Thread: Live Blog: Tea Party's IRS, Immigration Rallies

by Breitbart News 19 Jun 2013, 6:11 AM PDT
breitbart.com



Rep. Steve King is holding a six-hour press conference on immigration on the east lawn of the Capitol. Despite the early start on a day in the middle of the week, a couple hundred activists attended the beginning of the event. It is a sign of growing anxiety in the grass-roots over the Senate amnesty legislation.

"Border security, Rule of Law Members of Congress are unlikely to get a full debate inside the halls of Congress," King said. "So we are taking the debate outside it's halls."

Thousands of Americans will also arrive in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday for a mass "Audit the IRS" rally to protest the IRS's targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups. The Tea Party Patriots, a group targeted by the IRS, organized the rally.

Tea Partiers and conservatives who were targeted will speak at the rally along with prominent conservative legislators like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN). Breitbart News executive chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Breitbart's Sonnie Johnson will also speak at the rally.

Conservative talk-radio host Glenn Beck will speak at both events.

Breitbart News will live-blog all of the events.

Breitbart News investigative reporter Matthew Boyle (@MBoyle1) is at King's immigration press conference. Kerry Picket (@KerryPicket) and Editor Mike Flynn (@Flynn1776) will also be reporting from the events throughout the day.

UPDATE (1:40 p.m. EDT) ForAmerica's Brent Bozell passionately led the crowd in a "fire Eric Holder" chant.

"I am sick and tired of not getting answers from my government when my government is abusing my freedoms," Bozell said.

He had a message for the national media who aided and abetted the Obama administration. He urged the attendees to tell the mainstream media, "Do your jobs, report the story." The crowd started chanting, "Do your jobs," as Bozell left the stage.

UPDATE (1:25 p.m. EDT):

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joked he asked Harry Reid if he could borrow Reid's cell phone this morning and said the NSA would be surprised to see Harry Reid at a Tea Party.

Paul said Americans can have "freedom, security, and the Bill of Rights and the Constitution all at the same time."

He said the government's persecution of people based on religious and political beliefs needs to "end and it needs to end right now."

"We're sick and tired of government bullies, and we need to send them home," Paul said. "We've been fighting for a decade against people who attacked us. We've been fighting for a decade to protect our country ... We've been fighting for freedom."

He said he would continue to defend the Constitution.

UPDATE: (1:20 p.m. EDT)

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said the American people are not going to tolerate Obamacare and urged attendees to fight for change in 2014. He said 2014 will make 2010 look like a "Sunday picnic" to Democrats.

UPDATE: (1:15 p.m. EDT)

Glenn Beck railed against evil the "circus masters" in the federal government that want to use machinery of government to try to make men masters of other men.

He said it was "time to rise up" because people were "born free." But he noted "freedom comes at a "profound price and responsibility." He railed against American intervention abroad and the decaying culture at home.

He blistered those who "no longer are willing to call evil by its name" and said "when there is no vision the people will perish." Beck spoke at length about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. He said Dr. King's vision did not come from "progressive philosophy" or "Hollywood" but from God and "God alone." He said Janis Joplin and the hippies were not responsible for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He said he liked Washington, D.C. less than Las Vegas because at least Vegas has the decency to admit the town is full of "crooks and hookers." He also railed against the mainstream media for being public relations agents for the Obama administration.

Beck said Americans should not stand by and tolerate when the rights of people are violated based on skin color, religion, or political affiliation and criticized leaders of civil rights organization and unions whose ideals would not be recognized by their founders. He said the government cannot be trusted to protect the rights of people that are guaranteed to Americans and "self-evident."

"The government is no longer the protector of those rights," Beck said. "It is the chief violator of those rights."

UPDATE (12:38 p.m. EDT):

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN): "Don't you love the look of liberty?"

She noted she was an "insurgent" in her former life because she wanted to defeat the tax code. She said she got a job as a tax lawyer because the best way to defeat the enemy is to understand the enemy from the inside out.

She said this rally is sending "shivers" up the spines of those in Congress.

"You are here, and you are clear with your message," she said, noting everyone should have to pay something to the great country.

Heritage Action's Mike Needham said the Tea Party is alive and well and "we are going to write the obituary of big government."

"We will not stop until Obama's [big] government has been reigned in," he said.

UPDATE (12:18 p.m. EDT):

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), speaking at the rally, said "big brother has gotten a lot creepier than George Orwell though it would ever get." He said he was for abolishing the IRS.

UPDATE (12:10 p.m. EDT):

Jenny Beth Martin, of Tea Party Patriots, kicked off the rally and said, the IRS, an agency "many fear more than death" was turned into "a weapon against us.

She said "government is "too powerful and too big" and said, "as we stand here today, Congress is trying to pass another 1,000+ amnesty bill." She said government is out of control and the ruling class treats americans like subjects.

"We will not allow them to dictate to us," Martin said. "We will remind them that ours is a Constitutional republic where the law will be applied equally and fairly.

She said a "thuggish and gangster-style government will not stand in America."

We will continue to do what they fear most and "speak out" and "shine a light" on their "crony, corrupt" behavior.

UPDATE (11:58 a.m. EDT):

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) says before the rally, "we're going to follow the facts and get what the truth is." He said the hearings with the targeted victims personalized and humanized the scandal even though he was sorry they were targeted.

