Once a week they meet at the Golden Corral to commiserate on how everything would be better if the representatives would just "vote right".
Looking at the minutes of the Crystal Coast Tea Party Meeting (with "Meeting" spelled "Meetng" in the page title), I found quite a bit of fun stuff.
Join me under the Orange Sunrise Cloud squiggle of love, won't you?
Yes, we all know that the tea partyers are 99%'ers who haven't figured it out yet.
Still its fun to watch them try.
KEN LANG said he is getting very discouraged with Senator Burr. Everything we had told Burr we do not want, he has voted for. We need to be thinking about a viable candidate to run against Burr next time.
Really? On 12/14/11 the Republican Senator voted "yea" on a Constitutional Amendment to require a balanced budget.
The notes of the meeting were for the same date. December 14th.
Aren't tea partyers all about balanced budgets? Or is Dale simply not paying attention?
BOB reported the bad news that he had lost his shed by fire today. He said he had attempted to thaw out a frozen pipe on the exterior of the shed with a small propane torch. He had then put the torch (which he thought was out) into a box in the shed and left to run errands. Mrs. Cavanaugh said she heard an explosion, looked out and saw nothing wrong. Then she heard another explosion and when she looked again she saw smoke coming from the shed and called 911. Bad news for the TEA Party too. All the items belonging to the CCTPP were in the shed – our flags, buntings, posters, some shirts, etc – all gone. Nancy said she still had a box of shirts, so we are not totally out. Guess we need to be thinking about a fund raiser to replenish our supplies.
Oh my. I'm glad no one was hurt. Lol. That Bob. He's always leaving a hot propane torch in a cardboard box. Third shed in as many years. Poor Missus Cavanaugh.
Discussed Ethanol. We would not have to be concerned about ethanol and corn if not for the Federal subsidy. Some say if we do away with ethanol the farmers will lose from $3.00 to $5.00 per bushel. Disagree – we’d rather eat that corn rather than burn it. Not using all that corn for ethanol, we could bring the cost of feed for cattle and hogs down. Also many products are made with corn (sweeteners, etc.). The price for many food products should also decrease with the elimination of ethanol.
Ok, I am going out on a limb here, but what makes these folks think that removing a government subsidy to grow corn for ethanol would make corn grown for livestock food and human consumption cheaper?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if corn was cheaper, woudn't less farmers want to grow it? If the corn reserved for Ethanol is gone from the equation, why would those particular farmers say, "what the heck", and switch to growing unsubsidized corn?
I'll admit I am no expert on ethanol, or what parts of the corn plant don't get used for ethanol and go into the marketplace as foodstuffs.
A simple google search gave me an overview. Wet milling is one of the methods of creating ethanol from corn. It yields both ethanol and corn sugars, which make their way to the marketplace. (The second way of creating Ethanol has the entire plant being used.)
Wouldn't the loss of those subsidized products which come from wet-milling corn for Ethanol and end up in the marketplace also bring the price of corn-related products up?
The point is, shouldn't just a little bit of research help these folks shape their views?
This is in no way meant as being a pro-Ethanol post. I'm very much against it, but I think I have some idea of why it is an ongoing subsidized crop and issue, and I have to thank the Crystal Coast Tea Party for the laughs, and tweaking my curiosity when the "logic" of the members seems just a wee bit suspect.
Pay close attention to the voting on the Dream Act. If this act passes it will be the final blow to our country.
Oh my. We certainly can't have well educated aliens of good moral character staying, working and paying taxes in the US.
The DREAM Act (acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001[1] and most recently reintroduced there on May 11, 2011.
This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal aliens of good moral character who graduate from US high schools, arrived in the US as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment. If they were to complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning, they would obtain temporary residency for a six year period. Within the six year period, they may qualify if they have "acquired a degree from an institution of higher education in the United States or has completed at least 2 years, in good standing, in a program for a bachelor's degree or higher degree in the United States" or have "served in the armed services for at least 2 years and, if discharged, has received an honorable discharge".[2] Military enlistment contracts require an eight year commitment, with active duty commitments typically between four and six years, but as low as two years.[3][4] "Any alien whose permanent resident status is terminated... shall return to the immigration status the alien had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status under this Act."[5] This bill would have included illegal immigrants as old as 35 years of age.
In a December 2010 report, the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that the November 30th, 2010 version of the DREAM Act would "reduce deficits by about $1.4 billion over the 2011-2020 period and increase government revenues by $2.3 billion over the next 10 years."[6] The same report also notes that the Act "would increase projected deficits by more than $5 billion in at least one of the four consecutive 10-year periods starting in 2021".
One recent UCLA study estimates that between $1.4 trillion and $3.6 trillion in taxable income would be generated for the economy over a 40 year period based upon estimates ranging between 825,000 and 2.1 million potential DREAM Act beneficiaries successfully obtaining resident status through the legislation.[7]
Bolding in the Wiki stuff above is mine.
The final blow to our country? Really?
I think that the 28 folks who attended this meeting and are mad at their Republicans representatives for not "voting right" are going about this all wrong.
As Meteor Blades fine article from yesterday pointed out, the Republican establishment is there, it is real, and asking your senator to cut out all the earmarks before he votes on anything isn't going to work.
Not if you are 28 strong, can't work a google between you, and left your bunting and signs in Bob's shed that is.