The Tea Party sequel hosted by Gov. Rick Perry and Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina Thursday night allowed people to tele-protest their grievances with Washington’s recent financial expenditures, with only limited donation request interruptions.
The hour-long call, sponsored by the Republican Governor’s Association, was meant to follow up on the grassroots political momentum built by the tax day tea parties held across the United States on April 15.
"At Tea Parties across the country, hundreds of thousands of citizens declared that our taxes are too high, our federal government is too big, and our states' rights are being trampled upon," said a statement on Perry's Web site.
Some have questioned whether government involvement in a primarily independent movement could weaken its impact or be used as a means of political gain. But Cindy Mallette, organizer of the tea party in Austin, didn’t believe that would be the case.
“I don’t think the government is taking it for its own. We invited [Perry] to speak in Austin and the reason we asked him to come is because he had taken a strong stand against the federal government’s insistence that we take federal money and that if we take it the strings are going to extend government programs and cost us. And the federal government has no authority to attach strings under the 10th Amendment,” Mallette said.
Mallette and other organizers are already gearing up for another national iteration of the gathering on a politically significant date - July 4.
Holly LaFon has written and worked for various local publications including D Magazine and Examiner.
