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Last
Wednesday, April 15, I went over to the
Courthouse square in Sherman to see what
this Tea Party business was all about.
I’d read that it was sponsored by the
Republican Party and Fox News. I got
there about ten and counted about 250
people. There didn’t seem to be anyone
in charge and there were no Fox News
people or equipment to be seen.
Apparently Channel 12 News showed up
later in the day, since there was
something about it on the six o’clock
news.
The folks
I saw looked like ordinary folks like
you might find outside the courthouse
who had been called for jury duty,
except for the signs they carried. Signs
like: “OBAMANOMICS –Trickle up Poverty”
, “Save Trees, Stop Printing Money”,
“The Buck Stops At The Voting Booth”,
“No Big Gov’t—No TAX.” There were three
guys carrying flags with a picture of a
snake and the caption “Don’t Tread on
Me.”
I took a
few pictures then left. It was past my
breakfast time and there didn’t appear
to be anything happening. Apparently I
should have waited until after lunch
from what I saw on TV. There were a
number of speakers, but not elected
politicians.
Sabrina L.
Schaeffer wrote in Town Hall Daily,
“The estimated 2000 tea parties that
blanketed the nation on Tax Day were
more than a protest of the $180 billion
economic stimulus package passed last
spring. They were more than a response
to the $345 billion housing bailout
passed last summer. And they were more
than a reaction to the reckless $787
billion “Recovery and Reinvestment Plan”
Congress rushed through and President
Obama signed this past winter.
This surge
of public disapproval and, yes, anger,
was a response to the fiscal
incompetence at all levels of
government, from local to state to
federal. In the face of serious and
debilitating budget shortfalls, states
like California are raising taxes by the
billions.”
While I
don’t expect the Obama Administration to
change their way of doing things simply
because millions of Americans are
opposed to them, I am heartened by the
possibility that come next election,
people who were mesmerized by someone
whose only real ability demonstrated to
date is to read someone else’s words
from teleprompter will realize that they
made a mistake and put someone in his
place who has proven executive ability
and a commitment to our capitalist form
of government.
Apparently, down in Georgia, they
allowed an incumbent politician, a State
Representative speak. Matt Ramsey wrote
in The Fayette Front Page, “Last
week, in Fayette County, we had the
privilege of addressing one of the 2,000
tea parties held nationwide to mark "tax
day" in America. Every year at this
time, Americans are reminded of the
outrageous absurdity of a tax code so
complex that one must pay an accountant
or some other service simply to comply
with the law. Yet something is
different this year, as Americans from
sea to shining sea felt compelled to
come together to publicly express their
displeasure.
Americans of
all political stripes are concerned --
concerned that the very nature of the
relationship between the government and
the governed is changing. Now,
Americans were promised change during
the campaign, and change they have
received. But this is not the change
they were looking for, or promised. No
candidate campaigned on metamorphosing
the presidency into the CEO of American
business. The federal government is now
the proud owner of an assortment of
private enterprises, including much of
the American car industry. Politicians
are often accused of being used car
salesman but this is taking it too far.
What we found
most striking about the tea party we
attended, and those that we observed
taking place elsewhere, is how it
departed from the normal partisan
atmosphere one comes to expect at
political rallies. Those in attendance
were for the most part not political
activists, and most did not come to
support one party or oppose another,
though certainly there was an emphasis
on limited government that once was, and
must become again, the rallying cry of
the Republican Party.
We say once
because during the presidency of George
W. Bush, Republicans in Washington
abandoned their economic principles.
Spending rose and the earmark culture
flourished. As has often been said,
Republicans went to Washington to drain
the swamp, but instead joined the
alligators.”
I’m
looking forward to attending the next
Tea Party in my county. It’s a good to
see regular citizens turn out in large
numbers to voice their opinions about
things that are happening to their lives
and their money, at the hands of their
government. I like to see that people
are paying attention.
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