Interviews with the Invisible: One of The Beer Party Leaders

I’m a little star struck today, as I interview something of a rockstar in the liberal movement. Today’s interview is Todd Farally, one of the leaders of The Beer Party, the razor sharp opposition to the loathsome Tea Party. If you haven’t checked out their facebook page, twitter feed, and official site, do yourself a favor and look these guys up. Oh, and don’t worry that interviewing a rockstar has changed this feature’s working class roots, Todd is still a proud union member and sheet metal worker from Pennsylvania.

1. Hi Todd, thanks for coming. This is a little different than the interviews I’ve done before in that you’re actually here to represent a movement rather than just an individual. Tell those that might not know a little bit about The Beer Party, how it got started, and what they stand for.

A- Hi Brody, thanks for having me, I love the work you’ve been doing, top notch my friend! I will try to represent The Beer Party in this interview the best I can and hope it does our members proud.

The Beer Party was founded late March to early April of last year by husband and wife Chris Winland and Sara Prus. They were out on the town one evening last spring and as the night winded down they were talking politics and the craziness of the Tea Party. During the conversation, I believe it was Sara’s sister who suggested to them that Chris and Sara should start a Beer Party for everyone else that didn’t fit into the extreme right-wing mold. The Beer Party was born on Facebook, you can also find us on twitter under the name @usabeerparty and our website iswww.officialbeerparty.com. Had to get a plug in lol!

We’re a Progressive/Liberal group  and uphold those socio-economic ideals, but what we stand for above all is common sense, hence one of our slogans, “Common Sense on Tap.” And that has come across quite well considering we have more than just Progressives as members, moderates and even some traditional conservatives who are fed up with the extreme right and the GOP leadership have joined in and like what we have to say. While we don’t always agree 100% of the time, we find things we can agree on and work from there, which is a lesson some of our elected officials could learn from.

2. Who are some of the other guys involved in it, and were you all friends originally? Or did the movement start first and pull like minded people together?

A- The group started first and pulled likeminded people together, we have 23 State Chapters currently, to name all involved would take a while, so I’ll stick to the main page and leadership. As mentioned before there are our founders Chris & Sara, there’s also our Chief of Staff Ed Lynn and myself at the Deputy Chief of Staff position. We’re the ones posting news, commentary and actions people can take part in to better inform and enable the membership to take part in our democracy.

3. Also, are there any differences among the creators that make having a joint website, twitter, and facebook page more difficult? I sometimes find on liberal websites that there’s a lot of arguments and division and contrarianism just for its own sake, but you guys seem rock solid in message.

A- We have our differences on some issues, but for the most part we’re all on the same page and that’s what is important and we try to promote the idea of we’re all in this together and need to stop fighting each other and look at the big picture. I see the same divisions in other liberal groups as well Brody and that’s something we have to work on in the Progressive movement. Usually what separates us is the smallest of nuances within an issue.

On the other hand, there have been the recent reports of “Sock Puppet” Trolls infiltrating progressive groups and websites, portraying themselves as liberals to stir things up. As Admins its our duty to keep our eyes open for this type of behavior and flush them out when possible.

4. Right now is a truly strange time in America because it’s what I call the first true age of conservative activism. Before Obama, they were mostly content to just try to stop change, but now they’ve been very proactive in not only stopping new change but in trying to overturn a lot of things Americans are comfortable with. Such as unions, collective bargaining, social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. What do you make of this and is it a trend that’s here to stay or just an extreme reaction to Obama’s election?

A- Like many Americans I’m appalled by these actions that are obviously being fueled by the corporate elites of the world as a result of the Citizens United decision. The response of the American people against these attacks has been exactly what is needed though and I hope will increase as time goes on. As a third generation Union Sheet Metal Worker (Local 19 in Philadelphia) I take particular offence to the GOP’s attempts to restrict collective bargaining rights and will fight them wherever needed. You would think that the Tea Party would be against this sort of thing, restricting rights and the like, but they further show that they don’t practice what they preach and they’re the mouth piece for big business. There are people that I know to have been fairly hardcore Tea Party members leave because of these very acts. Their ranks are crumbling and the far right has tipped its hand and is doing exactly what we said they would for the past couple of years. I don’t think this will last, Americans don’t like when you take away things they paid into for years and they certainly don’t like it when you gut education which will make upward mobility impossible for their children and grandchildren. I think for some it is a reaction to President Obama’s election, but I think that has just been used as a way to get some of the base riled up so they will vote against their own economic interests.

