Suffolk and Westchester counties, where they live.

It was more than 2,000 people (AP Report), much more.

2,000 people would fit in the park and surrounding sidewalks not overwelm the area.

NYP said over 5,000,

NYPD official count said 12,500.

Screw the local (biased) media for barely even covernig this. I've seen the local media cover protests as small as 10 people.

Protests are always undercounted. If this turns out to not be a one-time thing, get used to it.

The turnout was definitely less than 5000. Rather a pathetic turnout for what FOX News and the GOP were promoting as some kind of mass revolution.

You can't discredit the cause because you feel like the numbers are wrong.

In 1995, the National Parks Service reported only 400,000 people in the Million Man March.

Are you saying their cause wasn't a revolution because they didn't reach their numbers?

5000 or 12500, either way, pathetic turnout. What are these fruitloops even protesting for? They're paying less taxes now under Obama than they were under Bush.

Definitely way more there than 'officially' reported.

The Boston Tea Party wasn't about taxation. It was about representation.

The Founders didn't have any real problem with taxes. One of the first acts of the Congress was to impose a tax. One of Washington's most decisive acts was putting down a tax revolt.

If these people really want to revive the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, they can join the fight for DC representation.

Actually they did have issues with taxation, in general. They were worried that it would get out of hand. Look at the 16th Amendment. This is exactly what they feared---it was originally going to just be the rich who paid. Now everyone pays and pays more than 10% (which is what they first wanted to cap it at).

Government has gotten too big.

And it is taxation without representation. We elect these guys and gals to spend the money they're given, not money they don't have. Inflation is a hidden tax. The debt run up is a regressive tax which kills the poor further and wipes out the middle class as they cannot keep up with the increased prices because of inflation. We are not being represented on these issues or debt monetization.

(It's unclear who "they" is in your first paragraph)

The first income tax in 1861 was on incomes over $800, which is ~$19k today (of course, the reliability of inflation figures from 1861 is another discussion). The 1894 income tax was on incomes over $4k, which is about $100k today. However other forms of taxation (excises, duties, tariffs) applied without regard to income.

The 16th amendment is rather irrelevant. All that did was remove the directive that tax revenue had to be apportioned according to the census. It did nothing to affect the government's ability to tax.

It is NOT taxation without representation in any sense of the phrase. Just because you don't agree doesn't mean you aren't represented. The only people who can claim taxation without representation are the ~600,000 citizens of Washington, DC.

I'm glad somebody finally pointed that out to everyone. I don't think these people have a clue what they're bitching about. They obviously haven't fallen on hard times, unless to them hard times means giving up their yacht or diamond napkin holders or some other bullshit extravagance. I'm all for fewer taxes, but not if it means I have to stand in an area where these jackasses are to protest them. Hell, that first sign makes no sense whatsoever (although I'd like to take very liberal actions with that MILF in the middle).

They obviously haven't fallen on hard times, unless to them hard times means giving up their yacht or diamond napkin holders or some other bullshit extravagance.

It's this BS that's spewed which is going to bring this country to its knees. I doubt more than a handful of the crowd yesterday owns a yacht. But the liberals want to paint themselves as the peoples' champ. So, poor blacks and Hispanics, don't worry! These white liberals will bring everyone down with you!

It's the tyranny of the majority and class warfare that the liberals are trying to stir up when it's simply a matter of fairness and Constitutionality that we want.

Stop the entitlement society. As someone in the middle class, I don't want to be given that yacht. I want to work for it. The poor shouldn't be given what the middle class has. They should work for it. And the rich shouldn't be given cut rate loans so their corporations can still be solvent.

A) I'm a capital L Libertarian, so I'm economically conservative, but personally liberal.

B) I want the government out of my wallet just as much as most people. My problem with this protest is that most of the people at it have no clue what they're complaining about. They sheepishly follow talking heads like Newt Gingrich because he's a Republican and so are they. God forbid anyone think for themselves.

C) I hate welfare and wish it were abolished so that argument of yours towards my comment is moot.

E) Saying that a comment like mine is going to bring this country to its knees is flattering but complete hyberbole. The thing that will bring this country to its knees is unregulated greed. Check your history. It always destroys empires.

F) You don't like Obama? Fine, but quit defending people that use lowest-common-denominator tactics like name-calling to prove their point. I didn't vote for the man either, but he was given a ton of shit to deal with from the asshat that was in charge before him, and I think he's doing his best to confront it. One thing he does that Dubya didn't is listen.

But the liberals want to paint themselves as the peoples' champ. So, poor blacks and Hispanics, don't worry! These white liberals will bring everyone down with you!

It's the tyranny of the majority and class warfare that the liberals are trying to stir up when it's simply a matter of fairness and Constitutionality that we want.

Both sides could stand to chill out on the hyperbole, imo.

Why Elissa, you should get together with CNN's Susan Roesgen and compare notes. At least you have never claimed to be an unbiased and objective reporter. So you do have that to mitigate your posting.

P.S. You may ask former TIME contributor, Nina Burleigh, to join you. As you know, by her own admission, Nina will only fellate presidents of a liberal persuasion.

Did you see the same Video? CNN asked simple questions and could not get a straight answer.

I guess you think CNN should just Parrot the person talking instead of seeking answers.

Nice "PS", btw. Very classy and reveals all there is to know about you.

Well, if you just choose and pick to misrepresent, you can make anyone look bad. Roesgen was offended by a sign calling Obama a fascist? She didn't seem to mind any protest where Bush was called that or worse. In fact, she laughed it off.

Watch the video below. The second half will not be shown on CNN. There Roesgen is put in her place by someone at the rally that she really didn't want to interview.

http://tinyurl.com/Roesgen

BTW. Right! Like Palin and other conservative women have not be called worse things here. You do know that Burleigh is still proud of that statement?

Clearly the real fascist is jchez. Why is he a fascist? Because he is. How can I say that? Because he is. Isn't that offensive? No, because clearly the real pirate is jchez and his comments.

So, let me get this straight, is Obama a fascist or a socialist? Because aren't those basically two polar opposites on the political spectrum?

Let's see, Hitler and Mussolini were both Fascists and Socialists. These terms are not opposites and can be complementary. Both concepts rely on big governments and limitations on personal freedom and personal responsibility. Socialism relies on the pooling of resources to provide similar economic outcomes regardless of individual effort. The fascist movement demands obedience to a leader, and may exhort people to worship the leader as an infallible saviour.

Never have I seen so many headlines referencing tea-bagging. What a great day.

It would have been better if they teabagged each other in front of city hall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teabagging