"Organized by the American Family Association, the "Tea Party" event drew an estimated 150 to 200 people protesting government overspending, taxes and what they view as government's shift to the left."

Funny.

I wonder if the American Family Association will be lobbying to stop the Federal Child Tax Credit.

Handing out $1,000 per child from government coffers sounds like a hard left shift to me.

the "Tea Party" event drew an estimated 150 to 200 people

They can't be talking about the one on Truxtun Avenue.

I walked by to check it out just after 12pm and just before 1pm and there was no more than 60-70 people there.

TSM, I was there from about 12:10 to 1 pm. I went to the corner and counted 50 by hand before I even got into the bulk of the protesters. It was 150 at the very least.

-- steven mayer

gee...could it be that the pissed off taxpayers have to work for a living???

It was 150 at the very least

There is no way 150 people were squeezed into the small space they were taking up.

Unless they were teabagging each other.

could it be that the pissed off taxpayers have to work for a living

 I'll bet you less will show up for tonight's protest.

I agree learnem. Most of the crowd looked like retired people.

I really feel bad for some of you who think this is a joke.  Wait until you can't afford to live in a house or drive your car or even buy food because taxes are so high.  The elderly individuals are the ones being hit the hardest because of fixed incomes and higher taxes.  It is really sad that you are not out there standing up for your country and your rights.  You think the government should completely control your life.  I cannot believe what this world has come to.  I am sad sometimes to call myself an American. 

It is a joke (the Tea party, that is).  People couldn't afford to buy houses and drive their car over a year ago and it had very little to do with taxes.  The ones making the noise today finally feel it but this problem did not just creep up because of Obama.  People aren't broke today because of paying (more) taxes.  It was very bad domestic and foreign policy (i.e. cheap and easy credit).  We were going to have to feel the pain eventually.  Did you really think the good times of easy credit would last forever? 

I drove past part of the protest driving home from work around 4:00-4:15. I admit that I was turning the corner, so I couldn't see everyone.  The people I saw were mainly white and dressed professionally. I doubt that they are hurting financially.

I don't agree with how the US government spends much of its tax dollars.  I think it is outrageous that billions of American tax dollars are giving to mercenaries, such as Blackwater and Halliburton, that profit from the US's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq while US troops do not receive adequate care when they get home. Tax payer money could be used to repair our infrastructure, reduce class sizes, and provide greater services for the elderly.

However, the Tea Party protestors should realize that government spending is sometimes necessary. I don't know how they want to allocate resources, or if they have already publicized a plan. This Tea Party protest seems to me like a group of dissidents coming together without a plan.

I didn't plan to be there, as I said, because I don't have a particular problem with the tax rate Shrub imposed on me (guess the protestors *DO* have aproblem with Shrub. 

I'm sure Obama appreciates their support, since he's pledged to cut the taxes of everyone attending the teabagging event who doesn't make more than a quarter-million dollars a year.  Hope they vote the Republican congressmen out of office if they continue to oppose that effort.

Where's the people of color out there???---Why does it look like a John McCain rally???

I doubt Mr. and Mrs. O are really concerned about a measly tax increase.... 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/...

I walked through the crowd at a quarter to five- there were a few hundred there. I carried a sign saying "BEING A MINORITY SUCKS" , which is ironic given I'm a white male. Got some laughs, and few questions, and a lot of scratched heads. :)

Ling, because if they were shown on the local news protesting their case workers might cut off their government aide....

because if they were shown on the local news protesting their case workers might cut off their government aide

A perfect example of why conservatives will be wandering in the wilderness for many years to come.

But not this conservative TSM.

Just came back from the 4:30 pm rally. Looks like several hundred there.

Talk radio's Jaz McKay was on the mic ... couldn't see any of the speakers over the crowd.

Lot's of Republicans there, but some were angry enough to boo Kevin McCarthy and Roy Ashburn.

BPD out in force. Things got a little dicey at one point when several in attendance confronted some counterprotesters.

Usually it takes a lot of beer and food to draw a crowd that big in Bako. I was impressed.

American Family Foundation

Tea Parties

What a crock. 

