Friday, April 17, 2009

Madison, WI Tax Day Tea Party Part 1

I joined the largest crowd to protest on the state capitol steps since the Vietnam war protests in the 60's on the 15th. Despite the media spin for other locations we had a well mannered crowd of approximately 8,200 in Madison.


Mr. Mark Block, head of the Wisconsin chapter of Americans For Prosperity was the organizer although he jokingly said he must not be a very good one or he would have ordered more buses to shuttle people from the parking area at the Alliant Energy Center to the capitol square. He did have 12 speakers and representatives(I am assuming AFP local chapter heads) from 72 counties in WI who had helped to get the word out about the event.


The first speaker was Congressman Paul Ryan who challenged the MSM's assertion that this wasn't a grass roots movement. Among the gems in his speech were these:" They (the political and media elite in this country) want you to pay up and shut up; Your patriotic duty is to pay taxes because the government is smarter than you are; America is an exceptional nation....and we want to keep it that way; We don't want to become a European nation, we want to maintain it an American nation." He then mentioned that this budget doubles our national debt in 5 years and triples it in 10, but that such spending is not necessary. He urged the crowd that if you believe in the principles that built this country- freedom, self-determination and liberty- then join us.


Then (to a bit of heckling) the Reince Priebus, the state chairman of Wisconsin's GOP had the microphone. He said "If we've learned anything over the past 4 months, it's that elections matter." The crowd heartily agreed. (There were a number of people who said they truly regretted having voted for Mr. Obama.) Mr. Priebus went on to say that "Big government stops here, big government stops today." While the crowd approved of the sentiment, they were skeptical of the GOP's ability to restrain themselves should they once again gain the majority.


The next speaker was Jerry Bader of WTAQ-Green Bay. He commented on Mr. Krugman's statement about the tea parties- that "They’re AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects."
In response, Mr. Bader said "This is the most reality Madison has seen in more than 100 years." (He's right, I grew up in Madison and have been known to refer to my hometown as "Universityland surrounded by la-la land".) He told the crowd that our greatest freedom is to have the chance to try and fail. If you've bought too much house, you're going to fail and that's the way it should be. He said Great success often comes from great risk. The implication is that without the opportunity to take great risks, we are shortchanging our opportunities to find great success as well. He encouraged the crowd to take risks and do more. Get involved and stay involved.
I'll add bits from the rest of the speakers as I have time this week.

10 comments:

Katie said...

Hi There, I just wanted to make sure you knew we are giving away a Wii to the best Tea Party sign picture taken at a Tea Party Last week. Details - http://motherofallconservatives.com/2009/04/moac-giving-away-a-wii/

Call Me Mom said...

Thanks for the head's up Kat. That's a nice prize, unfortunately for me, I am technologically challenged with neither a cell phone nor a digital camera. Best of luck to all the others who participate.

You may post a link to your contest on the comments at iratetireless minority too.

My favorite sign was:
"Where's MY stimulus? I want a pony."

Big M blog said...

This is such a great post.
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Call Me Mom said...

Thank you for stopping by. Big M. The four of us don't post here much anymore. Mr. Morris and I have our own blogs(which you can find by checking our profiles) that are fairly active. Mr. Tams and Mr. Schrag have wandered back into real life - more or less - although I believe Mr. Tams is a commenter at RedCounty.com as well as his own site on occasion.
I'm glad you enjoyed what you read. My son and I had an absolutely wonderful time at the TEA party in Madison.

Anonymous said...

thanks . for this link ,,


___________________
victor
Get 28 movie channels for 3 months free

Call Me Mom said...

victor, I'm glad you enjoyed your reading at the other blog enough to check this one too, unless it was the other way around. In either case, welcome.

Anonymous said...

Its so introspecting great article
thanks for sharing

___________________
victor
Get Payday Loan in 4 easy steps

Unknown said...

I think thats rocking thanks for sharing...
___________________
Susana
Increase your brand popularity overnight

Anonymous said...

If you can't make it to Washington DC then go to a Tea Party in Wisconsin. On 9-12-09
Madison at 12:00(Noon)
Madison State Capital (North Side of the State Capitol )
North Hamilton
Madison, WI 53703
Many are considering doing this March at noon and then heading to the March at Jefferson afterwards.
Jefferson
2:00-5:00PM
Jefferson County Courthouse
320 South Main Street
Jefferson, WI 53549
[PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION TO ALL]

Call Me Mom said...

Thanks for the info, I just went to a TEA Party in Sheboygan on Sat.