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The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was an outspoken action of colonists against the British government. For the most part, they were protesting having to pay a tax to a government they were not represented by. The modern-day tea party movement carries on that theme in a way: many followers say they feel they are paying too much money to a federal government that’s not taking their wishes into consideration. KSMU’s Jennifer Moore reports.
Above all, there appears to be a general feeling that the federal government has overstepped its bounds with spending taxpayer money.
That, and leaning to the right on social issues, are what various tea party groups in the Ozarks have in common. But they have taken on their own flavors from place to place: think Earl Grey v. Darjeeling.
“We try to educate people on three core values of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and a Constitutionally-limited government,” says attorney Eric Farris, a leader of the Branson Tea Party Coalition. So far, he’s helped organize three tea parties. The last one had 1800 people show up, he says.
The group does not endorse candidates, but rather provides information for voters to make their own choices. The Branson Tea Party Coalition also offers weekly classes on the US Constitution, and will hold a conference in July on the same topic.
Farris says one example of how Congress has overstepped its bounds is by passing the new health care overhaul legislation.
“If you look at the Enumerated Powers [in the Constitution], you have to ask, ‘Where in the Enumerated Powers does it give Congress the ability to order every single citizen in the United States to buy a product?’ It’s not there.”
That product he’s referring to, of course, is health insurance.
2010, he says, is an action year: it’s time to elect people who will listen to their constituents, and it’s time to oust those who haven’t. 2011, he says, will be a watchdog year—to see how well those elected officials perform.
Branson’s tea party, he says, has people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds. There are Republicans and some Democrats, too, he says. There are conservative religious undertones, but the main issue uniting them is adhering to the Constitution.
In Springfield, one of the Tea Party organizers is Dave Day, who goes by “SuperDave” and has his own online talk show.
He says he’s fed up with politicians of both parties in Washington, D.C.
“And I would like to see, probably about 95 percent of the people who are up there now have a new job, or be in prison or something like that. I mean, most of them should be in prison as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Day says the federal government has way too much control of programs and services that he feels should be run by private organizations, or at least by states.
He does support military spending, but thinks that’s way out of control, too. Medicare? Privatize it, he says. Social services like disability, Medicaid, and welfare? For the most part, they are abused and don’t work, he says.
“The more you give people, the more they’re enslaved,” he says.
Day says when his taxpayer money goes toward the poor, it’s like the old metaphor of handing the person a fish, instead of teaching him how to fish.
Day: “There’s a whole lot more to it than just taking money, because you enslave people. I came from a neighborhood where that was the norm. Welfare was the norm. And welfare is slavery.”Moore: “There are many government institutions—for example, USAid, it feeds many people around the world—these types of organizations, that do what many would call—" Day: “But that’s still taking money—it’s taking the personal touch of charity away from people. So, what gives them the right for them to take my money, and give it to a charity that I don’t believe in?”
Day says he and other Americans should have the freedom to give to the private charities of their choice, and also decide how much to give.
So far, there have been three Springfield rallies, each one bringing several hundred people together, he says. The Springfield Tea Party also hasn’t endorsed candidates, he says, but invites them to talk at the rallies.
“I identify with the Republican Party. The GOP, I call the ‘GOP mafia.’ When we have the tea party, we play Godfather music and talked about the mafia in both parties. In particular, because I’m a conservative, I talk about the GOP mafia. And there is one there. And for me to go and vote for somebody just because they’ve got an ‘R’ next to their name is insane,” Day says.
And the Tea Party in Lebanon, Missouri, is spearheaded by 73-year-old Maggie Kress, who is legally blind, and runs her own home business. The last tea party, she says, had 120 people, and they’ve had to find a bigger place to meet. She supports government programs like unemployment benefits, and receives government money herself since she can’t drive or see well.
“You know, I look at things in a completely different way than that. Instead of looking at what they’re not doing, I look at what they are doing,” Kress said.
Kress’s main contention with the federal government is that it has strayed far from what she believes it was founded on: God.
“I’m almost gonna put this as number one: God being taken out of everything. You know, the abortion…we’re not really going after specifics, it’s God in general,” she said.
The United States is a Christian nation, she says, and she wants to see open prayer and Christian symbols displayed in public schools. She says she heard from a conservative talk show host that the early US laws and founding documents were based on the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, and credits the founding fathers’ faith in a higher power for the United States’ success.
Over-spending, she says, has greatly upset the members of the Lebanon Tea Party. The federal health care bill was the tipping point.
“They’re outraged, and they’re scared. Because it’s not just gonna be us. I’m 73, and I know that I don’t have but a few years left in this world. But our children, our grandchildren, and on beyond that—when you are talking of trillions of dollars of debt—it’s not going to be paid by our generation here. It’s going to be paid by beyond [generations]. And that’s not fair. It’s not fair for us to leave that burden for them,” Kress said.
The tea party members of the Ozarks are strong in number, and are well organized. None of them want to try to “read the tea leaves” by predicting what will happen in thie summer’s primaries, or in November’s election, but they know one thing: they’ll be casting ballots.
For KSMU News, I’m Jennifer Moore.
