With one week left until the next “Tea Party” event, more organizations are jumping on the protest bandwagon.—-
The national Libertarian Party is urging its members to join in the rallies planned nationwide on Tax Day, April 15. Locally, a protest rally will be held at Fountain Square beginning at 11:30 a.m., followed by a noon march to Cincinnati City Hall where a petition will be presented to unnamed city officials asking them to reject federal economic stimulus money.
The local event is sponsored by WKRC (550 AM) and radio host Brian Thomas, who’s been hyping the march for weeks.
Cincinnati organizers say about 1,900 people have committed to marching. They describe the event thusly on their Web site: “We are asking everyone to bring signs and people. We expect to have some media coverage when we present the petitions to City Hall so the more signs and people the better. We will be bringing the tea bags that were ‘dumped’ during the March 15th event to also present to City Hall as a symbol of how our government is not responsibly representing the views of the people.”
The Tax Day events also are being publicized by two arch-conservative groups: Newt Gingrich’s Renewing American Leadership organization and the American Family Association, a “pro-family advocacy organization” led by the Rev. Donald Wildmon. He’s best-known for organizing boycotts of TV shows he finds offensive.
Libertarians, who believe in limited government, take credit for organizing the modern Tea Parties.
“The ‘tea party’ concept started with the Libertarian Party of Illinois, who began organizing a 2009 Tax Day ‘Boston Tea Party’ in Chicago back in December of 2008 and created a Facebook group for it on Feb. 10, 2009,” a party press release states. “Nine days later, CNBC’s Rick Santelli, broadcasting from the floor of the Chicago stock exchange, popularized the concept.”
“Americans agree with the Libertarian Party that taxes and spending are out of control, and that bailouts and nationalizing industries destroys freedom and prosperity,” said Donny Ferguson, a Libertarian Party spokesman. “The Libertarian Party is the only party supporting shrinking budgets, lowering tax burdens, eliminating deficits and getting government out of the way of recovery.
“With the Republican Party in Washington joining Democrats in proposing their own bloated budget that expands spending and explodes the deficit, and Republicans in other states touting their plans to raise taxes and jack up spending during a recession, Americans must speak out and speak out forcefully.”
At least the Libertarians are being intellectually honest in their protest. This week’s Porkopolis column, in the issues of CityBeat hitting newsstands today, details the contradictions and fallacies employed by local participants.
We’ll see you at Fountain Square next week.
