Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Madison, WI Tax Day Tea Party Part 2

Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, continued the message of the day by calling on legislators to back off and recognize that strong families are the heart of the economy and the nation. Her message, that the current spending is taxation without representation because those who will have to pay it off have not yet been born, was very well received by the crowd. She continued by telling legislators: 'Your job is to govern this state, not to gouge it's families'. She remarked on the difficulty of leaving our families anything except staggering, horrendous debt. She also called on the crowd to work to replace all of our elected officials.



This was a fairly common theme and one to which I must take exception. There is good reason to get rid of many of those who are currently sitting in our congress as well as our state legislatures, but let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. These folks have made the decisions they have, often in response to input from those who want the things they think such legislation will bring about and in absence of any input from those of us who believe in personal responsibility, self determination and limited government. Instead of throwing them out, I think we should examine their records, decide who is truly representing the best interests of their constituents and our country and throw the rest out. In addition, I think we need to show some support for those who are trying to do the right thing by sending them feedback and opinions. It's a lot easier for an elected official to stand up and do the right thing if they know they are not alone. Yes, get involved, but do more than complain.



Mayor Dave Ross from Superior asked "I wonder where the tax raisers rally will be? He went on to say "The incumbent I beat said he was driving down taxes by raising them 13%...We now have a plan to get to zero debt for our municipality." This was greeted with much approval. I have to say, that when I mentioned this speech to someone later, they said: "Well that sounds good, but has their crime rate gone up? What services did they let go? Are their streets clean? These are all good questions, but they miss the point. The point is that if we cannot afford to pay for services, we shouldn't buy them. There were huge crowds lining Pennsylvania Ave. for Mr. Reagan's funeral. There were only a few bits of litter after that crowd had cleared. After Mr. Obama's inauguration, the placed looked like a a garbage dump. What's the difference? I would submit to us all that the difference is the difference between the attitude that says "I should pick up after my self and leave the place cleaner than I found it" and the one that says "Someone else will pick it up for me-that's why I pay taxes." And that's what this movement is about-picking up after ourselves and being good stewards of our government and our country for our children and generations yet to be born.



Mr. Ross finished by asking "How much of our money does the government want? All of it!...They have forgotten that they are our servants." One hopes they have been reminded and will continue to be reminded in days to come.

13 comments:

Julaine Appling said...

Let's clarify a bit here. I did not say we should get rid of all elected officials. I said that we need to elect good people to office. That includes good incumbents. I've never been one to say "throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Call Me Mom said...

Ms. Appling,
Welcome to the blog and thank you for you work in to protect families and conservative values in Wisconsin.
I was in attendance at the tea party and I can only write so fast. (I do not have a video camera or a digital voice recorder and so, was reporting the old fashioned way.)

My impression of what you said was that we needed to replace all of our elected officials. Having searched a few YouTube videos of the event, I concede that I may have noted your statement about the next election cycle as a call to replace all of our elected officials. Your remarks, as found through the Wisconsin Family Action newsletter(yes I receive it, Thank you.)also included these statements:"Wisconsin Family Action believes the change we are really looking for will come only when different people are elected to represent us! We’re in this mess because those we elected ignored us, or listened to a party leader or line, or had an agenda. The way out is for us to elect truly good people to every level of government—from school board right through the presidency." I have to agree that the statement does not specifically say we should throw them all out, but you will kindly note that you did not qualify your statements by saying "some different people" or "most of those we elected". I hope I may be forgiven for hearing those unqualified remarks as a call to replace all of our current legislators.
I am glad to hear you say that we have some good incumbents. I believe my legislators have been representing my district's conservative values faithfully. It is a difficult job to be an elected official and I appreciate those who step up to the task and who do the right thing consistently. We need to be supportive of them with those qualifiers.

Once again, thank you for speaking at the protest, thank you for your work with Wisconsin Family Action and welcome to the blog.

On a different note, I would also appreciate your thoughts on the current post at my blog, Irate, Tireless Minority. Thank you.

Julaine Appling said...

Call Me Mom--thanks for the double-check. You are right--I didn't specifically say, "Keep the good ones." But, I certainly know we have some good ones, especially since I work with elected officials on a regular basis. I do hope, however, that people realize some they think are good may not be as good as they (double reference intended!) think they are. Most people have no idea how often we "pull" some elected officials into the right vote. They get there, but I know for them it's more often than not about politics over principle.

A case in point happened today. The state senate voted on gubernatorial appointments to key medical boards today. On one of the votes, former Rep. Sheldon Wasserman was up for a seat on the Medical Examining Board. Wasserman had a terrible, anti-life, anti-conscience protection voting track record. Nevertheless, 4 of the Senate Republicans voted to confirm him for the position--and I could have told you before the vote they would do so. But, when I talk with people in their districts, they think these folks are staunch pro-life, pro-family conservatives. Ummmm...maybe not.

You are absolutely right that being an elected official at any level is not easy. And I take every opportunity to thank those who run, win and serve--especially those who serve with honor, dignity and a close adherence to the principles that made this state and nation great.

I think we fundamentally agree...which is nice! But I do want to make sure you know where I'm coming from on this topic.

I glanced at your other blog, and I'm familiar with the topic. I'll have to get to that at a later date! Sorry...a few irons in the fire that need attention right now.

God bless!

Call Me Mom said...

I think we do agree, ms. Appling-which IS nice.

I heard about the upcoming vote on that issue. Which republicans voted for Mr. Wasserman? Never mind, you'll probably have names in the newsletter.

As for the other, when you have time is fine. The issue isn't going anywhere.

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Call Me Mom said...

Rozy, thanks for commenting.

Anonymous said...

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Sharon
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Andy Morgan said...

About the election no matter who is elected still they will say what the party authorize them to say. Once elected they never represent the people who have voted. This is the past experience may be in future this will change. But for politicians party and the seats is the priority.

Call Me Mom said...

Andy, thanks for stopping by the blog.
You are right and I will soon be posting an article here from Liberty Features Syndicate that makes that very point. It is up to We the People to put a stop to that by electing people who don't want to make politics their career.

joyrabby said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Call Me Mom said...

joyrabby Thank you for visiting, but I will not have that sort of link here so I have deleted your comment.