It’s simply a new distraction movement brought to you by the lackeys of the right wing Oligarchy.

Suddenly, fiscal responsibility has become the “principle” to fight for once again.

Where the heck were all these “responsible” citizens during the Reagan Administration, when the USA went from the worlds biggest creditor nation, straight to the worlds biggest debtor nation in just 7 short years?

Where were they when the investment bankers were stealing us blind for the last 10 years.

These protesters are a bunch of drones.

This is all nothing but a long term strategy to gain yet another regressive tax cut for those that run the game.

Have fun protester clones. While the PR department for the party of the oligarchy programs you to believe you are all in this together, they’ll be grabbing up the final crumbs for safe storage in Cayman Island accounts.

BTW: You’ve all been gladly piling debt on your grandchildren for 2 generations now. Did you forget to refill your Valium prescriptions, or was the loss of your phantom wealth the final wake up call?

A reportedly corporate-financed grassroots" anti-tax movement, paid for, planned and promoted by right wing think tanks, corporate lobbyists and Fox News Channel, has failed to bring about the "popular uprising" against the Obama administration its creators had hoped for.

 The day of "tea parties" were pushed by Republican operatives and partisan advocacy groups such as FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group helmed by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey. Organizers sought to encourage protest over the Obama government's tax and stimulus policies by asking people to wave tea bags, but the national event brought about only a few hundred "tea-baggers" in most parts of the U.S., despite relentless promotion by Fox News TV hosts.

Participants had hoped to rally hundreds of thousands of people to begin a grassroots movement that would force Obama to change government policy. But the turn-out was far from what was hoped for, with most rallies looking decidedly on the small side, especially compared to the 2006 immigrants rights rallies or the 2004 pro-choice march on Washington, both of which attracted millions.

http://www.vancouversun.com...

Something worth noting.

•    If you’re a 50-year old-with a college degree, you will pay approximately $81,000 over your working life just to pay the interest on the debt in the Obama budget.
•    If you’re a 40-year-old, you’ll pay $132,000.
•    And if you’re a 20-year-old, just starting out after college, you will pay a whopping $114,000 just to service the interest on the debt created by the Obama budget.

I think some people are desperate to dismiss this movement. 

Why did you leave out how much you'll pay from Bush's record deficit spending and doubling of the national debt?

 Teabaggers are nothing more than hypocrites.

This is one reason people are getting upset about taxes; now and future.

Bush is a piker in spending compared to what 0bama has planned for us.

Obama has to spend BECAUSE of what Bush left him.

You also left out that the CBO projections through 2012 are based upon BUSH BUDGET DEFICITS. The projections are not much different than what the CBO came out with in the summer of 2008.

I suppose you would rather just see America fail and become a third world country.

You rightwingers are hypocrites. You were completely silent during the Bush's run up of deficits and the debt.

Obama has to spend because of what Bush left him?  LOL.  How do you figure that?  You're losing it.  The tired old refrain that the big 0 has to spend cajillions because Bush spent billions is only more evidence of a total lack of any credible reason to pile such a tremendous debt on our children and grandchildren.

• President Bush expanded the federal budget by a historic $700 billion through 2008. President Obama would add another $1 trillion.
• President Bush began a string of expensive finan­cial bailouts. President Obama is accelerating that course.
• President Bush created a Medicare drug entitle­ment that will cost an estimated $800 billion in its first decade. President Obama has proposed a $634 billion down payment on a new govern­ment health care fund.
• President Bush increased federal education spending 58 percent faster than inflation. Presi­dent Obama would double it.
• President Bush became the first President to spend 3 percent of GDP on federal antipoverty programs. President Obama has already in­creased this spending by 20 percent.
• President Bush tilted the income tax burden more toward upper-income taxpayers. President Obama would continue that trend.

