Iredell residents voice displeasure with government at 'TEA parties'

The sounds of protesters yelling and car horns answering in resounding agreement echoed around the corner of Front and Center streets Wednesday.

Participants in one of Statesville's TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties stood on the four corners, waving signs and shouting their message to passers-by.

They are frustrated. They feel ignored by the government. They want their version of change.

"Folks, it's like we are a nation going under," said Jane Reeves, who lives in Harmony.

There were three events in Statesville and one in Mooresville to object to what people see as excessive taxes and government spending. Protesters lifted their voices with demonstrators who took to the streets in 2,016 other U.S. cities yesterday.

Reeves and other participants said they hoped the government and others would wake up and pay attention to the amount of federal government spending and what it will mean in the future.

While some people at Statesville's TEA Party held up signs calling for the abolishment of the Internal Revenue Service or taxes altogether, many just wanted to be heard.

"Real News Radio" host and rally organizer Farren Shoaf said people overwhelmingly opposed the billion-dollar bailouts and $787 billion stimulus package, and are looking closely at the bill their grandchildren will have to pay.

"I think it's great," he said. "It's giving people a chance to speak their mind."

Glade Valley resident Don Miller drove nearly 70 miles to attend the rally. He said it was the closest location.

"I'm against the high taxes, health care, immigration and big government," he said.

Miller said he's spoken with his congressional representatives about how he feels regarding the bailout.

It's just too much spending, said Statesville resident Kenneth Smith, who showed up in his Revolutionary War re-enactment costume.

Smith said he knows what it is like to be unemployed and uninsured, but he doesn't expect other people to pay for what he wants.

"We can all have disagreements with how money is spent," he said. "We do it in our families all the time. If you don't vote, then you don't get change."

Shoaf tried to get several people up to the bullhorn on Wednesday to tell the downtown Statesville crowd what they thought. Some were shy, while others not so much.

"Our government has been hijacked by criminals and no one seems to care," said Flint Lock, who came in from Watauga County. "Read the Constitution and read the amendments. They don't like what we are doing. We've gone off the reservation."

Maggie Crow, who has lived in Statesville for three years, said she doesn't mind paying her taxes. She just thinks the government needs to be better stewards of taxpayers' money.

Later in the day, Iredell County Teenage Republicans marched around downtown chanting their message. At points, the group stopped to explain their position.

"The government should not be subsidizing companies going under," Iredell County Teenage Republicans chairman James Simon said.

Karen Dunlop, whose children were participating, said it was a good opportunity to let other people know what is going on.

Iredell's representatives in the U.S. House and Senate got an earful on how people felt Wednesday and are ready to respond.

Rep. Patrick McHenry attended a rally in Morganton. He said he enjoyed meeting with his constituents and learning their concerns about the country's financial future.

The rallies are a result of a legitimate frustration, he said. The 10th District representative plans to take what he's learned to the House floor.

"We lost control of our government," he said. "I think when you have hundreds of rallies like this that are organized — that can and will affect policy in Washington."

Sen. Richard Burr said in a statement that Americans have worked for the past 105 days just to pay the IRS.

Under the administration's plan to impose the largest tax increase in American history, taxpayers can only expect to work longer to pay for taxes in the future, he said.

"The current fiscal path we are on — which leads to a future of high taxes and slow economic growth — is very troubling," he said in a statement. "It is important that we continue to fight efforts to expand the size of government and keep money in the pockets of hard working Americans."

Rep. Virginia Foxx said it was difficult for the average American to comply with the tax code every year. She said the system should encourage rather than punish innovation, hard work and thrift.

"Even the man tasked with overseeing the IRS, Treasury Secretary (Timothy) Geithner, recently found it impossible to comply with this burdensome outrage we call the tax code," she said in a statement.

"It comes as no surprise then that today in hundreds of towns and cities across America countless Americans are venting their fatigue and frustration with an unfair tax system and a spend-thrift Washington addicted to massive amounts of tax dollars. Americans have had it."