View Poll Results: Would you participate in the Buffalo Penny Party?

Voters
41. You may not vote on this poll
  • Yes! Let's show our officials we're not taking it anymore! It's worth a few bucks.

    31 75.61%
  • No - I have faith that this will all work out

    1 2.44%
  • Maybe - I think we should protest, but I don't want to throw money at their feet

    9 21.95%
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Thread: The Penny Protest - or The Buffalo Penny Party

  1. #1
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    Lightbulb The Penny Protest - or The Buffalo Penny Party

    Imagine this:

    10,000 people gather downtown on the steps of the Rath Building to protest the mismanagement of County Government. Each brings between $1.00 and $5.00 worth of pennies and casts them on the steps of county hall with a shout of "I'm doing my part to help, Joel!"

    Facts:
    • 100 pennies ($1 worth) weighs more than half a pound.
    • Times 10,000 people is 1,000,000 pennies weighing almost 3 tons in a pile 30 feet wide and 4 feet high.
    • Times 5 ($5 worth) is 5,000,000 pennies weighing nearly 14.7 tons in a pile 50 feet wide and 7 feet high.


    The time for closed-door meetings and politics-as-usual is over. It's time to rise up, people of Western New York!

    The founding fathers didn't wait for things to play out from the top. They took matters into their own hands in Boston Harbor when the British Crown taxed their tea through the roof. It went down in history as the Boston Tea Party.

    Would it be worth $5.00 out of your own pocket to watch them squirm in shock, awe and amazement at the discontent they've unleashed? Would you pack your own lunch for a day to gain that satisfaction?

    It's time we as a community showed the same demonstrative clout we showed when the Bills went to 4 Superbowls, when we showed support for those who died on 9/11 and the support for our troops - by gathering on a massive scale, and using the symbol of our government mismanagement and waste - the penny - to put our elected officials on notice that the time for politics is over, and to make them choke on their own foolishness.

    Tell them to cut the pork! Kill the patronage - ALL of it! Have county workers use their own cars and drive themselves! Trim services reasonably and responsibly and force them to tell us what they will do without, before asking us...for "just one more penny!"

    Enough is enough. And let's organize the Buffalo Penny Party!

  2. #2
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    Actually this isn't a bad idea at all... except fot the clean up of course. which will probably mysteriously cost several million dollars.

    In anycase, what time frame are we looking at for this little event. I say we need 7 days lead time to organize it to guarentee 10000 people.
    -r

  3. #3
    Member crlachepinochet's Avatar
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    Well, one easy way to get 10,000 people would be to have everyone mad if the extra penny (or 7/8ths) is passed. This would give us the logical date of March 1st to protest, when the extra tax would go into effect. Of course, protesting when something is already in effect would probably be less effective, no? Anyway, if we could figure out some meaningful or "catchy" date, that would really help.

    Also, If this thing does get off the ground, we should try and get Shredd and Ragan to talk about it on the air. They spent a lot of time on the air talking about the penny toll protest. I mean, in their skits on the show, Giambra is a vampire... I think they'd be on our side.
    Remain calm!! But run for your lives if necessary!

  4. #4
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    I didn't mean 7 days from now... I meant we need 7 days before whatever selected date. But if we pushed it that far forward, 103.3 would just be the tip of the iceberg of what we could pull off in terms of getting the word out.
    -r

  5. #5
    Member SolarEclipse's Avatar
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    Like I said in the other thread - I like the protest idea, I don't like the penny idea.

  6. #6
    Member crlachepinochet's Avatar
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    There are some logistical problems that we would have to work out. The politicos will find out about it if we manage to get 10,000 people involved. How do 10,000 littering tickets sound?

    What if we pay the county anything we have to pay them in pennies? That got some attention when some Buffalo residents paid their $80 or $90 (maybe?) garbage fee in pennies. Whatever happened to property tax bills? Did they ever extend the deadline, or do they still expect everyone to pay by the 15th (before the bills will probably be mailed out)?
    Remain calm!! But run for your lives if necessary!

  7. #7
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    Glad to see this idea is getting some steam.

    I say - who gives a ____ if the politicos get wind of it. That's what we want to do. We want to scare them back a little bit, take them down a peg or two, remind them who they work for - and it's not the special interests of a few privileged friends or family of the Giambra Administration.

    After all, this is still America - the right to peaceably assemble is still guaranteed by the Constitution. Indeed, in the Declaration of Independence, it is written:

    "...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object ... it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

    Our elected officials [particularly Giambra] have failed us.

    They threaten to take away our Sherriffs, our DA's office and threaten to leave our county roads in impassible condition with the next major snowfall. In so doing threaten the very safety of every law-abiding citizen in Erie County.

    They threaten to take away our parks, our museums, our orchestra and our zoological park. In so doing threaten the quality of life of every citizen of Erie County and make our community less attractive to new business by making us an even bigger national laughing stock.

    They threaten to take away our libraries and in so doing threaten the educational support of students who are already at a disadvantage.