"We wanted to give them a voice," Camp said.

UPDATE (11:55 a.m. EDT)

Jenny Beth Martin, of Tea Party Patriots, said she is proud of the crowd that has come to Washington to tell the IRS that they are not going to take it anymore. She noted the stellar roster of speakers and praised the "patriots" who were targeted by the IRS who will be speaking at the rally.

"We will not back down or be intimidated," Martin said, noting that is the message the rally will try to send to Washington, D.C.

UPDATE (11:10 a.m. EDT): Rally attendees give Breitbart News huge applause when Breitbart News reporter Matthew Boyle introduces himself before asking a question at the press conference:




UPDATE: (11:00 a.m. EDT): Breitbart's Boyle reports Breitbart News gets "massive applause" when he introduced himself and his organization before asking a question.

Boyle: "After I introduced myself before I asked the question, the crowd interrupted and gave a huge standing ovation."

UPDATE: (10:50 a.m. EDT) Breitbart's Boyle's updates from the press conference:

Rep. Fleming riles up the press conference audience over Obamacare. "Who was here the first time the Tea Party came to Washington?"

Then he compared gang of eight bill to Obamacare. "Maybe we should call this AmnestyCare."

Fleming: CBO report conclusion that amnesty reduces deficit "not true."

He said the real cost comes later.

Fleming said we are not anti-immigrant. "We are a free society but we are a society of laws."

"We all love and support the idea of immigration," he said.

More from Breitbart's Boyle:

Randy Weber adds: "Firings and jail time for the IRS"
Rep. Lummis (R-WY) and Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) join press conference. Both praise the Tea Party activists in the crowd.

Yoho bashes the Senate's "Gang of Eight." Instead, he calls on congress to "let's do immigration that's best for America"

He also holds up pocket Constitution.

UPDATE (10:40 a.m. EDT):

Fox News' Chad Pergram notes some in the crowd do not like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). He also notes King said it was "creepy" what the government could do to diminish the privacy of Americans.

UPDATE: (10: 35 a.m. EDT) Breitbart's Boyle reports Rep. Steve King (R-IA) believes IRS officials should face criminal charges for targeting Tea Partiers and conservatives.
"I do," King answered when asked if IRS officials who targeted Tea Party groups should face criminal charges

UPDATE: (10:25 a.m. EDT): From Breitbart's Mike Flynn:

Capitol Hill police are trying to block activists attending Wednesday's "Audit the IRS" rally from also attending a nearly day-long press conference on immigration, hosted by Reps. Steve King and Louie Gohmert. The IRS rally is on the west side of the Capitol, while the immigration event is on the east side. Organizers for the IRS event were told by Hill police that "your people" can only assemble on the west side. Organizers were told to remove the activists from the immigration event.

UPDATE (10:15 a.m. EDT): Members at the rally are taking questions from the media.

UPDATE (10:02 a.m. EDT): More from Breitbart's Boyle:

Weber retakes the stage. "Political correctness is killing us!"

And Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) joins the press conference that now has at least 400 people in attendance.

UPDATE (9:52 a.m EDT): Breitbart's Matthew Boyle reports Gohmert praises the crowd at the rally: "I love the signs I'm seeing. You guys get it."

UPDATE (9:35 a.m. EDT): Tea Party movement takes to front of capitol to rally against amnesty

Matthew Boyle reports:


About 200 Tea Partiers began rallying outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. to rally against the “Gang of Eight” amnesty legislation, and more and more Tea Partiers continue trickling in throughout the morning.

Technically, the rally is a “press conference” that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is organizing with help from Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Paul Broun (R-GA) and Randy Weber (R-TX), among others.

In opening remarks at the beginning of the event, King told rally-goers the majority of Americans, especially conservatives, are not getting a fair debate inside the halls of Congress in the U.S. House and the Senate.

“That’s why we are here today ... to take this debate outside the halls of Congress” King said to roaring applause.

When Gohmert took the stage, he noted how the Republican Party leadership seems to be missing a real opportunity right now to really “fix” the country. Instead of using the public awareness of President Barack Obama’s administration’s lawlessness through its scandals that keep dripping out, GOP leaders are using amnesty to change the subject.

“Now for the first time, the American people have awakened,” Gohmert said. “We have this incredible opportunity to fix things. This is the time to fix America, not change the subject.”

Weber, who took the stage next, warned against what he argued seem to be perpetual forces trying to weaken America with a weakened border.

“For us to have a safe world, we must have a strong America,” Weber said.

Regarding the NSA scandal, Weber joked that it would be nice if the president listened to everyone on immigration as much as he snooped on everyone. “We finally have a president that listens to all Americans,” Weber said.

Weber added that Obama should secure the border now.

“The president has the authority to secure our border,” Weber said. “He should do it today. In fact he should have done it yesterday.”

He added that the Tea Partiers here on Capitol Hill are helping members fight for liberty and conservatism.

“Thank you Patriots for being involved and helping to elevate this discourse,” Weber said.




http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...mmigration-IRS

So the Capital Police ordered people NOT TO ATTEND THE IMMIGRATION PROTEST PRESS CONFERENCE????

W