All it all, the event was tons of fun. Everyone was polite, there was no violence, there was no racism, there was no hate speech, there were no threats, no throwing of stones.. it was exceptionally civil, family friendly, and welcoming. Rallies like this make me proud to be a conservative. We aren’t radicals, we aren’t psychos. We’re just regular people tired of not having our voices heard. We might be ignored at times because we aren’t as loud and rowdy, but we’re just as organized and just as willing to get out and make a stand. If the government keeps on going the way it has, it’s in for a rude awakening come election day.

I consider myself a fiscal conservative, and there is one thing myself and the tea party attendees all agree on: government spending must be exercised as little and as prudently as possible.

I didn’t attend my local tea party, though, because I thought the idea was both ironic and stupid. Sure, I don’t question that it was well-organized and that people were civil and polite. It was a peaceful demonstration. My problems with it are: a) it’s a bad historical reference, as our taxes are backed by Congressional representation; b) I can’t recall these hypocrites organizing or even voicing complaints when Bush expanded the government and tremendously increased spending; and c) ironically, most of the people attending receive the tea parties got tax breaks — not increases — under the current administration’s policy.

Sure, I’m not a big fan of government spending. Hell, even though I vote for them more often than Republicans (it’s the whole God thing), I’m not a huge fan of the Democratic party either. My problem is… Gee, it sure seems like it’s only “Socialism” when the other party is doing it.

…people attending receive the tea parties got tax breaks…

Ugh.

You should expect that. I live in New York State and people here were just waiting to rip into Bush for any reason he gave them (Though he did end up giving them quite a few.) Of course people of the opposite political spectrum will be quicker to voice concerns and opposition to an administration. It goes both ways and it’s to be expected. Sure it’s not objectively fair, but discounting or discrediting a position because of the source is just the same as trusting an authority figure to much. Judge the cause by the cause itself, not the political party involved, otherwise you’ll justify yourself into simply reaffirming your preexisting beliefs.

Chuck, I understand your point about Republicans being hypocritical on spending, but I’ve been pretty consistent with my message of fiscal responsibility. This is my very first post on the subject of public finance, and it’s not exactly pro-Bush. Being an intellectually honest fiscal conservative means standing up against waste — no matter which party is wasteful.

Thanks for your comments and for attending a Tea Party. It’s a credit to you and an excellent form of Patriotic service.

We must fight the Obama ilk for this is war to preserve the founding of America not for changing the foundation of this great country into Amerika.

OOOHAAAA! Rangers Lead the Way, Patriot’s Lead the Charge.

P.S. You have since been added to my Conservative Blogroll.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of modern Republicans are only Republicans-in-name-only, they don’t stand up for any of the traditional tenets of conservatism like small government, fiscal responsibility or staying the hell out of your life.

Here in California, they passed the largest tax increase in the history of the country and only one Republican in Sacramento is screaming about it, the rest have all been bought off by the wild-spending Democrats.

It’s disgusting.

Whoo! I forgot I commented here. Just one follow-up.

Janus, of course I know you’ve been consistent, but you’re one of the few. I didn’t mean to insinuate that you, yourself, were at all being hypocritical, only that most of the people who attended those things were. ;)