Danville residents come out in protest of higher taxes, increased government spending

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A red, white and blue clad crowd packed around a cinderblock stage behind the Danville Senior Citizens’ Center in Ballou Park on Saturday for the city’s first Tea Party.

They came as citizens upset with state and federal government and wanting change. They came to protest higher taxes and increased government spending. They came to drink tea.

About 400 people were in attendance, and some of them held yellow signs that said “NO OBAMA-CARE.” Others held homemade, poster board signs with slogans, including “America stands for freedom, not socialism.”

Some wore American flag T-shirts. They made use of the shade given by trees.

Mike Dillon, 55, said this was his first Tea Party.

“I don’t agree with what the government is trying to do,” he said. “They’ve forgotten all about the Constitution. The founding fathers must be turning over in their graves.”

Dillon stood next to his young son, Reagan, named for former president Ronald Reagan, he said. They held handwritten signs on white poster board. Reagan’s sign read: “Stop spending my money, I haven’t even earned it yet.”

Nigel Coleman, the chairman of the Danville Tea Party Commission, first took the microphone as the crowd cheered.

“We don’t want to pass on this legacy of debt and socialism to future generations,” Coleman said. “United for freedom, your voices will be heard.”

He told the supporters this was their Tea Party and encouraged them to talk with organizers about their concerns. He said they would do things a little differently, too.

“This is the South, so we’re not going to throw tea away,” he said. “We’re going to drink it.”

Former Rep. Virgil Goode and Delegate Danny Marshall spoke during the event. Bradley Rees, a candidate running against Democrat Tom Perriello for the 5th District, also addressed the crowd.

Goode talked about cap-and-trade legislation. He said energy alternatives like switch grass and biofuel are good. But the bill will drive up costs for gas and utilities for some people, he said, and it would send jobs overseas.

Goode said the government should allow drilling off the coast of Virginia. The drilling would create local jobs and ease some of the nation’s energy dependence.

“We have got to use what we have and not surrender to the sheiks in the Middle East,” Goode said.

He also spoke against abortion, increasing foreign aid and Congressional travel expenses.

Marshall spoke soon after Goode. He said the national government should take note of the Virginia General Assembly, which has to balance its budget every year. He agreed with Goode on offshore drilling and the cap-and-trade legislation.

“We’ve got to kill cap and trade,” he said.

Rees said the problems facing the country are old ones, but like in the past, Americans will overcome them. He criticized Perriello for signing bills that increased taxes.

He also asked the crowd to do three things: vote, talk to people and run for office. They should hang on to their anger but temper it with rationality, he said.

“Action is the key,” Rees said. “The facts are our foundation. And love for this great nation is our motivation.”

The passionate crowd cheered and applauded loudly during the event. One organizer let anyone interested address the group in between speeches. Many in the crowd took advantage.

Coleman, the chairman of the Danville Tea Party Commission, said that they hope to make people aware of the movement in Danville. He and Bobbie Conner, the vice chairman of the commission, organized the event.

“I feel like it’s always been here,” Coleman said. “Somebody just needed to tap into it. The Tea Party movement isn’t just somewhere else, it’s right here.”

The grassroots movement is about three basic ideas: limited government, lower taxes and free-market principles.

Coleman said he wants more people to get involved.

Conner said they hosted the Tea Party to “get the citizens to work together and get back the government that is being taken from us.”

He added that the Independence Day Tea Party is not a one-time thing and that they want to throw another one in October.

“We’re going to keep working at this,” he said.

The Danville Tea Party Tax Day was one of 16 Tea Parties in Virginia on Saturday. The national organization, the Tea Party Patriots, set the July 4 date and encouraged local groups to have events. According to its Web site, more than 500 Tea Parties were held nationwide on Independence Day.