5. The positive aspect out of all this is an uptick in awareness and activity from the more liberal side. Your group and The Coffee Party spring up as an immediate and great counter movement to The Tea Party. Still, we also have to admit that the Tea Party is extremely successful for the time being and has a strong political presence that true liberalism really does not have. Do you think it will come and are there plans to back certain politicians The Beer Party likes?

A- I agree, I think many that have been asleep before now have become aware of the injustices and are ready to stand up and fight for themselves and all Americans. Now we have to examine why the Tea Party has been successful though, first they seized on a down economy (created by the right), the prejudices of some and in my opinion the number one reason they’ve been so successful, massive corporate donations, we’re purely grassroots. But money will only get you so far and this first batch of Tea Party politicians with their current actions are making even those that voted for them look elsewhere. We’re trying to get them to look our way and at the people we support, its also proving to people what we have been saying all along, every election matters. I think 2012 will be a great year for Progressives and Liberal candidates, if you look at the results from 2010, more blue dogs in the Democratic Caucus lost than Progressives. That says something to me, that people want more than what they’ve been given from our side.

Last election cycle we supported numerous candidates, while we aren’t corporately funded, our best way to support these candidates was to have them come on to Q&A sessions that happened right on the facebook page. A post was made by one of the admins (usually Chris) introducing the candidate and from there on in the comment section people would ask questions and get answers straight from the candidate. We had numerous Q&A’s last year, the most high profile of which featured Justin Coussoule, who I’m sure you’re familiar was John Boehner’s challenger. So far we’re collecting info on candidates on upcoming State elections across the country this November and elections in 2012.

6. A falsehood I want to clear up is that The Tea Party is a movement of Joe Blows that just want to do things the average American wants. The average American isn’t that worried about the deficit or the rich having to pay taxes. This is an extremely well organized and funded puppet movement created by big money interests like the Koch Brothers, am I right?

A- You are absolutely correct Brody. First off the average American (and I place myself in that category) wants to see job creation and the rise in wages and benefits. They don’t care if someone they never met can buy a new yacht or not. They do care about paying their bills, putting food on the table and seeing their children grow up with the opportunity to lead a good life. And yes, the Tea Party has exclusively been funded by the Kochs and those like them, along with big business and the US Chamber of commerce. Ten years ago this would have been dismissed as conspiracy theories, but that was before Citizens United and you can clearly follow the money (where it is listed) straight back to the source.

7. I believe in the beginning a lot of people joined the Tea Party because they (naively) thought it might have been trying to fight big money, even though that was nowhere in the manifesto. Now we’ve seen corporate stooges like Rick Scott and Scott Walker slash public education funds to put into tax cuts for their corporate backers. Are people going to wake up to this transfer of wealth from the public sector to the private sector?

A- I think the good people of our nation will wake up and have so far, there’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’re on the right track exposing these politicians for what they are, tools of the ultra-wealthy and corporate interests. Here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recently elected Gov. Tom Corbett and his allies have been trying to dismantle the Public education system, first by trying to defund it through the budget and then by trying to pass a voucher program (SB1) that would decimate inner city and poor school districts in favor of private and charter schools, this is also a subtle Union Busting tactic. Luckily both the governor’s budget and SB1 have not been passed and PA’s legislature is controlled by the GOP, so I will give credit where it is due to the moderate Republicans that have stood their ground and fought for the citizens of Pennsylvania.