    If this is not abuse and usurpation toward the same Object of cronyism, criminality and fleecing of the tax base, then I swear that I cannot comprehend what would qualify as such.

    If this gets steam, let them try to stop us. As for getting citations written and paying in pennies 1] more expensive 2] you have to break the law to get it done.

    Just showing up with the pennies breaks no law and lets anyone participate - from kids with piggy banks whose libraries and sledding hills are threatened - to elderly folks in rural areas who might wake up one morning and be unable to get out of their homes.

    I'm mad as hell and willing to do whatever it takes to support the staging of a massive protest.

    We need to establish our position points, our message and our promotion. And I agree, the media absolutely must be involved to get the word out. I've already planted the seed with Bauerle and Beach.

    Shredd and Ragan would also be excellent. Anybody know anyone at 97-Rock?

    March 1 sounds like a great date - and as I understand it, the sales tax issue is dead until June - which gives us plenty of time.

  8. #8
    Gold Member Night Owl's Avatar
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    Each brings between $1.00 and $5.00 worth of pennies and casts them on the steps of county hall with a shout of "I'm doing my part to help, Joel!"

    Why not just have a County-wide fundraiser?

    You may look better by taking a week to collect pennies in a jar and then present them to the Legislature as a way of coming off as respectable and helpful citizens of Erie County.

  9. #9
    Member 300miles's Avatar
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    Somehow, protesting a tax increase by throwing money at them just doesn't make sense to me.


    I kinda liked the pig roast idea...

    Maybe we can throw ham at them instead of pennies.

  10. #10
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    Alright, you guys got a good idea, but then started to slip a bit....

    ..going around "fundraising" is not the idea. These jackasses have piddled away enough of our money. The pennies should roar onto the steps, like from a dumptruck. Make a mess!...I'll pay my damn littering ticket, but if your going to PROTEST, jam these pennies in their ear, don't wrap them up with a bow.

    A 7ft deep, 50ft long pile of pennies would only be $50,000 (or $5 each like the guy said), but yer not gonna make a statement by each person walking up and paying homage to the king.

    The colonists dumped tea into Boston harbor, rather than pay tax on it---It COST them something that they couldn't get back, and the king didn't get anything either. Knowing these slobs, they'd have workers out there collecting it up and taking it to the bank. Screw that.

    It'd be like burning a $100 bill. Everybody loses.

    Start from there and we figure out a way to make a real statement. Maybe, MAYBE, you make each penny collected SEVERANCE PAY for DA Clark? Since he "can't cut anywhere", maybe he needs to find another line of work.

    "THE SEVERANCE PENNY."

    Raise enough pennies, and we could severance all the legislators too.

    Or maybe, MAYBE you pick a group that needs money to organize and run against all these slobs. Maybe this is what FORMS the group. Whatever pennies are dumped on the county steps are used to fund their primaries and candidates to unseat the incumbents in each district?

    $50,000 would be a good start for a bunch of green candidates running for county legislator.
    101st Airborne...
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    ...'nuff said.

  11. #11
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    The problem with have a big demonstration somewhere is, you cannot get enough people to make it work. The decent working people in the county cannot just take off from work and go demonstrating. Unlike the public service unions who probably could take the time as "personal" and get paid for demonstrating in favor of screwing us.
    The shortest distance between two politicians is thru your wallet.

  12. #12
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    You're right about that. Can't argue.

    We'll figure something out....it's gotta be more than 10 people, or it'll be a joke.

  13. #13
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    Originally posted by gubmentcheez
    You're right about that. Can't argue.

    We'll figure something out....it's gotta be more than 10 people, or it'll be a joke.


    Alright the nonsense needs to stop. Protesting is one thing but throwing objects around in public is sure to attract police, fines, and what ever other charges that can be filed... You cannot do that and I would not attempt it plain and simple. Of all places where there are more security guards and police around. Geesh.

  14. #14
    Member crlachepinochet's Avatar
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    The Severance Penny... BRILLIANT!!!

    We just have to talk to Giambra in the only language he understands... Porkish. We collect money and try to bribe him to step down. We just need someone who we think is capable of doing the job. If we steal some of the money from little kids, maybe it'll make it more enticing for the King...
    Remain calm!! But run for your lives if necessary!

  15. #15
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    I'm sorry for stirring people up, but hello, the American Revolution was fought over less than this.

    People went to jail, were fined, arrested and branded because they protested Vietnam.

    Buffalo made national news by abortion protesting.

    Coal miners and steel workers were shot to death to get better working conditions.

    Men waded into interlocking machinegun fire across the open beaches of Tarawa and Normandy to be free, and if they were alive today, they'd be told more often than not that they can't "smoke" someplace - because it's 'bad' for them.

    People broke the law by not sitting in the back of the bus, and drinking out of a "whites only" drinking fountain.

    If you think we all should sit in the 'back of the bus' and be nice while our government implodes around us under the weight of Miss Piggy, you don't know your history.

    Oh, well.

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