The first Tax Day Tea Party in Oak Harbor took place April 16, 2009. Just under 200 people showed up to wave flags and homemade signs. The impetus for the protest was the irresponsible notion that all that was required to 'fix' our economy was to take more of the money that we didn't have: the response of the citizenry was "We're Taxed Enough Already"! Whidbey Islanders showed up - all ages, from Clinton to Deception Pass - to make their voices heard.
These protests against tax & spend policies were held all over the country and held 2 things in common: average working-class citizens were saying 'NO' to an insane way of doing America's financial business, and the media consistently underreported the size of the protests. Based on actual head counts and sign-up sheets, the number reported by the press, including the Whidbey News-Times, was just over half of the number of people who actually turned out.
Commonly heard from protestors, "we can't let this die, we have to keep this going to make a difference". A small group started meeting regularly to try to develope a strategy for keeping the pressure up on lawmakers; to try to change the way they were doing the peoples' business, and the underlying culture that had allowed the country to get into the straits in which we now find ourselves. We were also encouraging average citizens to continue making their voices heard by contacting our State and Federal legislators on a regular basis by email, phone and fax to let them know how we want them to represent us.
Through networking we discovered groups in other communities that were doing the same thing - meeting to talk, figure out just how we got where we are as a country, and re-educate ourselves in areas such as Constitutional governance, economics, history and sociology that we feel will give us a firm foundation from which to move forward. The 'moving forward' part involved letting our own community know that we're here and available. In preparation for the celebration of Independence Day we scraped together enough money to pay for a spot in the Oak Harbor parade and to order 1,000 pocket Constitutions from Heritage Foundation. Members of the group offered vehicles, flags, banners and their own time and effort to walk in the parade and hand out over 800 of the pocket Constitutions.
Through networking we discovered groups in other communities that were doing the same thing - meeting to talk, figure out just how we got where we are as a country, and re-educate ourselves in areas such as Constitutional governance, economics, history and sociology that we feel will give us a firm foundation from which to move forward. The 'moving forward' part involved letting our own community know that we're here and available. In preparation for the celebration of Independence Day we scraped together enough money to pay for a spot in the Oak Harbor parade and to order 1,000 pocket Constitutions from Heritage Foundation. Members of the group offered vehicles, flags, banners and their own time and effort to walk in the parade and hand out over 800 of the pocket Constitutions.
The spring and summer of 2009 was busy! There were so many laws that the progressive members of the Administration, Congress and even the Judiciary were determined to push through over the protests of the citizens of the United States. Cap & Tax - based on faulty and even falsified scientific reports. Card check - the legal ability to bully workers into unions. Federal takeovers of banks, insurance companies, manufacturing and other businesses to keep them from suffering the natural consequences of poor or even illegal business decisions. And the nationalization of the medical insurance industry known as Obamacare. We called, we faxed, we emailed and we gathered at the local offices of Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and our Representatives to express our concerns and opposition to the progressive steamroller that threatens our country and communities.
We held forums and rallies to get the information out to our communities that was being suppressed or lost in the emotional presentation by those desperate to hold on to their own power regardless of the effect on the lives of the general citizenry. Members of the Whidbey Island Tea Party have attended events in other communities from California to Washington D.C. and have sent photos of those events.
Washington State Sovereignty Winterfest, Olympia
Counter rally in support of Glenn Beck, Mt. Vernon
TEA Party Express stop
Budget priorities rally, Coupeville
Tax Day Tea Party 2010, Oak Harbor
