April 15, 2009 — Pioneer Square was filled to over flowing this evening with citizens protesting taxes, the bailout, socialism, pork, and demanding, as on one sign among hundreds of others, that the government "redistribute freedom and not wealth." One sign even apologized for voting for Obama.

This was an extremely well promoted and financed event. One speaker claimed that there were 22 of these rallies in Oregon alone, starting in Medford Oregon this morning. Before I left home for downtown, I heard Corporate news sources claim that there were about 500 Tea Party's nation wide, and Laura Ingram on her Conservative talk radio program this evening claimed there were 700 of them nationwide [...]

Though in the lead up to this nation wide protest organizers claim it to be bipartisan, there was little evidence of any Progressive or Democratic constituency [...] There is much common ground here, yet I did not feel the crowd to be in sympathy with the poor, the homeless, the undocumented immigrant. The rhetoric from the speakers emphasized the many problems which brought them all to the Square, yet few if any solutions were offered. There was a general and overwhelming mood of discontent, with constant reference to the fact that "we the people" could somehow solve the problems, if government would leave us alone... Read More | | | Photo from Tax Day "Tea Parties" Bring Out the Worst of the Right Wing | | | More Reportbacks: Austin, TX | Houston, TX | Rogue Valley, OR | San Francisco | | | Audio Coverage from On the Media | | | Related: No War Tax in Smugtown! 2 demonstrators and 3 witnesses arrested by police | War Tax Resistance Info from War Resisters League

Okay, so what should I say about this? there were clearly multiple thousands of people at this event, organizers are saying 8,000+ which is not that unbeliveable. The crowd was 95% white and probably mostly middle aged and old. The crowd was an interesting mix of business folks leaving their downtown office buildings, lots of folks with veteran hats and clothing, and a lot of folks with very county aesthetics. The outside of Jones Plaza was the most interesting, people were checking out each others signs and having conversations. The inside of Jones Plaza was packed to the gills and they had a stage with speakers, it was hard to move and folks basically just listened to the speaker and cheered periodically.

The politics of folks there seemed to spread the gamut of conservative, right-libertarian, ayn rand objectivist, Texas Sucesionist, anti-immigrant, Ron Paulism, and business casual. I felt like I was in San Salvador at an ARENA rally, or maybe in Santa Cruz Bolivia. It really gave me the willies of a possible counter revolutionary movement. The uniting factor seemed to be dislike for Barack Obama and that love of country and hatred of government that is really in vouge right now. [read full article with photos]

Report from Austin: The Silent Majority Squeaks

Anti-tax "Tea Party" rallies held in San Jose and San Francisco on April 15 brought out about 500 conservative activists in each city. Although the majority of participants appeared to be white Republicans, contingents of Libertarians and members of the vigilante Minutemen organization also displayed signs. In San Jose about 50 anti-war/anti-racism demonstrators countered the right wing demonstrators. A heavy police presence utilized batons to keep the two groups apart as the two sides faced off.

On April 15, 2009, hundreds gathered in Medford Oregon to rally in opposition to federal tax codes and bailouts that enrich the wealthy elite and impoverish the middle class. This astroturf event does have a strong following and only time will tell if this will lead to positive change.

TAKE ACTION TO EXPAND LOCAL COMMUNITY RADIO! Please join the Prometheus Radio Project for 2 fabulous community events to inspire, agitate, entertain, and move for the movement for community radio!

Thursday, April 23, from 8:30-9:30am: Join people from across the country in a festive community radio parade followed by the street theater piece: "Corporate Media vs. Community Media".

Meet at 8:30am sharp at the fountain in front of Union Station (Massachusetts Ave. NE & Columbus Circle NE). Bring a banner, flag or T-shirt that represents your community or organization!

Governor To Alaska's Kids: "You're On Your Own"
Palin Says Education No Longer Important for State

(Anchorage – March 19, 2009) – "Logic-defying, dumb-founding, short-sighted – and a slap in the face to parents, children and educators across Alaska." That's how the National Education Association of Alaska (NEA-Alaska) is describing Governor Palin's decision to reject more than $160 million of federal stimulus funds for Alaska education.

"Governor Palin has deliberately chosen to ignore the education needs of tens of thousands of children across Alaska. Her attempt to score short term gains will have long-term, dire consequences for our students and educators," said Barb Angaiak, President of NEA-Alaska. read more

Activists and authors Guerry Hoddersen and Eric Chester will examine President Obama's election and policies from a leftwing perspective at a community forum.
Friday, April 24, 7:30 pm
New Freeway Hall, 5018 Rainier Ave S., Seattle

The federal government has finally responded to a lawsuit against warrantless wiretapping filed last September by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In a motion filed on April 3rd, the Justice Dept. demanded that the entire lawsuit be dismissed based on the Bush administration's claim that a "state secrets" privilege bars lawsuits against the executive branch for illegal spying, as well as a novel "sovereign immunity" claim that the Patriot Act bars lawsuits for illegal surveillance unless the government "willfully disclosed" the intercepted communications.

There is also the matter of principle: That is, whether there can be said to be a “rule of law” when high level but serious violators of law are beyond prosecution. Barry Bonds must be pursued because he allegedly may have lied to a grand jury on his use of steroids, but Bush-Cheney-Rice-Rumsfeld-Powell lied many times on issues involving mass killing and violations of domestic and international law.

