Tax Day Tea Party, April 15 2009!

I headed over to City Hall around 4:30 to meet some dear friends in from Los Angeles. Both Canadians, L became an American citizen a while back, but both L and P are more patriotic than some born and bred Americans I know. After coordinating at a parking lot, the 3 of us headed over to the main street where there were already hundreds gathered on either side of the main drag. Hard to estimate how many were gathered, but it seemed as if there were more than 1,000 spread along the staging area. Peaceful but enthusiastic, the crowd held a variety of signs and there were people from all ages and all walks of life. It was very heartening to see so many people out there protesting the excesses of government.

Many people tend to think that this was a partisan, conservative movement, but I know there were democrats and independents and republicans out there, sharing the sidewalk.

The TEA Party (taxed enough already) was created in response to a Congress and 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 detectability for charitable gifts?
• take money from your family budget to pay for their federal budget?

For more information here is the official Tea Party Day website. Hope you were able to participate at one in your state.

Department of Homeland Security was there.

My friends L and P

Someone's take on the Geico commercial.

The old

The young

And the 4-legged

Others blogging:
Gollygeez with a warning about signing anything there, which was too late, because I did.
Conservatism With Heart
Michelle Malkin with a list of different locations.