Newest First
By Funguymon on 04-15-09 @ 7:10 pm
Thanks Beacon for reporting this. This is real news.
By Roark on 04-15-09 @ 7:42 pm
There is hope for the Republic yet.
By Nit-Wit Party on 04-16-09 @ 6:36 am
Thanks Beacon for reporting this. This is really funny news.
Get government out of my life, where’s my check?
This place is so full of phoney free loaders and dead headers.
Montana receives nearly TWICE the money it gives in taxes, so ya better shut up ‘cause the people in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are paying your way.
BTW, they also own the federal land you all are constantly #######’ about.
Why couldn’t Fox News get more than 150 people to show up?
The rest of us are at work. (What’s work, you say?)
By Alician on 04-16-09 @ 6:51 am
Nit Wit-Party….you are so right. My family recently moved back here and I find it amusing that the people here claim to be such hard workers, I have yet to see this happen and not due to the lack of the work, rather the lack of wanting to work and put in a FULL days work. People live here for the laid-back life-style and that’s just what you get, laid-back workers. Give me back East mentality and work ethics any time.
By grannysgadgets on 04-16-09 @ 7:34 am
More labels ? WOW ! I dont know what cornor you are in, but I know from my window i see MANY hard working folks, folks that would love to only work an 8 hour day ( most here go from sun up to sun down) Folks that rarely get a true weekend ( Weekends are for catching up on all the things you could’nt get too during the week). Many support themselves with their own businesses ( either ranching, logging, or providing some sort of service or ware). I guess it is always those that choose to stand outside and just look in that get a misunderstanding of a people ! Also, HA, Fox only had 150 ?? WOW There was thousands at the Alamo alone ... (Over 800 Tea party’s took place yesterday across the US)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZe0X9uMtPg (PROOF)
By Fair Row on 04-16-09 @ 7:39 am
The federal government needs to be reduced in size. It gets larger every year and keeps churning out foolish agency interpretations of law which burden the citizens and businesses. This isn’t a Democrat/Republican issue. It’s an issue of why should our tax dollars be used to feed more and more government while all other institutions are downsizing. Less government means less intrusion in our lives.
By Funguymon on 04-16-09 @ 7:46 am
Alician and Nit Wit, labeling many as the same sounds stupid, so let’s not be stupid, okay?
By woody on 04-16-09 @ 7:54 am
You all here do realize that in the last 50 + years ONLY the democrats have balanced the budget.
And you do realize I hope that the average standard of living for Americans only has gone up under democrats.
AND that the NEW WORLD ORDER was started by the Bushies and their neo-con buddies…..right?
THE democrats and the Unions are the only organized way to fight back against this NWO.
By Try Sanka on 04-16-09 @ 8:26 am
By the looks of the kooks and wingnutz down at Depot Park, seems like they need to drink their tea instead of coffee.
Also, let’s try to get reality based information, not some cable freakshow filled with the dregs of the broadcast industry.
This “Tea Party” really reeks of thinly veiled racism.
By grannysgadgets on 04-16-09 @ 8:35 am
OK….. So I will apologize ahead of this for taking up a BUNCH of space on this comment board…..... BUT, I am so tired of these tea party’s being down sized, being accused of right wing nuts, that it’s Republican, that they are paid for by EXXON ? and all the other misguided rhetoric ( Mainly by CNN, MSNBC and the like) ! So below I have the PROOF/ LINKS, look at all the PEOPLE, look at all the STATES, look at all the TOWNS !!!! This is real, it is BIG, it is AMERICAN ! ( this is maybe 1/4 of the tea party’s that occured yesterday, BUT… I have to get to WORK ! hmm yes, WORK)
By grannysgadgets on 04-16-09 @ 8:36 am
POLSON MONTANA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDW5Pj13cgIGREAT FALLS MONTANA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjrxqWrrsWs
BOZEMAN MONTANA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIl7y9N7L0U
MISSOULA MONTANA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-KIwLPsexE
THOMPSON FALLS MONTANA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1qqHBJaZKE
Chicago illinois Tea party http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPJIj_3vLOQ
Knoxville Tennessee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yijYnYndoHQ
Nacogdoches Texas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAx-MGWAmww
Harrisburg pennsylvania http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw7lqp4lOV0
San Diego California http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHrl3fOoHgM
Richmond Virginia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M-URlLnHr8
Boston Massachusetts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LyqCjtrUSA
Des Moines, Iowa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suo-V6Psn4Y&feature=related
Sioux Falls, South Dakota http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I4jYMlnoZY
Bloomington Indiana http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de207T9PWsY
Phoenix Arizona http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcZHJ8tpHYM
By grannysgadgets on 04-16-09 @ 8:36 am
Myrtle Beach South Carolina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUONiMIgtSAraleigh north carolina http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLvuaqeVcRw
Eugene Oregon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y-qk-q6nhM
cincinnati ohio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2dEKmO7UUw
atlanta georgia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3woIpw_K-I
Albany New York http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJMBUlWZ9No
orlando florida http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_9S4pR1tXI&feature=related
las vegas nevada http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHFLHEHgmGc
kansas city kansas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLf7a7rY-Xk
Boise, Idaho http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErIZPXxvbvA
Sheridan Wyoming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POuiIQYZTEI
Denver Colorado http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znIm9XfbeGM
Seattle Washington http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmnXuvToa1w
By grannysgadgets on 04-16-09 @ 8:37 am
Enough said !!!!!!!!!
By Alician on 04-16-09 @ 8:52 am
GrannyG…what exactly is your job? Cutting, pasting and blogging?
