TERRE HAUTE — “Keep your Kool-Aid, we drink tea,” read a handmade poster Diane Hickley waved at passing motorists in front of the Vigo County Courthouse on Wednesday.
Hickley, a college textbook sales representative from Terre Haute, said she was “protesting the enormous tidal wave of taxes that is going to hit the middle class in the next four to eight years,” she said.
Click on the like at right to see video highlights of Wednesday's event
“I don’t believe people really understand what has happened, not to mention the taxes on our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The future burden on them, you just can’t defend it,” Hickey said.
At least 225 people stood in front of the courthouse in Terre Haute, holding signs and U.S. flags as part of tea party demonstration, encouraging passing drivers to honk horns. People described themselves as Republican, Democrat and conservative independents.
Tea party demonstrations were staged nationwide Wednesday, the annual deadline for filing income tax returns. It also marked the famous 1773 Boston Tea Party, when American colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest British colonial taxes.
In Lafayette, a large box of tea bags was dumped from a Lafayette bridge into the Wabash River as part of a tax-day protest.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday said he aims to take the dread out of tax day. Obama said at a White House event that he’s working toward “a simpler tax code that rewards work and the pursuit of the American dream,” the Associated Press reports.
“For too long, we’ve seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that increased the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams,” Obama said. “That has to change, and that’s the work that we’ve begun.”
Some demonstrators in Terre Haute directed their protest directly at President Obama.
Philip Haverly of Prairie Creek stood on a narrow median that divides the middle of Third Street, and heavy traffic, in front of the courthouse. He wore a mask with a picture of the president’s face and had large syringes poking out of his arms containing fake $100 bills.
“Help me, I am addicted to your money,” was one sign he waved at passing motorists.
“We are ruled by an elitist group of people who have no concept of what it is to make a family personal budget,” Haverly said. “They never had to worry about a broken-down car. They don’t even grocery-shop. They send people to grocery shop for them.
“Smaller government,” he yelled at automobiles passing by.
Another man held a sign, “Jan. 20, 2013. Change we can believe in,” referencing the start of the next presidential term. Another sign read, “Check it out Obama — what follows tyranny?!”
Teresa Sanft of Terre Haute said she was laid off in January from Ivy Hill Packing Co., but hopes to be called back to work in the near future. “Sales taxes are increasing along with other taxes. We are getting taxed to death,” Sanft said.
“Everyone in Washington [D.C.] is voting for spending. It is out of control and we need to step back and look at the big picture,” she said, holding a sign that read, “2009 Pork Spending $19.6 billion.” She also had a sign that read, “I’ll keep my guns, freedom and money … you can keep the change.”
Paul Butler, a systems manager in Marshall, Ill., wore a T-shirt that read, “Stop state sponsored slavery — taxes.”
“Slavery is when a group of people live off the labor and sweat of another group,” Butler said. “That is exactly what we have. We have a big chunk of this nation that pays little or no income tax at all and rely on the rest of us who actually generate wealth. You can’t do that, that is slavery. You can’t enslave wealth and expect wealth to stay.”
Ted Proctor, a registered nurse from Brazil, wore a shirt that resembled a U.S. flag, holding a large banner with the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” with a drawing of a rattlesnake.
“‘Don’t Tread on Me’ was based on taxes. The start of the American Revolution was in resistance to that government theft of people’s property,” Proctor said.
“Today, taxes are going up again,” Proctor said. “It has become confiscatory. No longer can people live their free life. They have to give more and more of their work and property to the government and most of it is wasted. Again today, we say don’t tread on me.”
Proctor said he thinks the best boost to the economy, instead of a stimulus package, is to “stop taking income tax from people for six months to a year. We will spend it and that will fix the economy.”
Bill Dixon of Greencastle said term limits are no longer being discussed, but voiced concern that Congress is ruled “by professional politicians. We are not against taxes. We are against borrowing so much money that we can never pay it back. They tell us not to do it and they go and do it,” he said of Congress.
Catherine Ingram of Chrisman, Ill., held a poster reading, “Bring Back Common Sense,” on one side, and “Constitution not Tyranny,” on the other.
“I fear tyranny, going directly down the path of socialism,” Ingram said. “We have seen it happen in other countries … and we are headed that way.”
She also opposes federal earmarks, which targets federal funds to certain projects.
“Get rid of earmarks. Just stop this nonsense and bring back common sense. I am tired of paying for people who don’t want to work. Listen to every single trucker that goes by; they are honking their horns. That is working America.”
Howard Greninger can be contacted at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
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