Tea Party protesters share dissatisfaction: Taxes take center stage at rally on Independence Day
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| Steven Yde holds up a sign for Galena Avenue traffic at a Tea Party in Dixon on Saturday. Yde was there with his sons and wife. (Chris Padgett/cpadgett@svnmail.com) |
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DIXON – Like the founding fathers declaring independence from Great Britain and its taxes, about 40 protesters took some time on Independence Day to express dissatisfaction with their own government.
The protesters stood Saturday on Galena Avenue for the city’s second “Taxed Enough Already” Party protest, and was one of more than 1,400 groups demonstrating around the country.
They waved American flags and a flag that said “Don’t tread on me.” Youngsters held signs that said “stop taxing me before I make any money.”
Others had signs against bailouts, socialism and universal health care.
Clayton Yde, 9, and his 8-year-old brother, Kyle, wore shirts that said “Give me liberty, not debt.” On the back they wrote, “Hands off my piggy bank.”
Their mother, Patty Yde, 44, of Sterling, wore a shirt that said “Economics 101. Spend less than you earn.”
“All of us want smaller government, less government control, [and] more liberty,” Yde said. “We have a constitution that works. ... We’re losing our self-liberties because the government is putting the choke on us. ... It’s political power grab at our expense and my children’s expense.”
In addition to opposing new taxes, Randy Hardin, 57, of Dixon, said he wants ethics reform, a reform of the state’s “extravagant retirement system, and we need a state government that works.”
“This is commemorating the day we declared independence from England because of taxation,” Hardin said. They held the demonstration “to let people know we’re still out there and we don’t stand for it.”
