Tea Party - Reality Bites....
By louisehartmann
In the home of the original Boston tea party, a different brand of pseudo-revolutionaries, the Tea Partiers are gathering today.
Multimillionaire and former Alaska half-Governor Sarah Palin, will be there as part of a 19-day, 49-stop tour by the Tea Party Express corporation, a billionaire-funded tour that began in Harry Reid’s hometown of Searchlight. Boston is the next-to-last stop before concluding tomorrow -- Tax Day -- in Washington DC.
Ironically, the real Boston Tea Party was a protest against huge corporate tax cuts for the British East India Company, the largest trans-national corporation then in existence.
This corporate tax cut threatened to decimate small Colonial businesses by helping the East India Company pull a Wal-Mart against small entrepreneurial tea shops, underpricing them and driving them out of business.
That first million-dollar act of vandalism by a band of anti-globalization and anti-corporate protestors in November, 1773 kicked-off a series of events that ended in the creation of The United States of America.
Comments
#2
I listen to your show every afternoon. I have to disagree with your take on the Tea Party of 1773, though. The colonists were protesting the government-sponsored monopoly represented by the East India Tea Company (the only company allowed by the British to import tea to England or its colonies), fearing the possibility of other similar (government controlled) monopolies in the future. Further, they argued that Parliament had no authority to levy taxes in the colonies, because the colonies had no representation in that legislative body. They believed in taxation, but only locally, where they had a say.
Yes, the Tea Act of 1773 lowered the taxes on tea, which enabled those who were "allowed" to sell tea to sell it more cheaply than "black market" Dutch tea, but the protests were all about government control and overreach- not "globalism" or "corporatism."
#3
As long as she was at the site of the original Tea Party and obviously she knows the reason for the original Tea Party, why didn't Palin mention anything about the fact that Exxon Mobil made over 13 billion dollars in profits in 2009 and managed to not pay any tax? Read more on my take on taxes at http://timsrantingsandironyingeneral.blogspot.com/
#4
Thom,
I listened to the show today and loved it. I have a huge request that really could do alot to forward the discourse about the teaparty. Is there any way shape or form you could get the book by the survivor of the teaparty posted? I would love to read it and never new it existed, I would have loved reading this history even if there were no modernday "teaparty". If you know if it has been reproduced or reprinted, please let us know. If not please consider posting the full text of the book. If you need someone to transcribe it, I'd be glad to do it.
Many, many, thanks
A loyal listener yetanotherguy
#5
How can I get a transcript of today's show; the real story of the Boston tea party?
I have listened to the April 14th piece over and over and would love a transcript. I would like to piece meal it and put it on facebook a little bit each day. I have many teabagger neighbors who really just don't know!
truly
Jill C
#6
I was right next to Sarah Palin for the event (stage right) and took some great photos. Here they are:
http://the-raw-deal.com/2010/04/14/boston-tea-party-2010-palin-speaks-to...
Enjoy.
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By webmaster
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How can I get a transcript of today's show; the real story of the Boston tea party?