April 18, 2009

Real Indian at tax protest

Ira Taken Alive at the Rapid City Tax Day Tea PartyIra is a Native American who comes from the Standing Rock Reservation. Ira said he is a 258th-generation South Dakotan and a 300+ generation American, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, “and more importantly, a taxpayer.”

And he said he was “Plain fed up” with all the government’s inept policies.

He said that at the original Tea Party in Boston some folks dressed up as Native Americans, but he was the real thing. He said it was a little too cold for him to dress up in loin cloth and feathers.

He pointed out that some stereotypes concerning Native Americans are not true, and also pointed to the many, many government programs on the Reservation that do not work.

Indeed, governmental Native American programs and agencies are a fine example of how government programs are usually abysmal failures–including government health care.

If you want to see living examples of why we need to keep government limited, as Ira said, “Go to the Reservation.”
Comment:  II appreciate that Taken Alive may have busted some people's stereotypical notions of Indians just by appearing. But that's about it.

For starters, this fellow is no mathematician. 258 generations at 20 years a generation would be 5,160 years. There were no Lakota Indians in South Dakota that long ago.

He warms up the crowd by dispelling two stereotypes: that Indians do rain dances and don't pay taxes. Yes, these stereotypes are generally false. Of course, we could list a few dozen other stereotypes he didn't mention.

Taken Alive = closet liberal?

Then Taken Alive starts talking like a typical Democrat:We love our country. We love good roads, we love good schools, we love clean water, we love clean air. We love all these things. We love a good strong defense. [Cheers] We love a good strong America.Yes, these are the things most liberals care about. Conservatives can't admit to caring about anything government does except defending the country, because that would expose their hypocrisy.

You gotta love how the crowd kept quiet for every government service except a strong defense. Must be tough having government's good works rubbed in your faces, eh? Any of you tax protesters sincere enough to forgo driving government-built roads, drinking government-filtered water, or eating government-inspected food? No, because you're hypocrites.

Alas, then Taken Alive goes off the rails:I'll gladly pay my taxes. But when it starts subsidizing bad things, when government gets involved, that's when I say, "I'm fed up."When government gets involved? Who do you think is responsible for clean air and water, roads, schools, and the military, among many other things, genius? Are you under the delusion that these aren't massive government programs?

And why did you become "fed up" only now, five months after the election? Where were you when Bush flushed a trillion dollars down the drain in Iraq? When he set a new record for deficit spending?

In case you're as dense as the other protesters, Obama hasn't raised your taxes. I guess you obeyed when talk radio and Faux News told you to march like a goosestepper to the nearest "tea party." Next time, try thinking for yourself.

Taken Alive invents problem

Most of Taken Alive's rant turns out to be against government-run healthcare. Maybe he should've checked with his fellow right-wingers, because the protests weren't about healthcare. They were about real banking bailouts and fictitious tax increases.

But let's address his irrelevant point for a second. Why would government be good at some things but not at others? Fact is, experts say Social Security and Medicare have lower costs and are better run than private social programs.

If the Indian Health Service hasn't done the job, it's probably because it's underfunded and it's difficult to deliver services to remote reservations. In any case, Taken Alive hasn't made a legitimate case against government-run healthcare. His finger-pointing is akin to pointing at Vietnam or Iraq and saying, "See, the government-run military sucks. Let's outsource the job to Blackwater."

Taken Alive finishes with an inane plea: "We need to take back the country." We just took back the country, bright boy. The majority of Americans voted to take it back from the rich white men and give it to the rest of us. That includes the 90% of Indians who voted for Obama.

If you were on a vision quest or something, have your Lakota relatives fill you in about what happened last November. Ask your elders to explain why most Indians are Democrats and Democratic values = Indian values. You may not understand economics or politics, but they do.

