Tax Day Tea Party protesters endured bad weather and security scares on April 15 to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the massive spending plans of President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress.
Protesters gathered in Lafayette Square last Wednesday to mark a nation-wide protest. Austin, Kansas City and New York were among other locations where protesters marched and threw tea bags.
“Hundreds of thousands of citizens gathered in more than 800 cities to voice their opposition to out-of-control spending at all levels of government. Organized in all 50 states by Americans from all walks of life, these `tea parties’ were a true grassroots protest of irresponsible fiscal policies and intrusive government,” The protest’s Web site stated.
The protests were based on the historical Boston Tea Party and its stance against oppressive taxation. Protesters displayed their anger towards the state of the nation with homemade signs and slogans such as “No More Spending” and “D.C.: District of Communism,” according to The Washington Post.
The rally here in D.C. suffered from numerous setbacks and rain. “First, a truck was to dump a million bags of tea onto tarps in Lafayette Square. But it ran into permit trouble and was turned away,” the article stated.
Due to a lack of permission, the protest had to be moved from its original location in front of the Treasury Department. The difficulties culminated when police were forced to clear out Lafayette Park for some time after one protester tossed an object over the fence: not a bomb, but a box of tea.
White House officials not only broke up the party but also provided a response to the protests. According to The Washington Post, both Obama and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs highlighted the recently passed tax cuts. Obama called the reductions “the most progressive tax cut in American history.”
Some members of the Georgetown University College Republicans attended the protest. However, the group did not make an organized trip since the protest took place during the week, said Kevin Preskenis (COL ’12), GU College Republicans’ director of communications, in an e-mail.
“The tea parties across the country reflect the widespread dissatisfaction with the irresponsible rise in government spending,” Preskenis said. “I think it is inappropriate to label this as solely a conservative issue. Given the fact that the national debt will be tripled in 10 years, all Americans – Republicans and Democrats – should be concerned.”
“It’s truly outrageous. The theme is kind of hokey, but it should concern Obama and the Democrats in Congress because it represents `brewing’ revolutionary sentiments toward their unsatisfactory leadership on fiscal issues,” said Paul Courtney (COL ’11), chairman of GU College Republicans in an e-mail. “I think that they [the protests] have been very successful in that they demonstrate the public’s dissatisfaction, something that will grow if these reckless policies continue and that will surely advantage Republican candidates in 2010 and 2012.”
Georgetown University College Democrats were not present at the protest downtown, said Will Vogt (SFS ’12), GU College Democrats’ press secretary in an e-mail.
“The protests dealt with an issue of lesser importance in America today,” Vogt said. “Our society faces so many challenges: health care, the economy, the wars abroad. The everyday tax complaints of a small few pale in comparison to the possible crises that could very well impact the global economic and political systems. They seemed to be more a form of entertainment than an effective political movement.”
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