Medford - With thousands across the country holding Tax Day Tea Party protests last Wednesday, Arlington was not left out. The tea, however, was.
Like many Republicans — and a few Democrats — Bernard Green, chairman of the Medford Republican City Committee, is fed up with the increase in taxes that affect the everyday consumer. Green joined a few dozen sign-toting at the corner of Salem Street and Fellsway West to protest.
Some protestors came from as near as Malden and Arlington and as far as Andover. Cars honked in support as they drove by during the April 15 rally.
Not a fan of the recent wave of federally backed bailouts, Green said it seems like Washington is trying to micro-manage all aspects of the economy.
“If you look at the history of socialist nations, isn’t that the trademark?” said Green. “What does the average politician even know about finance and banking?”
But this tealess party was not a partisan affair. Dave Funnell, a Medford Democrat, had his own issues.
“I believe that the stimulus bill, starting under the Bush administration, is basically a lie,” said Funnell. “In such times of economic difficulty, that the government thinks it can spend its way out is ridiculous.”
Funnell said while he thinks President Barack Obama means well, he isn’t making things much better with the excessive spending.
“Obama is very altruistic,” said Funnell. “He’s giving the country away to the rest of the world.”
The protest was one of many coordinated in a grassroots effort to speak out against Obama’s spending policy. Thousands turned out across the country. One group of protestors even caused a brief lockdown at the White House after throwing a box of tea bags at the nation’s capital.
Obama has stuck to his stance that the massive spending has eased the burden on middle class families.
“All of these actions — the Recovery Act, the bank capitalization program, the housing plan, the strengthening of the non-bank credit market, the auto plan, and our work at the G20 — have been necessary pieces of the recovery puzzle,” Obama said in a speech at Georgetown University last Tuesday. “They have been designed to increase aggregate demand, get credit flowing again to families and businesses and help them ride out the storm.”
Barry Greenspan, chairman of Malden’s Republican Committee, said he organized the Tea Party at the Medford/Malden border after he heard about the nationwide protesting sensation.
“These have been going on all over the nation but at city halls any major locations,” said Greenspan. “I figured why not have one of these in the suburbs?”
Greenspan said he believes Massachusetts is losing population because of tax increases like the recent increase of the federal cigarette excise tax to $1.01. Combined with the state’s existing cigarette tax of $2.51 per pack, this has made Massachusetts the third most expensive state to light up in, next to New Jersey and New York.
On the matter of the bailouts, Greenspan said he was against them from the start.
“I think incompetence should not be rewarded,” said Greenspan. “What about the guy with the corner store? Does he get a bailout?”
Over in Providence, R.I., Republicans from near and far attended a local rally. One participant was Donnarose Russian, former chair of the Arlington Republican Town Committee.
Russian said more than 3,000 people showed up to speak out against the Obama administration’s approach to bailouts. In Rhode Island, Russian said the tea bags were not forgotten.
“They festooned my car with tea bags,” said Russian. “They tied them on my windshield wipers. When I got back to my car, it had tea bags all over it. It must have been all the John McCain stickers.”
As in Medford, Russian said there was no real counter-protesting presence at the Providence party. A few people made comments, she said, but the only ones who had organized were the tea partiers.
Russian said people might have been surprised that the conservatives had organized a protest.
“Finally conservatives come out and say something,” said Russian. “We never protest. We never have shindigs. Now we do something and we’re called all kinds of names.”
In February, Russian moved from Arlington to Wrentham, where she now chairs another Republican committee.
“I no longer live in Arlington,” said Russian. “There were too many liberals and the endless tax overrides.”
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