Conclusion

For those who are still unclear on the concept of taxation, I suggest you read these postings:

A Short Citizen's Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day"We have a patriotic duty to stand up against Washington taxes!" Just the opposite. We have a patriotic duty to pay taxes. As multi-billionaire Warren Buffett put it, "If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you'll find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil. I will be struggling thirty years later." President Teddy Roosevelt made the case in 1906 when he argued in favor of continuing the inheritance tax. "The man of great wealth owes a particular obligation to the state because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government."Juice Boxes, Not Tea Bags[O]n Wednesday, as I left the daily press briefing at the White House, I had to pass by two hundred or so soggy teabaggers. And what I saw convinced me that many of them were--oh, how to put this politely--too dumb to know to come in from out of the rain.

These people were not protesting particular policies of Obama; they were decrying the foundation of the American political system: citizens pay taxes that cover the costs of government services.
For more evidence of the protesters' racism, see Teabaggers Stray Off Topic, HuffPosters Report. EPIC FAIL. For more on the "teabag" subject, see Teabaggers Misuse Indian Imagery.

P.S. Is this another of those cases where I shouldn't criticize an Indian because he or she knows best? I have an MBA from the University of Chicago and 25-plus years in business. Unless you have better credentials than I do, don't bother telling me that my opinion doesn't count.

Below:  Ira Taken Alive can't figure out that taxes pay for the government services he "loves."

10 comments:

Stephen said...

"Yes, these are the things most liberals care about. Conservatives can't admit to caring about anything except a strong defense, because that would expose their hypocrisy."

Ah yes only your twisted little tribe cares about the environment. *Rolls eyes.* Dualism is a sign of a weak mind.

"You gotta love how the crowd kept quiet for every government service except a strong defense. Must be tough having government's good works rubbed in your faces, eh? Any of you tax protesters honest enough to forgo driving government-built roads, drinking government-filtered water, or eating government-inspected food? No, because you're hypocrites."

This sounds very similiar to the childish 'love or leave it' GOP fanboys spouted at people who are anti-bush. Didn't you say that patriotism means asking questions? And it's not like everyone in that crowd are protesting taxes in general.

"You gotta love how the crowd kept quiet for every government service except a strong defense. Must be tough having government's good works rubbed in your faces, eh? Any of you tax protesters honest enough to forgo driving government-built roads, drinking government-filtered water, or eating government-inspected food? No, because you're hypocrites."

How amusing that you didn't mention the sheer amount of bombs and 'collateral damage' that tax dollars pay for.

"And why did you become "fed up" only now? Where were you when Bush flushed a trillion dollars down the drain in Iraq? In case you're as dense as the other protesters, Obama hasn't raised your taxes. I guess you obeyed when talk radio told you to march like a goosestepper to the nearest "tea party."

How do you know he wasn't anti-Bush? Did you bother to find out? No you just assumed because you wanted to post another inane rant. If you think everyone in that crowd's a republican't you're guilty of stereotyping. Also I doubt everyone went out and protested because of talk radio ('grats on stereotyping) and the nazi comparison is extremely weak; that's just a childish as a Hannity fanboy calling anyone with leftist ideas a 'communist'.

"Taken Alive finishes with an idiotic plea: "We need to take back the country." We just took back the country, bright boy. The majority of Americans voted to take it back from the rich white men and give it to the rest of us. That includes the 90% of Indians who voted for Obama."

Wahahaha! If you honestly think Obama's part of 'the rest of us' you need to get you're head checked. Yes he's a different color but he's still part of the elite; the issue here is class not race. So far I'm not convinced that Obama's an improvement; the nonsense he spouted about the 'moderate' taliban (I suppose they're the ones behind the gentler kinder beheadings) alone makes me dislike him.

"If you were on a vision quest or something, have your Lakota relatives give you a clue about what happened last November. Ask your elders to explain why most Indians are Democrats and Democratic values = Indian values. You may not understand economics or politics, but they do."

Apart from the idiotic dualism the vision quest 'joke' is a mite stereotypical.

"P.S. Is this another one of those cases where I shouldn't criticize an Indian because he or she knows best? I've got an MBA from the University of Chicago and 25-plus years in business. Unless you have better credentials than that, don't bother telling me that my opinion doesn't count."

