Tea Party rally cost taxpayers nearly $14k

Moderator: Super Moderators

SETIsLady
Pirate
Posts: 19872
Joined: 04-14-2003 08:52 PM

Tea Party rally cost taxpayers nearly $14k

Post by SETIsLady » 04-14-2010 01:44 PM

I thought this was the party that was looking out for the taxpayers :confused:
WASHINGTON - Rep. Michele Bachmann solidified her place in the national spotlight in November when she gathered thousands of Tea Party activists in front of the U.S. Capitol for a "House Call on Washington," to stop the Democrats' health care bill.

Months later, official expense reports show that the boisterous, 10,000-person rally to rein in big government and stop runaway spending cost U.S. taxpayers nearly ,000.
Full article

http://www.startribune.com/politics/nat ... page=1&c=y

Bobbi Snow
Pirate
Posts: 2366
Joined: 01-20-2008 01:57 PM

Post by Bobbi Snow » 04-14-2010 04:16 PM

Wouldn't it be even more interesting to learn how much each hosting city had to shell out of moth-filled coffers for Law Enforcement and other necessities, to protect these people from each other, and the rest of us from them? (I'd say "Them from us," too, except that most of the rest of us have too much self-respect to even get near the lunatics.:D
ImageIf you're still breathing, it's not too late!

HB3
Moderator
Posts: 11919
Joined: 11-02-2000 03:00 AM

Post by HB3 » 04-14-2010 04:32 PM

Actually, didn't a story just come out saying that 25% percent of the Teabaggers are Democrats? I guess they're the ones that did it. ;)

SETIsLady
Pirate
Posts: 19872
Joined: 04-14-2003 08:52 PM

Post by SETIsLady » 04-14-2010 04:43 PM

That still leaves 75% that are not Dems ;)

Anyhow, my point is perhaps I don't want the tea people picking my pocket, Quick someone get me a sign !!!! :p

cherry
Pirate
Posts: 5704
Joined: 05-28-2004 05:15 PM

Palin & Perry

Post by cherry » 04-14-2010 04:45 PM

I've had about all the flirting I can take .... :o

OMG
Pirate
Posts: 2596
Joined: 04-17-2006 02:02 AM

Post by OMG » 04-15-2010 11:02 AM

SETIsLady wrote: Anyhow, my point is perhaps I don't want the tea people picking my pocket, Quick someone get me a sign !!!! :p


haha yeah, also a national news and radio outlet doesn't hurt either. lol.

These tea party hypocrites so inspired my sig, everything else is "waste" except the stuff they want and utilize.

HB3
Moderator
Posts: 11919
Joined: 11-02-2000 03:00 AM

Post by HB3 » 04-15-2010 11:34 AM

Well, you know, maybe they needed police protection from some crazed Huffposters or something....

HB3
Moderator
Posts: 11919
Joined: 11-02-2000 03:00 AM

Post by HB3 » 04-15-2010 10:03 PM

OMG wrote: These tea party hypocrites so inspired my sig, everything else is "waste" except the stuff they want and utilize.


Didn't a story just come out showing that a majority of Teabaggers consider the taxes they're paying to be "fair"? Sounds like the notion that these are "zero tax" extremists is just another exaggerated misconception.

Linnea posted this, right?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/po ... wanted=all

Joolz
Pirate
Posts: 11976
Joined: 12-25-2002 03:00 AM

Post by Joolz » 04-16-2010 04:05 AM

Ah, who to believe?... polls, polls, and more polls... HB3 says some poll says 25% of Tea Partiers are Democrats. The same poll he cites in another post (the NYT one) says that 54% of Tea Partiers are Republicans, 5% are Democrats, 36% are Independents and 5% don't know what they are. So, I guess it depends on which pollster you want to believe.

But seriously, we all know that polls can be skewed up one side and down the other. I have to say I'm very skeptical about some of the results in this NYT poll.

I mean, asking people what political party they belong to, what race they are, whether they're male or female, or how old they are -- such questions usually get a reliable response. Why lie about something like that? There's no personal gain in lying on those kinds of questions.

But ask how much education they have, how much money they make, or what social class they think they belong to, and some people will lie --toward the upside -- because it makes them look better, or it makes them feel better about themselves, or for any number of similar reasons.

IMHO.

Oh, and also, here's a question for the sociologists and/or statisticians among us:

In the question in the NYT poll, dated 4/5-12/10, where they asked people: "Do you consider yourself to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or not?," 18% said Yes, 62% said No, and 19% said they didn't know.

Yet, on the cover page for the poll, they said that of the responses dated 4/5-12/10, the total number polled was 1,580, but the total number of self-identified Tea Partiers was 881. How does that work? 18% of 1,580 is not 881.

So, we either have something like 284 people, or we have 881 people, who self-identified as Tea Partiers in this poll. Either way, that's not all that many people to be basing these claims upon. IMO. I might be able to put more stock in it if it were the combined results of more than a few days polling, too.

