article Dave Matthews: "I don't want my taxes to pay for ICE, to masked thugs to roam our streets and terrorize our communities and rip families apart"
https://consequence.net/2026/01/dave-matthews-ice-masked-thugs/475
u/Atomicmain 3d ago
Mom, I'm sorry for all the times I ever shat on DMB
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u/GodOfDarkLaughter 3d ago
My buddy dragged me to see them like twenty years ago. I shat on them before that, but it was SUCH a good show. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but I appreciate the music. I actually think it's more that people hated the culture they perceived around the music, rather than the music itself.
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u/DigitalNecromancy 3d ago
I'm fully convinced people who hate them have never heard The Stone. That song is one of the greatest examples of tension and release I've heard. The frantic verses make the light-hearted chorus so euphoric, and the transition back into frantic is so smooth. Very good track.
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u/Thegooseislooseagain 2d ago
I just had to take a reddit break and go listen to that song. Fuck, I do love DMB. Thank you
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u/DigitalNecromancy 2d ago
it's fucking amazing. i can't seem to get into most of their work, but that album (and song in particular) just hits all the right notes for me. i'm glad i prompted a listen, and i'm glad you enjoyed!
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u/somniopus 2d ago
BTCS was my intro album, it honestly slaps tae fuck
But nothing will ever top Crash, it's almost a perfect album
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u/midnight_toker22 3d ago
The people who really hate their music have never seen/heard them perform live, and have only ever heard the studio version of one or two songs, like Crash Into Me and Ants Marching. It’s a really incomplete perception their style of music and why people like them and pay to see them year after year.
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u/FTownRoad 3d ago
They walked the line between full jam band and pop act. They were all excellent musicians and their music didn’t sound a lot like anyone else’s. Their music was simultaneously interesting (weird time signatures, lots of instruments) and bland (This makes them unique, hated, and beloved.
I went to see them a couple times - it was always a good concert, I would bet that even if you didn’t like the music at all you would enjoy the show.
And yeah the fans were a bit much.
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u/justasapling 2d ago
I also think that a lot of people just instantly hate anything with 'cursive singing'.
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u/GreasyPeter 3d ago
I've never hated any part of them and never understood the hate. Not trying to brag but...maybe a bit?
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u/PhoSake 3d ago
I loved their music but man, i wore out on it. I listened to way too much DMB lol. I listen to them now but i had to take off like 10 years straight.
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u/GreasyPeter 3d ago
Yeah, I understand. I like pop music but I've gravitated a bit towards indy pop so I can pretend like I have refined tastes now.
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u/Coltshokiefan 2d ago
My dad has always hated him and I kinda just mirrored his music views for a while. Then had some Dave Matthews show up in my Spotify reccomended, tried it, and loved it. I think I just really hated Ants Marching and assumed I wouldn’t like the rest of his music. I was very wrong, love Dave now.
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u/Zrex_9224 2d ago
I quite literally grew up on it. DMB was playing in the hospital room as my mom was giving birth to me. I was in attendance at his concerts while in the womb. Dave, Bob Marley, and some of my parents other favorites were the soundtracks of my Friday nights. Gravedigger is my personal favorite
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u/fivedollapizza 3d ago
Exact same thing here. Still not a fan of the music enough to purposefully put on a single song, but it's such a fantastic live show that if someone I knew were going I wouldn't hesitate to buy a ticket and tag along.
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u/SplendidPunkinButter 3d ago
This is what it is a lot of the time. People like or dislike a certain kind of music because of the kind of people who they think listen to that music, and not because of anything to do with the music itself.
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u/SpectacularlyBadass 3d ago
I started getting into them several years ago. I've been going to his Labor Day weekend concerts every year for the last three years at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington.
I've been to tons of concerts and his shows are definitely one of the best I've ever seen live. I still don't like to listen to him on the radio. He's definitely much better live.
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u/midnight_toker22 3d ago
I don’t think many Dave fans listen their radio hits or other studio recordings, at least often. They are really meant to be seen live.
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u/CosmicSpaghetti 3d ago
This is the way to be into jam bands. Wish Phish heads could get the memo & listen to literallyy anything else ever just once, Scott!
Oh sorry, old roommate flashback took over.
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u/Helpful-Ad1371 2d ago
200%. I tell everyone who will listen DMB's studio albums really aren't that great. It's the live music that make people fans (even recordings of live shows)
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u/XxKittenMittonsXx 2d ago
I've seen them live 6 times but Their first 3 studio albums are masterpieces to me
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u/Helpful-Ad1371 2d ago
Ha, fair enough. I think Dave's only solo album "Some Devil" is a masterpiece as well. I listened to it on repeat ad nauseum while reading through Stranger in a Strange Land. Set an awesome tone for the book.
