Tea Party 2009
After spending the last two nights rushing to file my taxes, I had to go check out the nearest Tea Party. If that sentence makes no sense to you, you should know that “Tea Parties” have been organized around the country to protest… well… bailouts, socialism, increased federal spending, etc. Sure, it may be a little idiosyncratic to pay taxes and then immediately go to what is more or less a tax protest rally, but I decided not to worry about the details.
Whether your issue of choice is illegal immigration, runaway spending, dollar devaluation, government bailouts, gun control, or encroaching federal power, you would have felt at home here (assuming of course that you are against those things). The event itself focused mainly on local issues here in Oregon and the new taxes that are likely to be imposed upon us. But really, why don’t I just show you instead! Here’s the video… keep in mind that it’s raw video from just a few hours ago and that I took it myself, and I have no video experience whatsoever. The first part is very jerky as well…
Tea Party 2009 from 72mm Blogs on Vimeo.
Being that this is Salem, Oregon, I walked afterwards with my Step-Dad and my Mom (both were attendees and helped me get a great parking spot!) to a quaint local cafe-restaurant called The Wild Pear, at which I ordered a chicken caesar wrap and clam chowder. On the way back to my obviously very generous and flexible work, I went through a Starbucks drive-through and picked up some tea.
La vita è bella. Even should the world collapse around us or if we should be devoured by that gray, soul-killing socialism, the best revenge is to live well and to be happy. Assuming of course, we can’t manage to storm the Federal Reserve building first… count me in for that too.
- 4 Comments
- Tags: 912 project, grass root, Tea Party, Tea Party Salem Oregon
Great job! I’m so bummed I couldn’t be there. Thanks for taking video. I wanted to make one small “correction”. I don’t believe it was meant to be a tax protest rally, more a spending and socialism protest. I think the idea was, if we can get them to STOP spending, taxes will naturally follow. Just my thoughts
Reply@John:
Hey John! Sorry you couldn’t be there.
You make a good point. Of course, I think people were fearful of future taxation (or inflation) to pay for current spending. It’s always easier for Congress to pass spending bills than tax bills, so you can see why the anti-spending sentiment ends up being anti-tax.
A lot of the event focused specifically on upcoming Oregon taxes, and not federal taxation. I imagine that tea parties around the country also focused on their local issues.
ReplyMARK, thank you for the very good video and commentary…nice job.
Reply@Janee:
ReplyThanks Janee!