US Uncut: Progressive Tea Party?

[notsure]

US Uncut: Progressive Tea Party?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GZwqx_z0eU

I think it would be a worthy cause to let these Uncut people know the vast amounts of tax payer dollars that could be saved by cutting spending on militarism and nation building. Tax payer dollars that could go to take care of our people at home.

[notsure]

Liberal Tea Party? U.S. Uncut Disrupts Service At Bank Of America
Updated: 03/ 1/11
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/27/us-uncut-bank-of-america-liberal-tea-party_n_828782.html



Demonstrators posing as a liberal Tea Party disrupted service at banks across the country on Saturday, in an effort to spotlight the gimmicks multi-billion dollar corporations use to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.

Self-organized through anti-austerity movement U.S. Uncut, regional captains helped organize demonstrators at more than 40 different branches of Bank of America. The newly-minted group was inspired by an article published recently in The Nation by Johann Hari: "How to Build a Progressive Tea Party." Hari writes:


Imagine a parallel universe where the Great Crash of 2008 was followed by a Tea Party of a very different kind ... Instead of the fake populism of the Tea Party, there is a movement based on real populism. It shows that there is an alternative to making the poor and the middle class pay for a crisis caused by the rich. It shifts the national conversation ... This may sound like a fantasy--but it has all happened. The name of this parallel universe is Britain. As recently as this past fall, people here were asking the same questions liberal Americans have been glumly contemplating: Why is everyone being so passive? Why are we letting ourselves be ripped off? Why are people staying in their homes watching their flat-screens while our politicians strip away services so they can fatten the superrich even more?

Hari evokes the spirit of UK Uncut -- a movement made up of British citizens, who, in the face of brutal budget cuts, have sought to shame corporate tax dodgers through public demonstrations -- and suggests Americans follow suit. U.S. Uncut is doing just that; though many members of the group have disowned the title of Tea Party, telling HuffPost that while they were inspired by the article in The Nation, they do not want to be identified as an opposition group.

Saturday marked the group's first coordinated event.

"Billionaires got bonuses, bailouts and tax cuts, too -- the least they can do is pay their fair share of taxes," said Ryan Clay, a 28-year-old media analyst who helped organize the U.S. Uncut demonstration in Washington, DC. "I got inspired, other people got inspired, we met online, and we're working through social media to really bring these abhorrent facts to the public."

A rally in San Francisco drew scores of protesters to a branch of Bank of America at Union Square; dressed in ordinary street clothes, they filed into the bank one by one, getting in line to speak with the tellers. Each of them carried a fake check from Bank of America made out to "The United States c/o Tax Paying Citizens," for $1.5 billion. The sum would cover all the bank's unpaid taxes on its 2009 earned income of $4.4 billion, demonstrators said.

Only a few people had presented their fake checks to the tellers before the bank temporarily closed for business; protesters were peacefully escorted out of the building by the police. Once on the street, however, they stayed put and kept handing out fake checks, which had facts about corporate tax avoidance written in fine print on the back, as fliers. "Two-thirds of all U.S. corporations do not pay federal income tax," the fliers said. "BofA is the largest bank and the 5th largest corporation in America."


"People seemed more eager to accept these fliers and actually read the information they contained than what one would usually expect from handouts with political messages," said Leslie Dreyer, 32, a resident of Oakland, Calif., who came up with the idea of using checks as props. "When asked 'would you like a check for 1.5 billion to cash at any BoA?', they were amused and intrigued enough to 'read the fine print.'"

A Bank of America spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment.

Many of the largest corporations in the country have mastered the art of evading taxes, booking expenses in the U.S. and profits in low-tax countries. A list compiled by Forbes shows that Bank of America was far from being the only multi-billion dollar corporation to avoid paying taxes on billions of dollars in earnings in 2009; it is also not the only bank to spark angry demonstrations this week.

On Wednesday morning, New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams marched into a Park Avenue Chase bank to denounce the bank's failure to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. HuffPost's Laura Basset reports:


After denouncing the bank to a cheering crowd and calling its executives "bloodsuckers" for accepting bailout money and refusing to help the suffering homeowners they "preyed on," Williams was stopped by security guards at the door and told the branch was closed. The mob then chanted "open the door" until Williams was let in, at which point he closed his account.

Williams told HuffPost that when campaigning in New York City, he met at least two people on every block with mortgage troubles. He said he doesn't want the bank to use his money to "further deteriorate the community" he represents, especially in light of chief executive Jamie Dimon's recent $17 million bonus.

"It's incredible what these banks are making people go through," he said. "It's disgusting. They're like bloodsuckers, just sucking the lifeblood out of communities and refusing to help out. I understand that people need to get paid to get the best and brightest and these bonuses help with that, but you can't do that and then not assist the community and then get a taxpayer bailout to the tune of billions of dollars. That's just greed at its worst."

[GunnyFreedom]

Corporate taxes are passed straight down to the people in the form of price inflation, which mostly affects the poor, who can least afford it.

[AZKing]

Sigh... well, I guess if a corporation is a person they should be paying individual income taxes. If they decide to get married and have children, I'm willing to give them rebates.

Sorry, just ranting about corporate personhood.

[GunnyFreedom]

Sigh... well, I guess if a corporation is a person they should be paying individual income taxes. If they decide to get married and have children, I'm willing to give them rebates.

Sorry, just ranting about corporate personhood.

