TEA Parties - just what do they mean? Personally, I believe they are the beginning of a public expression of anger over a government that seems out of control. This current anger began during the run up to the 2006 election with the passage of Medicare Part D, the Amnesty Bill and a general disregard for the wishes of the people for the government to butt out.
It accelerated during the spring of 2008 with the very first bailouts and has done nothing but gain speed since. The left seems to want to write it off as just kooks - I don't think so.
So, today with Daughter and granddaughters in hand, we will enter the world of the TEA Party. My intent is to personally see what is going on and then to conduct a few interviews for my blog. I was originally going to use video, but have changed my mind and will use stills and recorded audio for each person. So off we go!
Welcome to my TEA Party Interviews. First, an introduction:
There was a good turnout, I would estimate between 150 and 200 folks. Local speakers shared their thoughts about Congress, our economy, the direction of our economy and what we should do next. While walking around, I conducted four interviews.
First were Tom and Fran Hill, here's what they had to say:
Next up was Rod Blum, one of the speakers:
On the corner, waving to passing cars were Kathy Block and Jan Eagan:
And finally Kirk and Sara:
There were a number of common themes throughout our conversations: too much spending - virtually all felt that federal spending is completely out of control. Government intrusion was next - government is sticking it's nose where it simply does not belong. These TEA Parties are just the beginning. Anger at our government's spending and it's increasing control of the business sector is raising an alarm for these folks. There were even a few simply afraid to be interviewed for fear the government might be monitoring their words.
Basically, I think there is much more to come and I'll be there listening, talking and reporting.
There were several reasons why I went: I don't pay a lot of taxes right now, and we are certainly benefiting from the $13 extra we are getting every week from the "tax cuts". But it's not going to last. How do you pay back Trillions of dollars of debt? Taxes and cuts. We will not see the effects of this stimulus stupidity for a few years. What happens when the money runs out to pay for these projects? Those jobs that were "created or saved" will either go away or need more money to continue. Debts will come due and we will be paying for it when this congress and administration are long gone and they already wrote their glories in the history text books. And our schools won't be able to buy new ones to fix the gross errors. They have run amuck and it is up to the people to put them back in their place and stop them before they do more damage.
ReplyDeleteWe should have started chopping instead of spending. It is time for communities to step up and support those who are truly in need and get off our government dependency. We have seen how well they manage their business, with corruption, scandal and waste, why would we want them to control even more of our lives? In the business world, if you aren't happy with customer service, we have a choice. We will not get that choice with the government. How easy is it to pin point who to fire? Everyone blames the President because they haven't read our constitution. Pay attention to the finger pointing branch and follow the money.
I also came to be a witness to history. In the spirit of our founding fathers, who had a purpose and the will to stand up for what they deemed right, I went to put my support in something that is moving in the right direction.
Where we go from here is forward. We need to put forth an alternative, offer evidence based on true history, put up better candidates that will do what is right, not what has always been done or what will give them more money or power. They need to be the ones getting the pink slips. We all need to take these steps together.