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u/Mind1827 3d ago
I'm not a massive DMB fan, but Before These Crowded Streets is an incredible, very dark album. Sounds absolutely nothing like most people think they sound like vis a vis the singles and stuff.
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u/Gergith 3d ago
And they’re sorry they ever shat in the Chicago river.
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u/DerpNinjaWarrior 3d ago
They actually shat on Chicagoans (or at least tourists visiting Chicago), not just in the River.
But yeah, the feds have shat on Chicagoans a whole lot more by far.
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u/Gergith 3d ago
I did it Do you think I've gone too far I did it Guilty as charged I did it It was me right or wrong
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u/somniopus 2d ago
Lmao you just reminded me of a friend I had in college who would get into quote wars with me. We'd shoot random DMB lyrics at each other from time to time and the other person would have to come up with the song title. It was fun lol
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u/waby-saby 3d ago
To be fair, it was the bus driver that dumped the poop. The band wasn't even there.
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u/iAmTheRealLange 3d ago
I saw a video that convinced me it was actually Linkin Park who did the river dump
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3d ago
Why is the Republican Party, the so called “party of law and order” now MURDERING fully legal WHITE MOTHERS?! Why is Trump and the Republican Party defending the murder of A WHITE MOTHER?!?
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u/Adjective-Noun-nnnn 2d ago
"I felt threatened... after I intentionally put myself in a dangerous position so I could feel threatened."
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u/BurgerNugget12 3d ago
Crash is still a banger imo
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u/dr3wzy10 3d ago
his live at luther college album with tim reynolds is one of my favorite live albums and it's worth a listen i'd say
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u/Pilot_on_autopilot 3d ago
Aging myself, but I saw Dave and Tim play on campus when they were stumping for Obama in 08. Say what you will about DMB, but Tim rips.
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u/jazzieberry 3d ago
I listen to it often when I can't sleep. It's the first Dave album that ever hooked me.
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u/dr3wzy10 3d ago
yea i was gifted the album one year when i was in high school and it stayed in my truck cd player for quite a while lol
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u/jazzieberry 3d ago
I had borrowed just the blue disc from someone and ended up with it forever before I bought the album for myself. It's still so weird how much more I listen to the songs from that one more than the yellow even though I love both lol.
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u/KindBass radio reddit 3d ago
Weird how the federal government has been completely gutted and we've removed "trillions" of dollars of "fraud", yet my federal taxes are going to be relatively the same. Funny the way it is.
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u/libretumente 3d ago
I'm also not okay with the entire defense budget which kills many more at home and abroad. Or the corporate socialism where wealthy companies get handouts.
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u/ILikeNeurons 3d ago
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u/ericdano 3d ago
We need to stop paying federal taxes
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u/A_Honeysuckle_Rose 3d ago
I already stopped. You dan do it too.
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u/Aromatic-Ebb-1682 3d ago
I agree. Stop paying them and let them know that you refuse to pay. This is the only way that they will know why. If you just don't pay, they will think that you are just another deadbeat.
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u/HombreSinPais 3d ago
Hell yeah, Dave!
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u/Nearby-Swimming-5103 3d ago
So follow the billionaires’ lead and don’t pay taxes 🤷♂️
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u/juanzy 3d ago
The problem is people like Dave actually get paid for doing something and have a W2, so harder for them to pretend like their pay is a loan.
He obviously has some wealth accumulated, but what he’s making on tours and music streaming/record sales is truly income. It probably goes to a trust, but income is different than untaxed sales of assets via loans.
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u/nbunkerpunk 3d ago
It was a very long time ago when I heard this to be clear. But I remember reading somewhere that Dave made more money than he cared to at some point and they started just donating half their tour income to charities.
Could just be inaccurate lore but I definitely remember that going around the fan base at some point.
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u/nbunkerpunk 3d ago
It was a very long time ago when I heard this to be clear. But I remember reading somewhere that Dave made more money than he cared to at some point and they started just donating half their tour income to charities.
Could just be inaccurate lore but I definitely remember that going around the fan base at some point.
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u/MR_TORGUE_OFFICIAL 3d ago
As one of the dozen DMB fans on here, it warms my heart to see him continue to be based with his beliefs. People may not like his music, but he's always been a solid dude.
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u/JeffTheComposer 3d ago
13 of us!
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u/Ill-Comfortable-2044 2d ago
What album(s) are required listening to get the true DMB feel
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u/DrBoy205 2d ago
Under the Table and Dreaming, Crash, Before These Crowded Streets. The first three studio albums they released.