LOL yeah, but I never said that a corporation should be person; with special exceptions like incorporated areas, townships, cities, and counties. Actually, I think it might be a good idea to eliminate corporate personhood for the commercial market, but then turn around and give it to non-profit civic and activist groups, churches, and charity groups instead.

[amy31416]

The government will do atrocious things with tax money whether it comes from the poor, the middle class or the rich. That is one thing that progressives/liberals/Democrats usually fail to take into account.

This wasn't quite as true in the past, but now that we're nearing a serious financial crisis--do you think the gov't is going to cut military spending, foreign aid or bailing out their buddies so grandma can buy groceries and heart meds? Pfft. Domestic spending will be the first to go, Bernanke's already suggested it and barely anyone said a peep. You think we'll cut off Blackwater and Halliburton...effing laughable.

Even if the progressives manage to get the rich taxed at a higher rate--the money's mostly eventually going to go toward murder and oppression, not toward bunnies, organic food and natural remedies. When will people get that through their thick skulls?

/end cantankerous rant

[madfoot]

I've been waiting to see a liberal alternative to the TP for a while. Call me crazy, but we need both groups. Tea Party wants them to cut spending, and Uncut wants them to cut tax loopholes. You need to to do both if you're going to pay back the debt.

Is anyone else crossing their fingers to see these two groups come together on something? I've been saying for a while that we need a nonpartisan grassroots movement.

[notsure]

US Uncut
http://www.facebook.com/usauncut

http://twitter.com/USUncut

http://www.usuncut.org/

Press Inquiries
Email: usuncut@gmail.com



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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwfgKolJCwc&feature=player_embedded#at=239

[Cowlesy]

Most progressives I know believe in heavy state coercion and government mandates on citizens. Some republicans aren't much better, but just because some progressives say they're anti-war (don't hear much now that Obama is elected) and sort of against the Federal Reserve (but because they hate Wall Street) doesn't make them my allies.

[notsure]

Most progressives I know believe in heavy state coercion and government mandates on citizens. Some republicans aren't much better, but just because some progressives say they're anti-war (don't hear much now that Obama is elected) and sort of against the Federal Reserve (but because they hate Wall Street) doesn't make them my allies.

I know what you mean, but you can't just automatically generalize people or put words or ideas into their mouths. People come from all different types of backgrounds; with different perceptions and understandings of things. They will all come to conclusions differently and at different rates. I'm not that certain that this US uncut thing isn't controlled by some hidden hand or anything like that, but I see this as a chance for conversation, education and clarity. The truth always prevails.

[notsure]

Anonymous and their peaceful American Revolution, their plan to break the banks.
by ariellalight on Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 3:58 a.m.
http://www.uniteandstate.com/column/121/anonymous+and+their+peaceful+american+revolution+t heir+plan+to+break+the+banks/



Most of us by now have heard about Anonymous. Anonymous has had its roots in various areas for a while now. Its primary targets tend to be a focused attempt at righting the wrongs of corporate monopolies and injustices that face the average person. Anonymous became a household known entity as it was exposed in its efforts to defend the operations of Wikileaks and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Their newest activities have revolved around shutting down various copyright agencies such as BMI as an attempt to fight back in the ongoing file sharing battle. A member of Anonymous who goes by the twitter name Operation Leaks has announced plans for releasing damning documents in the coming days that highlight corruption and Bank Of America. Operation Leaks has been teasing these Bank Of America releases via Twitter for the last several days. With operation Operation Empire State they are targeting the banking elite.


Ben Bernanke must step down and the "Primary Dealers within the Federal Reserve banking system must be broken up and held accountable for rigging markets and destroying the global economy effective immediately.



Their manifesto is now circulating and is outlined below


The Anonymous manifesto:

We are a decentralized non-violent resistance movement, which seeks to restore the rule of law and fight back against the organized criminal class.
One-tenth of one percent of the population has consolidated wealth in unprecedented fashion and launched an all-out economic war against 99.9% of the population.
We are not affiliated with either wing of the two-party oligarchy. We seek an end to the corrupted two-party system by ending the campaign finance and lobbying racket.
Above all, we aim to break up the global banking cartel centered at the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, Bank of International Settlement and World Bank.
We demand that the primary dealers within the Federal Reserve banking system be broken up and held accountable for rigging markets and destroying the global economy, effective immediately.
As a first sign of good faith we demand Ben Bernanke step down as Federal Reserve chairman.
Until our demands are met and a rule of law is restored, we will engage in a relentless campaign of non-violent, peaceful, civil disobedience.
In our next communication we will announce Operation Empire State Rebellion.



With each successful takedown anonymous picks up in size and each subsequent target, ascends towards even larger foes. Their newest operation appears to be going full out and straight to the top. They are certainly an educated and well skilled group and their confidence is showing as they continue to defy and grow with an expanded bold agenda.

[Wren]

Most progressives I know believe in heavy state coercion and government mandates on citizens. Some republicans aren't much better, but just because some progressives say they're anti-war (don't hear much now that Obama is elected) and sort of against the Federal Reserve (but because they hate Wall Street) doesn't make them my allies.

No, it doesn't, but just to keep in mind that liberals view libertarians exactly the same way. I'm not all for reaching out to liberals (although plenty of them support RP), but in my past attempts, I usually just ask them their priorities - gets them every time to support RP. Works best with moderate liberals.