Roger Ebert's awesome article about the tea party vs the occupy movements:

[mucifer]

The Tea Party and the Wall Street demonstrators share the same conviction: They are the victims of theft by powerful institutions. The Tea Party blames government taxation. The demonstrators blame corruption in the financial industry...

One source of financial backing for the Tea Party and its candidates for public office are the billionaire Koch Brothers, who were recently charged with malfeasance, fraud, and illegal sales to Iran...

The concern about taxation is perplexing, since U.S. tax rates are at a historic low. Indeed, there seems little chance that we can ever begin to pay off the American deficit without raising taxes...

It seems to me that your politics can be defined by whose side you are on. Tea Party members are mostly on their own side. They believe they should pay lower taxes, or none. If we can't pay for health care, tough luck. The Occupation forces, who seem more affluent and might benefit more from lower taxes, are on the side of those being exploited by an unregulated Wall Street.

the whole article at http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/10/tea_and_empathy.html

[callous taoboy]

1. kick and rec

[Scuba]

2. I think Ebert understates the abuse....

"A grotesque imbalance continues. Corporate executives draw multi-million-dollar bonuses even while driving their companies into the ground. Executive income is no longer driven by success but helps contribute to failure. Their bonuses are the aspect of their corporations that many executives focus on most keenly. Some Wall Street firms have been shown to deliberately create financial instruments intended to fail, and then selling them to clients."


How about tax dollars going from the pockets of working Americans to the bank accounts of foreign investors in the most profitable industry in the history of commerce - big oil - and other profitable companies like GE?

What about tax breaks for companies that ship American jobs overseas?

To me, these are more egregious than what Ebert cites.


Recced in any case. Thanks for posting.

[mucifer]

7. Maybe you missed this part in the article about the kock brothers

"One source of financial backing for the Tea Party and its candidates for public office are the billionaire Koch Brothers, who were recently charged with malfeasance, fraud, and illegal sales to Iran."

[City Lights]

3. K&R. eom

[barbtries]

4. "What we live under now is a system of Corporate Socialism, a welfare state for the rich."

teabaggers wake the fuck up will you?!

[RKP5637]

8. Well said, it "is" Corporate Welfare Socialism, n/t

[Enthusiast]

20. Teabaggers will not wake up.

They recognize the true problem stems from the Marxist in the White House. :crazy:

[Blue_Tires]

25. That's what fox news and Rush keep hammering home every afternoon

[Enthusiast]

26. And it is working.

Propaganda is effective. Unless our side equals their effort -we lose.

[trotsky]

5. Despite Ebert losing his voice, it's stronger than ever. n/t

[RKP5637]

9. +1000 +++ n/t

[CarmanK]

6. VERY WELL DONE!!

But I would add that the TPARTY NATIONALISTS not only don't want to pay taxes or support programs that advance the common good, they want to reshape america into an oligarchy. Ignoring past mistakes dooms us to repeat them. And oh, how this nation is repeating BAD POLICY pre-depression. But, then this drive to empower the few, is orchestrated and funded by the MURDOGS AND KOCHROACHES LED by Grover Norquist's campaign to suffocate democracy.

[duhneece]

10. House slaves vs field slaves

The teaparty reminds me of the house slaves who supported their 'masters' out of fear of becoming field slaves, unable to imagine freedom for all.

[DirkGently]

11. Great article. Ebert's got a hold of the thing correctly. Thanks for posting.

[fishwax]

12. k/r

[yoyossarian]

13. Rog just keeps gettin' more lovable every day!

n/t

[starroute]

14. The Tea Partiers are more affluent than Ebert realizes

They may look poor and ignorant, but they're actually above average in income and education.

And the OWSers may come from middle-class families, but what does that matter if they can't find jobs?

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-02-17/politics/tea.party.poll_1_tea-party-third-party-gop-candidate?

Activists in the Tea Party movement tend to be male, rural, upscale, and overwhelmingly conservative, according to a new national poll. . . . Nearly three-quarters of Tea Party activists attended college, compared to 54 percent of all Americans, and more than 3 in 4 call themselves conservatives.

[deacon_sephiroth]

19. you'd never know by reading their signs. N/T

[mucifer]

15. kick.

[JuniperLea]

16. Bless you, Robert!

Seems you found your voice once you lost your voice.

[lindysalsagal]

17. OWS is getting these ideas media time. It's working.

I feel represented. Amen.

[Douglas Carpenter]

18. kick and recommend!!!

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

21. Very close to finishing his autobiography

"Life Itself" a very good read. He has always been very progressive, I had no idea how much until I started reading his book.

[malaise]

22. MUST READ

Rec

[Stuart G]

23. Ebert goes back to progressive politcs a long way...

In the 60s he wrote a great piece about apartheid. He had traveld to South Africa and wrote from there for the Daily Illini, the
school newspaper at the University of Illinois. He has been one of us all his life. K and R

[Locrian]

24. god

The "Tea Party" god is money.
The "Protesters" god is life.