The "Columbia Tea Party" and the News Thereof

Left: A girl with her family at the "Columbia Tea Party" holds a sign reading "Don't Mortgage My Future," expressing concern that the recent "bailouts" and stimulus bill will do little more than incur trillions of dollars of debt for future generations. This Photographer says, "Rock on!" Center: Mark, Hannah, Joseph, Gabrielle and Abigail Hatfield proudly carry homemade protest signs Thursday, March 12, at Flat Branch Park in Columbia, despite frigid 35-degree temperatures. This Photographer, oddly enough, just so happened to be standing right behind the camera at the time. Right: Mark Hatfield of Marshall places a package containing a protest letter and several tea bags in the collection bin during the "Columbia Tea Party" rally Thursday, March 12. About 100 pounds of tea was collected to be sent to Missouri Republican Senator Kit Bond, Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill and directly to Washington D.C. in protest of the stimulus package and recent "bailouts."

This Reporter, along with his father, Mark Hatfield, and siblings, Joseph, Abigail, Gabrielle, and Hannah, of Marshall, made the hour-long drive to Columbia to be a part of the "Columbia Tea Party" rally Thursday, March 12.

From Marshall to St. Louis, even from as far as Harrison in northwest Arkansas, about 500 people total braved the 35-degree weather and came to Flat Branch Park in Columbia in protest of Congress' recent spending spree and the tax hikes they say are sure to follow.

Participants, including the This Reporter's family, brought boxes and bags of tea (estimated to total about 100 pounds) to be sent with protest letters to Missouri senators Kit Bond, a Republican, and Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, as well as to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington D.C.

Even young kids got into the spirit, waving signs with messages like "I Owe What?" and "Don't Mortgage My Future." One protest letter read was from a 12-year-old named Maggie Brothers, who wrote, "Kids my age will have to fix whatever the adults mess up. Because of the adults, our generation might have to pay off trillions of dollars in debt. I just don't think that that's fair, do you? ... I know that this might be rude, but I think that you're wrong."

(Pretty assertive, isn't she?)

The movement started with the now-infamous "rant" by CNBC's Rick Santelli on the floor of CME Group Inc. in Chicago in which he called for a "Chicago Tea Party" (in reference to the famed Boston Tea Party that helped spark the American Revolution) to protest the "bailouts" and stimulus packages coming out of Washington D.C.

(In an irony to end all ironies, Playboy magazine later came out with a story saying Santelli and the rant was a staged "fake." But, apparently, Playboy took the story down from their website after being contacted about numerous untruths in the story.)

The "Columbia Tea Party," which was unrelated to other Taxpayer Tea Parties held across the country, was arranged by radio station KSSZ The Eagle 93.9 FM and Columbia talk radio host Gary Nolan.

Nolan, a prominent member of the Libertarian Party, was broadcasting live from the event on his show, "The Drive with Gary Nolan," from 4 to 6 p.m., along with Tom Bradley, host of the recently renamed radio show "Wake Up Columbia" on The Eagle.

"These are angry taxpayers," said Nolan. "They are people who think they shouldn't have to pay for somebody's mortgage who lied to get it. They are people who don't want to see their money in Washington D.C. wasted. They are people who want smaller government. They've been silent. They've been quiet. They are tired of it. Now, they are making a statement that they hear in Washington D.C."

Among the protesters was Rusty Gowin, a resident of Columbia who was recently laid off from Square D manufacturing factory in Columbia. Gowin said this of the connection between the Boston Tea Partiers and the Columbia Tea Partiers: "They hid themselves more than they are doing here. We're out in the open about it. We're letting people see our faces. We're not hiding. They dressed like Indians so that the government didn't know who they were. We're out here to show our faces."

Apparently, Gowin is not as convinced that the recent federal stimulus package is going to create as many jobs as some people think. This (Completely Unbiased) Reporter happens to agree.

To open the rally, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder spoke over the phone in support of the effort, referencing the quip attributed to former congressman and senator Everett Dirksen: "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money."

Among others, Glenn Nielsen, Missouri state chairman of the Libertarian Party, talked some about the dissatisfaction with the former Bush Administration, and particularly the socialistic style of the No Child Left Behind act.

"Is that Republican?" Nielsen asked the crowd. "Is that conservative?" To both questions, the protestors replied with a resounding, "NO!"

Former Missouri Rep. Ed Robb said the recent stimulus was "probably the worst alternative they could have gone with."

But the most exuberating speaker was Colin Malaker, a dentist and owner of Sterling Dental Care in Columbia, who spoke to the crowd about the FairTax plan. The Fair Tax Act (H.R. 25 and S. 296) is an overhaul of the tax system and seeks to replace all federal income taxes with a single national retail sales tax, with a monthly tax rebate to families below the poverty line.

The FairTax plan also requires the overturning of the 16th Amendment, which currently allows Congress to hike income taxes without apportioning it among states or basing it on census results.

Eliminating all federal income taxes, the FairTax legislation would apply a 23 percent federal retail sales tax on the total transaction value of a purchase; in other words, consumers pay to the government 23 cents of every dollar spent in total (referred to as "tax-inclusive," as income taxes are calculated). The assessed tax rate is 30 percent if the FairTax is applied to the pre-tax price of a product like traditional U.S. state sales taxes (called "tax-exclusive").

(In a single sentence: every $77 worth of stuff you put in the shopping cart, you pay $100 at the checkout. This might seem high at first, but then you have to consider the fact that not a dime will be taken out of you're pay check for taxes, so you'll easily make up the difference there.)

Malaker stated Missouri Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer was one of a growing number of both Republicans and Democrats who support the FairTax plan, but said he had not yet signed on because he did not know if his constituents supported it. Malaker then invited Columbians, residents of the ninth congressional district of Missouri and all Missourians to write to Luetkemeyer or their representative to show support for the FairTax plan.

For the closing ceremony, Nolan dunked a tea bag into the Flat Branch Creek that runs through the park. Flat Branch Creek was, according to Nolan, the original water source the city of Columbia was founded on.

(Pretty nifty, huh? Yeah, I thought so. Like I say up at the top there in the mini-bio deal, I support neither the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party, so I relay this story simply as an American who cares about common sense, dignity, and the abolition of stupidity.)

Hoka Hay!