The original Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a protest about taxation without representation. It helped spark the American Revolution.<\/p>\n
Today’s Tea Party activists aimed to harness some of that revolutionary spirit on the Boston Common, calling for limited government and lower taxes.<\/p>\n
Sarah Palin was the highlight of the rally, which drew thousands of people carrying signs and waving flags.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoston, if anybody knows how to throw a tea party, it\u2019s you,\u201d said Palin who was greeted with loud cheers through much of her speech as she slammed the Obama administration, Democrats and incumbents.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmericans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start earning money for ourselves, for our families,\u201d lamented Palin, who’s anti-tax sentiment resonated with the crowd on the day before Tax Day.<\/p>\n
The Greater Boston Tea Party boasts 1,800 people and leader Christen Varley says they are growing everyday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about reaching as many people as possible,\u201d Varley said. She says the movement is a battle against big government and too many taxes. In the midst of a struggling economy she\u2019s critical of elected officials she believes are not doing enough. \u201cWe elected these guys and gals and they\u2019re not doing what we elected them to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crowd numbered several thousand, a welcome surprise to some protesters in a state dominated by Democrats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very important I think because it shows that there is a market here in Massachusetts, a deep blue state, for people who care about the same things as some of the redder states in the country,\u201d said Stephen Moynahan of Marlborough, Massachusetts. \u201cAnd I\u2019m really encouraged to see everybody coming out here.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was one notable absence.<\/p>\n
While Tea Party support and advertising is credited with helping Scott Brown secure the U.S. Senate seat once held by Ted Kennedy, the newly minted senator did not attend today\u2019s raucous event.<\/p>\n
Instead, Senator Brown was busy with his new job on Capitol Hill, attending the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Some political strategists say he must be wary of appearing too closely affiliated with groups that could damage his 2012 re-election bid.<\/p>\n
Many of those attending today\u2019s rally are not miffed by his absence. They say he still has a lot to prove to Massachusetts\u2019 voters and understand if he doesn\u2019t want to rock the boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing as he\u2019s the first Republican in decades I see how he would not want to tip his hat to a polarizing figure,\u201d said Will Grapentine of Bristol, Rhode Island. \u201cI came because until recently with Scott Brown\u2019s election New England has not been ready for a sea-change and to have a big figure like Sarah Palin here, that gives it legitimacy. It gives credence to how New England is ready for a new ways of thinking in government.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nationwide Tea Party Express tour wraps up tomorrow in Washington, D.C. with a Tax Day Tea Party rally from 7p.m. to 9:30p.m. at the Washington monument.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The original Boston Tea Party in 1773 was a protest about taxation without representation. It helped spark the American Revolution. Today’s Tea Party activists aimed to harness some of that revolutionary spirit on the Boston Common, calling for limited government and lower taxes. Sarah Palin was the highlight of the rally, which drew thousands of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4642,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-527796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4642"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}