Taxed Enough Already (TEA Party)

More than 2,500 assemble in Fort Lauderdale for Tax Day "tea party" protest
By Rafael A. Olmeda | South Florida Sun Sentinel April 16, 2009
FORT LAUDERDALE - The crowd started small, but organizer Lauren O'Brien knew it was still early.

Standing on the northwest corner of Broward Boulevard and Northeast Third Avenue late Wednesday afternoon, O'Brien, 24, of Sunrise knew that the 200 to 300 who had arrived thus far would soon be joined by more and more South Florida citizens tired of hearing and reading about bailouts and stimulus packages that committed trillions of public dollars to private companies that made bad business decisions.

O'Brien, a registered Democrat, held her 9-month-old son, Brody, in her arms.

"This is what motivated me to do this," she said. "Knowing that our government is putting him in debt for his whole life."




By the time the sun set, the crowd at Fort Lauderdale's "Tea Party" had multiplied several times over. No official count was available, but at its peak, there was barely room to walk on the northwest or southwest corners of the intersection, indicating a crowd of at least 2,500 people and possibly hundreds more, according to police and demonstrators.

The event was part of a nationwide movement that spawned similar demonstrations throughout the country. The rallies were called tea parties to recall the Boston Tea Party staged by American colonists protesting against British taxation. City by city, organizers insisted it was a grass-roots movement, bolstered by high-profile support from right-wing personalities including Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity.

The events have been billed as non- or bi-partisan, but many organizers say they're steamed at government spending since President Barack Obama's administration took over.

John Parsons, 66, of Jupiter came to a West Palm Beach tea party decked out as Uncle Sam. The registered Republican called himself an "issues person" and said Obama's bailout package is wrong. "Let the failures fail; that's free enterprise," he said.

Donella Gallo of West Palm Beach brought her three grandchildren - ages 6, 4 and 1 - "to show them what it is to stand up for what you believe in. We told them we don't want anyone to take their piggy bank."

The 1-year-old sat in a stroller with a sign that read, "Honk if I'm paying your mortgage."

Despite the events' strong anti-tax message and frequent spontaneous outbreaks of "USA" chants, not everyone who attended was Republican. Hollywood resident Gabriel Ramirez, 29, said he's a Democrat who voted for Obama but supported the Fort Lauderdale demonstration because he was dismayed at how much money was being spent or committed by the federal government.

"I want to have an open mind," he said, "and I do think we need reform. As a Democrat, I also want to know how I can help." Patricia Barnett, a snowbird from Michigan who spends part of the year in Pompano Beach, held a sign chastising those in Washington who voted for the stimulus package in February without fully knowing what was in it. "Next time, read the bill," her sign said.

"I think we have a government that is on a daily basis becoming out of control, spending money we don't have," she said. "Where is all this money going to come from to pay these bills?"

Staff writer Missy Diaz contributed to this report. Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4694.

Category:

News & Politics

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• politics
• obama
• waterfrontjim

[Futtbuckable]

MEET THE BUDGET WITH LESS TAXING wut

[AceofDiamonds0]

so thes people are against social security for old people? they must be because taxes pay for retirement benefits for retirees. taxes also help pay for education, homeless shealters, and people who cannot work anymore.

so sense the tea partiers are against taxes they are also against helping other people. but isnt it nice to see so many work har for a cause.

[loonmaniac]

Kooky, tea drinkin', honky sucka's who hate heald care! Right on!

[IRSFRAUDEXPOSED]

and all of the protesters continue to allow themselves to be treated as a federal employee ?

all they have to do is cancel the w-4 contract and then they wont be liable . they are all 16th amendment "US citizen" slaves.

[KamikazeKoscki]

His son (Mayer Amschel Bauer) went to work at a bank owned by the Oppenheimers. While working for the Oppenheimers, Rothschild learned that loaning money to people was small change. The BIG money came in loaning money to governments. This money would always be secured by public taxes. Mayer Bauer later changed his last name to Rothschild when he inherited his father's business

[KamikazeKoscki]

The House of Rothschild

A goldsmith named Amschel Moses Bauer opened a counting house in Frankfurt, Germany in 1743. He placed a Roman eagle on a red shield over the door prompting people to call his shop the Red Shield Firm pronounced in German as "Rothschild".

[KamikazeKoscki]

Understanding The Federal Reserve System & The History of the ...

Now of course, after the Revolutionary War, there was a debt to be paid. ... The Rothschilds also financed both sides of the American Civil War. ... Their manipulation of the market crippled various corporations and they bought them ... The banks (who were using fractional reserve tactics) then had to recall all of

[KamikazeKoscki]

They have organizations that are fronts, CFR, RIIA (England), Bilderbergers, Trilateral Commission, Counsel of the 13, Committee of the 300. etc... google John Todd and watch his series. Its right on target and he was killed in the early 1990s by family for exposing the truth

[KamikazeKoscki]

1933 - Wall Street financed and materially supported Hitler's rise to power in Germany . This includes the same families involved even since the start of WWI to 1933 to even today.

[boomsele]

i understand that the rothchilds made vast amounts of wealth from the production of weapons during the first world war.. but, that doesnt explain how a clearly disturbed serbian who for a long time had plotted an assination of a austro-hungarian governmetal official and had beden living in seclution.... obviously the austro-hungarian empire had a reason to go to war.... im just saying that the rothchilds might be really shitty people but they definatly are not in league with an imagionary devil.