Tea Time

Today, thousands if not millions of Americans expressed their displeasure with the government with Tax Day Tea Parties. In my hometown of Lafayette, IN, protesters threw hundreds of teabags into the Wabash River. In my current residence of Bloomington, people gathered outside of Representative Baron Hill's office. All over the nation, people gathered, chanted, and raised signs together.

It is important to realize that these parties are not political. Republicans, Democrats, conservatives, liberals. All stand together at these rallies to express their anger and outrage. They feel government has grown too large, that taxes have risen too high, and that we have spent enough money helping out companies that refuse to help themselves.

We have not seen something of this scale since the protests against the Vietnam War. People claim that the participants should not claim they are having tea parties, as the Boston Tea Party was held over the principle of no taxation without representation. To those participating in these parties, they feel that they are not being represented in government. And for the most part, I have to agree with them. Congress is going unchecked, as they and the president are of the same political party, so there is nothing to stop any far-left agendas from going through. I believe that while many people voted for change, they did not know that they were voting for people who were for such large expansion of government and spending.

I do have one qualm. While people complain about having high taxes, they offer no alternatives. They offer no list of government programs to cut funding for, or eliminate all together. They don't want to continue funding government bailouts, but they may not necessarily want companies to go bankrupt either.

It remains to be seen if these parties will have a lasting affect on government. ABC News reported that President Obama was unaware of the parties, so I doubt he will change any policy because of them. The parties will only have a lasting impact if the people behind them continue them. Parties, marches, anything. If they truly feel that they are being disenfranchised, then they must continue to have their voices heard, even if the mainstream media chooses to ignore them.