Posted on 03/26/2009 7:37:38 PM PDT by Free Vulcan
It's one of the most famous protests in American history.
Angry over the British Parliament's tax policies and the British East India Co.'s tea monopoly, a group of Boston colonists on December 16, 1773, raided three ships and dumped their shipments of tea into the harbor.
Now more than 235 years later, protesters plan two symbolic re-enactments -- one in Burlington and one in Fort Madison -- of that famous act in protest of taxation, company bailouts, rampant government spending and "control by a far-away government."
But as a southeastern Iowa twist, instead of tea, these protesters will be throwing catfish bait into the Mississippi River.
"The DNR didn't want us to throw tea. So we're going to use this (soybean cake) just to see something come out of the box," said organizer Mike Daily of Fort Madison. "We wouldn't want caffeinated catfish."
The Burlington Tea Party will begin at 10 a.m. April 4 at the corner of Sixth and Washington streets. Participants will march to the Port of Burlington parking lot.
The Fort Madison Tea Party will start at 2 p.m. the same day at Central Park and be continued with a march to Riverview Park.
Daily said he was inspired to organize the non-partisan events after reading about hundreds of similar protest popping up all over the country.
While the famous battle cry "no taxation without representation" may not directly apply, Daily said politicians are refusing to listen to those who elected them.
"In the final analysis, I'd say the American people have more of a say than even our government leaders. Because our government leaders aren't spending their money, they're spending ours," Daily said.
More people need to step forward and voice their opinions to politicians, he said.
"Bush was excoriated for his half-a-trillion dollar debt, as he should have been. Now we're up to numbers I can't even fathom," Daily said, referring spending plans proposed by President Barack Obama which could double the national debt in six years and nearly triple it by 2010, according to an estimate put out by the Congressional Budget Office.
Daily said elected officials need to stop spending and start cutting taxes.
"We can't borrow our way to prosperity. ... We're spending way too much money," he added.
Daily also criticized the federal government for trying to throw money at problems without seeing results.
"We can't bail out the entire country with taxpayer dollars. We've given trillions to companies, and nobody knows where it is," Daily said. "If Ford and Chevy and Chrysler can't produce a product at a price that will sell, than something better will come along."
Daily's ire also extends to state government. He criticized Gov. Chet Culver's proposed plan to borrow $700 million to create jobs and update aging infrastructure in the state.
"If you don't have the money to buy a new Cadillac, you just do without. You drive a Chevy," Daily said. "There are times you can be flush and times you can't, and this is definitely not a time to go into debt."
The Burlington Tea Party will begin at 10 a.m. April 4 at the corner of Sixth and Washington streets. Participants will march to the Port of Burlington parking lot.
The Fort Madison Tea Party will start at 2 p.m. the same day at Central Park and be continued with a march to Riverview Park.
Make some signs, come on down and express your frustration at Washington (or Des Moines, Springfield, or Jeff City).
And to keep the environuts happy, we're going to throw in catfish bait.
Its not a Tea Party till you tar and feather a lib
I am in touch with the Richmond Tea Part and it should be a BLAST!
“The DNR didn’t want us to throw tea. So we’re going to use this (soybean cake) just to see something come out of the box,”
My my, the government wouldn’t like it if we used real tea in our protest.
We bow to down to the Almighty Nanny and then think that our “protest” is going to have some result. When someone organizes a group to dress like Indians and smash in the windows of an IRS office they might merit the headline “will resemble Boston Tea Party.”
We didn’t want to get denied or castigated or prosecuted for dumping tea. It would just distract from the event.
This is a blue collar union area. Trust me, we don’t play nice.
Is it possible to buy acorns in bulk? I’d like to send a bunch to Obammy but, even more, I’d like to burn a whole pile of them in a public venue.
Can’t have leaves falling into the water. They might get release CO2.
Yeah, throwing soybean cake into the water!???!! Are they into this thing or NOT!?? Sheesh. Embarrassing.
1773 was the last time that Boston Harbor was clean.
The DNR won’t let us throw tea into the water. They consider it a pollutant. So we have to find something or no protest.
Seriously, instead of whining why don’t you get off your dead ass and do something?
Kinda fits, doesn’t it?
Actually yeah there are businesses that collect them and sell them to tree planting services. My buddy had one that’s out of business now. I don’t know if a search engine would come up with anything or not.
So sorry to be missing this. But I have a meeting in St Louis that weekend. I’ll be spending my time between now and then scraping the bumper stickers off my car so i don’t get arrested for making political statements! ;?)
You're on the right track !
We haven't been hit with a new tax on tea, but in June the House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey "Cap & Trade" bill, that ridiculous tax on Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions.
We could follow in the footsteps of the original Boston Tea Party, which is to defiantly and loudly dump the goods which bear an outrageous tax...
This year, the "goods" are CO2.
What if the next tea party had balloons given to everyone to be inflated with their breath (which contains CO2).
Then the emcee says "All together now: HEY CONGRESS ! Tax THIS !! And the entire crowd lets the air (with CO2) sputter noisily out of their balloons toward Washington DC !
With a simple technique, air escaping from the neck of a balloon can be very loud and bizarre, lasting over 1 minute !
You could even let the CO2 air sputter into the water, making some very politically incorrect noises.
Can the DNR arrest people for that ?
Any balloons will work, but "No Cap & Trade" printed balloons are now made at a factory in Iowa City.
What do you think ?
.
I am not aware of any law that would prevent you from ‘releasing air’. But, depending upon the temperment of the police & DNR, I would encourage everyone not to litter....
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