'Tea party' protesting government bailouts Posted On: Tuesday, Apr. 14 2009 05:08 AM By Rebecca LaFlure
Killeen Daily Herald

Hundreds of Central Texas citizens are expected to attend Tax Day "tea parties" Wednesday in protest of – what they believe to be – a federal government run amok with economic bailouts and a culture of excessive spending.

Modeled after the Boston Tea Party tax protest of 1773, the rallies are a part of a national grassroots campaign calling for lower taxes and more fiscal restraint.

"We're standing up and saying the policies going on right now are not going to help us. You can't spend more money to get the national debt down," said Marilyn Aponte, an event organizer for Coryell County and Copperas Cove resident.

"My grandkids are going to pay for this. This is going to affect generations."

The Taxed Enough Already (TEA) Party Day rallies, sponsored by the American Family Association, are scheduled in more than 2,000 cities across the nation, according to the national event Web site.

A Bell County tea party will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Park and Ride in Belton at 503 Confederate Park Blvd. The rally will include speeches, signs, iced tea, tea bags and a voter registration table.

Though labeled a nonpartisan event, many of the festivities are organized by local affiliates of the Republican Party.

Several hundred people are expected to attend, said Chip Howell, founding president of the Bell County Young Republicans.

"The government bailout is going to cause our taxes to rise," Howell said. "We've been taxed enough already. I think history shows that lowering taxes gives the economy a boost."

Citizens in Coryell County will host a similar rally at the Copperas Cove City Hall at 507 S. Main St. during the same time. A re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party is planned. About 20 people from Copperas Cove, Killeen, Gatesville, and Lampasas have agreed to participate, Aponte said.

"It's not an Obama-bashing party. It's just our right to assemble in front of our city government to protest peacefully about what's going on in Washington," she said.

Two protests will take place in Austin – one during midday and the other at the end of the workday.

The noon event will be from 11:30 am to 1:30 p.m. at the Austin City Hall. Gov. Rick Perry is among the scheduled speakers.

The late afternoon event will be from 4 to 6 p.m. on the south steps of the Capitol. The afternoon rally will move down Congress Avenue for a re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party.

Arthur Resa, county chair of the Bell County Texas Democratic Party, said the upcoming rallies send a wrong message during a critical time in American history.

"It's easier to sell fear than it is to sell hope, and they're trying to sell fear. This is their opportunity to get out there and label the Obama administration as being too far left," he said.

"The last eight years the Republicans were in charge, they were taxing the hard-working people, and now that they're being asked to give their fair share in supporting the economy through this down time, they don't like it. It's hypocritical."