Nearby Tea Party Draws Local Columnist

So would I walk across the street to cover a Tea Party rally?

Turns out I would.

The Cedar Rapids tax day Tea Party rally was held in Greene Square Park downtown, which I can see from my window. I would humbly request that all  future important events be held in similar proximity to my desk.

Thank you.

I watched the crowd grow as the 11:30 a.m. rally approached. I watched folks carry handmade signs and American flags. I watched Abraham Lincoln pull up in a Mercedes Benz, park and feed the meter. I'm sure he was bummed to find out the meters don't take pennies.

I walked across the street, stood in the sunshine and listened to Republican candidates for Congress rail on the feds along with about 200 other people. They, like pretty much everyone in the park, do not like our current level of taxation.  Not one bit.

While I was minding my own business, one of the event organizers walked up to me. He stood beside me and held up a sign that said something about "Media Bias." His friend snapped a photo. What fun.

I smiled at the camera, which is my polite  instinct. Now I just have to wait for it to appear on the Internet. He mumbled something about the blog State 29.

The yucks level may be lessned somewhat by the fact that I actually get paid to be biased. Opinion. Columnist. You know. Still, I'm nothing if not a good sport.

And really, bias was not my Tea Party plan.

I wanted to talk to some real live Tea Partiers and hear what they had to say. So I did for about 30 minutes after the speeches.

Here's what I heard.

First, I talked to Keith Lacy, a business owner from Marion. He spent his lunch hour at the rally.

So why come here today?

"I just want to be part of a group I think are the last group of real Americans. This country cannot afford any more of this ridiculous spending and freebies. It just can't work," Lacey said.

I asked Lacy how this gathering  is different from a Republican Party rally, which is what it looked like to  someone who has seen many GOP events over the years. Republican candidates did most of the talking.

"I think it's more than just Republicans. It's concerned citizens. I think party lines are skewing now. I don't believe everybody here today is just a Republican. They're Americans. They're working. That's why you see a lot of them going back to work now," Lacey said. "I think it's just all real American people."

Have you been politically active in the past?

"Not until the last year or so."

Did you vote for Obama in 2008?

"Absolutely not. Absolutely not. No. I think he's a socialist. I think he's as close to communist form of rule as we're ever going to get. I absolutely did not vote for him," Lacy said.

Are there any possible 2012 candidates you're interested in?

"I'm interested in several of them. But you've got to reserve your judgment. They'll say anything right now. I want to see the proof."

Next, I ran into Scott Brown. He was wearing a T-shirt that said "Scott Brown. Loves Trucks. Hates Terrorists."

The shirt was referring to that other Scott Brown, the GOP  junior senator from Massachusetts who famously  grabbed Ted Kennedy's seat.

This Scott Brown came to the party with a written statement.

"This current movement for less government, more liberty and constitutional adherence, started with Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign. This movement has now been hijacked by the monied interests for two purposes - to make a quick buck and steal as many of these people back to the Republican Party where they once again will be sold out by hypocrite Republicans," said Brown, finishing his hand-written statement.

Brown argues that establishment GOP types are trying to co-opt Paul's largely libertarian movement for fear that they could end up like Democrats who watched Green Party voters help swing the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000.

"There are two parts of this movement. There's a national part, behind the scenes, Republicans worried about a Green Party movement on the right. And there's the honest-to-God people on the ground who have legitimate concerns who don't realize some of them are being steered right back to the Republican Part, where all this continues to happen.

"Where was all this outrage about health care with Bush's liberal Medicare Part D? Where was the death panels and socialism then?" Brown said.

Brown is from Cedar Rapids and considers himself an independent. He works in Coralville, but didn't say where. He likes slogan shirts, but not slogan politics.

"That's another thing we need to get away from in our national politics, sloganeering, bumper sticker politics. We've got to have discussions on issues instead of throwing insults around like a bunch of grade schoolers and nothing gets done. That enables this mess to continue," Brown said.

Brown said he caucused for Paul in 2008. I have a feeling he will again if the Texas congressman runs.

Next, I talked with a guy holding a sign that said "One Big Attack Made on America" (That spells Obama, btw) and Taxed Enough Already (TEA). It also had an NRA sticker.

He wouldn't give me his name. But he did tell me why he came.

"A lot of people don't understand that tea doesn't stand for actually tea bags or something you drink. It's taxed enough already. That's one issue for sure.

"That's one hot button. Another is that our federal government has totally gone away from the Constitution," the man said.

He said I should read a book called the "5,000-Year Leap."

Here's the link to it on Amazon, if you're curious.

"Once you read that, you'll know what's going on. In the 1770s, they foresaw today. And that's why the Constitution was written to stop what's happening today with the federal government," he said.

What do you think is happening today?

