Tax Day. When I was growing up, April 15 meant one thing - my grandfather was going to run to the accountant and request an extension. To this day I still do not know why he just didn't file his return, procrastination I guess, but still it is an image that I won't forget. In today's world, tax day brings a totally different image to mind. Thousands of people gathering on lawns, in parks, and on malls all over the country to display their anger over what the government is doing with regards to not only taxation but to the takeovers of healthcare and private businesses, the excessive spending practices, and to the overall weakening of our country perceived by the attendees. 
Opponents of the Tea Party movement will counter today's gatherings as right-winged Republican love fests and the "tea-baggers" are so stupid that they don't even realize that they paid less in taxes this year. Here's the problem with that logic. No one that I met today (at the Tax Day Tea Party in Charlotte NC) was complaining about the taxes paid on returns due today. The folks I met were concerned with liberty and freedom and the futures of their children and grandchildren. They are concerned with things like renegade school boards, success of their businesses, finding or keeping a job and as most parents the idea that their children will have a better life than their own. They are concerned with dangerous legislations that will place unbelievable tax burdens on future generations. They are concerned with liberties and freedoms that are being stripped or limited and they came not to protest but rather to learn and educate themselves so that they can share these ideas with everyone that they meet.
Today I met a gentleman with Campaign for Liberty. David was most hospitable as I asked him to explain why he was at today's event. He explained that his group is focused on gaining support of a bill that would audit the Federal Reserve. He, like others in his group, was gathering signatures in order to present them to Senator Kay Hagan who as of today has not shown her willingness to support Senate bill S604 which has the support in the manner of a co-sponsorship by Senator Burr. (The House of Representatives has a similar bill (HR 1207) that has garnered some bi-partisan support here in the Tarheel state.)
I listened to impassioned speakers as they illustrated the problems, as they see them, that we are facing as a city, county, state and country. Speakers who illustrated solutions to some of the problems and complaints of the thousands on the lawn of the Old Courthouse instead of just recycling rhetoric in hopes of stirring the crowd. A merchant, who calls himself the Free Market Warrior and who was kicked out of a local mall last year (click here for a previous entry on this subject) for selling merchandise showcasing the viewpoints of the right and of the tea-party, spoke to the crowd about his plan of action. Loren Spivack urged the crowd to do something, "Three times in our history we have instituted fundamental change in this country -- the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and during the New Deal. Now we have the chance to do so again, if we are willing to DO SOMETHING." His core idea is education - of our children and ourselves. He got the biggest applause of his speech with this, "I don't want my history and values being taught by a government bureaucrat, give me the (tax) money back and I will teach my kids."
The organizer of both last year's and today's Charlotte event, Matthew Ridenhour, is both unassuming and humble but his speech was probably the most well received of the day. Matthew is a Marine who has served two tours of duty in Iraq and who began the organizing of the Tax Day Tea Party in a bar with some friends when none of them would step up to the plate. He shared his story with the crowd, "Its one thing to serve your country in Iraq and shed tears on their soil but to come home and see your country being fractured and Lady Liberty being destroyed from within...... freedom doesn't come without burden" He urged the crowd to carry that burden and to not just attend the Tea Party but to take action and educate.
Tax Day 2010. Maybe an old vision and and a new one have now combined. I think that today I witnessed an extension request from the American people (at least the ones I saw here in Charlotte). They are not willing to give up their country without a fight and they aren't just making noise. They are educating themselves on pending bills and current legislations as well as candidates who agree with them and those who don't. Be careful world, Kate Smith isn't singing yet!
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