Reflections on TEA Party at Solon, OH on April 15, 2009

Reflections on the National Tea Party Day

On April 15th 2009 at 4:30 PM nearly 135 citizens from Solon, Bedford and surrounding communities met at the Solon Center for the Arts at City Hall to make a statement to the Government about it’s fiscal irresponsibility. To remind the Government, in the words of Ronald Reagan, “We are a people who have a government, not the other way around.” As I stood in the crowd of the Solon Tea Party, I noticed that several police were around, relaxed and at ease. That is exactly how I expected them to be—to serve, to protect and welcome citizens. There were no outbursts or acts of violence, just law-abiding citizens uniting to send a message. Officials from City Hall let us know that in all the years of public demonstrations in Solon, this was four times larger than any in its recorded history. Plus, as we met together, several people in cars honked their horns, smiling, waving or giving a “thumbs up” in support. There were other places that had larger demonstrations, some in the thousands, but we all shared a unity of purpose.

On that Wednesday afternoon, citizens with the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, assembled to write notes of grievances, attach a tea bag, throw them into a chest, and prepare to send the chest to the Governor’s office. The message is clear—we are tired of the government wasting the fruits of our labor and are appalled at their efforts to strap our children and grandchildren with a debt in which they had no say.

After the party, I spoke with others who were not aware of the TEA Party. “Why Tea?” TEA stands for “Taxed Enough Already.” “Taxes are not that bad…in fact, I received a refund this year.” What these fail to realize is that the protest was not so much against current taxes, but a rebuke of wasteful spending over the years by Congress. Plus, the real concern now is the amount of taxes that will have to be raised in the future to pay for the current administration’s fiscal plan to spend us into oblivion. If a political figure wanted to destroy the government one wonders how he would go about it. One way would be to over spend it into oblivion. Well, consider the following chart, which shows President Obama’s fiscal plan which explodes spending in terms so great that only a picture does it justice:


SOURCE: Power Line Daily Digest, April 13, 2009.

April 15, 2009 was a great day. A day where citizens of the United States stood to tell our elected officials that we demand them to be fiscally responsible. The government criticizing banks, insurance companies and automakers for fiscal irresponsibility has got to top the list of the most incredulous statements of this century. Another one--they tell CEOs that they have to limit their salary but hardly bat an eye at raising their own salaries.

I went to the TEA Party so I could explain to my children what it means to be an American. So they know that regardless of what happens in the future, their father tried to do something to help get America back on track. These events remind me of what Reagan said when he left the Oval Office. There were many important points President Reagan made in his final address. The one I was thinking of at the TEA Party was:

And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American, let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.

We all need to be teaching our children, our grandchildren and everyone else we have in our ring of influence the importance of Reagan called “an informed patriotism”.