Have you heard about the tea parties? They are going on all over the nation today. There is likely one in your city. They are taking place at noon in many cities. You can find a list here of many of the tea parties. If you don’t see one in your local area listed here, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Do a quick Yahoo or Google search putting in “tax day tea party” & your city name to find one close to you.

I want to clear a couple things up, though. It has come to my attention that Fox News and the Republicans have tried to grab this protest and call it theirs. In addition, many of them are claiming that the reason for the tea party is to oppose the taxing of the wealthy. When, in fact, they couldn’t be further from the truth. There might be some Republicans there, and some of them might be protesting for that reason. However, they will not make up a majority of those in attendance.

Who started the idea of a tea party and got it rolling? It wasn’t a politician, it wasn’t a political commentator! Rick Santelli, a CNBC financial commentator ranted on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange in mid-Feburuary. His rant had nothing to do with any particular party. It had to do with government spending and taxation without representation in general. It wasn’t Fox News or one of its cronies! It was a financial analyst! Many third-party followers took the ball rolling from there with many conservatives following close behind.

Trust me, we are NOT protesting the taxing of the wealthy…not even CLOSE! We are protesting taxation without representation! What? We have representatives? No. Try again. We have PEOPLE in Congress who sit in offices on behalf of our state or region. However, more often than not, they are NOT representing the people whom they claim to represent. Rather, they are representing those who put money in their pocketbooks and keep them in office. THAT, my friends, is taxation without representation (of the people that is).

The biggest example I have of this is EVERY bailout that has been passed despite FIERCE opposition. Not only that, but the bailouts were passed without allowing for changes in salary, bonus, &/or firing practices. PLUS, the latest big bailout was passed without even giving those who are supposed to represent us a chance to read it. Thankfully, more congressmen and women DID actually listen to their constituents and refuse to vote on that one. However, not nearly enough. It should be ILLEGAL to vote on something which you have not read!

THAT is why we are protesting! We are protesting the fact that they are taxing us to the hilt…and doing so without any say from us. No. That’s not right. They HAVE our say, and they have chosen time and time again to IGNORE it! The majority of us are in the middle class. We are not on government assistance yet cannot afford to be “self-providers” in the sense that the wealthy are. We cannot afford to have another dollar taxed yet we are being taxed further to the hilt…as are our children…and THEIR children…and THEIR children as well. And it goes on…

I would HIGHLY encourage you to attend a tea party to protest if you are not in agreement with how we have been represented in the past.

Many are also mistakenly calling this a partisan issue. When will people get that this is NOT about left & right? It’s not about Republican and Democrat! It’s about our representatives and senators making decisions without regard to their constituents but rather only themselves, the future of their career, and the betterment of their pocketbook. That didn’t just start in January 2009. This started YEARS ago! Many say it started when FDR passed the New Deal…to great opposition!

Please, don’t worry about whether you're Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, Constitutionalist, Green Party, or some other party. IT DOESN’T MATTER! What matters is that our representatives and senators are voting for us, speaking for us…despite opposition from us letting them know that we feel differently!

-Me