...too many inside-the-beltway environmental and climate groups since Obama won the Presidency and the Democrats, are moderating their tactics and their demands, scaling them back to gain access to high-level White House and Congressional leaders, who themselves are being impacted by Republican intransigence and fossil fuel supporting Democrats. It’s an old, familiar story which has played out innumerable times on other issues in the past. And it’s a very big problem for the low-income people of the world, most of them people of color, who are most vulnerable to the more destructive storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, famines and sea level rise that we’re already seeing as the atmosphere heats up.

In 2008 Telecoms were granted government immunity after they helped U.S. Government spy on millions of Americans’ electronic communications. Since, Government has not disclosed what happened to NSA’s millions of collected emails, faxes and phone call information that belong to U.S. Citizens? Could those wiretaps perhaps illegal, become a problem for some Americans? Neither Congress nor the courts — determined what NSA electronic surveillance could be used by police or introduced into court by the government to prosecute citizens. Read More

4/7 Update: Obama Embraces Bush Position on Warrantless Wiretapping

Back in November 1999, Congress passed legislation pushed by then Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), rescinding the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act. The measure, backed by the Clinton administration, and overwhelmingly passed by the Senate (90-8) and the House (362-57), opened the way for banks to merge with investment banks and insurance companies, and led directly to the current financial cataclysm. a href="http://phillyimc.org/en/history-lesson-and-these-are-people-we-expect-fix-things-now">Read More

RELATED: Treasury and the Fed Don't Need New Powers, They Need to Use the Power They Have | | Running Backwards

Do we really understand the true scope of $1 trillion? We better, since our government is spending trillions of our taxpayer dollars on bailing out failing businesses!

Finally, we have change in Washington, D. C. Entering into this year with the words of my father, “Obama is our new president, and we need to give him a chance,” I am trying to do just that. The problem for me, though, is that as much as I would like to believe we are going to get something we can believe in with President Obama, I know Senator Obama’s voting record. So the question on the table is, will we see change we can believe in, or will it be a replay of the Democratic victory of Congress in 2006? That remains to be seen. As we begin the “Obama Era,” are we seeing the changes we were promised?

A huge crowd came out to rally for the Fair Share Tax Reform plan at 5pm today at the Liberty Pole. The plan calls for raising taxes on New Yorkers who make over $250,000 to offset the projected state budget deficit of $15 billion dollars. The plan is an alternative to Governor Patterson's current proposal which includes a gigantic $9 billion of cuts to social services, education and health care. The rally was part of a series of rallies happening today in New York State.

Rosemary Rivera, an organizer for the event, said, "We wanted to send a coordinated message across the state that we have to find a different way [to address the budget crisis] than hack away at social services. And there is a way. That way is fair share tax reform."

The rally itself was creative and diverse. It included drumming and singing by the Rochester Freedom School, the Raging Grannies and many chants. Mike Connely, a local Peace Activist, spoke to the crowd using the persona of billionaire Simpsons character, Montgomery Burns, "Rich people have it great here. We have, in effect, a flat tax in New York State. $25,000 is the highest tax bracket which is basically poverty level." After the rally he said, "It was a great crowd. All kinds of people came together today. Labor groups, peace groups, working people, poor people. A lot of great organization work went in to today."

The rally was the one step in a series of actions planned in the Rochester area. To see more upcoming events check out can be found on the Rochester Section of the Fair Share Webpage. [Read More & Photos]

Major news outlets report that the Obama administration may rescue New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg from political oblivion, and appoint him Commerce Secretary.

During the course of the months long fight to get Police Chief Gary Gemme to comply with the state’s public records law and Supreme Court decision, City Manager Michael O’Brien has repeatedly stood-up proclaiming his commitment to full transparency and public disclosure. Unfortunately as many of us already knew, that was just window dressing to hide behind. There was never any intention to make the Rojas file truly public. Over the past week I have made public records requests of the City Clerk, City Manager and Police Department to “view” and “possibly copy” the document released to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. My public records request effort has gone nowhere.

From Fight Back News Service: Minnesota Protest Demands a 'People’s Bailout'
By staff

St. Paul, MN - While state officials announced a record $5.2 billion dollar budget deficit at the State Capitol here, Dec. 4 , about 25 members of the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout were outside the room chanting, “Hey politicians, here’s the fix! Tax the rich! Tax the rich!”

read more

Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner was arrested last Friday, November 21st, by the FBI under corruptions charges that he denies, and was later released on a $50,000 bond. Since 2000, Turner has been one of the most progressive politicians in Boston, supporting minority groups, poor families, and other anti-war, economic and social justice issues. Below you will find the full statement he released upon his arrest:

"While I intensely dislike and think that it is highly unfair to decide a person's guilt or innocence through the media, it is clear that once you become the target of a media witch hunt, you either fight back by presenting the essence of your legal defense or allow the media wolves to destroy your reputation so that the jury's decision becomes irrelevant to public perception...

For further updates, please visit supportchuckturner.com. For news updates, please also see Open Media Boston

Left to his own devices, Paterson will continue to trumpet a message of cutbacks and the privatization of essential services such as the non-profit health insurers GHI & HIP. Though he asks for public input on the cuts, New Yorkers can see this as a blighty wound scenario.