T.E.A. Parties

The Fourth of July usually means backyard barbecues, a trip to the lake, and watching the night sky explode with fireworks. This year will be a little different. This Independence Day, thousands of protesters will gather across the nation to act out against taxes. These protests deemed TEA Parties, which stands for “Taxed Enough Already,” began on April 15 this year. Over the last few months the movement has gained momentum, now boasting almost 1,700 registered “Tea Parties.”

Several groups claim to be the originators of the “Official TEA Party”, each with a different slant to their protests. Much like the first round of TEA Parties, what is actually being protested is up for debate. The common thread is that people do not like to pay taxes, especially when those taxes increase while government spending is growing. However, many groups have expanded the scope of the TEA parties using these protests for some unrelated purposes.

One Tea Party site states:

Are you fed up with a Congress and a president who:

• vote for a $500 billion tax bill without even reading it?
• are spending trillions of borrowed dollars, leaving a debt our great-grandchildren will be paying?
• consistently give special interest groups billions of dollars in earmarks to help get themselves re-elected?
• want to take your wealth and redistribute it to others?
• punish those who practice responsible financial behavior and reward those who do not?
• admit to using the financial hurt of millions as an opportunity to push their political agenda?
• run up trillions of dollars of debt and then sell that debt to countries such as China?
• want government controlled health care?
• want to take away the right to vote with a secret ballot in union elections?
• refuse to stop the flow of millions of illegal immigrants into our country?
• appoint a defender of child pornography to the Number 2 position in the Justice Department?
• want to force doctors and other medical workers to perform abortions against their will?
• want to impose a carbon tax on your electricity, gas and home heating fuels?
• want to reduce your tax deductibility for charitable gifts?
• take money from your family budget to pay for their federal budget?

If so, help organize and/or participate in a Taxed Enough Already (TEA) party in your community on July 4. You choose the time and the location. Use the registration form to the right.

The Re Tea Party Website states:

The Boston Tea Party was an act of direct protest by American Colonists demanding representation in the British Government. They became known as the original patriots.

America’s Tea Party of 2009 will reinvigorate that American and Patriotic spirit; one that demands respect for individual rights and property. As the bailouts spiral out of control, we are forced to fund failed banks. With foreclosures on the rise, we are made the collateral of reckless spending. And, when the bills come due, the IRS knocks on the door of “self-responsibility”.

ENOUGH!

No matter your take on the current administration and economic situation, I think we can agree that these protests celebrate what has made our country so great. Every one of us has the legally protected right to be ticked off, and to voice our anger in a significant way. And that is a beautiful thing.