Good for you here's your cookie and a pat on the head. And your opinons (ie calling the protesters racists or conservatives) are weak and goram stupid.

dmarks said...

Stephen is quite right: the things that liberals care about are things that conservatives care about.

Rob said: "In case you're as dense as the other protesters, Obama hasn't raised your taxes."

But he promises too. Obama's plans of gas tax increases have been pretty constant. These will hit everyone hard, and right away when implimented. Not just from the gas taxes, but from the "surcharges" and inflation caused by them. It will be like last summer all over again.

"I guess you obeyed when talk radio told you to march like a goosestepper to the nearest "tea party." Next time, try thinking for yourself."

Just like network news ordered people to "goosestep" to the antiwar protests?

Also, using your own logic, the "goosestepping" (a version of a "you are nazis" insult) makes you racist. You called the protesters racist in an earlier post for calling Obama "Hitler". That must make you a similar sort of racist (by your own example) for calling the protesters Nazis.

Back to Rob: "Taken Alive finishes with an idiotic plea: "We need to take back the country." We just took back the country, bright boy. The majority of Americans voted to take it back from the rich white men and give it to the rest of us"

The Dems used "Take Back America" as a slogan during the Bush administration. Was it idiotic then? You probably would not think so... just because of the party involved. As for the "rich white men" thing, that smacks of racism on your part. Not sure it is racist, but it leans in that direction.

Besides, what is different? What has been "taken back" etc? The government still has rich white men in it. There's one more rich black guy, true.

Stephen: Great point about moderate Taliban. And many other great points. Rob's not making many, unfortunately. He is rather caught up in a blind partisan bias.

dmarks said...

Correction: I said in response to the idea that we have "taken back" the government from rich white men that the only difference is that there is now one more rich black man.

This isn't true: Barack Obama, as a United States Senator, was one of the most powerful men in the country. One of those already running it. So, even less has changed.

Stephen said...

"But he promises too. Obama's plans of gas tax increases have been pretty constant. These will hit everyone hard, and right away when implimented. Not just from the gas taxes, but from the "surcharges" and inflation caused by them. It will be like last summer all over again."

Great point, thanks for the compliment btw.

dmarks said...

Read

http://www.newsweek.com/id/194653?GT1=43002 for yet another grassroots protest that was not created and controlled by Fox News.

Stephen: Obama's tax hikes based on wrong priorities will damage the economy in other areas, too. They are more crafted for what proponents "fairness" (i.e. punishment and dividing people) than for fixing the economy, anyway.

I hold to the notion that the tax code should be used to get only the necessary amount of money to run government. That's it. It should not be used to reward or punish behavior, tax the dead, craft society, or create a new morality.

Stephen said...

Thanks for the info; very enlightening. Also here's how Rob views NWObama:

http://separate-equal.net/main/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/obama-shark-oops-too-cool.jpg

dmarks said...

Rob said: "If the Indian Health Service hasn't done the job, it's probably because it's underfunded and it's difficult to deliver services to remote reservations"

About IHS, whether or not it is underfunded depends on what its mission is. If it is supposed to give free health care to every Indian, then it is underfunded. If it turns out that the bureacrats in the department are making out like millionaires, then it is not a funding problem, but more a problem of overpaid government employees in it to get rich. I mention this because it is a common problem in federal, state, and local government.

As for it being underfunded, you can't blame the Bush Administration for this. His budgets provided significantly more funding than Clinton's did. The 2008 budget signed by Bush for IHS was 195% of the budget requested by Clinton in 2008. That's nearly double.

dmarks said...

And the above facts fly in the face of Rob's claim of "Conservatives can't admit to caring about anything except a strong defense". Turns out that conservative George W. Bush cared about Native American health issues twice as much as liberal Bill Clinton did.

Stephen said...

Fascinating, thanks for posting that.

dmarks said...

All I did was look up the actual budgets. Bush also significantly increased federal education spending.