"What's happening? There's no doubt in my mind Washington, or actually even Iowa, the people in government, are no longer listening to their citizens. I think that unfortunately, people were brainwashed, got a lot of propaganda in the presidential election. To be quite honest with you, the press did not vet the president,' he said.

He didn't vote for Obama. In 2012, he said he's interested in Sarah Palin.

"She is, right now, probably one of the most honest people out there. I honestly think hopefully she'll end up going as vice president again, gearing her up for when that term is over she'll be in line to move up as president. I'm not sure she's quite ready yet. But you can't deny when someone brings in 20, 30,40,000 people at a rally, there's something going on there."

So you still won't tell me your name?

 "I'm just the man on the street," he said.

Then I talked with Chris and Stan Giles from the northwest side of Cedar Rapids. Chris was wearing a bright purple T-shirt urging us to "Wipe the Slate 2012 Will Be Too Late."

So why did you come?

"I'm concerned about all the taxes that are imposed on us and how we're going downhill instead of up, uphill as a country. None of this was based on our freedoms that our country has been founded on. And I've had enough like a lot of people, that we just need to make a voice. Make a loud voice and do something about it. So I'm here trying to do my small part," Chris said.

Have you been politically active in the past?

"Yes I have. Mostly since the Obama, but yes we have. We're Republicans, but more conservative thinking and down to earth and just know that good, hard workers shouldn't be taxed to the max," Chris said.

So the tax issue is the big one for you?

"The tax issue is the big, big issue. And it should be for everybody because our country is going down," Chris said.

When you say our country is going down, how do you think that's illustrated?

"We're in a such a big deficit, that our budget is just is tapped to the max. I don't know what else they can pass, but they'll find a way. And I think again, too, fear is the worst thing that you can do, fear that our country isn't going to get back on track. I think God's bigger than all this, but we have to do our part too," Chris said.

Then I asked Stan about his concerns.

"My main objection is to the fact that government has so far exceeded its constitutional limitations that we are now in a giant leap here in this last administration toward socialism. And the Constitution has no provisions for the government doing the things that they're doing, taking money away from people who earn it, giving it to people who don't," Stan said.

"The economy has taken huge hits. Everything the Obama administration has done has made it worse rather than better. And every time he moves in to take over some industry under the guise of saving it, he just institutes more government unconstitutional controls over that industry. The banking industry, the auto industry and lately now the mining industry. He's poised to swoop down on them and impose suffocating controls on their operations," Stan said.

"The more you tax an economy, the more you kill the jobs prospects. The more fear the small businessmen have for their future, the fewer people they'll hire. This creates a government that needs more taxes from fewer and fewer people," Stan said. "There are so many taxes today, I can't even count the number of taxes that we pay. It's time to turn back the other way.

"I'm a strong conservative. I believe in common sense conservatism. And I think that right now, the home of conservatism is in the Republican Party," Stan said.

So what should the federal government stop doing in order to lower taxes?

"Stop coming up with new ideas to tax people, for one thing. They should step back from over-regulating and over-c0ntroling. They should give tax cuts instead of tax increases. Tax cuts will stimulate the economy."

Stan and Chris didn't vote for Obama. In 2012, they're each very interested in a Sarah Palin candidacy.

"Right now, as far as I'm concerned, the front of the pack, as far as conservative thinking from top to bottom, Sarah Palin. I think she is the most conservative of all of the people that are in the public eye right now," Stan said.

"I don't like Mitt Romney for one reason, his health care plan in Massachusetts was an abysmal failure. It's proving that now. And that's the direction we're moving in with Obamacare," Stan said.

"I'm Sarah all the way," Chris said. "150 percent. She is dynamic in her beliefs and conservativeness. And I used to live in Alaska and I know how Alaskans are, down to earth, down home, honest, good people. And I think here ideas are phenomenal. I don't know if she's going to run. I think she's got a wonderful platform.

"A lot of people don't like her because she's down to earth. She does say what she believes in. She uses little phrases that some people don't think are professional. But you know what, she's all about this country. I think people have to put their little problems aside with her voice. She's got a loud voice and boy, I tell you, she's making it well known," Chris said.

Did it bother you that she resigned as governor?

"It didn't really. Because I felt like she was already in the spotlight and was going to make a difference somewhere else. And I wasn't sure what that was, and I'm still not. But I do know that's she's making an impact on what she believes in, and that is our Constitution and our conservative thinking," Chris said.

"I think Sarah's resignation freed her up to be an activist," Stan said. "And to get around and generate the enthusiasm that she has. She would not have been able to do that had she not resigned."

"But then again too, she couldn't do the job she used to do because of the media," Chris said.

Now it's your turn, readers.

What do you make of the Tea Party? Is this truly grassroots democracy or the Republican Party in a tricorne hat? Is it overblown or underestimated as a political force?