Yesterday, residents from the Sacramento region gathered at the Capitol to express their outrage at wasteful government spending and higher taxes. The speakers came from all walks of life, including elected officials, Neil Cavuto of Fox News and conservative writer Michelle Malkin, and most important, ordinary citizens who sacrificed their time and efforts to make their voices heard in Sacramento.
And they have every reason to be angry. Even as hardworking families struggle to make ends meet, stretching each dollar further and further, government is looking to take away even more through higher taxes. But beyond the taxes and the issues of the day, people are fed up with a government that they perceive as distant and out of touch.
The Obama administration ignored the hundreds of protests across the country, and those in power accuse this movement as being a right wing partisan dog and pony show. While the chattering class who populate our airwaves and occupy the seats of power would like to put this movement into the prism of some partisan publicity stunt, the reality is people are fed up with their hard earned dollars being squandered and by the over-reach of government power.
I hope these tea-parties and other protests continue. I want to see them grow in size and scope. It’s time for the silent majority to make their voices heard. It’s time for citizens to remind their government that government works for the people, not people for the government. Like parents who make it clear to their teens that they are not ATM’s, taxpayers need to remind government that money does not grow on trees — it comes from the blood, sweat, and grit of the hardworking citizen.
Here are a few posts that cover the event in Sacramento: