Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

Occupy Bacon’s Rebellion!

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by

Peter Galuszka
in , ,

By Peter Galuszka

It’s tear gas and bean bags in Oakland. Cops in Atlanta. And now, the time has come to OCCUPY BACON’S REBELLION!

We must do this to protest the indulgences and sense of entitlement that the libertarians who write here present. They are strict and pure capitalists — the worst kind. They must be protested and now that the Occupy movement is more popular than the Tea Baggers, the time is now.

Here is why we must do this:

  • Too much verbiage is spent defending the “haves” and disparaging the “have nots.”
  • There are too many peanut vendor comments talking about petty corruption by cab drivers when CEOs rake off millions.
  • All government is seen as bad in an automatic and knee jerk fashion.
  • Too many arguments start from a point that assumes we all live in upper middle class houses in Richmond’s West End or in Great Falls.
  • Too much complaining about government spending and big deficits while shouting down any attempt to resolve the problems by RAISING taxes.
  • Too much reliance on cuts, cuts, cuts.
  • Too much love for the so-called “Creative Class.”
  • We still don’t know who Groveton really is.
  • The chief blogmaster drives a Mercedes that is periwinkle blue.

Enough is enough. We don’t have to take this. Occupy! Now!

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30 responses to “Occupy Bacon’s Rebellion!”

  1. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    ” Nation’s wealthiest 1 percent triple their incomes, according to CBO report”

    http://goo.gl/YpiFo

    the question is – do we deny the reality here or do we acknowledge it?

    re: Mercedes… convertible too, right?

  2. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    “We still don’t know who Groveton really is.”

    I was born on July 4, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence is my birth certificate. The bloodlines of the world run in my veins, because I offered freedom to the oppressed. I am many things, and many people. I am the nation.

    I am 313 million living souls—and the ghost of millions who have lived and died for me.

    I am Nathan Hale and Paul Revere. I stood at Lexington and fired the shot heard around the world. I am Washington, Jefferson and Patrick Henry. I am John Paul Jones, the Green Mountain Boys and Davy Crockett. I am Lee and Grant and Abe Lincoln.

    I remember the Alamo, the Maine and Pearl Harbor. When freedom called I answered and stayed until it was over, over there. I left my heroic dead in Flanders Fields, on the rock of Corregidor, on the bleak slopes of Korea and in the steaming jungle of Vietnam.

    I am the Brooklyn Bridge, the wheat lands of Kansas and the granite hills of Vermont. I am the coalfields of the Virginias and Pennsylvania, the fertile lands of the West, the Golden Gate and the Grand Canyon. I am Independence Hall, the Monitor and the Merrimac.

    I am big. I sprawl from the Atlantic to the Pacific … my arms reach out to embrace Alaska and Hawaii … 3 million square miles throbbing with industry. I am more than 5 million farms. I am forest, field, mountain and desert. I am quiet villages—and cities that never sleep.

    You can look at me and see Ben Franklin walking down the streets of Philadelphia with his breadloaf under his arm. You can see Betsy Ross with her needle. You can see the lights of Christmas, and hear the strains of “Auld Lang Syne” as the calendar turns.

    I am Babe Ruth and the World Series. I am 110,000 schools and colleges, and 330,000 churches where my people worship God as they think best. I am a ballot dropped in a box, the roar of a crowd in a stadium and the voice of a choir in a cathedral. I am an editorial in a newspaper and a letter to a Congressman.

    I am Eli Whitney and Stephen Foster. I am Tom Edison, Albert Einstein and Billy Graham. I am Horace Greeley, Will Rogers and the Wright brothers. I am George Washington Carver, Jonas Salk, and Martin Luther King.

    I am Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman and Thomas Paine.

    Yes, I am the nation, and these are the things that I am. I was conceived in freedom and, God willing, in freedom I will spend the rest of my days.

    May I possess always the integrity, the courage and the strength to keep myself unshackled, to remain a citadel of freedom and a beacon of hope to the world.

    This is my wish, my goal, my prayer in this year of 2011—two hundred and thirty five years after I was born.

    Hopefully, that helps.

  3. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Groveton,
    You really should watch that Melatonin. It doesn’t help all that much with jet lag and it can produce psychotic episodes.

  4. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    You got a problem with periwinkle blue?

  5. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    if Groveton was a cat.. I’d say he got into the catnip…
    😉

  6. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Just as I thought … none of you Commies ever heard Johnny Cash’s rendition of I am the nation.

    Guess Ole Johnny didn’t make it to Woodstock.

  7. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    Groveton was identified a couple years ago as the person swinging on an Amsterdam street light in an Amstel Light TV commercial. He admitted as such on this very blog. However, he did not discuss how much of the advertised brew he and consumed prior to being filmed. Nor did he say when he consumed or inhaled any other mood-altering substances.

  8. Andrea Epps Avatar
    Andrea Epps

    I can’t believe I am the only person who read that and remembered what it was!
    You go Grove…and if they never understand you, who cares:)

  9. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    Groveton has this habit of fumbling for his holster and removing his toes as he draws his rhetorical weapon.

    Johnny Cash was a flaming liberal if I recall….

    Well, you wonder why I always dress in black;
    Why you never see bright colours on my back;
    And why does my appearance seem to have a sombre tone.
    Well, there’s a reason for the things that I have on.

    I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down;
    Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town;
    I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
    But is there because he’s a victim of the times.

    I wear the black for those who’ve never read,
    Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
    About the road to happiness through love and charity;
    Why, you’d think He’s talking straight to you and me.

    Well, we’re doin’ mighty fine, I do suppose,
    In our streak-of-lightnin’ cars and fancy clothes.
    But just so we’re reminded of the ones who are held back,
    Up front there ought to be a Man In Black.

    I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
    For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold;
    I wear the black in mournin’ for the lives that could have been:
    Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

    And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
    Believin’ that the Lord was on their side.
    I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
    Believin’ that we all were on their side.

    Well, there’s things that never will be right I know,
    And things need changin’ everywhere you go.
    But ’til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
    You’ll never see me wear a suit of white.

    Ah, I’d love to wear a rainbow every day,
    And tell the world that everything’s OK.
    But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
    ‘Til things are brighter, I’m the Man In Black.

  10. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    Mark Warner, when Governor, traveled around the state, arguing that Virginia had a structural deficit, which required tax increases. He also made cuts in government programs and reduced state staffing. After going round and round with the General Assembly, the tax code was modified and net tax increases of $1.5 billion were enacted. These were the largest tax increases in Virginia history.
    But guess what? The deficit reappeared. Governor Mark Warner failed!!! Tax increases did not fix the structural deficit. Every tax increase in this nation has been followed by more and more spending. Why should anyone think that more taxes will do anything but spur more spending, which will spur even more calls for higher and higher taxes.

  11. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    there was a deficit this year under McDonnell and how did he fix it?

    he used Federal stimulus and he borrowed from state employees pension funds and then claimed he had a surplus.

    whatever you think of Warner – he was :

    1. – honest about the tax increases
    2. – could not have passed them without substantial Republican support.

    if you actually want to see CUTS then why would you give McDonnell a free ride when he does not cut but instead borrows?

    fair is fair here. You’re using that old double-standard again against Dems when the Republicans are even worse… they want to fight two wars and not pay for them… they’re opposed to stimulus but they take it anyhow… they are opposed to govt health care but they take Medicare when it’s a purely voluntary program….

    what I’d like to see is for you to advocate a particular path – and then judge both parties using the same criteria.

    Republicans jump up and down about spending but they are the worst offenders… when it comes time to deliver the goods.

  12. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Johnny Cash never expressed his political leanings during his life.

    “He wouldn’t say if he had any political affiliation,” said John Carter Cash (Johnny’s son).

    Cash’s The One on the Right was the One on the Left expressed his sense of politics quite well.

    If I had to guess a politician that Johnny Cash would like, I’d guess Jim Webb.

    Sorry, LarryG but you are wrong again.

  13. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    “whatever you think of Warner – he was :

    1. – honest about the tax increases”.

    Wrong again. The great thing about the internet is that it records what really happened.

    Here is a video of Mark Warner on the campaign trail in Oct, 2001. He adamantly insists that he will not raise taxes even going so far as to imply that people who claim he will raise taxes are lying.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm4ei_aytMw

    And another whopper …

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV2xCqgyWE8&feature=related

    And another whopper …

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuyaNndExEw&feature=related

    I can go on if you like, LarryG … there are plenty more.

    Honest about taxes?

    You’re a laugh riot.

  14. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    I remember Mark Warner’s TV commercials that ran in the fall of 2001 when he was running for Governor. At least one carried the message that he would not raise taxes as state government must live within its means, just as families and small businesses did. I liked somethings Warner did as Governor and I think he is a much better Senator than he was Governor. He is heads and shoulders better than Webb. But Mark Warner fibbed about tax increases during his gubernatorial career.

  15. Darrell Avatar
    Darrell

    Tax Honesty? Honestly?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxdsfa8OFVc&feature=player_embedded

  16. Andrea Epps Avatar
    Andrea Epps

    Johnny Cash was extremely influenced by his time in prison. He wrote many songs because of the “scars’ (as he called them) prison left on him.
    As to the post, not all of us do these things, but then again, we already “Occupy Bacon’s Rebellion” but understanding Peters point, how about this:

    * Verbiage for the ones in the middle
    * Congressional hearings for the CEO’s with prison time attached and all ill-gotten gains are divided up equally among the folks that were ripped off.
    * Government might be salvageable, if we fire them all.
    * cut cut cut and tax the ubber -rich
    * Chesterfield suburbs too
    * What’s not to love about anything “Creative” class or not. Except possibly creative accounting.
    * Groveton gave us a wonderful answer
    * I’m impressed you all know what periwinkle blue really is! And I am not usually that sexist in my thinking:)

  17. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Peter:

    Too much verbiage is spent defending the “haves” and disparaging the “have nots.”

    Too little verbiage is spent on the concept of private property with the implicit philosophy that everything is owned by the government and people should “have” or “have not” based on what the government decides you deserve.

    There are too many peanut vendor comments talking about petty corruption by cab drivers when CEOs rake off millions.

    I’m a CEO. I don’t rake off millions. I am not even the highest paid person in my company. And why CEOs? Why not rap “artists”, country singers, athletes, personal injury lawyers or athletes?

    All government is seen as bad in an automatic and knee jerk fashion.

    I like the Air Force. Always have.

    Too many arguments start from a point that assumes we all live in upper middle class houses in Richmond’s West End or in Great Falls.

    I’ve lived in a trailer park before – have you?

    Too much complaining about government spending and big deficits while shouting down any attempt to resolve the problems by RAISING taxes.

    Government spends 41% of GDP, up from about 31% ten years ago. And, I want to see a hike in the gas tax.

    Too much reliance on cuts, cuts, cuts.

    Government spends 41% of GDP, up from about 31% ten years ago.

    Too much love for the so-called “Creative Class.”

    Yeah, smart people suck.

    We still don’t know who Groveton really is.

    Answered in prior comment. I am the nation.

    The chief blogmaster drives a Mercedes that is periwinkle blue.

    I drive a black F-150. Stopped buying foreign cars and drinking foreign beer a few years ago. Won’t buy shirts that aren’t Made in the USA.

    What is a periwinkle anyway?

  18. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    If Warner lied and Republicans are opposed to tax increase why in the world would they have supported him?

  19. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    if folks are holding Va Govs for what they campaigned on – then all of them promised no taxes and all of them including McDonnell raised them.

    all I’m saying here is why do we hold the Dems to a different standard on this and why would TMT vote Republican if they do the same thing but in a much more sneaky way?

    do we forget that McDonnell wants to tax the heck out of alcohol for roads.. he wants to tax the heck out of off shore drilling to pay for roads…he supports METRO and toll roads…and tax increases on insurance to pay for billions in loans…?

    why is that better than Warner?

  20. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    “why is that better than Warner?”.

    I never said it was better than Warner. I said that Warner was dishonest about taxes.

    The only real answer is to dilute Dillon’s Rule and let localities / regions rule themselves. And tax themselves. And keep the taxes. And spend it however they want.

    I’d pay higher taxes to see Northern Virginia improved. But I want my money to stay local. And that means a constitutional amendment that puts the money in a regional lock box that the Clown Show can’t open. Raise my gas tax to pay for better transportation? Sure. In my region. Without the “off the top” skim from the Clown Show.

