‘Speak your piece’: Dixon participants say government 
is getting too big

DIXON – Amanda Norris has had enough.

The 37-year-old working mother of two never really followed politics, and thought she never had time to get involved.

Then the federal government spent billions on the economic stimulus program. Then it spent billions on belly-up banks. Then it struck up a dialogue about health care reform.

And Norris’ head started to spin. Then she “made a commitment to myself, my family, and my children to stay involved and never miss a chance to speak out.”

Speaking out is exactly what Norris did Saturday afternoon at Heritage Crossing Riverfront Plaza in Dixon, where about 100 people met to protest deficit spending and to implore Congress to increase their dialogue with constituents and reduce spending.

It was the third such “tea party” in the Sauk Valley this summer, but the first at which Norris spoke out.

For her, it’s not a Republican-versus-Democrat issue; her protest is a question of honesty in government.

“Both parties continue to let us down by caving in to special interests,” said Norris of Sterling. “It’s not a partisan issue ... it’s about both parties: They’ve both betrayed us.”

Signs at the riverfront park had slogans ranging from “Quit spending money you don’t have” to “Clean House: Vote new Congress” to “Obama-care will make us slaves.”

Joan Krug, a 70-year-old Dixon resident, carried a sign that said “Can I be the Common Sense Czar?”

Krug said she came to the rally because “I don’t like the way our country is going. I have never been more upset about losing our freedom and the move to socialism.”

Organizer Steven Yde, 42, of Sterling, called the participants “just a bunch of citizens who got together ... after we got tired of sitting around the TV and wanting to throw something at it.”

Republican candidates for the 14th Congressional District Jeff Danklefsen and Ethan Hastert attended the rally, where everyone was invited to give a piece of their minds.

“Speak your piece,” Yde said. “That’s what this is all about.”

To learn more

The Sauk Valley Tea Party was one of many held across the nation Saturday to protest what participants say is a government overstepping its authority.