Fair / 61° F
Taxpayers launch revolution
Published 11:32am Thursday, April 16, 2009Attendees at a tax day protest in Elbow Lake Wednesday said they’re concerned rising national debt will fall on the shoulders of their children.
The so-called “tea party” was one of hundreds of similar events across the country marking the day federal tax returns were due. Organized by Grant County Republicans, the Elbow Lake event was both a protest against government spending and a call for change.
Laurel Malmstrom, a longtime Republican activist from Henning, was among the participants gathered outside the Grant County courthouse. The grandmother of six, Malmstrom said she’s worried the stimulus package and other spending by federal officials will be detrimental to her loved ones.
“I really feel they’re stealing from my grandchildrens’ future,” she said. “They’re going to be bankrupt before they actually go out into the (workforce).”
Bill Schulz of Fergus Falls, the father of two college-age daughters, echoed similar sentiments.
“I don’t see why, at that young age, they have to owe that much money for the excesses of their elders,” he said.
Speakers at Wednesday’s gathering referenced the American colonists who dumped tea into Boston Harbor in December 1773 as a protest against taxation without representation.
“We’re being represented but we’re protesting the unbelievable spending that’s happening at the federal level today,” said Dave Starner, chair of the Republican Party of Grant County.
Hilda Bettermann, a former state representative from Brandon, said the country is increasingly governed by special interests who get millions of dollars worth of tax exemptions.
“Remember, we the people are the government,” she said. “But our elected officials seem to have forgotten that.”
“The first American tea party birthed a nation,” she said. “The second could help save it.”
For Jason Kirchenwitz, who attended the tea party with his wife and infant, the event was also about education. The country’s national debt should be a concern for people across all political parties, he said.
“It’s not just a Republican thing, it’s an American thing,” he said.
A petition voicing locals’ concerns will be mailed to the president and Minnesota congressional leaders, Starner said. Dozens of empty tea bags collected by protesters are also destined for the White House.
At least 16 Minnesota cities were scheduled to host tea parties Wednesday, including one in St. Paul that included a tea-dumping ceremony. The Republican Party of Otter Tail County is tentatively scheduling a similar event for May.