    If people in Southern Virginia want to pay low gas taxes and drive on dirt roads – fine. Why would I want to interfere with that? If the people in Northern Virginia want to pay higher gas taxes and have the Taj Mahal of transportation systems – why would anybody want to interfere with that?

    The simple truth is that there is too little in common among the regions of Virginia to support effective central governance.

  21. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    “Congressional hearings for the CEO’s with prison time attached and all ill-gotten gains are divided up equally among the folks that were ripped off.”.

    I seem to recall Bush putting a lot of crooked CEOs in jail. Bernie Ebbers, Kenneth Lay (died after conviction, before serving time), Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, Scott Sullivan, Joe Nacchio.

    Where is Obama with regard to Wall Street? Not one perp walk, not one indictment, not one trial, not one conviction, not one sentence.

    There have been forged signatures, companies investing against the advice they gave their customers, robo signers, etc.

    But Ole Barry just keeps on cashing their checks.

    Not one perp walk?

    Bush signed Sarbanes – Oxley. Almost every Representative and Senator voted “yes”. And let me tell you – that’s a serious law.

    What has Obama done to reform Wall Street?

    Nothing. Not a damn thing.

    What a crook.

  22. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    I was just asking if Warner lied.. what did McDonnell do… and WHY would someone vote for McDonnell / Republicans if they did pretty much what Warner did but in a much sneakier way?

    you may have a point about Barry and Wall Street…. though…

  23. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    I see where the Tax Foundation has weighed in on the CBO report:

    http://goo.gl/UyXAN

    the CBO DOES acknowledge the 2007 end date:

    “Tabulations of tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service
    show that high-income taxpayers had especially large declines in
    adjusted gross income between 2007 and 2009. However, evidence
    based solely on survey data from the Census Bureau shows
    some increase in income dispersion between 2007 and 2009.”

    hmmm….. the plot thickens….

    it appears that the Tax Foundation is using IRS data while the CBO is using census data….

    the CBO report is 60+ pages long and takes you through how they arrive at their conclusions. The Tax Foundation folks basically reference an IRS page containing a LOT of tables – without referencing which of those tables is actually being used for their conclusions.

    Heritage does this also. They’ll put derived data up for Social Security and then reference the Trustees Report which does not have that particular data in it so there is no real way to trace it back.

    This troubles me because if one wants to make assertions that are in conflict with other data – they DO need to be scrupulous in providing the references that will substantiate what they are asserting.

    here is the IRS page that the Tax Foundation references to support it’s charts:

    http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/indtaxstats/article/0,,id=133521,00.html

    I challenge anyone to look at that IRS page and come up with the two charts that the Tax Foundation is providing in their rebuttal complaint about the CBO report:

  24. Andrea Epps Avatar
    Andrea Epps

    “I seem to recall Bush putting a lot of crooked CEOs in jail. Bernie Ebbers, Kenneth Lay (died after conviction, before serving time), Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, Scott Sullivan, Joe Nacchio.”
    ____________________________________________

    That is a good start. They should continue.
    I have devoted a lot of time to looking at the differences between Dillon and Home Rule. I served as a panelist for VNRLI for the land use/Dillon Rule segment for five years.One thing I have found in almost every instance is that states that are home ruled don’t have much better because the state legislatures simply tell them what they can not do. So it’s darned if you do, darned if you don’t.

  25. Peter Galuszka Avatar
    Peter Galuszka

    Andrea,
    All of those WorldCom and Enron people were well under investigation long before Bush took office and there wasn’t much he could do about the legal process on way or the other.
    Best,
    Peter

  26. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    All states have a level of Dillon Rule – right?

    What it boils down to is how much authority they delegate to the sub-state jurisdictions and Va is one where much of the authority is retained by Richmond.

    I actually see some of what the state does as a protection to tax payers because they limit the taxing power of the jurisdictions to specific areas and seem to encourage a level of local transparency and accountability (the State Auditor report and Commonwealth DataPoint).

    It’s ironic to me that Groveton is hard over on the tax&spend policies of Obama yet he wants his own jurisdiction to tax more and spend more including the gas tax.