By Flyboy on 04-16-09 @ 9:10 am
Question to all the name callers of these “protesters”...calling them racists, lazy, free loaders, neo-cons, etc. Do you name call when the left leaning folks are on the streets protesting the war, bashing on Bush, or calling for an end to abortion? Some how I doubt it.
By thom hartmann said on 04-16-09 @ 9:13 am
CNBC Correspondent Rick Santelli called for a “Chicago Tea Party” on Feb 19th in protesting President Obama’s plan to help homeowners in trouble. Santelli’s call was answered by the right-wing group FreedomWorks, which funds campaigns promoting big business interests, and is the opposite of what the real Boston Tea Party was. FreedomWorks was funded in 2004 by Dick Armey (former Republican House Majority leader & lobbyist); consolidated Citizens for a Sound Economy, funded by the Koch family; and Empower America, a lobbying firm, that had fought against healthcare and minimum-wage efforts while hailing deregulation.
Go ahead and protest - just be sure what side you are protesting for - in this case you are protesting FOR BIG BUSINESS and FOR the right of the multi-national corporation to profit on WE THE PEOPLE.
In the 1770’s you would have been called Royalists or Corporate apologists. EXACTLY against what the true Tea Party was about.
By Flyboy on 04-16-09 @ 9:19 am
And woody…unions fighting the NWO huh? That doesn’t even make sense. Anyone that wants to talk about free loaders, I point to nearly every union I’ve been associated with, either as a member or on the other side of the table. I’ve never seen a group of people that want more for doing less. Unions do nothing short of promoting laziness. Their credo is basically to do just enough to not get fired. As a union member at one point in my life, I was told by a “senior” member that I needed to “quit working so hard..I was making the rest of them look bad”. Unions are blood suckers that take good, hard-working individuals and turn them into sloths. Please note, this does not cover every person that is a union member. Some are members simply because they have to be to keep their jobs. It’s the organizations in general of which I speak. Again, I speak from the personal experience of having been a dues paying union member at one point in my life.
By grannysgadgets on 04-16-09 @ 9:32 am
ALICIAN : It’s really non of your business BUT for the sake of the narrow minded that believe WE here in Montana dont work I will share the fact that I run concession stands ( At events, and starting this year for smaller wild fire crews !) I also Cut and sell HAY, I also sell on EBAY AUCTIONS ( hence computer time Which is NON of your business!!!!) Not to mention that we are in the process of setting up a shop for yet another business start up next to the house, yeah there will be a computer in there too ! ( Buildings up !)In ending, I do not get paid for writing my thoughts, nor the info I gather !!! That is to help those that are making judgements from a one sided view ! Every one has a right to their thoughts, I just offer the other side that does not get the proper coverage ! There I managed to state an opnion/facts, and I did not make it personal, now thats etiquette !
By luc on 04-16-09 @ 10:47 am
Ive Lived in MT for years and Work my but off, Ive paid tax’s every year. If I had at least half of the tax’s the Feds Take from me each year I could have payed for a House. Ive never Purchased a new Vehicle, rented all my working life, never been on welfare or food stamps, Ive used Unemployment One time after being laid off from Semitool, I have found Work thanks to the Gun industry, I get to keep a whole 8 dollars extra in my paycheck, Thanks alot BHO.
By Mick on 04-16-09 @ 2:37 pm
Clinton/Bush/Obama work for interests seeking NEW WORLD ORDER. Argentinians woke up one day finding their banks closed, pensions gone. Trillions in the red was their story..it’s our situation. I/WE need address and schedule information of everyone- Biden, Emanuel, Pelosi, all of em..and remove em. The Rand Corporation, Bechtel, Lockheed executives betrayed us..meaning..manufacturing jobs moved to chinaland..we need their addresses and schedules too. Meanwhile, when our banks are closed, and our pensions quit coming in the mail..dollar worth zip..be ready to survive without grocery stores and gas stations. If NATO troops move in on us, I trust Flathead cops will know which side to blow away.
By mitch on 04-16-09 @ 2:53 pm
what a pathetic life you lead. Everyone is against you, aren’t they, Mick?? It’s called paranoia.
By mooseberryinn on 04-16-09 @ 3:15 pm
The whole tea bag thing is about our gov’t learning to spend wisely. As the “budget” grows wildly out of control, and “stimulous” in all it’s ridiclous throwing of billions every where cripples the U.S., we are going to regret Obama’s “plans”. Maybe there will be more jobs and maybe there will be an up-tick in the overall economy, but we are going to pay for all this with a worthless dollar, which may take 20 bucks for a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk. Every dollar our gov’t spends comes from us!
By Eric H on 04-16-09 @ 3:35 pm
To sum it up, the working man/woman is getting the shortest straw once again. I just hope my job lost at Semitool due to lay off(and corporate greed),(like so many others in this valley with the similar problem)can be replaced with a similarly descent job soon. Because with the mass lay offs here,we are forced to take WAY lower paying jobs to replace our old ones. I think we need more actual careers and industrial jobs here. Not more low wage dead-end jobs.The government needs to recognize we need QUALITY in job growth rather than just QUANTITY. Anyways, I hope the big bosses in our government are enjoying themselves at OUR expense.just had to put in my two cents:)Just hope I don’t have to uproot and move to find a better job…...