   

• President Bush presided over a $2.5 trillion increase in the public debt through 2008. Setting aside 2009 (for which Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for an additional $2.6 trillion in public debt), President Obama’s budget would add $4.9 trillion in public debt from the beginning of 2010 through 2016.

driln:  right you are.  And as I said in some comment a day or so ago, these taxes are going to nickel and dime and dollar you to death on every bill you get from anywhere.  Utilities, gas at the pump, tobacco, alcohol, everything.  Taxing taxes:  yep, that's what we're getting.  I even heard "they" are thinking about taxing doctors' fees.  You'll probably get a charge on your phone bill just to call the IRS.  Oops!  I shouldn't have said that, because maybe they haven't thought of it yet. 

driln:  Another thing.  Being in the Midwest, I certainly didn't protest in Bakersfield -- or anywhere else, for that matter.  But that didn't stop me from faxing my handpainted "No Tea" sign to my so-called repesentatives in Congress, as well as to 0.  I don't imagine I'm the only one doing something like that. 

Where's the people of color out there???

They were in their government subsidized apartments sitthing on their fat derriers and eating their leftover KFC.  They don't care about taxes because so few of them pay any.  We owe them, remember?

I actually left my government subsidized house (ironically, the gov't calls my subsidy an entitlement) to train on some equipment and learn how to wipe out a whole grid sector. I consider myself to be a pretty self sufficient guy but hell, I'll take 40 acres and a mule.

Are black people the only types who like chicken, KFC in particular?  How would they be able to stay in business all these years.  It's not like we work enough to be able to afford such "non-handouts" on a regular basis.

Are black people the only types who like chicken, KFC in particular?

You call that crap chicken?

I kinda like those KFC bowls myself..Jfrancis...the ones with the mashed potatos chicken corn gravy and melted cheese on top..infact i shoulda stopped and bought one on my way home from the teabaggn but ma wanted to eat subway instead......

Can't believe you didn't post the link!

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Protesters are dirty hippies that need a haircut and a job.  AMERICA: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Ramona132 - you totally forgot to include the youtube!

Ramona...your losing your credibilty FAST poppin in and out of these blogs repeating yourself..what intelligenc and fore thought..I bet your parents are proud..they dont look like dirty hippies to me...look like your average american citizens..all ages ..

 TSM said.......I'll bet you less will show up for tonight's protest.

wow. its a good thing you dont live in Vegas...you'd be a degenerate gambler instead of  blogger

You rightwingers are hypocrites. You were completely silent during the Bush's run up of deficits and the debt.

 that sir, is a goddamn lie....i have been very vocal about bush's last few years as POTUS...

yet...i dont hear you sqwaking about the massive spending that YER BOY in the white house and the rest of YER GIRLZ in congress continue you pass through...

BTW..not all us "right wingGers" support what you love to lump us all together for..... do your research before making a gross overgeneralization

and for a person who bags on everyone else's blog...your personal blog is pretty barren...why dont you lead by example, instead of attempting to lead by criticism?

hmmmmm  very vocal when the right does it....virtually silent when the left does it......

cant explain that away

get off the "left good right baaaaaaaad" kick and be a freekin american and call overspending what it is on BOTH SIDES OF THE ISLE

*preparing for an onslaught of links to communistic/socialistic blogs that vomits out the same garbage TSM does

Learnum, I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I heard the plaza was packed and it was only around 4:30.  They said they weren't allowed to go into full swing until 5 because the court was still doing business. 

I didn't make the party because in the morning I was at the audiologist and at the afternoon party I was on my way to work.  One of Eric's burdens on society..the working elderly.  You know, the one who had to work to pay the increased taxes and fees that aren't supposed to hurt the fixed income people.

Heck, I wish I made  250K then the taxes that go up for everyone wouldn't affect me as much since I could afford to pay them.

TWO THUMBS UP learnem

I doubt they will come back today cause they know all their self induced back rubbing kinda made them look REAL foolish after yesterday...

maybe theyre having their own teabag party today.....kinda distracting to blog when gettin the twins shoved down yer throat...

no wonder they were very vocal anti prop 8

jfrancis, what can I say nothing you said it all and put a smile on my face. I know my husband would take 40 acres and a mule.

Nancy I wish you did not have to work, at a certain time we all need a rest.  

bakonative, cool music videos

alicen, I hope taxes on alcohol are increased. It will raise a lot of money, especially in Kern County.  Taxes on tobacco are high enough.  If they get much higher, people might switch to weed, which isn't taxed, :( unless it is bought at a place that sells it for medicinal usage.

