Rockingham protesters: No more bailouts, tax hikes

Taxation without representation.

It happened to the American colonists and they protested by throwing tea from mother England into the Boston Harbor.

More than 200 years later, Rockingham County residents protested tax increases and government bailouts by pouring tea into the Dan River.

The modern-day protesters met at the Bethlehem Church Road boat landing in Eden at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

They came bearing signs with messages that read, “Give me liberty … not debt;” “Cut taxes not deals;” “Sic semper tyrannis” and “Attention: Washington — You have run out of our money!”

The protesters were peaceful, but their message was loud and clear: No more government bailouts. No tax increases. And no more lack of accountability to constituents.

“Washington has gone overboard spending our money,” said Ron Price, Rockingham County Board of Education member and protester at the Tax Day Tea Party. “We’re spending way in excess of what we have. The federal government needs to be realistic and try to get back to fundamentals and not spend more than they take in. The problem is the government has gotten into too many areas where they shouldn’t be.”

Several people at the rally quoted the Founding Fathers on the issue of national debt. District Attorney Phil Berger Jr. quoted George Washington:

“Avoid occasions of expense … and avoid likewise the accumulation of debt not only by shunning occasions of expense but by vigorous exertions to discharge the debts, not drawing upon prosperity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.”

Darrell Carter, of Madison, held a sign bearing the Colonial-era snake symbol and slogan, “Don’t tread on me.”

“They (the colonists) were telling England that we’re tired of it and don’t mess with us any more,” said Carter. Like the American colonists, Carter said he is tired of government spending and heavy taxation. He said he believes the federal government has forgotten about the “little man.”

“We feel that the Land of the Free died in 2009 with the new administration. We’re against socialism and we believe that’s where we’re headed,” Carter said.

“Taxation without representation. That’s what we’ve got. We have allowed that to happen by not standing up,” said Jim Bush, Eden resident and rally organizer. “There were a lot of people long before us that made sacrifices for our freedom and we’re just giving it away.”

Bush said the people who showed up at the protest are the “nucleus of folks that pay the taxes,” and Wednesday’s peaceful demonstration was a way for the average taxpaying citizen to “stand up and be counted.”

Former N.C. Rep. Wayne Sexton, of Stoneville, encouraged the crowd at the protest to stand up for their rights as taxpaying citizens.

“Let’s not be silent anymore. Let’s carry a big stick and speak softly, but let’s tell it like it is,” he said.

Sexton gave an example of a recent occasion when citizens voiced their opinions to lawmakers and swayed the lawmakers’ decision. Just two months ago, a group of nearly 1,000 Rockingham County residents showed up at a county commissioners meeting and asked the commissioners not to do property revaluations this year. The commissioners ended up deciding not to do the revaluations.

“We put 1,000 over there and we got up there and we told them, ‘We’re not going to let you do this and get by with it.’ What happened? They stopped it,” said Sexton. “This is a new day; it is not business as usual. Elected officials need to understand one thing. They are elected to carry out the will of the people.”

Eden attorney Thomas Harrington, who led the group opposing the property revaluations at the county commissioners meeting, encouraged those at Wednesday’s tax rally to continue to hold their lawmakers accountable. To Harrington, governmental accountability starts at the county level. He said the county commissioners have a responsibility to respond to their constituents at the meetings, instead of just listening to their comments.

“We’ve got to demand that they do things for us. That’s what we elected them for,” said Harrington. “I want to be able to hear from them. I want to be able to ask them a question.”

Harrington also spoke out about overspending. He said government officials make a lengthy “wish list” of the things they want and when they run out of money, they start raising taxes. Sexton spoke out against government bailouts of large corporations.

“Instead of bailing out all these big corporations, what if they just gave the money to us and we’ll go out and spend it,” said Sexton. “I don’t know any way in the world to stimulate the economy more than that.”

At the end of Sexton’s speech, Sexton and Ronnie Booth, brother of Jim Bush’s wife Dorothy Booth, tossed a wooden crate with tea leaves in the river. The crate bore the words, “No more taxes” and “Trillion dollar tea.”

Baines can be reached at mbaines@reidsvillereview.com or 349-4331, ext. 35.