TAXED ENOUGH

WASILLA — On tax day, the Tea Party took on a tight-fisted tone.

With signs like “Legacy of Debt” and “Mortgaging Our Future,” it was clear the approximately 250 people gathered Thursday at Wasilla Lake were upset with the federal deficit.

“TEA stands for ‘Taxed Enough Already,’” event organizer Amy Thomas said. “The purpose is to share with America that we the people have been taxed enough.”

Thomas said the government could cut taxes if it returned to only providing the services outlined in the Constitution. Those services do not include heath care, education or other entitlement programs.

Thomas, who was born in Canada, said she saw what big government can lead to when she lived in British Columbia. Now, worried this country is headed in a similar direction, she applied for citizenship after 45 years of living in the U.S.

“People want to be doing something,” Thomas said. “They feel like nobody’s listening to them.”

If Art Graveley could tell the president one thing it would be to cut the deficit, he said. He would start by cutting the welfare programs, and there is a whole wing of advisers to help show the president how.

Jim Plumley is upset. He is a patriot, he said, and he is watching the president and Congress destroy the country.

“Too many good men and women died for this for them to destroy it,” he said.

Washington, D.C., is giving away his children’s money and spending the country into oblivion, Plumley said. Asked what services he would like to see cut to reduce the spending, “start with health care and move next to congressional pay,” he said.

Plumley said members of Congress should only be allowed to serve two terms and not receive any retirement benefits. “Our founders did not plan to make Congress a retirement program for fat cats.”

Health care should have been reformed in parts, Plumley said, not through the 2,000-page bill recently passed by Congress. There are some good parts to the bill, but the country doesn’t have enough doctors to cover the 30 million additional people expected to get insurance under the new bill, he said.

According to the placard Ben Botkin was holding, politicians who voted for all the recent spending have been put on notice. The voters will remember come election season, and that goes for Alaska state legislators too.

“There are a couple good people in there, but most voted for one of the biggest budgets in years,” Botkin said. “Our weapon is our vote.”

This sentiment wasn’t lost on those still too young to vote. Parents had children of all ages toting signs and waving flags. Shayde Williams and Caitlynn Horton, both 14, said they understood what the Tea Party movement is all about.

“We were chilling in town and we saw it and were like ‘Yeah dude, that’s pretty cool,’” Williams said. “We’re learning about the Boston Tea Party in school.”

Horton said she pretty much agreed with her parents when it came to political matters, and she too thinks taxes are too high.

Asked if they made the signs they were waving on the corner of the Parks Highway and Crusey Street, they said no. The Conservative Patriots Group — organizers of the rally — had extras.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.