I was very encouraged by the turnout. We got there about an hour early as we wanted a good spot, as well as mingle abit with the folks. TSM, I am not a rightwinger or a hypocrite. I personally was lived with the Bush Adm. I wrote more letters to GWB than any other elected official EVER. I'd venture to guess more that most who call themselves liberal Democrats. I am sick to death of hearing people whining about Bush, and the deficit spending we had in his adm. I'd have been at a ralley then, had one been promoted. Funny (smirk) how everybody on the left wants to continue to complain about that, yet Obamas run away spending is A-OK. How ridiculous! I don't want my Grandchildren having to work their butts off to pay for these idiots out of control spending. They are making money faster than Parker Brothers. If this adm has its way we will all be earning a dollar two ninety-eight an hour, for the Government at that. When you all have your eyes fulling opened you'll be just as ticked off as those that have the foresight to see whats coming. The gathering was much bigger than my Husband thought it would be. He couldn't rap his mind around the thought that Bakersfield folk would really pull together in such numbers. We reallly had fun talking to the people, including the black patriots there. Yes there were some black Americans in attendance. The variety of things written on posters were indeed good reading. Just one being "Even God only asks for 10%". Many, many topics were discussed. People are mad for a variety of reasons. Contrary to popular belief on here, Obama will not be our Savior.          I'd like to add that this was not a gathering of just a bunch of old hippies, or elderly citizens. There were quite a number of young folks. I didn't really mingle past 4:30 as the crowd had gotten so thick that you had to continually say excuse me to get by folks. As well as the fact that I didn't want to polk anyone with my American Flag stick, or the corners of my poster. As for the music, the band was awesome! Hats off to the 1st. grade teacher, and a student that orgagnized this event. I look forward to the next event. This next time my Husband won't question whether people will really show up in mass.

Are you tax complainers ready to give up all the services your government provides? Keep in mind that includes police & fire protection, code enforcement, etc. You'll also have to pay more for produce (subsidized), and of course it will be a lot less safe without any regulations. Oh, and you can forget about that military that keeps us all safe too, along with all the jobs that the government creates. 

How many of you are ready to take the plunge?

Are you tax complainers ready to give up all the services your government provides? Keep in mind that includes police & fire protection, code enforcement, etc. You'll also have to pay more for produce (subsidized), and of course it will be a lot less safe without any regulations. Oh, and you can forget about that military that keeps us all safe too, along with all the jobs that the government creates. 

How many of you are ready to take the plunge?

You're absolutely right. We had NONE of those things before the income tax.

dont need to worry about police or safety....CCW....  thats all the protection and safety one needs.

learnem: "that sir, is a goddamn lie....i have been very vocal about bush's last few years as POTUS...

yet...i dont hear you sqwaking about the massive spending that YER BOY in the white house and the rest of YER GIRLZ in congress continue you pass through..."

Really, and how did YOU propose Bush pay for his little crusade in Iraq? Tax cuts?

By the way, can you explain Keynesian Economic theory to the rest of the class?

Really, and how did YOU propose Bush pay for his little crusade in Iraq? Tax cuts?

More to the point, how did he propose Bush pay for his *TAX CUTS*, which really resulted in the deficit?

Oh, right.  By deporting the billions of illegal aliens. 

.

By the way, can you explain Keynesian Economic theory to the rest of the class?

That's got numbers in it.  I'm going to guess "No, he can't."

right...cause yer boyz...who had a majority in congress during the bush extravaganza NEVER had a spending problem did they

historically...democrats NEVER outspent the other side did they?

come to the table with a working brain would you?

how you see all of this as one aspect of the govt's fault, and not the ENTIRE govt's fault is beyond me

btw...yer boyz spent it right along side bush didnt they?  without a peep if i recollect right

*waiting for someone to list a post from a neo-nazi facist blogger about how im wrong.......must be tough to cruise the internet all day, huh?  makes one wonder where you learned those offensive homosexual sex act words...hmmmmmmm