Union receives threats over 'tax the rich' ads

Union receives threats over 'tax the rich' ads
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
April 14, 2010

St. Paul, Minn. — Officials with Minnesota's largest public employee union say they have received several threatening phone calls and e-mails in response to their recent "tax the rich" ad campaign.

One voice message left at AFSCME Council 5 headquarters in South St. Paul prompted the union to file a complaint with police.

In the profanity-laced message, a man implied a connection to the tea party movement and a tea party event scheduled for Thursday evening outside of the State Capitol. He also said the union's days were numbered.

Executive Director Eliot Seide said the union will continue to push for tax fairness and will not be threatened.

"No mother or father in this state will tell their children to use language like this or speak like this. It's time to have a civilized dialogue," Seide said. "Civilized, intelligent people can agree to disagree, but this kind of thuggery doesn't deserve to be respected by any Minnesotan."

Union leaders say they were able to identify the caller as the owner and president of a legal printing firm in Minneapolis. They shared his name and phone number with reporters.

Attempts to contact the man were unsuccessful.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/04/14/tax-threats/?refid=0



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Tax Day demonstrations to highlight burden on working people
13 April 2010

Last-minute tax filers will be greeted by members of AFSCME Council 5 on Tax Day, April 15, at post offices in Anoka, Bemidji, Brainerd, Cambridge, Duluth and Minneapolis. Union volunteers will ask taxpayers a simple question: “Are you tired of paying more so the rich can pay less?”
Volunteers will be at the post offices from 4 to 6:30 p.m., the union said.

Tax breaks for the rich cost Minnesota more than $1 billion each year. According to the Minnesota Department of Revenue’s 2009 Tax Incidence Study, the richest Minnesotans pay less than 9 percent of their income on state and local taxes. Meanwhile, middle class families pay more than 12 percent. Learn more at www.TaxTheRichest.com .

“Working families pay their taxes,” said Eliot Seide, director of AFSCME Council 5. “We think it’s time for the richest Minnesotans to pay their fair share, too. It’s the fairest way to fix the budget and invest in a better future for everyone. It’s simply wrong to cut education, health care and public safety in order to protect the rich.”

AFSCME Council 5 is also taking its “Tax the Rich” message to the airwaves this week. The TV spot was broadcast during the Minnesota Twins home opener on Monday and statewide on cable stations. It will also be heard on 80 radio stations and during Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s “Good Morning Minnesota” show on WCCO-AM.

AFSCME Council 5 is a union of 43,000 workers who advocate for excellence in public services, dignity in the workplace, and opportunity and prosperity for all working families.

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_4435

Thank You AFSCME and don't let those damned fool Tea Party pukes screw around.

I think it's a very good ad. I thought it does get a person's attention and then they hit the audience with the "tax the rich" message.

are going to need to form a union.

Solidarity forever, the union makes us strong.

Especially wealth supremacy.

He also said that it was the rich waging it and that they were winning because the rest of us wouldn't fight it.
:kick: & R

The vast majority of opposition to raising taxes on the highest incomes are by people that think they will some day be that rich. There was poll done about 5 years ago that showed that 22% of the people thought they were in in the top 1%.

19% thought they were in the top 1% of income, and the next 20% thought they would be there someday.

So, 39% of the population (in 2000) thinks they are, or will someday, be in the top 1% of incomes.


This is why the Politics of Aspiration is so powerful in this country . . there are a lot of statistically challenged high functioning morons.

I meant to type <$50k not >$50k :doh:

Shut up or else. Free speech (for me, not you).

The guy making threats either is or is not a target of the ad. If he is, he's basically saying that he enjoys all the perks of our current system, but doesn't want to pay for them. If he isn't he's saying he's not very intelligent. The upshot is that he's willing to resort to violence in either case.

I can sort of understand it in the first case. If the system is rigged in your favor, and all you care about is yourself, then any changes might rig the system against you. At the very least, you're going to have to learn new tricks to keep your advantage. In the second case, it makes absolutely no sense.