Now while all this is going on, enormous tax breaks are being given out to big business in a State where 82% of corporations already pay next to nothing in taxes! Oh and Corbett refuses to impose an extraction tax on the Marcellus Shale gas drillers either to cover any possible environmental damage or raise tax revenue for Pennsylvania. So while you don’t always hear about it on the news, they’re doing it in other areas too and people are quite upset.

8. What does it say that a sharp guy like Anthony Weiner who is fighting big money interests can be asked to resign because of a fake sex “scandal” of sending out a picture, but Paul Ryan can rape and pillage the political system with impunity? Why is the media more obsessed with politicians screwing interns than politicians screwing the American people?

A- It says to me that members of press need to get their priorities straight. It also says to me that it proves time and time again that main stream media is anything but liberal and has the corporate interest in mind; remember who owns it after all. I always ask myself who benefits from certain actions of our elected officials, in the case of the Paul Ryan 2012 austerity-fest the corporations benefit at our expense and it would be against their best interest to vilify the budget, so they call it “Bold” and “Courageous,” I call it despicable.

9. Obviously, a lot of the anti-Weiner media talk is coming from the fact that most media is corporate owned. Do you feel an almost need for The Beer Party since most news is so controlled by corporations? I mean, how can we have a real conversation about healthcare if the Nightly News has Pfizer and Afflack as their biggest ad buyers?

A- Absolutely, but not just The Beer Party, other sources as well. There are a lot of really great independent resources out there that do a great job getting the information out to people. And we all talk to each other, we don’t see ourselves in competition with each other, we see each other as allies in the same struggle. They have all the money and the conflict of interest that goes along with it, but we will get the truth out with our numbers.

In Wisconsin this past winter there was the media blackout of those events, but we overcame that with our technology and social media. We were getting reports at ground zero in Madison, from the rotunda via twitter and reported it directly to the Facebook page. Also when the original video feed was cut, I was able to find an alternate from someone walking around and streaming live from their cell phone, it really showed what we could do with our technology today.

10. In the past few years we’ve had Glenn Beck marches, Sarah Palin rallies, the 9/12 movement, The Tea Party, those unruly healthcare forums, etc. Just this endless onslaught of outrage or faux-rage to the Obama healthcare bill, but where in the hell is the outrage over collective bargaining being ended, medicaid being cut, medicare being cut, social security being privatized, etc.? I know we’ve seen some really good protests in Wisconsin and sporadic spots, but why aren’t more people raising hell about this or even aware of it? At the same time the Middle East rises up, why do Americans seem so intent to bend over?

A- I think this is where we really have our work cut out for us, getting the information out to everyday people and explaining that this will affect them and their families in a very negative way. I don’t know why so many are content not to get out in the streets when the very things that hold our modern society together are under attack. You also have to look at England, France and most of Western Europe, when they feel they’re being wronged they get out there and make it very clear to their elected officials what they want or don’t want. Its tough to pinpoint exactly what is causing this lethargic reaction here in the US. Some say its technology itself, its made us soft and also with online filing for Unemployment benefits we aren’t seeing the long lines stretching around the corner, so its removed from peoples’ consciousness, plus it makes the unemployed faceless and easier to demonize.

11. Of course, the real question is will social conservatives not too comfortable with a black President finally be able to put aside their prejudice and start voting Democrat next election as a result of the horrendous pounding their wallet has taken under the GOP?

A- I think it can happen, also you have to remember that one reason 2010 went mostly the other way was that not as many people came out to vote. Either they were upset that not everything went our way, I personal wasn’t completely happy with the last couple years, but I realize it’s a start. Or they figured mid-term elections don’t matter and again we keep saying as we always have, every election matters, your vote is your voice. We at The Beer Party and all those we work with plan on working our butts off to get people to get out to the polls and vote for their economic interests.

12. The irony in all this “Obama is a socialist talk” is that he’s actually a very centrist Democrat that has done everything big business has asked him to (extend Bush tax cuts, bailout the banks, stimulus package, cash for clunkers). What would he have to do to appease these people or would nothing do it besides bleaching his skin?

