There was a great turnout for the Tax Day Rally in Miller Park. Despite the hassles, we think crossed the line into harassment by the City of Lynchburg, we had somewhere between 5oo and 700 people at the event.
Videos are being edited and will be added to this site soon. The same goes for the photos.
Here is some media we’ve found that covered the rally:
Lynchburg, VA – Thursday’s Tea Party event in Lynchburg brought concerns such as intrusive government, taxes, the health care plan, but they were also looking to have fun.
Nearly 300 people attended, and though the music was playing and there were plenty smiles, their concerns definitely remained.
With flags and posters, the Tea Party activists gathered in Miller Park with a message: ”We don’t need the government to do what’s right and help our people,” as one Tea Party activist put it.
They say the country has “gone downhill fast,” mostly because of health care reform.
“I think it was a total mistake what they’ve done,” Jim Smotrel said. “Health care definitely needed some reform, but what we got is not what we needed.”
“I think what just passed is a tremendous overreach of the government,” Charlie Ferguson stated.
“It was like, ‘this is the end, this is the end of health care,’” Faith Cornell said.
“I think that’s a violation of my civil rights,” Justin Gilman said.
“I’d like to see them repeal the law that they passed and start all over again. and get a bipartisan effort that’s good for the country not good for a party,” Smotrel said.
Another hot topic- national debt.
“It’s almost unsustainable,” one person said.
“It’s terrible. It’s going to get worse and worse,” Renee Rucker said.
“The nation’s debt is horrendous,” Smotrel said.
“The country could possibly go bankrupt,” Ferguson said. ”It’s very scary.”
“Our kids are going to be paying for it. Our children are,” Rucker said.
And they say the solutions are clear.
“Reduce the size of government,” Carol Sosnoski said.
“I’d like to see it cut in about half,” Ferguson said.
Among the anti-government anger Thursday- a very rare sight- an Obama supporter.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day. And I think he’s going to do a great job,” Richard Mahoney said.
He was definitely outnumbered. Nearly everyone else there had no love for the President or the direction they say he is taking the government.
Video from the News and Advance
On a day when many Americans rushed to file tax paperwork, supporters of a conservative movement in Lynchburg and across America proclaimed they have been “Taxed Enough Already.” A few hundred people showed up for the Tax Day Tea Party in Miller Park on Thursday. A microcosm of nationwide Tax Day protests, speakers at Lynchburg’s Tea Party rally touched on taxes, health care, excessive spending and socialism, with more than one speaker invoking the words of founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. Older participants mingled with pre-teens displaying conservative posters, Don’t Tread On Me flags and T-shirts. Amherst County teen sisters Christina and Ciera Stringfield addressed the crowd, part of a lineup including local business owners, activists and others who stressed ideas of limited government and low taxes. “Being an American is the idea that the purpose of government is to protect these God-given rights,” Christina Stringfield said, of the clause in the Declaration of Independence referring to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. “It is the idea that when government becomes destructive of our rights, that government, it loses legitimacy, and it loses its claim on our allegiance.” “We now have a federal government that believes its power has no limitations whatsoever,” Ciera Stringfield said. “It is time to rediscover the wisdom and the purpose behind the idea of limited government.” Lynchburg Tea Party Chairman Mark Lloyd closed the lineup of speakers, and encouraged the crowd that the movement was gaining steam. “People are waking up to the fact that we are right,” he said. For Amherst County veterinarian Anne Bonda, there was no one particular reason she came to the event. “It’s just about the way the whole country isn’t what it used to be,” Bonda said. She said she would like to add another veterinarian to her business, but due in part to taxation she sees as overboard, that would be unrealistic. “The whole mix is screwed up,” she said, adding “I have no clue where our government is headed, and they don’t listen to us.” Lloyd concluded by explaining that, while protest has a place, making protests the main form of communication is not the goal. “All protest all the time is not leadership,” he said. “Leadership is when you get off your couch, let the remote go down in the cushions and don’t worry about finding it, and go out and spread the word. Tell your fellow countrymen … about what the common good of America is,” he said. After the crowd responded, Lloyd reiterated their answer: “Freedom.”
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