I'm so angry--the guy that crashed the plane in the Austin IRS building..

I don't see how they can associate this guy as a tea party member, he was an out and out anarchist, and a loon ta boot. Have you read that manifesto?? He railed everyone, communists AND capitolists. The manifesto I read was the words of a very mentaly disturbed man. It was all over the place, intelectual at some points, rambling at others, legalese babble at others, etc. It was truly bizzarre.

Well, dragon, it seems to me that it would be very irresponsible for any news organization to make a connection between the actions of this deranged man and the frustrations that normal folks are experiencing. I read his ramblings...he blamed everyone and everything for his problems and his failures, even the events on 9/11 because they impacted HIM and made things difficult for HIM. What ruined Stack's life wasn't the government or the tax code...what ruined Stack's life was Stack. He was an angry man with a persecution complex. I don't think it would be a good idea to encourage others to feel persecuted, too.

I agree that we need to clean house. However, where can we find people to take their place who will not be contaminated by the temptations offered by the lobbyists?

I am so lucky to live in a state with a small population. Our federal representives and senators listen to us. If they don't we do vote them out. This doesn't mean we get much done with the Federal Government, but they have been able to work on issues that were not major Press attractors and get soem things passed. Our elections are often decieded by just a few votes, sometimes on country or city issues just one or two votes. This makes you feel that your vote really does count. This doesn't mean we don't have problems. One end of our state is much more populated then the other so many issues end up being one sided.

Maybe the fact that Mr. Stack made some poor decisions and had some bad luck shouldn't have ruined his life, but it damn sure didn't give him the right to ruin other people's lives either. It's one thing to tell 'Mr. Big Brother IRS man' to take his 'pound of flesh', but he donated others' flesh too, who, I seriously doubt, were as willing as Mr. Stack to give it up. So, poor Joe, he decides to 'stop this insanity' with his action because 'violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer'. Unfortunately, he negated the whole point about tax oppression with murder.

I agree in some points with you, here the middle class is the one that pays for everybody, because if you think about it, people with a lot of money don't care to pay high taxes and high deductibles in medical insurance, because they anyways have a lot of money, and the people that lives from the government, of course those ones are not even going to pay taxes because we as a society make them believe that as they are poor they deserve everything. This is a horrible frustration even for me, but I do think that this guy make a really wrong decision because that federal building probably have people that like him are suffering the same. The employees are not guilty for that. It is true that politicians work for themselves and not for us. It is our responsibility as people to pick better next times.

We have only ourselves to blame since we keep voting for Repubocrats term after term. I learned by my third presidential vote in the 80's that they are no good, and have been working and voting for third party since. The only exception was in 2004 in an attempt to prevent a certain person to remain at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and you know how successful that was. So I'm back to my sane mode, vainly voting for people who usually get no more than 5% of the vote because all you people think a different Repubocrat is going to do different. And it will happen after the next election as well, during the run for the 2016 office, your whining and complaining about our horrible politicians doing such a horrid job. There's only one sane way to solve the problem. Vote them out. All Repubocrats. Now THAT would be change I can believe in.

dragon54u the man was totally an imbecile why would we pay much attention to his words and what in heavens name does his trying to kill his wife and son by setting the house on fire, the plowing his plane into a bu ilding thus killing himself and whoever was with him have to do with our government? Oh I see the Irs building but how do you know that the only problem he had with the IRS could well have been in his own tortured mind? This country is still the best place on earth and no country has everything perfect.

As you said, dragon, "For almost a century..." How would voting the present encumbants out do any good whatsoever? The new ones will be just as bad. We need a full government reform but we all know that's not going to happen. The Republicans love to stab the Democrats in the back. The Democrats love to stab the Republicans in the back. The Independents love to stab everyone in the back. The thing is, whether Republicans or Democrats have controlled things, the result has been, and will continue to be, the same. I have my own beef against the government but I'm dealing with it in a totally different way. There would be no way that I would ever harm, with actions or only words, a government worker. They need their jobs as much as we need ours. (I'm referring to the lower echelon here.) One thing I've noticed is that so many people love to blame the current government on the recession we're having. That is ludicrous. The entire world is in a recession; Obama is not to blame for that. This recession began during the last administration and was on an incredible downward spiral just as Bush stepped aside. Even with that being so, I do not blame Bush for the recession. It is a world-wide problem that we need to deal with on a global level. I refuse to support any candidate for government office until they learn to deal with the same things we all have to deal with, such as retiring on a pension that is NOT 100% of their salary, having to use Medicare for their medical needs, no bodyguards for life, no "special" privileges simply because they used to be in the government, etc. As a matter of fact, in the pension area, the majority of American workers need to work 20 years in order to qualify for any pention whatsoever, while these upper-eschelon government retirees only work for 4 or 8 years to qualify for a pension equal to 100% of the salary they make at the end of their tenure. This is neither a Republic or a Democratic thing, either. Isn't it a sad state of this country when we talk about "Republic" and "Democrat" the way some talk about "Black" and "White"? Can't we all just be "Americans" and deal with this problem together instead of standing on one side or the other of that HUGE line drawn in the sand?

I read the manifesto, and the guy was certainly not stupid. To me the manifesto was a very well written expose on how many of us feel about our government. Of course I don't condone what he did, or agree with every word in the manifesto, but I don't think this was a guy who was always a nut...he just snapped. To me the manifesto does not reflect left wing or right wing politics and what seems a jab at both communism and capitalism at the end is something we all need to consider. Both of these taken to the extreme, are not good and have been shown only to foster cynisism in the long run. I think if this guy were to have chosen a healthy way to express his frustration, as oppossed to bottling it up and doing what he did, that he could have made at least a bit of a difference with his "rants". He should have written a book, or did radio shows, anything to get the word out rather than what he did.

dear dragon54u, I do not disagree with you. this news have been all over the world and has affected feelings of many worldly citizens like you.It is a shame indeed that someone healthy of mind becomes insane over things that went out of hand.Thumbs up!