LittleLightShining
04-11-2009, 07:34 AM
Tea Time Tax Revolt (http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090411/NEWS01/904110345/1002/NEWS01&frompost=1)
Some 500 Tea-time tax revolt protests planned nationwide
By Peter Hirschfeld VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: April 11, 2009
In an attempted reprisal of this nation's watershed political protest, residents in two Vermont cities will stage 21st-century tea parties on Wednesday.
The stimulus bills and bailouts of recent months reflect a tax-and-spend government that has spiraled out of control, organizers say. All that taxation, according to John Wallace of West Rutland, is a terrible representation of his fiscal views.
"This is about being American and being fed up with having government reach into our pockets and taking wantonly without seeming to recognize the fact that we are their boss," Wallace says.
Wallace, a landlord by day and lead organizer of Wednesday's tax-day revolt in Rutland, has never been much of an activist.
"This is my first protest," Wallace says. But as he watches legislators commit trillions of taxpayer dollars, Wallace says, he can no longer sit idly by.
"This has been festering I think in a lot of people for a long time," he says. "And now it's just gotten to the point where people are ready to do something about it.
Participants at the Vermont tea parties, scheduled for this Wednesday in Rutland and Montpelier, won't be alone. Similar tax-day rallies are planned in about 500 cities across the country, according to national Web sites.
Organizers trace the phenomenon to a now-famous screed delivered by CNBC commentator Rick Santelli who, in response to a federal plan to underwrite bad mortgages, suggested a second staging of the Boston Tea Party. The iconic 1773 protest was credited with galvanizing American resistance to British rule that ultimately fueled the Revolutionary War.
"We've been paying and paying and paying," Wallace says. "With a call to action, which was 'Rick's Rant,' people are at the point where they're saying 'no we can't.'"
Conservative radio commentator TJ Michaels, whose political talk show airs Saturday mornings on Barre's WSNO, will emcee Montpelier's tea party on the Statehouse lawn. While the call-to-arms has primarily been issued by conservative radio personalities like Glenn Beck and Dennis Miller, Michaels says, the event is a grassroots, nonpartisan affair.
"This isn't about labels," Michaels says. "This is about the fundamental idea that our government has gotten out of control."
Michaels says the ill-advised fiscal policies that catalyzed the outrage span two presidential administrations. Tea parties aren't about attacking Republicans or Democrats, he says, but rather about delivering a message to the elected leaders amassing trillion-dollar deficits in voters' names.
"This is a movement that says hold on a second, take a deep breath, and let's stop spending money like it's going out of style," Michaels says. "Let's start trying to get politicians to treat the people's money like it's their own."
Barre resident Jessica Bernier is spearheading organizational efforts for the Montpelier tea party, set to begin at noon Wednesday. She said the message is directed at state and federal leaders alike.
"I feel that we have a very unsustainable economic situation in this state right now," Bernier says.
She worries that increases in public-sector spending – primarily on taxpayer-funded jobs in schools and state government – threaten to undo middle-class Vermonters.
"These jobs need to be paid for somehow," Bernier says. "And when the private-sector base is shrinking so rapidly, where is the money going to come from?"
Vermont's congressional delegation has begun receiving tokens of the tea-party movement. Over the past few weeks, aides say, Sen. Patrick Leahy has received about three letters daily containing a teabag; only a few, staff said, were from Vermonters. Sen. Bernard Sanders has received about 25 teabags, according to his spokesman.
Wallace personally isn't a fan of the teabag ploy.
"I didn't go for that because ironically it takes a lot of manpower to deal with all those teabags, and that costs tax money to pay for all those man hours," Wallace says. "And it's just a little too cutesy."
Wallace is hoping though that people will come "take a sip of freedom" – the Vermont Tea Party slogan – at his rally, scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in the city park.
"If 10 people show up, it's all good," Michaels says. "If 100 people come, I'm happy as a clam. This is the beginning, the starting of a process, so whatever I get is just something to build off."
Some 500 Tea-time tax revolt protests planned nationwide
By Peter Hirschfeld VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: April 11, 2009
In an attempted reprisal of this nation's watershed political protest, residents in two Vermont cities will stage 21st-century tea parties on Wednesday.
The stimulus bills and bailouts of recent months reflect a tax-and-spend government that has spiraled out of control, organizers say. All that taxation, according to John Wallace of West Rutland, is a terrible representation of his fiscal views.
"This is about being American and being fed up with having government reach into our pockets and taking wantonly without seeming to recognize the fact that we are their boss," Wallace says.
Wallace, a landlord by day and lead organizer of Wednesday's tax-day revolt in Rutland, has never been much of an activist.
"This is my first protest," Wallace says. But as he watches legislators commit trillions of taxpayer dollars, Wallace says, he can no longer sit idly by.
"This has been festering I think in a lot of people for a long time," he says. "And now it's just gotten to the point where people are ready to do something about it.
Participants at the Vermont tea parties, scheduled for this Wednesday in Rutland and Montpelier, won't be alone. Similar tax-day rallies are planned in about 500 cities across the country, according to national Web sites.
Organizers trace the phenomenon to a now-famous screed delivered by CNBC commentator Rick Santelli who, in response to a federal plan to underwrite bad mortgages, suggested a second staging of the Boston Tea Party. The iconic 1773 protest was credited with galvanizing American resistance to British rule that ultimately fueled the Revolutionary War.
"We've been paying and paying and paying," Wallace says. "With a call to action, which was 'Rick's Rant,' people are at the point where they're saying 'no we can't.'"
Conservative radio commentator TJ Michaels, whose political talk show airs Saturday mornings on Barre's WSNO, will emcee Montpelier's tea party on the Statehouse lawn. While the call-to-arms has primarily been issued by conservative radio personalities like Glenn Beck and Dennis Miller, Michaels says, the event is a grassroots, nonpartisan affair.
"This isn't about labels," Michaels says. "This is about the fundamental idea that our government has gotten out of control."
Michaels says the ill-advised fiscal policies that catalyzed the outrage span two presidential administrations. Tea parties aren't about attacking Republicans or Democrats, he says, but rather about delivering a message to the elected leaders amassing trillion-dollar deficits in voters' names.
"This is a movement that says hold on a second, take a deep breath, and let's stop spending money like it's going out of style," Michaels says. "Let's start trying to get politicians to treat the people's money like it's their own."
Barre resident Jessica Bernier is spearheading organizational efforts for the Montpelier tea party, set to begin at noon Wednesday. She said the message is directed at state and federal leaders alike.
"I feel that we have a very unsustainable economic situation in this state right now," Bernier says.
She worries that increases in public-sector spending – primarily on taxpayer-funded jobs in schools and state government – threaten to undo middle-class Vermonters.
"These jobs need to be paid for somehow," Bernier says. "And when the private-sector base is shrinking so rapidly, where is the money going to come from?"
Vermont's congressional delegation has begun receiving tokens of the tea-party movement. Over the past few weeks, aides say, Sen. Patrick Leahy has received about three letters daily containing a teabag; only a few, staff said, were from Vermonters. Sen. Bernard Sanders has received about 25 teabags, according to his spokesman.
Wallace personally isn't a fan of the teabag ploy.
"I didn't go for that because ironically it takes a lot of manpower to deal with all those teabags, and that costs tax money to pay for all those man hours," Wallace says. "And it's just a little too cutesy."
Wallace is hoping though that people will come "take a sip of freedom" – the Vermont Tea Party slogan – at his rally, scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in the city park.
"If 10 people show up, it's all good," Michaels says. "If 100 people come, I'm happy as a clam. This is the beginning, the starting of a process, so whatever I get is just something to build off."