Central and Eastern Kentucky
(2009-03-13)
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KBIA's Trey Conklin has more.
The call of reveille excited crowd members at the first Columbia Tea Party yesterday at Flat Branch Park. The event was put on by 93.9 the Eagle and Gary Nolan put on his live broadcast from the event site.
Hundreds of people flocked to the park to express their concerns about what they view to be irresponsible government spending. Columbia resident Sandra Fritz, who has also been to a similar rally in St. Louis, says current spending is putting future generations in jeopardy.
We're bankrupt, we're borrowing this money. You know our kids, grandkids, great-grandkids are gonna be laden with this debt.
Nolan and Tom Bradley, the Eagle's morning talk show host, helped collect tea bags and letters from concerned citizens that they planned to send off to Washington D.C. Bradley says that he had heard of events like this in other cities and he felt that it was his and the Eagle's duty to put on an event for mid-Missouri citizens to voice their concerns.
There are so many people in central Missouri that are really concerned with what Washington is doing-the recent actions, the spending is not working for us. The promises of taking our taxes and sending it someplace else is not working for us. There are people here who want to voice their concerns and their opinion and we have to give them the chance to do that.
Darrin Williams, a local design engineer, says that participating in events like the Columbia Tea Party is essential to the democratic process.
I think it's our civic duty as citizens of the country to do this sort of thing. If you're not happy with the government you've got to let them know, otherwise it's your own fault-you got nobody to blame but yourself.
Lietenant Governor Peter Kinder, a Republican, called into Nolan's show and urged people everywhere to go to Tea Party Day dot com and start events like this all across America on tax day, April 15.
Trey Conklin, KBIA News.
© Copyright 2009, KBIA
