At one booth, attendees were asked to sign a petition seeking a bill to halt “illegal alien ID theft and Social Security fraud.”
Bumper stickers near that booth read, “Team Israel: Kicking the Hamas Out of Terror,” “Obama Lies Economy Dies” and “Hey Alaska, Wanna Trade Governors?”
One side of a sign carried by a participant bore a quote from President Barack Obama’s autobiography: “I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.”
But one local TEA Party organizer – TEA stands for Taxed Enough Already – said he does not see the movement as endorsing any particular social issue. Ken Morse – dressed in Colonial garb in Heritage Park – added that some of the items for sale at the booths have nothing to do with the beliefs of the rally’s organizers.
Morse said the TEA Party movement isn’t a conservative movement.
“The issue that we’re concerned about is the overspending. ... The movement is not an anti-Obama movement,” he said.
George Ganyon of Tacoma wore a three-cornered, Revolutionary War-themed cap and carried a “Spirit of ’76” U.S. flag. He said he was at the rally because “I want less government.” Ganyon, a Vietnam veteran, said it used to gall him to see “hippie dippie” protesters in 1968. Recently, Ganyon said, he had an epiphany.
“Then it dawned on me that all those demonstrators, they’re running the country now,” he said.
Ganyon said he heard about the TEA Party movement on the radio and on TV, and it’s the first time he has ever taken part in a demonstration.
“We’re too busy working to demonstrate,” he said. “This is kind of like our little thing.”
Several hundred people took part in Saturday’s rally, sitting on blankets in the sun, dressed in Colonial-era costume or wearing apparel featuring the U.S. flag.
Attendee Terry Little, who lives near Bonney Lake, said, “I’m for liberty and I’m for the Constitution, and that’s being infringed on daily, especially in light of who’s in the Oval Office.”
The first speaker at Saturday’s event, Floyd Brown, spoke out against “Barack Hussein Obama” and the “cap-and-trade” bill that he endorses to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.
Brown argued that the cap-and-trade bill would raise taxes because utility companies would pass added costs to clients.
“This tax is going to cost the average American family $3,100 a year,” he said, citing a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Tim Eyman, sponsor of Initiative 1033, also spoke to the crowd. Initiative 1033 would reduce property taxes by limiting the growth of certain state, county and city revenue to annual inflation and population growth – excluding voter-approved revenue increases.
Eyman said he still is seeking the requisite signatures in a petition drive to put Initiative 1033 on the ballot. As of Monday, he said, supporters of the initiative had 270,055 signatures – about 20,000 short of the 292,000 valid signatures required to put it on the ballot in November.
The deadline for collecting signatures is July 3. He said that other TEA Party rallies – earlier this year and on July 4 – have been instrumental in collecting signatures for the petition.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465
jpawloski@theolympian.com
