Tea party protests taxes

A smaller but more vocal crowd gathered for the second annual Tea Party tax day protest in Colfax last Thursday, April 15.

Carrying signs that read “Just say no to American Socialism”, “Stop spending we are broke”, and “Join a Tea Party right now!”, a little more than two dozen people gathered at the Codger Pole park to show their dissatisfaction with government institutions.

Last year’s tax day protest drew more than 65 tea partiers.

Carolyn Kiesz of Thornton, publisher of the Palouse Patriot, spoke to the crowd about the importance of vigilance over government.

Kiesz, who recently had her appeal of Whitman County’s commercial wind turbine zoning ordinance dismissed, cited her quote in last week’s Gazette, which said “I’ve lost this battle, but the war is still on.” That, she said, exemplifies how government has lost its directive to be an agent of the people.

“I meant that,” she said. “We are in a war. We are in a cultural war. This is good versus evil.”

Kiesz urged the tea party crowd to become more involved in local politics and to watch closely who is contributing to the campaign funds of their representatives.

One of those representatives, State Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, spoke to the crowd about the recent special session of the state legislature.

Democratic lawmakers, he said, settled on the easy way out of the state’s budget deficit by raising taxes instead of cutting services. Such a move, Schmick stressed, would only deepen the recession.

“It sure seems to me like we’re a slave to the government,” said Schmick, noting 189,000 Washingtonians have lost their job in the past year while the state budget was cut only .8 percent.

With no opponent yet to challenge him, Schmick urged the tea partiers to throw their support behind Republican challengers in contested races throughout the rest of the state.

“Remember in November,” urged Schmick.

Along with the speakers, a number of petitions were lined out for tea partiers to consider. Most of the petitions were for initiatives that would limit the federal government’s authority over Washington law, including campaigns to overrule federal law on health care and the authority of local sheriffs.

One petition sought to expand the local reach of federal law by requiring Washington to strictly abide by federal immigration enforcement laws.