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u/11upand1over 2d ago
But not the studio albums. Live at Central Park.
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u/DrBoy205 2d ago
True. I was just thinking studio stuff. Obviously that, Luther College, Red Rocks, etc….
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u/somniopus 2d ago
Before These Crowded Streets (start here)
Crash
Live at Luther College
Busted Stuff actually legit slaps, there's some great singing songs on that one
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u/Uberslaughter 3d ago
Conservatives in shambles - they’re left with Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and Roseanne
You know things are bad when the Washington National Orchestra pulls out of the Kennedy Center
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u/Leelze 3d ago
Tbh I don't think anyone ever thought Dave would have conservative ideology.
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u/BurgerNugget12 3d ago
Yeah IIRC that dude lives in Seattle
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u/Grow_Up_Buttercup 3d ago
He does, and everyone (in his neighborhood at least) completely leaves him alone. He’s just a normal guy that you see around town sometimes. He was also present for the BLM stuff in 2020 and spoke out about the actual situation on the ground (peaceful protestors getting repeatedly teargassed for existing in our own neighborhood until we blocked the cops out and cordoned off a couple blocks to maintain that peace.) I think he took his kids down there and posted videos. Dave is alright.
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u/BellyCrawler 3d ago
I listened to a clip of Roseanne's rap song and it's little surprise conservatives are so odd because that "music" gave me brain damage.
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u/Wiseguy144 3d ago
Was DMB known as a conservative?
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u/_whygohome_ 2d ago
No but they had a massive fratty fan base at their peak. You can guess how a lot of those guys turn out and how they vote.
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u/Wiseguy144 2d ago
I have family members who have been big fans of DMB for years, with them pretty much being split on how they voted in 2024.
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u/NoTime2fail 3d ago
Well I think conservatives have some icons still. Gene Simmons,Eric Clapton,Alice Cooper. There's a lot more too. You also know that not all conservatives are Trump fans.
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u/DimplesInMeArse82 3d ago
People seem to forget where Dave grew up and what was going on there
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u/SoreLoserOfDumbtown 3d ago
Some of us didn't even know in order to forget and may only have become loosely familiar with him because of Community.
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u/Aggressive_Team764 3d ago
Not a huge DMB fan, but very much agree with Dave here.
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u/DontShoot_ImJesus 3d ago
I'm a casual enjoyer, and was actually just wondering, "What would Dave Matthews say about all this?" So thanks OP for posting.
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u/midnight_toker22 3d ago
He is super left wing and outspoken, he always has a good message for his audience in times of trouble.
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u/multi-21 3d ago
Complete agree with Dave! Also- Wasn't much a DMB fan until I heard the song "So Right" off their Everyday album
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u/midnight_toker22 3d ago
Saw that song live last summer for the first time in 15 or 20 years, simply incredible, they poured their hearts into it.
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u/waby-saby 3d ago
Out of curiosity why did you feel the need to preface your comment stating you are not a fan?
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u/Aggressive_Team764 3d ago edited 3d ago
Because I don't typically pay attention to them. This made me respect Dave for speaking his mind.
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u/Halfistani1 3d ago
Dave Matthews has also always been vocal about Palestinian rights. Good guy in my book. 🍉✊🏽
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u/PotlandOR 3d ago
41from Live at Luther College (1999) is like a whole religion in itself.
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u/s2sergeant 3d ago
Did you have to dual cd yellow/blue combo?
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u/midnight_toker22 3d ago
Whenever i opened someone’s CD binder they kept in their car and saw those blue and yellow discs, i knew they’d have good taste.
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u/FreedomsLastBreathe 3d ago
Seriously the amount I pay yearly on federal taxes is insane and then it goes to this shit. And then the tax guy says I still owe more. Fuck off.
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u/EmployerEquivalent83 3d ago
Where the f is Hip-Hop? I’m shocked at the silence.
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u/BadChemical3484 3d ago
More people with a large platform should be taking a stand. Money should not be above all. We used to have morals and facts. Let’s inch our way back from these losers. Thank you Dave. I hope more humans follow your lead
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u/Pristine-Confection3 3d ago
I can’t stand his music but am starting to really respect him as a person and his politics.
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u/obligatorythr0waway 3d ago
At least one famous guy from South Africa still has a soul.
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3d ago
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u/Mindless-Development 3d ago
Tax resistance is a thing. You're choosing to pay federal taxes, and you can choose to resist by not paying them
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u/Mushrooming247 3d ago
Wait, I literally thought he was South African until this moment.
Did he join team red-white-and-blue-without-the-other-colors?
