Some More TEA From Paducah Sun.
Protesters denounce taxes
About 1,500 taxpayers rail against budget, political parties
By Shelley Byrne sbyrne@paducahsun.com--270.575.8667
Frustrated taxpayers sent their message to Washington and Frankfort on Wednesday as they crowded onto Dolly McNutt Plaza in Paducah for the Taxed Enough Already party.
More than 1,500 people signed scrolls for legislators, telling them to stop spending their money.
“Do ya’ll mind if I give this to Nancy Pelosi?” U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Hopkinsville, asked, generating applause following his remarks.
“All the American people want today is the opportunity to work to have the opportunity to pay their own bills and make their own living for their own families,” Whitfield said as he argued against taxes in President Barack Obama’s budget.
Jim Waters of the Bluegrass Institute of Public Policy Solutions railed against both parties, saying Republicans in President George W. Bush’s administration had exploited fears of terrorism to curtail liberties and that Democrats in the current administration had exploited terror of a financial crisis to overregulate the private sector.
Frankfort politicians are no better, he said.
“I don’t know about you, but I would like this state to be known for more than poverty, bourbon and a horse race in May,” he said.
Pizza Inn and Snapple provided free iced tea for the party, fashioned after the Boston Tea Party in which American colonists dumped tea into Boston harbor to protest high British taxes. Thousands of people around the country joined in similar parties. FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, promoted them. Former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, now a lobbyist, leads the group.
Along with political speakers, Paducah’s party included song parodies about taxes and a re-creation of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech.
Janice Steffey, 55, said she traveled from her home in Murray for the party, in part to speak out against Obama’s policies.
“I feel like people need to stand up for what they believe,” she said, adding that she feels people’s rights are slowly being taken away. “I just feel like we need to stand up and say, ‘Hey! Wake up! Look what’s going on!’”
Mike Fenwick, 43, of Paducah said he attended because he feels both main political parties are off track.
“If you keep voting like you’ve always voted, you’re going to keep getting who you’ve always gotten,” he said.
Many of those in the crowd carried signs. “Change is all I have left,” one read. Another said, “If 10 percent is good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for Uncle Sam.”
Contact Shelley Byrne, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8667.
About 1,500 taxpayers rail against budget, political parties
By Shelley Byrne sbyrne@paducahsun.com--270.575.8667
Frustrated taxpayers sent their message to Washington and Frankfort on Wednesday as they crowded onto Dolly McNutt Plaza in Paducah for the Taxed Enough Already party.
More than 1,500 people signed scrolls for legislators, telling them to stop spending their money.
“Do ya’ll mind if I give this to Nancy Pelosi?” U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Hopkinsville, asked, generating applause following his remarks.
“All the American people want today is the opportunity to work to have the opportunity to pay their own bills and make their own living for their own families,” Whitfield said as he argued against taxes in President Barack Obama’s budget.
Jim Waters of the Bluegrass Institute of Public Policy Solutions railed against both parties, saying Republicans in President George W. Bush’s administration had exploited fears of terrorism to curtail liberties and that Democrats in the current administration had exploited terror of a financial crisis to overregulate the private sector.
Frankfort politicians are no better, he said.
“I don’t know about you, but I would like this state to be known for more than poverty, bourbon and a horse race in May,” he said.
Pizza Inn and Snapple provided free iced tea for the party, fashioned after the Boston Tea Party in which American colonists dumped tea into Boston harbor to protest high British taxes. Thousands of people around the country joined in similar parties. FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, promoted them. Former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas, now a lobbyist, leads the group.
Along with political speakers, Paducah’s party included song parodies about taxes and a re-creation of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech.
Janice Steffey, 55, said she traveled from her home in Murray for the party, in part to speak out against Obama’s policies.
“I feel like people need to stand up for what they believe,” she said, adding that she feels people’s rights are slowly being taken away. “I just feel like we need to stand up and say, ‘Hey! Wake up! Look what’s going on!’”
Mike Fenwick, 43, of Paducah said he attended because he feels both main political parties are off track.
“If you keep voting like you’ve always voted, you’re going to keep getting who you’ve always gotten,” he said.
Many of those in the crowd carried signs. “Change is all I have left,” one read. Another said, “If 10 percent is good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for Uncle Sam.”
Contact Shelley Byrne, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8667.
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