Teabagging & Fake Grassroots: Fury Over Conservative Con-Job Allegations

By Tana Ganeva, AlterNet. Posted April 18, 2009.

There may have been a few "rich goons" in the crowd, but they were far outnumbered by the ordinary, middle class, working men and women. Regular citizens who are sick and tired of government taking over private industry by throwing them a few dollars and then making up silly rules.

While Derek Maddox's point did not have the fevered, paranoid feel of other conservative trolls' posts, AlterNet commenters nevertheless stripped down his assumption -- and that of other conservatives in the comments -- that taxation is an infringement of liberty.

Seazen takes on all teabaggers, pointing out that few would willingly give up the services paid for by taxes:

While you are out there with your self-righteous, narrow-minded, "Patriots," why don't you get them to really stand up for what they believe. Print the following Teabaggers Pledge and have them all sign it!!

Because Obama is turning the country into a Socialist State with the most recent Stimulus package, I hereby pledge that neither I, nor any member of my family, will ever accept any of the money or benefits contained within the stimulus package to include, but not limited to:

1. Extended unemployment benefits

2. Tuition benefits

3. Jobs associated with the package

4. Tax reductions or other benefits included therein

5. Other Socialist programs, including public school education, police and fire protection, Social Security, Medicare, food stamps, VA benefits, etc.

6. Any other benefits not listed

Purple Girl agrees:

What are you willing to do or give up to avoid taxes? Chase down armed bank robbers? Go into burning buildings to look for trapped people? Serve in the mandatory military? Repair roads and bridges on weekends? Learn advanced physics and calculus so your kids can be taught?

What part of civilization are you willing to give up? Because one way or another -- you will be paying for it ... No such Thing as a Free Lunch.

Tax cuts is the mantra of the self-aborbed and greedy. Let's be honest, given a tax cut most will not be buying books for the schools -- they'll be out buying a big-screen TV -- hell of an investment in your children's ability to compete in the future (long after that flat screen goes black).

So, all those screaming about tax cuts are actually the ones committing generational theft. They've been doing this for decades -- reason why gym and music is no longer taught in schools (unless you pay privately). Reason the Minnesota bridge collapsed & [New Orleans] levies broke (no $$ for inspectors or refortification).

Instead of screaming about tax cuts, scream about profit margins. Why not be yelling about the skyrocketing cost of food? Why not be outraged by Exxon's $45 BILLION profits when we were paying $4 a gallon? Taxes aren't killing us or robbing us blind -- it's profit margins, which don't save or create jobs, invest in innovation or safety, or contribute to the community in any real way. What corporation is paying your police department? Oh they'll kick down for a ballpark -- but not for a school.

rare points out that the teabaggers -- concerned as they are with personal liberty -- were oddly missing the past eight years:

So your protest is about "the steady encroachment of the federal government into our daily lives?"

Did you protest over the last eight years? You know, when the previous administration decided to illegally spy on us?

How about when he [President Bush] lied us into a war? Didn't that encroach on us by spending our tax dollars and killing our troops?

How about when they said Bush was above the Constitution? Did you march in the streets then?

How about when Bush pushed through the first TARP and refused to allow any legislation that would have called for the corporations to be held accountable and that it all had to be done transparently? Did you protest then?

Did you protest when Bush gave corporations HUGE tax breaks by allowing them to bring in all their offshore money at a 5 percent tax rate? Did you go to D.C. and tell him that you were tired of the corporations paying a lower tax rate than you do?

Did you organize the masses when BushCo continued to give HUGE tax breaks to the oil companies all while they were making record-setting profits?

You people are so disengenuous. This has nothing to do with what is going on at this moment and everything to do with your party not being in power. You're afraid of Democrats for irrational reasons and are afraid of trying anything new (look up the definition of conservative), so you feel helpless and now see bogeymen around every corner. That, and being you're so uninformed that you think that the big corporations behind your "teabagging" parties actually give a crap about you.

They don't, and you are being used.

See more stories tagged with: gop, economy, obama, taxes, conservative, tea party

Tana Ganeva is an assistant editor at AlterNet.

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