By Bill on 04-16-09 @ 3:46 pm
I preferred a nation (70’s) were even a union janitor was assured decent wage and able to buy a modest home. As a retired high school teacher, our union maintained our salaries (in consideration of fed devaluation of the USD) and provided legal council to protect us from frivolous allegations and/or lawsuits. Our struggle revolves around one decision- Do we embrace “Central World Government”, a border-less world to benefit corporations, or a North America that returns to Constitutional principles? As USA citizens become increasingly homeless, unemployed and hungry, and illegals continue to be nurtured to further dilute our sovereignty, what next? NORTHCOM sends in troops to move us to camps? Gee, wonderful, just like Lenin and Stalin..“Night of the Long Knives”..Let’s not fight with each other, black/white/brown/red/yellow/r epub/dem/indep..as our common enemy is the super rich seeking to restore a feudal system. Amen
By Fair Row on 04-16-09 @ 4:56 pm
It’s always interesting to note how the race ‘bullet’ is so quickly fired by one who may disagree with others. It’s the cheapest bullet in the cylinder with the potential to get you the biggest bang. Unfortunately, it is often fired with no applicability to the subject matter as is the case with “racist” comment by By Try Sanka.
By freeMONTANA on 04-16-09 @ 6:28 pm
The New World Order was around long before either Bush Jr or Sr. It dates back to the Battle of Waterloo. When the Rothchild’s reported that the French had won the battle. Thereby causing a panic on the London stock market and allowing them to buy up the wealth of Europe for cents to the pound. Reagan/BushSr./Clinton/BushJr./Obama are/were N.W.O. globalist and traitors.
By Cowgirl up on 04-16-09 @ 8:05 pm
Hey guys..if you don’t like it here then move back east…simple as that. I work darn hard for my money…I give an honest days work for my employer everyday. DON’T just throw out labels on people just to see your “handle” (name) in print. That is really in poor taste. Your as bad as all those who label people…as to race or religion. You don’t help to make things better. I love being an individual and a person onto myself…and I’m not even from Montana..I’m a transplant from Arizona…BUT I’m an American and I love my country…I just do not appreciate what the government is doing to us. We don’t always have to agree with each other….I don’t have to agree with what you are saying…but I will fight to the death for your right to express yourself! I think it’s called…FREEDOM! Just jump on board,,,it ain’t hard.
By whitefishman on 04-16-09 @ 8:23 pm
I think we can safely assume that anyone who is happy about our government’s level of spending must not be putting money in the pot.
By AZ 2 MT on 04-16-09 @ 8:29 pm
Hey Cowgirl….My husband and I are AZ transplants from (Scottsdale) I do agree with you, way too much name calling. It isn’t necessary. I miss AZ (in the winter).
By Cowgirl up on 04-16-09 @ 9:37 pm
AZ 2 MT…welcome to Montana! It’s hard to get used to the cold here so I do understand. Sometimes I feel like I’m caged up due to all the trees…not used to not being able to see for miles from a Mesa! But..it’s a good place to live. And I have to say…I miss home all year around. Guess I’m just a desert rat.
By shocked and awed on 04-16-09 @ 11:35 pm
Let me get this straight…people are protesting the increased spending by our current government? Spending that will create jobs in this country, improve our infrastructure, and shore up the banking system? Weren’t these same neo-capitalists and free-market libertarians who protest government spending the same ones who pushed for deregulation of banking (which largely caused this mess)?
I can only wonder how many of these people protested, on financial grounds, our entry into the war in Iraq. Moral, ethical, or humanitarian interests aside this war has cost nearly $700 billion to date.
By Eric H on 04-17-09 @ 6:42 am
Speaking of Arizona, I just visited there(very beautiful place) and I am seriously considering moving there if the job situation don’t get better. Anyways,hope Montana can stay alive through this crisis and some REAL jobs get created. I just hate how politicians talk in general terms about job growth. You hear the same things about our “leaders” saying they will create 1000’s of jobs through whatever scheme they are cooking up. But like I said earlier,most jobs created are low wage jobs to where we have to work multiple jobs to survive(dead end jobs). That is not true growth. The wages have to catch up to the cost of living a lot more. I heard in years past a family can survive with 1 working parent!!! Wow, imagine that!!! Sorry, I am just tired of busting my butt for peanuts and all I get after the government is empty shells(and bills).
I think if these ceo’s of corporations(like semitool)would dial back their greed level and stopped worshipping shareholders and paid their workers better this would NOT have happened. They forget that the people they are taking from are actually the ones paying their bills. Corporate America(and the government) bit the hand that fed it…
By woody on 04-17-09 @ 6:47 am
it cracks me up to see someone (cowgirl up) say the same old tired right wing dribble - if you don’t like it move WHEN she admits she’s from Arizona -
Arizona is no better than california - in fact Arizona in the last 10-20 years is WORSE than Cal for unsustainable sprawl….
And she is all for HER freedoms to spout rightwing uninformed nonsense BUT if a liberal says anything it’s right back to the “you don’t like it leave” dribble.
Well guess what - it is OUR state and country also - if we don’t like it what we’ll do is try to institute change…..
ANYWAY all of your critiques of the NWO are false if you don’t talk about the IMF and the Global Bank and the Shock Doctrine. Give me a break w/ the BHO is the worst ever president garbage. WE JUST HAD BUSH REMEMBER? And actually the war in iraq pushed by the bush crime family is over 1 trillion - where were the protests then?
No where!
It’s especially funny to see you all protest higher taxes on the same rich NWO corporations and think tanks that PAID for the protests. Dick Armey’s Freedomworks, Citizens for a Sound Economy, and the Koch family’s Empower America. THESE are the New World Order and YOU ALL just protested FOR THEM!
