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Your Two Cents Worth 25 comments
ARE WE THERE YET?
We are all aware of the many problems with our current market and the government that sort of regulates it. Straight answers from the Fed, from the FDIC, from the SEC... myth. Bank of America (BAC) broke, funny business around the Merrill-Lynch acquisition, Citi (C) is an accident of mark-to-fantasy. Congress porkifies every bill, fudges data, bails out sinking Behemoths, winks at massive shenanigans, and has been running at breakneck speed to... WHAT? Socialize us, as in "Health Insurance Reform"? Bankrupt us? Greenly internationalize us with Cap and Trade?
We are also all aware of the current fragmented nature of the Opposition (us!), to whom policies of late portend Train Wreck.
A number of organizations - leaders and representatives of Tea Parties, 9/12 groups, GOOOH, and others, including yours truly - are meeting November 10 in Dallas for a BlowOutCongress.com-hosted Town Hall. It will be live at 7:30 p.m. CST, and national via the Internet. According to Jeff Bolton, the founding host, Internet attendees will be able to ask and answer as will those of us attending in person.
This is the first PUBLIC step toward what we hope will become a unified effort to re-shape our future. Discussions off-screen also have been and continue to be held among our various groups about what to do. Put in your two cents worth.
From the site:
On the heels of another historic constitutional failure in Congress -- a disastrous vote for health care reform that Americans have soundly rejected -- the patriotic supporters of BlowOutCongress.com gather live and online Tuesday, November 10th at 7:30 PM CENTRAL TIME for the Fall 2009 Townhall Meeting. This momentous gathering, held 51 weeks ahead of the 2010 Congressional elections, represents the efforts of Americans to take their country back "one incumbent at a time." Join us ONLINE Tuesday evening November 10th by clicking here: http://www.blowoutcongress.com/live or by cutting and pasting this link into your browser.
You'll be able to ask questions during the townhall meeting via LIVE CHAT.
No positions in stocks mentioned.
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This post has 25 comments:
blowoutcongress Sounds great! Love the name! I'll be joining.
Thanks! Good to see another patroit on SA!
7:30 pm CST it is.
On Nov 10 12:02 AM optionsgirl wrote:
> Have a great time. Let's give them the message until they hear us.
> Then, give it to them again!
On Nov 10 09:19 AM Thomas LaCour wrote:
> Honored to be in such company. GOOOH has improved substantially
> in the last few weeks, better rounded. OG< did you REALLY get fired
> from a Tea Party? lol! "Just the facts, ma'am."
You get points from me for holding to a high standard, that's certain.
On Nov 10 05:07 PM optionsgirl wrote:
> Yup. They sent around really alarmist propaganda about the IRS instituting
> new taxes on guns, and that the gun ownership laws were going to
> be changed thru the IRS (which is pretty unbelievable but who knows
> what these politicians would try!) I sent it to a bunch of people
> I know, wrote a hasty letter to the NRA ( which they answered the
> next day- astonishingly on top of things! Confirmed it's not true,
> based on old legislation from the 1990's that couldn't get anyone
> to back the plan-written by some numb nut in congress.) Then, I looked
> it up on Snopes and they also wrote it was a hoax. That's when I
> realized I should never have distributed this and posted it on TBP
> and that other associated website that Jason runs. I retracted the
> articles, wrote letters of apology to all the people that I'd sent
> personal emails to, and wrote to the local tea party and complained,
> explaining that they are not credible if they don't check sources
> first and that I had relied on them for sending real information,
> not bogus. The head of the local tea party then wrote back three
> times. Each time he was angrier than the last, until he was lobbing
> f-bombs at me. Told me too bad no one else at the tea party is as
> fussy as I am ( but not that politely) and tough toe nails, they
> don't have to check their facts or be perfect ( but not politely).
> Finally, the last time he wrote, I told him to leave me alone, I
> wasn't going to respond in kind. It was a good lesson- don't get
> involved with schmucks and check all sources before acting-that's
> what I learned. I was really embarrassed though. Wish I could retract
> the donation I made to those knuckleheads.
All in all, NOT a townhall by any stretch, NOT the roundtable we were led to expect. No discussion, very few questions, no back and forth, no "putting our heads together". Disappointing. Maybe it will improve, but the various groups remain variously pointed and manned, and even more are springing up. We're going to burn out in twenty directions if this continues, not blow out incumbents.
And AD was correct, only the conservatives were there.
EDIT: A wit emailed me this fine alternate name for BlowOutCongress.com: BlowUpVoters.com.
Like herding rabid cats.
Why have we not organized boycotts of the sources of money for all these Fedzilla shenanigans? Is there no one but me calling for organized boycotts of BAC, C, Chase, GS, WMT, WFMI?
On Nov 11 03:55 PM tripleblack wrote:
> I fear it reminds me mightily of my experience with things like the
> Libertarian Party over the years.
>
> Like herding rabid cats.
www.washingtonpost.com...
On Nov 11 05:13 PM Thomas LaCour wrote:
> TB and robert, yes. There are relatively few independent thinkers,
> though, on either side of the Liberty/Statism line. More on the
> Liberty side, I'd wager, but still. How is it that Statists are
> so successful in moving so much of the more-prevalent sheeple?<br/>
>
> Why have we not organized boycotts of the sources of money for all
> these Fedzilla shenanigans? Is there no one but me calling for organized
> boycotts of BAC, C, Chase, GS, WMT, WFMI?
