The Dayton Tea Party held their July 3 Rally at Golden Gate Park in Brookville. According to Brookville Police Chief Ed Preston, more than 5,000 were in attendance. This was only one of many Tea Parties held across Ohio and the nation. In Ohio, cities with scheduled Tea Parties included Ashland, Cadiz, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Freemont, Mansfield, Marietta, North Canton, Springfield, and Zanesville. Brendan Steinhauser’s map of known Tea Parties throughout the nation is posted on the Freedom Works blog.
According to the Tea Party Protests blog, there were over 200,000 Tea Party events held nationwide around the tax filing deadline of April 15. Of the 200,000, the national Tax Day Tea Party website reported 800 registered events in 50 states. Americans gathered in protest against government-generated debt that robs them of over one-third of their income through taxes. Astronomical debt by unaccountable federal politicians continues to be a huge issue at the Tea Party.
Brookville mayor David Seagraves gave the opening address. He challenged the Partiers further their involvement not only in the Tea Party movement but also in local, state and national politics. What followed his speech was great music by Dan River’s band, a visit by the comedian President Barak Obama (maybe it was a twin from Kenya?), many more fired up speakers, and some awesome fireworks. Whoever was performing the light show was a real pro.
Rob Yarger, a local business owner, emceed the Dayton Tea Party. Encouraged by Rob Scott, the chief brains behind the organization, Yarger also spoke to the Partiers about the socialization of business, health care, and the growing intrusion of the government in our lives and homes.
Deborah Mulholand, owner of home-based marketing business Angelic Enterprises, rallied the Partiers to support the Fair Tax movement. She said, the national income tax was first proposed by Karl Marx. Contrary to Obama’s international denial, America is a Christian not a socialist nation. While God only asks for 10 percent, government seeks over 60 percent. We pay more than just income tax. We pay tax on just about everything. The federal government is even proposing to tax burping. The Fair Tax would replace all taxation with a 23 percent sales tax. It would reduce the thousands of pages of tax code to 133 pages, and it would eliminate the IRS bureaucracy. All working Americans would receive a 7.5 percent pay raise just by getting rid of the FICA tax, and small businesses would save 15 percent. What better way to end the use of the tax code to reward favorite supporters by federal politicians for their votes.
Pres. Obama’s speech was pretty anti-climactic following Mulholand. Nevertheless, he made some interesting comments. Obama claimed he intends for all Americans to have a job. That is a job working for the government. He also proposed to create a simpler tax code: Tell us what you make and send it in.
I notice something strange about him. His voice was a little muffled, he a plastic or stone faced appearance, and he never quit smiling … I’m sure what his problem was.
Anyway, Arlene Holland was the next speakers. Emcee Yarger introduced her as a Spanish Sarah Palin. I think she is a little more dynamic than Palin. Holland is a legal immigrant from Honduras, where the people said no to communism. Yet, they are still fighting to maintain their constitutional self-governance. She said she could be silent no more about the erosion of our constitutional freedoms and democracy by elites. America belongs to us not to them. They are attempting to rule over our children and run or lives. Their bailouts only reward corrupt government. It is time to stand up and refuse to be silent, she said. Quoting John F. Kennedy’s famous dictum, Holland said, “It’s not what your country can do for you, it is what will do for your country. Now, what will you do?”
I’m sure the next three speakers, all young members of the Ohio legislators, found her fiery speech a hard act to follow. By young, I mean all men in their 30s. The first was Greene County’s own Jarrod Martin. He spoke about the need for a public hearing on the State Sovereignty Resolution, which is being held up by the Speaker of the House. As Mulholan said earlier, out-of-control spending by the federal government, their encroachment on state authority, their intrusion in state affairs, amounts to taxation without representation. According to Martin, the originators of the Constitution did not intend for big government and huge debt to dominate American life and politics. The federal government was given limited, enumerated powers. The ninth and tenth Amendments prove that all others rights and authority belongs to states and the people. That is why Ohio HCR 11 is needed to send a clear message to Congress that enough is enough.
Rep. Martin introduced Rep. Seth Morgan as a leading sponsor of HB210, which proposed to reduce the pay of Ohio politicians. Morgan speech was short and sweet. We have to stop the overburdening and over-reaching spending and power grabbing efforts of both Ohio and Washington D.C. politicians. Just as the signers of the Declaration of Independence knew they were signing their death warrants if the Revolution failed, we must likewise recommit ourselves to give us liberty or give us death cause of liberty and self-governance.
The next new generation of leaders to speak was Rep. Josh Mandel. He graduated from OSU, served in the US Marine Corps, and local government. He overcame entrenched political opposition to lower property taxes. He get property taxes rolled back first by proposing it, then by going house to house to garner support, and then by the overwhelming support of local taxpayers and voters. Just as he accomplished what status quo leaders said was impossible by doing the hard work necessary, we together doing the hard work can achieve the goals represented by the Tea Party. We can protect and restore our liberty.
The last speaker of the night was Greg McAfee, owner of McAfee Heating and Air. As did most of the speakers, he covered most of the current issues of our day including universal health care, foreclosures, global warming, cap-and-trade. One area of government intrusion in the personal lives of homeowners comes into play when homeowners want to sell their house. McAfee said the government is now empowered inspect homes and force owners to replace windows and doors before being permitted to put their home on the market. He also pointed out the free universal health care will not be free. Business owners will be forced to pay for it. In the end, however, consumers will pay for it through inflation.
McAfee concluded by calling for a return to the basics: (1) Returning to values worth passing on our children like honesty. (2) Honoring heroes who exemplify those values. Congress held a moment of silence for the king of pop culture Michael Jackson while also ignoring the passing of war hero Ed McMahan, who spend much of his life serving his country. (3) Restoring self-governance engendered by capitalism, by the practice of our fundamental rights like free speech, and the discipline of hard work. (4) Returning to being a nation of people under God. (After all, God is co-founder of the United States of America.)
During the entire event, the long line leading to the concession stand and to the coffee bar never subsided. Along with food and latté for the stomach, a number of organizations with booths offered something for the political soul like petitions in support of the Ohio Sovereignty Resolutions (HCR-11/SCR-13), petitions of protest against the cap-and-trade bills, books by National Center for Constitutional Studies, Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, and others. Eric W. Deaton had his campaign booth set up. He is planning to replace George Voinovich in the Senate. Our own Campaign for Liberty and John Birch Society organizations were also offering their political soul food. (See the links below for more info about work and ideals.)
Links:
www.daytonohioteaparty.com
www.OhioFreeState.com
www.ohiolibertycouncil.com
National Constitutional Education Society
www.deatonforsenate.com
John Birch Society
www.ohiofreedom.com
www.campaignforliberty.com
