Report From the Rochester, NY Tea Party (With Pics)–April 15, 2009

~~By Grail Guardian

Rochester, NY Tea Party April 15,2009

The attendees assembled at 11:00 am in Genesee Crossroads Park. They were orderly, peaceful, and diverse.

The crowd begins to gather for the rally

The numbers begin to swell. The local paper first reported 200 attendees, but it was probably closer to 500.

The sign reads “I’m only 7 and I have more common sense than CONGRESS. Just ask my Dad”

The best type of pitchforks and torches! It was a peace-loving crowd of Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

Members of We Surround Rochester, the group that organized the Tea Party

The procession starts across the bridge over the Genesee River

Lead by bagpipes &  followed by flag bearers

Young and old alike gathered

The swelling crow remained courteous during speeches and songs. They got rather excited about NY Senator Charles Schumer (who said the people don’t care about how their money is spent) and chanted “Let’s chuck Chuck!”

Robbing from our children was a common concern and all agreed term limits are needed now. Songs ranged from the National Anthem to God Bless America and even Amazing Grace

The march along the river towards the County offices and City Hall

More speeches, but no politicians came out. Cars passing by on Main St. honked horns in support, and there were chants of “No More!” and “Vote them all out!” Members of the Rochester Police Dept. looked on, but had little to do other than stop traffic for the crowd crossing the streets and make sure everyone was safely on the sidewalk. The only mess I saw after the rally was left by one of the horses from the mounted patrol.

My sign in front of City Hall. A quote from Thomas Jefferson:

“The Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

The $700 Billion Bailout Bait and Switch

~~By American Lassie

In an earlier post, on November 4, 2008 before the Presidential race was called, I expressed a worry about where the $700 billion bail-out money was going. It didn’t seem to be going where we were told it was intended to go.

Now Republican Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is addressing this in same manner.  On Saturday, November 15, he said we should take back the remaining money given to Henry Paulson in that “blank check.”

First we were told it was to buy mortgage-backed securities.  Then Paulson shifted gears and said it was to use $250 billion to buy stakes in banks.  The “Troubled Asset Relief Program” (TARP) would enable ailing banks to start lending money again and thus boost the economy.

-No homeowner has yet been helped and foreclosures are multiplying.
-Senator Chris Dodd said Paulson’s actions are “beyond belief.”
-Paulson told Charlie Rose  – “The driver is to have healthy banks be well capitalized so they can play for our country right now.”
-Paulson diverted $250 billion to buy stakes in healthy banks to spur lending, but they are not doing this with the money.
-Charles Schumer, Democrat-NY, fears the banks might stuff the money “under the proverbial mattress”.  It appears this is exactly what they are doing.
-Treasury hired the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. as “custodian” of the TARP program.  They also picked Mellon to receive a $3 Billion investment as part of the Capital Infusion Program.

Heads should roll !!!  Greed, corruption, and incompetence – where does it end?
Martha Stewart was imprisoned for lying – but then, she is a woman. Administrators’ neglect brought on this crisis.  It has been coming on for some time.  There were ample warnings (Bush and McCain) but Congress did nothing.  Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is one of the prime culprits.  When warned about Fannie Mae he said there was no problem there.  At the time his live-in partner, Herb Moss, was an administrator at Fannie Mae.  Conflict of interest?  I’d say so, but to paraphrase Katie Couric, “Who am I to judge anyone?”

Now everybody wants a bail-out.  The auto industry appears to be next on the list and Governor Schwarzenegger of California thinks that his state should be bailed out because California has shown discipline. (This has nothing to do with the fire – this is another matter).  Give me a break – when has California shown any discipline?  And why should that entitle them to bail-out money from us tax payers in the rest of the country?  What’s next?  The health industry, the remaining 49 states?  (Except for Alaska which seems to be doing fine, thanks to a smart governor).  Next we will have government-owned 7-11 stores.

I’m with Jim Inhofe.  Let’s demand our money back. It’s our money and we didn’t agree to this giveaway.  In my opinions, bankers can’t be trusted.  Remember Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life”?  Greedy, crooked, conniving piece of scum…

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Check out BailoutSleuth.com to keep up with the bailout developments and who’s getting what…