    I like this:

    I’d like to see citizens have the right to initiate referenda – to recall elected and to overturn taxes they don’t like. If we did that then I’d support more “home rule”.

    There are two data points here on this issue.

    First Fairfax was one of the few Va jurisdictions given the right to tax income provided 1. they used it for transportation 2. – it was approved by voters.

    What did Fairfax do ? Well they did not ask voters and they continued to whine about home rule… methinks they want taxing authority without accountability.. shocking…just shocking…

    Second – when the GA attempted to “help” NoVa – TWICE with regional taxes for transportation – they did it without providing an accountability mechanism for citizens… i.e. a referenda to approve the taxes.

    and the Va Supreme Court rightly shot it down (though at the time, I did equate it to things like water/sewer and other kinds of authorities that apparently tax without accountability).

    So I’d support full Home Rule for Fairfax and other Va localities as long as citizens have the right to remove those who are not paying attention to voters – and the right to remove taxes that citizens believe are abusive.

    In other words – I support what most Conservatives say they support – local governance, held accountable for it’s decisions.

    TMT does not trust Fairfax leaders to be responsible taxers… with good reason; they were more than willing to make citizens pay for the Tysons infrastructure – even citizens from outside of Fairfax by expecting VDOT to fix the problem.

    So.. let’s give Fairfax Home Rule Taxing powers but give Citizens the right to rein them in if need be.

    I’ll call it the Ronald Reagan “trust but verify …govt is the problem not the solution” Plan.

  27. TMT Avatar
    TMT

    A lot of smart, successful people can be led to believe crazy things and make stupid decisions. http://gma.yahoo.com/confessions-gold-scammer-112850761.html Note the crook focused on financially successful people for his scam targets.
    Very few voters in NoVA take the time to investigate any state and local fiscal issues. I have regularly seen well-educated people in Fairfax get up and, after complaining about how Richmond screws Fairfax County residents, support new proposals that would send even more tax dollars south in exchange for pennies in return.
    I like Larry’s suggestion of coupling home rule status for cities and counties with the referendum. I don’t see home rule coming to counties because the business community strongly opposes it. They are afraid that home rule would be exercised, resulting in development restrictions, more commercial regulation and higher taxes.

  28. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    Peter:

    “All of those WorldCom and Enron people were well under investigation long before Bush took office and there wasn’t much he could do about the legal process on way or the other.”

    Saul Alinsky would be proud of you.

    The Worldcom fraud was first announced on June 25, 2002. Bush had been president for over 18 months.

    http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,266287,00.html

    The Enron scandal was revealed in October, 2001. Bush had been president for 10 months.

    Now, it is certainly fair to say that the vast majority of the actual defrauding was done while Bill Clinton was playing paddy cake with Monica Lewinski in the White House. However, the detection of the frauds and the subsequent prosecutions occurred during the Bush Administrations.

    Corrupt businessmen have no better friends than Democratic presidents. And Barak Obama is trurning out to be the friendliest of them all.

  29. Groveton Avatar
    Groveton

    TMT and Jim Bacon both have big problems:

    1. Hotspots of innovation and technology job growth are almost always in high tax jurisdictions. Silicon Valley / SF? Boston? Manhattan? Even Austin Texas has the highest property taxes in the state:

    http://www.county.org/resources/countydata/products/taxrates/index.html

    2. Nasty old high tax Maryland has the highest median family income in the United States, almost $10,000 per year higher than Virginia.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_income

    Let me guess the counter-argument … Maryland gets a lot more federal money. Uh, nope. Virginia gets $1.51 back in all federal spending for every $1.00 paid in federal taxes. Maryland gets back $1.30.

    http://visualizingeconomics.com/2010/02/17/federal-taxes-paidreceived-for-each-state/

    Those of us who live in Northern Virginia do not need the Clown Show to protect us from ourselves. We need the Clown Show to leave us alone.

  30. EagletoTiger Avatar
    EagletoTiger

    “They are strict and pure capitalists.” There is a difference between a pure capitalists and a reasonable capitalists. The “Libertarians” on this blog are reasonable capitalists. They’re not calling for the end of all taxes and government regulation but rather one that makes sense for all and doesn’t punish those who worked hard to earn a large income.

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