I am very excited about the Tea Parties that are scheduled around the country on April 15. I am encouraged that some people around the country are showing some signs of no longer accepting the status quo from our Government. The first Tea Party was a message to the British Parliament, some of the Bostonians stood together and declared, "We will have no taxation without representation!" They believed they should only be taxed by their own elected representatives. Our current Tax Day Tea Parties are a little different, obviously, the King and the Parliament are not across the ocean, instead they are in Washington DC posing as our elected representatives. The Tea Parties are a good starting point, however, we have some long and arduous battles ahead of us, I believe. April 15Th will be an exciting day for sure, but what will April 16Th look like?
What exactly do we hope to accomplish with the Tea Parties?
The obvious answer is that we hope to send a message to Washington, that there are a lot of angry people in the country. There are a lot of reasons for average hard working Americans to be angry as of late, that is for sure. There is certainly plenty of blame to go around, both ruling Parties are at fault, corporate executives have made bad business decisions, unions have been unwilling to make concessions, and we continue to elect the same politicians and support these same businesses as if there is nothing we can do about it. So come Wednesday, April 15, some of us will hit the streets to demonstrate to Washington that we are angry and we are not going to take it any more, well at least not until Thursday, April 16.
What will be the response from Washington?
Probably the same response that I always get from Washington when I write an email or call, a polite and concise form letter, basically stating, "Thanks for writing, but I am going to do what I want." Unfortunately, I fear that the government is familiar enough with the American people to know that if they put it off long enough, all of the angry people will become distracted with American Idol and the start of baseball season and forget what they were angry about to begin with. What was I saying? Oh yeah, American Idol, the blind guy got kicked off tonight....wait...that's not right, oh yeah, Tea Parties...sorry...
What happens on April 16Th and beyond?
That, my friends, is up to you. We, the American people, are going to have some big decisions to make in the near future. The country is pretty divided at the moment. It appears to be split right down the middle. Some people believe that the government is the answer to all of our problems and that the government is going to "fix" everything. Some people, like myself, believe that the government is the problem, and they need to step back, decrease (or cease) taxes and stop spending money like they earned it. Until there is a greater consensus one way or the other, I fear that not much is going to change. However, I do believe that this is one major reason why these Tax Day Tea Parties are so important. Washington will not be impressed by your efforts, but hopefully, more Americans will be affected in a positive way and will join the effort to return America to the founding principles that this great nation was built upon: individual liberty, personal responsibility and a Constitutionally limited government.
Copyright 2009 Stephen Rigg
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