You are apologists for the NWO if you went to a Tea Baggng Party and don’t even know it. Great Job righties!
Your brilliance astounds me.
By Roark on 04-17-09 @ 7:08 am
I don’t buy the New World Order stuff, but woody, you are way off base in your assessment of who was “controlling” or behind these Tea parties and why people from all political persuasions attended them. There was no single org. or person who can claim ownership. This was truly a grass roots movement of individuals who have had it up to here with the statist policies of our Federal government that not only Bush II and Obama have heaped on the American citizenry, but also the Congress and all the Presidents before who have taken our inherent liberties away chip by chip and sent us down the road to serdom.
By Roark on 04-17-09 @ 7:08 am
I don’t buy the New World Order stuff, but woody, you are way off base in your assessment of who was “controlling” or behind these Tea parties and why people from all political persuasions attended them. There was no single org. or person who can claim ownership. This was truly a grass roots movement of individuals who have had it up to here with the statist policies of our Federal government that not only Bush II and Obama have heaped on the American citizenry, but also the Congress and all the Presidents before who have taken our inherent liberties away chip by chip and sent us down the road to serfdom.
By woody on 04-17-09 @ 7:37 am
Of course you DO believe in the NWO BUT you roark are one of it’s main spokesmen on the Beacon and can’t admit the truth because then who would believe anything you write. Why do they anyway?
By woody on 04-17-09 @ 7:39 am
and how does roark write the exact thing twice in a row if he isn’t clipping and pasting? Because of course he is - here and every other blog around from kalispell to timbuktu. Roark come up w/ an original thought just once! And quit pasting the wods emailed to you by the NWO.
By AZ 2 MT on 04-17-09 @ 8:02 am
Cowgirl, I do miss AZ weather too. Nothing prettier than an AZ sunset. Eric H…Phoenix market in Real Estate is picking up, my brother-in-law is a framer and is struggling looking for work, but AZ is Business Friendly unlike the Flathead Valley. It will be a hot market again, Sheriff Joe has been doing some sweeps of the Illegals and things are getting better. I hear it first hand from family, kids, etc.
By grannysgadgets on 04-17-09 @ 10:20 am
Woody : I dont believe that Cowgirl ever stated that Arizona was better OR worse, I know she never mentioned that Repubs, are better then Dems, and I also believe that she never said it was ALL BO’s fault ! (theres enough blame to go EVERYWHERE) She did say that if you dont like it here, Leave ! ( It should be noted that above here there were several literally DEGRADING the people of this great state, and the state itself) Now if you are disgusted by the people, and the place why stay ?? I would’nt ! Oh yeah LOVE the little *Right wing* tag, and the *Tea bagging* tag…..... Yeah CNN, MSNBC, and the likes just made those up a couple days ago shows that falsehoods spread like wild fire, a little HOT AIR and OFF she goes !(From a generational line of Montanan that goes back many, many generations !)
By Yosemite1967 on 04-17-09 @ 12:24 pm
http://www.kpax.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?clipId1=3657062
By Paranor on 04-17-09 @ 4:55 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMDsFmFTW5Q&feature=channel_page
Its already begun!
By Cowgirl up on 04-17-09 @ 7:46 pm
grannysgadgets…thanks for the kind words….and your statements were correct. BTW Woody…this tea party movement actually started in 2007.
Roark…keep up the good words.
AZ 2 MT…hopefully your right and things will start gettting better for your brother-in-law real soon. Things are so bad for people all over the country.
By Kalispell Native on 04-17-09 @ 7:55 pm
300,000 people nation-wide out of, what 300,000,000 people in this country? That’s one one-hundredth of one percent. Yeah, you ########## have us surrounded! You have looked up ‘##########’ at urbandictionary.com, haven’t you?
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/04/tea-party-nonpartisan-attendance.html
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Losers.
By JB on 04-18-09 @ 12:00 am
Great storms announce themselves with a mere simple breeze…and a single spark can ignite the fires of rebellion.
By Kalispell Native on 04-18-09 @ 1:10 am
@JB
Gun oil is meant to ONLY to be used on firearms.
By Quotes from the Past on 04-18-09 @ 5:18 am
“The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.” - TJ
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” - AL
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” - BF
By teddy roosevelt on 04-18-09 @ 7:04 am
It is essential that there should be organization of labor. This is an era of organization. Capital organizes and therefore labor must organize.
The government is us; we are the government, you and I.
The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life
As a matter of personal conviction, and without pretending to discuss the details or formulate the system, I feel that we shall ultimately have to consider the adoption of some such scheme as that of a progressive tax on all fortunes, beyond a certain amount, either given in life or devised or bequeathed upon death to any individual – a tax so framed as to put it out of the power of the owner of one of these enormous fortunes to hand on more than a certain amount to any one individual; the tax of course, to be imposed by the national and not the state government. Such taxation should, of course, be aimed merely at the inheritance or transmission in their entirety of those fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits
By mooseberryinn on 04-18-09 @ 2:38 pm
Anyone who does not worship Obama and agree with the liberal dogma is now a right wing extremist. I guess for starters that would include the Catholic church, and many millions more. Ah whatever, As expected, all that needs saying is “I told you so”, and “the worst is yet to come.” Enjoy.
By JB on 04-18-09 @ 2:58 pm
@mooseberryinn
That’s all that the Obama worshipers know. Anything that is not in keeping with liberal idelogy is right wing. Everything is black and white…must be quite a comfort to them that Obama will take care of them all.