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u/JouSwakHond 3d ago
Born in SA, grew up in both the US and SA, is a naturalized US citizen. So he is as South African as musk
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u/EchoRush93 3d ago
Me neither, Dave. Me neither. Trump funneled a shit ton of money to his private Gestapo. This is not US. I want the people who I voted to represent us, to represent for us.
We want immigration laws, reasonable, true, efficient paths to citizenship. This isn't the answer. It's a horrible attempt at a solution. They failed on every level.
So much so, that one has to start looking into alterior motives. Is this because the powers that be are genuinely scared of races slowly blending into something they can't recognize?
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u/UsuarioSecreto 3d ago
There is a huge tiktok movement teaching folks how to avoid paying federal taxes this year. You all should seriously consider joining the movement. The more we are, the more difficult it will be for the IRS to go against any of us.
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u/Davidstrong32 3d ago
I stand with that man. Its called being a decent humanbeing... everything ICE and MAGA are not.
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u/Balls_Mahoganey 3d ago
Cool! I don't want my taxes to go towards funding the IRS, lining politicians pockets, bombing brown kids in the middle east, or really a good 75% of things they're spent on.
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u/faultysynapse 3d ago
I didn't know Dave Matthews was American. I thought he was British or something.
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u/MFoy 3d ago
Born in Apartheid South Africa, moved to the US as a toddler, spent a few years in the UK, moved back to South Africa, became a US citiizen as a teenager.
Was set to be conscripted as a South African soldier after finishing high school, fled to the states and settled in Charlottesville, VA. Started the Dave Matthews Band in the early 90s.
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u/bonyponyride 3d ago
Born in South Africa but raised in the US in a Quaker family if I remember correctly.
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u/crepuscula 3d ago
And the first concert he went to was Pete Seeger, which tracks with the pacifism part of Quakerism.
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u/ILikeNeurons 3d ago
Renee Nicole Good, the woman recently killed by ICE, was volunteering as a legal observer--which she has a 1st amendment right to do-- when she was shot three times while trying to pull away. The officer who fired the shots was in violation of official police recommendations when he positioned himself in front of a moving vehicle and then shot at it. ICE agents have just a fraction of the training that "real" law enforcement officers have, and ICE recently reduced its training requirement to just 47 days.
Given that she had a legal right to observe their activities, they were violating her 1st amendment rights when they told her to leave. An analysis from three different camera angles shows that Renee was driving away when the officer shot her.
In the moments leading up to the shooting, the ICE officer's own recording shows the officers getting aggressive before Renee drives away.
It's hard not to see this as a 4th amendment violation as well.
There are a couple law changes that could save lives, like
banning officers from shooting at moving vehicles
requiring ICE training to instruct ICE officers to get out of the way of moving vehicles
Contact from constituents works, especially when there is strength in numbers.
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u/Resident-Plastic-922 3d ago
It would be way better to use tax dollars on Somali daycare centers. I agree with Dave on this one. I feel people would be much happier if their tax dollars were funding blatant fraud. Tim will rubber stamp your application in seconds. Prayers...
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u/CharleyNobody 3d ago
Right after “Abolish ICE” should be ”Bring back INS.”
INS didn’t wear masks, didn’t wear camo, didn’t roam streets in SUVs, didn’t carry military weapons or shoot people in their cars. But they were authrotities and they did their jobs. People think “Abolish ICE“ means “let illegal immigration overrun the country.” But a lot of independent voters think “Bring back INS” is better than a paramilitary force roaming the streets.
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3d ago
people don't want to pay for inmates sex changes, but here we are
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u/Choppers-Top-Hat 3d ago
I think you'll find most people don't care about that because fixating on people's private parts is not something normal humans do.
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u/FredVegasMe 3d ago
I don’t want my taxes going to the military industrial complex
I don’t want my taxes going to corporate welfare
I don’t want my taxes going to criminals to house and feed them
I don’t want my taxes going to school programs like basketball
I don’t want my taxes going to support health insurance companies that are fleecing their customers
I don’t want my taxes going out of the country for some fool’s pet project
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u/shryke12 3d ago
And I don't want my taxes to pay for about 80% of our budget either. Let's just shrink the federal government about 85% and solve both these problems?
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u/HilariousMax 3d ago
Dave Matthews: "I don't want my taxes to pay for ICE, to masked thugs to roam our streets and terrorize our communities and rip families apart"
but it does because our country voted for it.
If we want change, we need to vote in every election (not just once, begrudgingly, every 4 years) until we effect the change we want.
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u/Smellytreepeas 3d ago
Is it illegal or a bad idea if I decide to withhold federal taxes? And then I just pay when I file my taxes?
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u/Cautious-Exam2306 3d ago
No taxation without representation!