>
> On Nov 11 03:55 PM tripleblack wrote:
At some point you just have to decide whether to keep making the effort - and I use only peaceful suasion - or to withdraw. I have begun to think that Ayn Rand was far more prophetic than I ever believed, and that I WOULD continue the effort for a while yet, at the risk of resembling a stubborn Taggart or a Reardon.
Its hard to watch the stumbling political organizing process unfold, but easy to understand WHY it is so difficult. I see a nation peopled largely with politically withdrawn or ignorant (much the larger group) citizens. The growing middle ground composed of a mix of long term independent thinkers and politically traumatized refugees from the two major parties is a scene of massive energy but also of chaos. This is the creative destruction from which new organizations and institutions arise, but it has been a long time since this occurred in our country, so it appears shocking and unusual to us.
On Nov 11 09:07 PM tripleblack wrote:
> I have more success working with young hot rodders over on a car
> site I help moderate than I do with highly educated professionals.
> The car guys have at least a grounding in reality, and are open to
> new thoughts (except within the narrow confines of their own prejudices,
> of course, but then I am convinced that most of us have those).<br/>
>
> At some point you just have to decide whether to keep making the
> effort - and I use only peaceful suasion - or to withdraw. I have
> begun to think that Ayn Rand was far more prophetic than I ever believed,
> and that I WOULD continue the effort for a while yet, at the risk
> of resembling a stubborn Taggart or a Reardon.
>
> Its hard to watch the stumbling political organizing process unfold,
> but easy to understand WHY it is so difficult. I see a nation peopled
> largely with politically withdrawn or ignorant (much the larger group)
> citizens. The growing middle ground composed of a mix of long term
> independent thinkers and politically traumatized refugees from the
> two major parties is a scene of massive energy but also of chaos.
> This is the creative destruction from which new organizations and
> institutions arise, but it has been a long time since this occurred
> in our country, so it appears shocking and unusual to us.
The WP article, alas, shows only "healthcare industry" donation levels – not helpful, since WHO donates and lobbies how much and for what is what matters, not overall industry totals – and "% pop. without insurance", a guesswork statistic.
Using only the data shown at the Post, a "pattern of influence" is implicitly denied.
On Nov 11 07:51 PM optionsgirl wrote:
> Thought you might be interested in this-follow the money:
> www.washingtonpost.com...
Your point is well made, I see what you mean about the article.
Normal "petition to redress grievances" methods – phone, email, even In-Person House Call – are necessary but clearly insufficient now.
I want to start hitting these bought-and-paid for officials where they HAVE to listen, in the wallet. Who is Funding these sly moves to Tyranny? Who pays, and who benefits, from the twin tyrannies of HealthScare and Cap-n-Tax?
I want to find the numbers. Then I hope to convince people that we can still stop this stuff before passage by WHACKING their WALLETS. We the Peons cannot touch GS, a prime pusher, but maybe their attention will be focused by nailing their clients.
For sure, boycott Walmart and Whole Foods, they are doing much to push both Scams. Bank of America - we are discussing a coordinated run on deposits. Certain other banks? And I will buy no product associated with Pfizer or Merck, massive funders of the Obamacare push.
On Nov 11 08:12 PM robert.b.ferguson wrote:
> Thomas: Greetings. I think that the problem is just as TB described
> it and it is ingrained. Even reputable sources can be profoundly
> flawed. Take the article regarding the Glass/Stegall act at (www.forbs.com/2009/11/...)
> for example. While the author seems informed the impact of bank failures
> on the FDIC and thus the broader financial system can't be left out
> of the conversation. Many people will accept the article at face
> value and others won't and there is the disconnect and let the cat
> herding begin.
Before Atlas will Shrug, perhaps the peons will have to tickle him. When Rand wrote that glorious fantasy, she believed there were more Men of Substance that valued Liberty than is currently true. Most Big Money backs this stuff, it seems. I need numbers to verify that hypothesis.
On Nov 11 09:07 PM tripleblack wrote:
> I have more success working with young hot rodders over on a car
> site I help moderate than I do with highly educated professionals.
> The car guys have at least a grounding in reality, and are open to
> new thoughts (except within the narrow confines of their own prejudices,
> of course, but then I am convinced that most of us have those).<br/>
>
> At some point you just have to decide whether to keep making the
> effort - and I use only peaceful suasion - or to withdraw. I have
> begun to think that Ayn Rand was far more prophetic than I ever believed,
> and that I WOULD continue the effort for a while yet, at the risk
> of resembling a stubborn Taggart or a Reardon.
>
> Its hard to watch the stumbling political organizing process unfold,
> but easy to understand WHY it is so difficult. I see a nation peopled
> largely with politically withdrawn or ignorant (much the larger group)
> citizens. The growing middle ground composed of a mix of long term
> independent thinkers and politically traumatized refugees from the
> two major parties is a scene of massive energy but also of chaos.
> This is the creative destruction from which new organizations and
> institutions arise, but it has been a long time since this occurred
> in our country, so it appears shocking and unusual to us.
By the way, that link to the forbes article is not working. can you check and repost it?
On Nov 13 01:38 AM robert.b.ferguson wrote:
> Thomas: Greetings. Follow the money and tell me what you find. I
> will give you a easily discernible clue. Start at (www. moveon.org).
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