By mitch on 04-18-09 @ 3:01 pm
You are sooooo sad, soooo depressing, sooo threatening. We won! Get over it. The best is yet to come. Get out in the sunshine and breath this beautiful fresh mountain air and be thankful for what you have.
By JB on 04-18-09 @ 3:06 pm
@mitch
Ummm….no.
By John on 04-18-09 @ 3:54 pm
People wouldn’t be ridiculing the “tea-bag” parties so much if they weren’t so hypocritical. Where were all you “tea-baggers” when George Bush took a budget surplus and turned into the largest deficit in American history? And now you are protesting taxes when the current budget calls for the LARGEST TAX CUT IN AMERICAN HISTORY? The only rational response is just these ########## aren’t that informed about reality - and easily led around by their corporate masters and the political pornographers at FOX news, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
By Harry on 04-18-09 @ 7:27 pm
Considering the folks running the show are headquartered at Basil, Switzerland. http://www.bis.org/about/board.htm Walking around with our neighbors carrying various signs isn’t really making anyone tremble much, eh now? Now if Guillermo Ortiz or Hans Tietmeyer over at the Bank of International Settlements knew that continuing the agenda for ruling the entire world via central banks and fiat currency control, destroying nation states would result in death to them, death to their children and even pets, these megalomaniacs might just back off. They might even tell Obama to get some really intelligent, honorable folks together to create an honest monetary system for the USA. Have to rattle the boys at the head of the food chain, else we’re just hissing with a “p” in the wind.
By Roark on 04-18-09 @ 8:04 pm
“the current budget calls for the LARGEST TAX CUT IN AMERICAN HISTORY?”
Did I miss something???
By Fredster Happy on 04-18-09 @ 8:13 pm
Roark is missing something? Tell me something I didn’t know… This is what you missed Roark: 95 percent of taxpayers will have lower taxes this coming year. The amount of the reduction is larger than any reduction in American history. Two percent of the population will see their tax rates go back the rate they were when Reagan was president. Taxes as a percentage of GDP will be at their lowest level in American history. Those are just the facts… Sorry you missed them.
By JB on 04-18-09 @ 8:45 pm
Let’s see if I get this right…the American people are recieving the largest tax cut in American history at the same time as the Fed is spending billions of taxpayer dollars via the Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the TARP…and this is good news??? Tell me something…where in the world do you think the money is going to come from for all of this spending??? That’s right…WE ARE BORROWING IT.
By JB on 04-18-09 @ 8:52 pm
Its bad enough bad Bush spent us into a huge deficit hole over the last 8 years…but instead of doing something about that, Obama decides to spend even more money that we don’t have!!! And this is the right thing to do????
By Harry on 04-18-09 @ 9:36 pm
Roark, what are you so excited about with the greatest tax cuts in freakin history??? Dude, when, not if, the dollar continues to lose purchasing power, non billionaires suffer. Am I reaching you bubba? Any and all the rebates/tax cuts and bailouts amount to a hill of squat without a stable currency. I read our USD today buys what 3 cents bought in 1903. Today, 3 “C” notes purchases what $3 used to? What happens when the $12 trillion just given to mystery recipients , $12 trillion created out of “nothing”, by expanding the money supply causes 20, 40 even 100,000% inflation??? My $2699/month pension will soon buy me a bottle of aspirin and 2 potatoes? The G20 members have spoken clearly.. welcome a new world order..the Bank of International Settlements, the central bank of all the world’s central banks will call the shots and rule all of us..UNLESS.. someone removes every traitor, be he named Obama, Biden, Emanuel, Pelosi or Bernanke and an honest, stable monetary system filters itself into our beloved USA.
By Roark on 04-19-09 @ 8:37 am
Let’s clarify something right now; Obama is NOT actually cutting taxes for 95% of Americans. Rather, what he IS doing is lowering the amount of withholding’s from peoples checks. With your withholding’s being less, it merely means that your rebate at tax time will be less, too. There is no real tax cut!
Obama, our lord and savior, is a master of deceit when it comes to word play, unf. most of the American Republic is too ill informed to know what he is really saying.
By History Lesson on 04-19-09 @ 10:17 am
Roark, it is you who are being misleading. Withholding amounts are lower because the tax rate is lower. You are simply misinformed or wilfully dishonest. Please try to deal with the facts and not your conspiracy theories. History has shown us that cutting government spending as the economy was heading into a deep recession in 1932 turbo charged the recession into a depression. It sucks that the Bush admin (put into office by the tea baggers) ran up our deficit and left us on the brink of a depression. But the economy must start to grow again, and then we need to cut deficits. The biggest structural problem we have with the American economy is that health care is 20 percent of GDP. How can we maintain this ineffective system and still compete with countries with health care expenses at 8 to 12 percent of GDP. That’s the cost that is killing American business.
By JB on 04-19-09 @ 10:56 am
Health care in the US is second to none. If we go to a national health care system (like Canada), you can forget about seeing a doctor in a timely manner, let alone getting the kind of care that we are accustomed to.
By History on 04-19-09 @ 2:18 pm
JB- What you are saying is a lot more mythology than reality. However, the fact that Americans spend TWICE on average what our competitor nations spend is the primary driver of budget overruns. So beyond just repeating talk radio talking points (which are more Rah Rah than reality), how do you propose solving this #1 challenge to American competitiveness in the future?
By Roark on 04-19-09 @ 8:07 pm
Some FACTS regarding WHY the GD happened: important factors:
* The Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 destroyed the international division of labor. This (and similar policies here and abroad) is the primary cause of the global economic depression.
