Tea'd off

In the spirit of 1773, hundreds gathered Saturday to protest federal spending, taxes

"Who upsets you?"

Susan Taylor's question didn't have an easy answer. The three options on the table before her all seemed like the right response to many people Saturday at Kalispell's Depot Park.

On the left was a basket for Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester. On the right, a basket for Montana Rep. Denny Rehberg. And in the center was a basket for President Barack Obama.

All were loaded with signed tea bag wrappers. Many people hadn't chosen one basket; instead, they'd signed three wrappers and tossed one in each basket.

The wrappers, minus the tea inside, will be mailed to the political leaders, said Taylor, who helped organize Saturday's Flathead Tea Party. The message is simple: Many Americans ardently oppose recent spending policies in Washington, D.C.

Dozens of "tea parties' such as the one that took place in Depot Park have attracted thousands of people across the country. Kalispell's rally drew about 500 people.

The rallies were inspired in part by the Boston Tea Party of 1773, when American colonists dumped overtaxed British tea into Boston harbor. Recent tea parties are more environmentally sound but do not lack the original tea party's spirit of protest.

"I'm here because I'm tired of the way they're spending my taxes and what they're doing to my grandkids," Diana Reynolds said. "I would like to see a nonviolent end to all of the taxation, but I think people are getting angry enough that that may not happen."

Saturday's rally featured music and speeches from several Flathead residents, including retired Brig. Gen. Jim Cash and retired Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely.

Cash stirred up the crowd when he urged the federal government to 'stop spending money we don't have."

"This nonsense did not work for FDR, and it's not going to work today," he said, as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

The key, Cash said, is for Republicans to regain control of one house of Congress. Without checks and balances in the federal government, the United States has a one-party system, he said.

"Congress holds the purse strings, and a lot of Americans don't seem to understand that," Cash said. "Congress is the answer."

Vallely further ignited the crowd when he urged the audience to "Stand up, America" - the title of his radio program - and to "take the snooze button off."

"Don't be sheep being led down a trail that's going to destroy America," he said.

In addition to tea bags and speeches, people at the rally signed a long, butcher-paper scroll. A copy of the scroll will be sent to Montana's congressional delegation, Taylor said.

Scores of people milled around the park with homemade signs bearing a variety of fed-up and frustrated slogans such as "Give me liberty or give me debt" and "Taxation without representation! Read the bill before you represent me." The signs drew honks from passers-by.

"You listen to the honking - they're really honking" in support, Dr. G.W. Ingham said.

"This is the start of something big today. It's the start of a big movement in the U.S.," Ingham said. "The silent majority is waking up."

Ingham said the size of the gathering was proof that change is on the horizon. Most of the people at the tea party, himself included, never thought they'd take part in something like this, he said.

"I would never, ever have thought I'd be involved in a rally," he said.

But he and others across the country have been driven to it by recent policies in Washington, D.C., he said.

"It's so far out of bounds, it's ridiculous," he said. "I think people are beginning to realize what socialism is really all about."

"Wolfman" Jim Moody said every morning he and a friend "just melt the phone cussing over Obama" and the current state of the federal government. He offered a cheaper alternative to the recent $787 billion stimulus law.

"It would have cost way less if they would have sent everybody a check for $100,000," Moody said.

Finding representatives who will listen to the so-called 'silent majority" was a recurring theme at the rally. One sign read, "Throw out toxic government" and listed of members of Congress, including Baucus, Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The purpose of the rally and others like it is "just to let the government know we're very displeased," said Jim Flinchbaugh, who, along with his wife, Linda, helped to organize the Flathead Tea Party. "They're not for the people. They're strictly for their own benefits, and they're trying to kill the Constitution."

The protests are expected to continue across the country for the next couple of weeks. More than 150 are planned for Tax Day, April 15.

Polson is holding a tea party from 4 to 6 p.m. April 15 in Riverside Park next to the bridge. Participants are encouraged to come with costumes and "credible, nonpartisan, dignified signs." For further information, e-mail Becky Upton at dr_upton@hotmail.com or Annette Schiele at mtnsplendor@yahoo.com or 552-0944.

Kalispell will hold a demonstration at noon April 15. Organizers encourage people to bring signs and march at the Veterans Memorial in Depot Park, Kalispell City Hall, or the U.S. post offices on North Meridian Road or First Avenue West.

For further information about the events, visit the Flathead Tea Party Web site, www.voicesofmontana.org.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com