A- I don’t think he can do anything to please them, I doubt bleaching his skin would help either; he’d still be a Democrat after all. And that’s a big problem in our political system; you want your “team” to win, even though your team could care less about you or your family and want to strip away all the protections our society has for their own gain.

13. Are we ever going to get another Roosevelt in the White House? Can we ever expect a true anti-corporate, pro-labor President again?

A- That’s a tough question my friend. I have hope that with the current attacks on the middle class it will jolt some politicians into leaning more that direction. But that will never happen until Citizens United is overturned and we have real campaign finance reform in place. I’d like to see publicly funded elections and clear campaign schedules (in England you can only campaign for six weeks) like other industrialized countries have, that’s going to be an uphill battle that will probably take a couple decades, but I feel we can get there, especially if the GOP keeps going after what Americans hold sacred.

14. The right wing has been very crafty in labeling those that care about the 90 percent of Americans that make less than 45 grand a year as “socialists.” Will there come a time when people just don’t care about name calling and say “Fuck it, I’m a socialist, now give me my damn money back?”

A- That’s an interesting notion, hmm. While some are starting to and I have quite a few friends who view themselves as Socialist, I don’t know if that will come about. In the United States the word “Socialism” has been vilified for generations, usually wrongly categorized. When the average American hears “Socialism” they usually think dictatorship, totalitarianism or communism. Western Europe has socialism; they call it Social Democracy though, so even in Europe they seem to have changed the name a bit to perhaps not focus on that “Socialism” stigma so much. Back in the early twentieth century socialists and trade unionists figured out that they couldn’t stand on their own, so they set out to work through the Democratic Party and it worked, the took elected office and created lasting change. This is what I suggest as a viable option for today, the infrastructure is already there, we just have to get involved and take it back.

15. The Bush tax cuts haven’t created jobs, they’ve widened income inequality, they’ve actually lost jobs in all the government layoffs that have happened to pay for them. Are you of the opinion I am that McJobs created by corporate tax cuts aren’t worth losing good paying government jobs with decent benefits? And what policies–if any–could we institute to help out the hurting middle-class, stop outsourcing, and save this country?

A- I have a number for you, 2.4 million. That is the number of good paying middle class manufacturing jobs that were lost in the last decade due to the tax cuts and loopholes that reward companies for taking their manufacturing out of country and the BS Free Trade Agreements. This didn’t just affect 2.4 million people, it affected 2.4 million American families and that is criminal in my eyes.

The small amount of jobs that were created from the Bush tax cuts will never balance out this public theft, as my father used to say, “Trickle-down economics, don’t trickle down to us.” As far as replacing government jobs with low wage, dead end jobs. Look at it this way, tax revenue is already down, so you replace good paying family sustaining jobs that pay a decent tax rate with low wage jobs that pay nothing near in taxes, this is bad business any way you look at it. But this is done on purpose, so the GOP can cry poor, when all the money is at the top.

There are a few very simple things that could be instituted to get our economy and the middle class back on track. First off, close those loopholes that reward companies for outsourcing and give a small tax break to the ones that keep or bring manufacturing back to the US, but that tax break should only be given if a company creates jobs here in America. Second our trade barriers are so out of line with the rest of the world. I believe the average tariff rate that industrialized nations use with Chinese imports is around 18%, the last numbers I saw had the US at 2%. Yeah, so we’re essentially competing head to head with China, who has much lower wages and manipulate their currency. That is insane! We need real trade barriers in place to protect our manufacturing base. Those are just two examples, but it’s a start.

16. And finally, do you see any positive change coming down the pike to our political system? Are we going to turn things around like Brazil did or further creep towards third world countries basic structure of having the majority live in poverty while the top percent enjoys wealth beyond their wildest dreams?

A- I see positive change in our future, there are enough people out there that refuse to give in and just take what they’re given by the powers that be. I think some more acts from the right are coming in the future, but I don’t think we’ll reach third world status. I am hopeful and believe in my fellow citizens.

Note: Remember to check out Todd and the Beer Party on their facebook page, twitter feed (@usabeerparty), and their official site www.officialbeerparty.com