* The inflationary policy of the Fed (est. 1913) created an artificial economic boom, which was finally unable to sustain itself after the Smoot-Hawley tarrif was passed. Contrary to most economists, the post-1930 contraction of the money supply was not the problem – it was the artificial expansion caused by the move to fiat currency. (Extending the inflationary policy would only have delayed the contraction and made the depression worse. See Austrian Trade Cycle Theory)
* The massive regulatory and welfare state created by Hoover and FDR is what made the depression last so long.
*it was government intervention that caused and exacerbated the Depression—from the massive tariffs of Smoot-Hawley to a series of disastrous interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to antibusiness measures such as the National Recovery Act.”
By History on 04-19-09 @ 8:31 pm
Roark - you and two other crazy people believe the completely dedbunked garbage you just posted about the Great Depression. You have just proven more than ever that you are living in a complete fantasy land with total disregard for the actual truth of history. “Hoover’s welfare policies helped exacerbate the Great Depression?” Geez… I have heard fantasy and then I hear Roark…
By JB on 04-19-09 @ 9:00 pm
A myth, History? Why don’t you try reading some articles about the state of national health care in countries like Canada, and then tell me again that its just a myth? Just because its cheaper, doesn’t make it better…or even just as good. I’ve used health care in other countries…and believe me, the USA, despite its overpriced health care, is still the best in the world.
By woody on 04-20-09 @ 6:29 am
what good is a healthcare system that excludes around 30% of it’s citizens….AND costs 2x as much as any other country providing 100% coverage?
anyway I know canadians and they have never had to wait for a health care appointment….while I myself - in order to see a specialist here at KRMC - had to wait a month to get in to see that doctor.
These ARE MYTHS about the Canadian system. To believe that the US system is the best in the World is as silly as believing that the ########## party was a “grassroots” movement and not some BIG BUSINESS sponsored event to argue for lower taxes for the wealthy. Lower taxes for the middle and lower classes to JB and Roark is socialism. ONLY THE RICH DESERVE health care or lower taxes.
anyway JB doesn’t believe anything he reads in the paper, is released by a gov study or watches on TV except his foreign-source conspiracy youtube channel!
IF Canada’s system is SOOOO bad why do they live longer, have less debilitating diseases, lower infant mortality rate, etc etc etc…they beat us in EVERY category except cost vs GDP -AND they deliver the care for 100% of their citizens.
JB, Roark et al - quit being apologists for the economic “royalists” of the NWO!
BECAUSE that is exactly what you are.
By Sandra P on 04-20-09 @ 6:32 am
Anybody can say “we’re better,” “we’re the best”. But the claim doesn’t stack up when you compare health care results from our country and other industrialized countries. For example, American has an infant mortality rate that is much higher than many third world countries, and our life spans are shorter. Actually, waiting times in the US have been shown to be longer than in Canada and Britian - and MUCH longer than in France. Try to go schedule a knee surgery in the US and see if you can get on the schedule within the next two or three months… Emergency care waiting times are sometimes third-world. Our health care “system” delivers worse results when compared objectively. The Republican “do-nothing” “know-nothing” attitude about health care is killing our economy. The status quo is broken and Republicans have ZERO substantive ideas about how to fix it.
By the world is flat on 04-20-09 @ 6:59 am
Do bother arguing facts with the republicans - well disavowed republicans now that they blew up the world economy.
Republicans never let something as insignificant as the facts get in the way of their failed ideology.
By Roark on 04-20-09 @ 7:23 am
Where is the evidence to back up your claims, Sandra P?
By JB on 04-20-09 @ 7:23 am
No, woody, I actually experience life for myself by actually traveling outside the USA - something you will probably never do in your lifetime. And, for the last freaking time, I am not a Republican, or for that matter, a NWO apologist!!! I hope the NWO and all of its minions burn in hell!! I suppose you actually believe everything you read, instead of taking it with a grain of salt, or actually have your own opinion, instead of having it force fed to you by CNN or Fox News. Politics to me is the same as show business - they are all just players on the stage, distracting us from the real problems we face now. Woody, you and your leftist/socialist ilk disgust me. Why don’t you stop regurgitating what you see in the news and quit wasting time and electrons pointing out everyone else’s faults, and actually do something to effect real change in this country!!
By littlehawk12 on 04-20-09 @ 7:45 am
howdy from ALASKA ALL!!@All the libbie,lib,lib,lib tea party bashers!You freaky libs need to take a look at toyr own protest before you judge the tea party; “Wich went over very PEACEFULLY!” .Unlike libbie,lib,lib,lib, protest which most often turn very violent and idiotic.Like Michael Savage says “Liberalism is a mental disorder"Go figore ,huh?Go take a bath in it LIBBIES!!HA HA…...
By Flyboy on 04-20-09 @ 10:06 am
Speaking of research….Did something change in the last month? Because according to a March 19th article in the Anchorage Daily news….Alaska was awared 930.7 million in stimulus money. They turned down 288 million, which leaves nearly 643 million that they will be accepting.
By Roark on 04-20-09 @ 10:24 am
If our elected leaders would follow the US Constitution as written and as meant by original intent most of our nations economic and freedom problems would have been avoided. Unf. Democrats and too many Republicans pay lip service to the Const. at best.
By littlehawk12 on 04-20-09 @ 3:28 pm
This is true Flyboy but at least Alaska has S
OME humbleness about the state as far as not accepting money they dont need.Whereas all the other states “including Montana"have their hand out for every nickel they can beg off of uncle sam.Personally i think all states should tell D.C. AND NOBAMA to take their money and stick it.ALL OF IT!!!!
