Break out the tea kettle... It's tax day in Peachtree City.
Local resident Cindy Fallon has spent the past month organizing an April 15 "Tax Day Tea Party" protest. The event is scheduled to begin at noon tomorrow in front of the Peachtree City library and government complex.
"The response we've had so far has just been overwhelming," Fallon explained. "We're planning for a large turnout, but honestly, I think it could be anywhere from 50 to 1,000 people. There's just so much concern out there about the bailouts, the bonuses and higher taxes."
According to Fallon, local Sen. Ronnie Chance, Rep. Matt Ramsey and current Secretary of State and 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel will all attend and speak at the Peachtree City event.
Later that day, Sharpsburg's Wendy Bloedt will coordinate the loading of buses at the Coweta County fairgrounds to take a local group to the larger Atlanta Tea Party Protest featuring Fox News' Sean Hannity.
According to the Tea Party movement's official website, the 2009 Tea Party protests trace their roots back to a February 19 self-described rant by CNBC’s Rick Santelli.
Standing on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, the financial executive turned cable correspondent called for a "Chicago Tea Party" after an impassioned tirade railing against federal mortgage relief plans.
"This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbors' mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills? … President Obama, are you listening?" Santelli said on CNBC's 'Squawkbox' program. "We're thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July. All you capitalists that want to head to Lake Michigan, I'm going to start organizing."
Santelli's rant quickly became an internet sensation. Within days, "Tea party" websites began to surface. With the encouragement of Fox News television personalities, syndicated columnist Michele Malkin and others, Tea party protests started popping up in cities all across the country. The movement is nationally coordinated, but locally organized.
While local activists like Fallon and Bloedt insist that the Tea Parties are non-partisan, grassroots responses to excessive government spending and corporate bailouts, the movement's critics paint a different picture.
Nobel laureate Paul Krugman wrote in an April 12 New York Times editorial that the Tea Parties, "Don't represent a spontaneous outpouring of public sentiment. They're AstroTurf (fake grass roots) events, manufactured by the usual suspects."
Krugman went on to explain that, "a key role is being played by FreedomWorks, an organization run by Richard Armey, the former House majority leader, and supported by the usual group of right-wing billionaires. And the parties are, of course, being promoted heavily by Fox News."
The non-profit media watchdog group Media Matters has released a detailed report criticizing Fox News for actively promoting the protests and for characterizing them as, "primarily a response to President Obama's fiscal policies."
During an April 6 live telecast, Fox News' Glenn Beck even went so far as to call the protests the, "Fox News Channel Tax Day Tea Parties."
But, for local activists, the outrage is not manufactured -- it is both urgent and very real.
"It's hit a nerve. A lot of people are very concerned by what our government is doing with our money," Fallon stated.
For more information concerning tomorrow's Peachtree City protest, contact Fallon via email at cwfallon@bellsouth.net. For info on the bus trip to the Atlanta rally, please contact Bloedt via email at ridethebuscoweta@hotmail.com or by phone at 678-898-0257.
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