But... yeah... polls, polls, and more polls... who to believe? If I believe what I've seen and heard -- photos, video, etc., I call it all bogus. WTH? Who to believe, eh?

And no, I don't wanna argue. I don't have time right now anyhow. These are just late night thoughts floating through my head after taking a look at the actual poll numbers, and I thought I might as well share them, for whatever they may be worth. Or not.

And yeah, this post probably should have been posted in the thread about the NYT poll, but I was reading this thread when I thought about all of this, so here it be. :p
Image Anchors Aweigh!

HB3
Moderator
Posts: 11919
Joined: 11-02-2000 03:00 AM

Post by HB3 » 04-16-2010 11:25 AM

A couple thoughts on that. First, it's the NYT, not FOX News, so they're ideological drift should be anti, not pro, the Teabaggers.

Second, the most interesting thing about it to me was -- I think the question was whether they consider themselves part of the Tea Party "movement." Not whether they're official "members" in some way. And the majority said they consider themselves part of the movement. Which means it's become something one becomes a part of simply by one's emotional, ideological, or philosophical attachment, not by being a "card carrying" member.

If that many people are, as you suggest, lying about being Teabaggers to make themselves feel better, that's pretty impressive, considering the absolutely relentless assault that's been going on. If you'd like to be insulted and degraded, call yourself a Teabagger.
Last edited by HB3 on 04-16-2010 11:30 AM, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Corvid
Anchors Aweigh
Posts: 5678
Joined: 12-31-2002 03:00 AM

Post by Corvid » 04-16-2010 12:22 PM

"But ask how much education they have, how much money they make, or what social class they think they belong to, and some people will lie --toward the upside -- because it makes them look better, or it makes them feel better about themselves, or for any number of similar reasons."

I see no mention of "lying about being a teabagger".

But you knew that.

Joolz
Pirate
Posts: 11976
Joined: 12-25-2002 03:00 AM

Post by Joolz » 04-16-2010 03:26 PM

HB3 wrote: If that many people are, as you suggest, lying about being Teabaggers to make themselves feel better, that's pretty impressive, considering the absolutely relentless assault that's been going on. If you'd like to be insulted and degraded, call yourself a Teabagger.
Wow, way to twist someone's words, HB! I didn't say anything like that. AT ALL. Read my post again. I said that people, across the board (not just "Teabaggers"), may lie about their class, economic status, and/or education (especially if it's anonymous). I don't think anyone lied about whether or not they identified themselves as "Teabaggers." That would, obviously, be silly. :rolleyes: Go look at the actual poll results. What the pollsters apparently DID was to take the relatively small percentage overall of those polled who self-identified themselves as Tea Partiers, and then, calculated those results in comparison to the overall results (which included the Tea Partiers along with everyone else polled as well).
Image Anchors Aweigh!

Joolz
Pirate
Posts: 11976
Joined: 12-25-2002 03:00 AM

Post by Joolz » 04-16-2010 03:40 PM

Also, a majority did NOT say "they consider themselves part of the movement." A whole battery of questions were asked (over a hundred in all), and that was just one of them. The question was, as I stated above: "Do you consider yourself to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or not?" A minority (18%) answered Yes to that question, not a majority. The majority (62%) replied No. I said nothing whatsoever about being a "card-carrying member," either. I simply stated the actual question asked.

This was also not just a New York Times poll. It was an NYT/CBS poll -- for whatever that's worth, which I don't think is all that much in either case.
Last edited by Joolz on 04-16-2010 03:49 PM, edited 1 time in total.
Image Anchors Aweigh!

Joolz
Pirate
Posts: 11976
Joined: 12-25-2002 03:00 AM

Re: Tea Party rally cost taxpayers nearly $14k

Post by Joolz » 04-16-2010 03:48 PM

SETIsLady wrote: I thought this was the party that was looking out for the taxpayers :confused:


Full article

http://www.startribune.com/politics/nat ... page=1&c=y

Sorry to have hijacked the topic of your thread! On topic: I agree with you on this. It is rather ironic, isn't it?
Image Anchors Aweigh!

OMG
Pirate
Posts: 2596
Joined: 04-17-2006 02:02 AM

Post by OMG » 04-18-2010 10:21 PM

Naa Joolz you brought up some good points, especially people hyping/upgrading up their "status". I think it really difficult to get accurate numbers for those type of questions especially as a once off question.

On somewhat on topic, I was watching a Sunday morning talk show and at the opening they were having clips of what they will talk about and they showed a tea party guy at the rally yelling at a guy who was agaisnt it saying "This is our party, go do your own party". Which made me laugh not just because he had a ridiculous high voice (which he did) but again protesting in public space and somehow he claims it for "his party". So the guys who complain about taxes and govt programs are now claiming public parks for their party and no counter debate/protest.

Post Reply

Return to “Politics and Government 2010-2013”