By Flyboy on 04-20-09 @ 3:41 pm
It’s not just Alaska that has turned down some of the stimulus money, but the question for the few states that did is did they do it for ligitimate reasons or just to play politics? And just so we’re clear, I’m not a fan of the stimulus packages or bailouts because I think we’re all going to pay dearly for it in the end and it won’t be pretty.
By littlehawk12 on 04-20-09 @ 3:56 pm
true true Flyboy!!Not only us but our grandkids and their grandkids.Unless we get some real change,and quick…....
By Cowgirl up on 04-20-09 @ 10:18 pm
littlehawk…welcome back! Missed ya! How’s Alaska?
By littlehawk12 on 04-20-09 @ 10:35 pm
it is awesome up here in the great AK.gotta love a state with the initials AK.Get it?haha….Had a brown bear in camp the other night,good thing all he wanted was my smoked cheese.hope all is well there.the tea is just about too pour and it is piping hot!!!!!!!
By wood y on 04-21-09 @ 8:39 am
what’s funny about alaska and the so-called libertarians is that ALASKA is the most “socialist” state in the Country. ALASKA is the only state that actually taxes the large corporations and then hands out the money to the people of that state regardless of whether or not they are even employed.
So they pay welfare bums to sit on the coach - I thought that was terrible!
Amount received by state per 1 dollar in taxes paid:
1. D.C. ($6.17)
2. North Dakota ($2.03)
3. New Mexico ($1.89)
4. Mississippi ($1.84)
5. Alaska ($1.82)
6. West Virginia ($1.74)
7. Montana ($1.64)
8. Alabama ($1.61)
9. South Dakota ($1.59)
10. Arkansas ($1.53)
Lots of red states there folks.
Another Republican MYTH that the red states are more fiscally responsible. IN FACT the opposite is true.
ALASKA the SOCIALIST state. Another chink in the discredited “libertarian” wing of the rethuglicans.
By littlehawk12 on 04-21-09 @ 9:02 am
You libby,lib,lib,libs are great at pointing out negativity and stewing over “the problems”.Rarely do any solutions come out of your freaked out minds.Also,Dirtbag,the money that alaskans get every year are from outside large corp. that make make lots of money on Alaskas natural resources.Why should not the citizens make anything out of big oils profits when the oil belongs too the citizens of Alaska?
By woody on 04-21-09 @ 9:45 am
flyboy - your last illiterate post just proves how much you should stay in school instead of jetting off on a vacation during the school year. YOU can’t afford to miss that much school.
Where are the solutions from the republicans besides tax cuts for the rich, bomb countries, and turn the constitution on it’s head spying on americans, lying and torturing….GREAT platform rethuglicans.
ALASKA is SOCIALIST - all the points you point out as being why Alaska should be able to hand out money are the EXACT same points you trot out against the democrats and call them “socialist”. YOU have no intellectual honesty and are a hypocrite.
YOU are the true SOCIALIST!
Or maybe we should be like peggy noonan and say “just walk by and ignore the laws broken by the past administration -
the only thing that ensures is IGNORANCE - which you flyboy have an abundance of! you and your minions suffer from cognative dissonance.
By Flyboy on 04-21-09 @ 10:00 am
What is it about my post that’s illiterate woody? Or is it that you’re just to ignorant to understand what I said? Tell me what you didn’t get by what I said and i’ll try and explain it to you….very slowly.
By Flyboy on 04-21-09 @ 10:01 am
Are you possibly talking about littlehawk12’s last post instead of mine?
By MTGirl-Born & Raised on 04-21-09 @ 10:45 am
The office in which I work received the Federal Tax Withholding Tables in January ‘09 for payroll taxes. In MARCH, we received another one-this one REVISED due to the, quote, “American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009”. My husband’s gross wages are $42,400/year. Lower middle class wages. He gets paid once a month. So, I looked up his federal withholding tax in the January tax tables & compared it to the revised tax tables they sent out in March. Get this: the IRS INCREASED his federal withholding amount to an extra $204/month!!! Where is this tax cut as promised? ALL I see is an HUGE tax increase coming out of our pocket. That amounts to $2445 EXTRA a year in federal taxes that we are paying for the Government’s spending sprees. What happened to the paltry $65 extra/month in our wallets for the people who make less than $250K/year? Do NOT be fooled people. Watch your paychecks-if you are in the lower middle-class sector like us, you will see an increase in taxes. AND that’s not to mention everything else across the board that we are being and will be taxed on. And THAT, my friends, is what the Tea Parties were all about! Start saving if you can & grow your gardens-it’s going to be a rough road ahead!!!! (Just for the record-I’m an independent).
By woody on 04-21-09 @ 1:35 pm
my error…I meant littlehawk. I guess I am guilty of lumping a core group of you bloggers together. If there is a difference please point it out to me.
By grannysgadgets on 04-21-09 @ 2:32 pm
MTGirl-born : Well is’nt that just the icing on the cake ! Thanks for your informative post ( Sure dread taking a look at ours now !!!!!!) But then again most of us know that all this stimulus, bailout, money has to be reimbursed from somewhere, most of us know it’s going to come from our paychecks ! Then they question why the tea partys ?? and why is everyone SO upset ! Then well as usaul it goes into what about Bush ! As if non of us were upset back in then as well…..... I guess they never heard of ” The straw that broke the camels back !!!!!”.Woody : core lumping, yeah thanks, minimize every one just because they dont share your point of view. Thats fine, I’m sure I have been generalized by better !
“Again it’s not democratic, its not republican, it’s ” WE THE PEOPLE !”.
By MTGirl-Born & Raised on 04-21-09 @ 3:14 pm
I wish more people would pay attention to their paychecks & the taxes going out of them, Grannygadgets. It’d be very interesting to see what the tax withholdings were in 2007 & 2008 as opposed to THIS year! What I do know is this: that extra $204/month that the IRS is laying claim to could be used to purchase health insurance for my kids, since we make too much to qualify for the CHIPS program that we so generously donate to with our paycheck taxes. Oh, but the government’s going to take care of that for us too, right? And then raise our taxes again to pay for a health care system where we basically have no choice in the matter, whether we want it or not. I read the Obama/Biden health care plan-very generalized stuff there, but basically they want BIG BROTHER to oversee pretty much every aspect of our health/lives. For that to happen, they will need more GOVERNMENT workers to do that, which equals=more taxes. They want reports from doctors & health care facilities & they will reward those who have good results (statistics)-more taxes to pay for the reward system. People need to wake up and smell the Big Government-cuz it really stinks to me!!!
By Cowgirl up on 04-21-09 @ 8:06 pm
grannysgadgets & MT Girl…What happened to the tax on cigs.? I thought that was supposed to pay for children’s healthcare???? Did I miss something? Must say…I don’t like paying for anyone’s healthcare when I can’t even afford healthcare for myself! I’m looking at past years claims I paid to the IRS to see what is going on now. Watched the hearings this AM and they still can’t tell us where our bail-out monies went…or they did not want to. Answers were real open and not specific. Let’s face it…we’ve been screwed again…and again…and again! And they are yelling at us about the Tea Parties!!! Give me a break! Oh big brother…take care of all my needs!
By grannysgadgets on 04-21-09 @ 8:22 pm
<sigh> Can you imagine a government taking care of our health care system ? OH yes, as MTGirl said “rewards system”. Hmm better not find yourself sick under this program, imagine what may happen if you have NO rewards coming !Cowgirl : I read today where some of the places that bailout money went is confidential information…........ WE dont need to know where it went ! ( I guess)
Well, better to be yelled out about doing something ( Tea partys) Then humiliated for doing nothing !
Cup of tea anyone ??
By Nancy on 04-21-09 @ 8:22 pm
Granny, Cowgirl, MT born, as if it’s not enough of a slap in the face, they pass a bill to give health care to the Children of Illegals…however, us taxpayers cannot afford it. Not that I do not care about Children, I do…but it’s not right that American’s cannot afford it because of all these programs to support groups of people who do NOT pay into the system. Okay…I’ve had my B***** session for the night.
By grannysgadgets on 04-22-09 @ 7:07 am
Nancy : Exactly right !!! That is why the system is BROKE, there are fewer paying in, then the amount of those that benefit ! It’s just not apples to apples !
We have health insurance that we have paid into for years ( seldom used I might add) When my husband was struck with a illness several months ago, that required some hopsital time, and follow up visits ect.. Well the insurance company has paid only a small fraction of each bill, and well, we are left holding a bag of debt in the four digit range !
By Nancy on 04-22-09 @ 7:10 am
Granny, I am so sorry about your husband and also the financial drain his illness has left on your family. I will add you to my prayers. Nancy.
By Eric H on 04-22-09 @ 9:09 am
I heard people talk about health care, I can only hope we get national health care for my family. The “great care” we get here in the USA(hahaha)is not available to me because my insurance was cut when I was laid off from work.(even WITH insurance it was hard to get care and I have been living with broken teeth,for example, that get infected regularly because my “good"insurance would NOT cover oral surgery) I will take free govt health care any day because it is better than none at all(and maybe i can actually get proper care NOT based on the ability to pay).Just like you NEED a lawyer to buy justice here. What it ALL boils down to is; the working man/woman is getting stiffed as wages stagnate and cost of living increases at an alarming rate. I wish the government would see that is what the MAIN problem in the USA is.GREED!!!!
By MTGirl-Born & Raised on 04-22-09 @ 10:13 am
Eric-Yes you’re right, it’s greed-plain & simple. But what the Government needs to focus on is the insurance companies, medical facilities,etc., that are charging the outrageous costs & premiums for health care, not to mention the bias that comes from the insurance companies in deciding whether or not to cover a person. I was denied health insurance because I have the beginnings of arthritis & I was considered a HUGE risk to them. Give me a break-I’m 39 years old & healthy as a horse other than that! So, they can pick and choose who they want to give policies to & that is discrimination, plain & simple. What I also believe they do is run a credit check on you & if you don’t have a credit score that is satisfactory to them, they will find a reason to deny you as well.Cowgirl: Yes they did tax the cigs to help pay for the healthcare of underpriviledged children. Cigarettes have gone up about $2 more/pack. Loose tobacco has gone through the roof. But what happens if people quit smoking because they can no longer afford it? Tax revenues will drop & the gov will have to make up the difference somewhere!
Look-here is an excerpt from Obama’s Comprehensive Tax Plan when he was campaigning for Presidency:
Under the Obama Plan:
• Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see
their taxes increase. The typical middle class family will receive well over $1,000 in tax relief under
the Obama plan, and will pay tax rates that are 20% lower than they faced under President Reagan.
According to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama plan provides three times as much tax relief for middle
class families as the McCain plan.
HELLO!! My husband’s federal income tax went up 55% from the January tax tables to the Revised Tax Tables they printed in March. WHERE IS THE TAX CUT AS PROMISED!!!!!!!
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