Posters with slogans such as ‘Stop Bankrupting America,’ ‘Fire Congress, Yes We Can’ and ‘Impeach Obama’ flooded Boston Common Wednesday to protest the government’s alleged reckless spending and punitive tax policies.
Approximately 2,000 people gathered in front of the Massachusetts State House and later at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park for a ‘New American Tea Party.’ Similar tax protests were held nationwide.’
The government must consolidate and restructure the economy and undergo major leadership reform, protesters said.
Protesters said the expansive federal government results in more spending, leaving the burden on the people to pay for unnecessary costs.
‘If we want to see real change, we must stop the government from spending,’ speaker Sean Ryan said.’
Ryan said reform must be brought about by repealing the 16th Amendment, which grants the government the power to levy income tax, and by abolishing the Federal Reserve System.’
‘We don’t need federal control of our money,’ he said. ‘All we have to do is get the government out of money.’
Protester Sarah Garland said she is concerned about the dollar’s fate under the Federal Reserve.
‘People don’t realize [the Federal Reserve is] a private company,’ she said. ‘The treasury should be printing our money, not the Reserve.’
Until the Federal Reserve was formed in 1913, the government managed U.S. currency publicly and each dollar was backed by gold. Protesters said they now fear the dollar is worth only the pennies it costs to produce.
Protester Frank Capone said privatization means no government supervision, resulting in inflation, interest and a potentially failed economy.
‘The burden gets laid on the taxpayer,’ he said. ‘That’s completely wrong. We need to go back [to the gold standard].’
Protester Marie Ferree said the stimulus plan will only put the government in more debt.
‘How is it that a Harvard grad thinks that spending more money will get us out of debt?’ she said in reference to President Barack Obama. ‘It never worked anywhere in history.’
Many protesters’ posters expressed anticipation for change in leadership with the 2010 congressional elections, which they said is necessary for reform.
Michael Graham, the talk radio host of 96.9 WTKK said government officials are abusing their power and failing to listen to the wants and needs of the people who put them in office.
Many crowd members said they wanted to impeach Obama.
‘Half the country didn’t vote for him,’ Ferree said.’ ‘Socialism is not what we voted for.’
Protester Peter Bax held a sign that read, ‘Impeach Obama,’ and said Obama needs to be stopped from spending any more government and taxpayer funds.
Though similar events were held nationwide, not enough news coverage was shed upon the protests, Graham said.
Despite the event’s lack of newspaper coverage, the protest grew to an estimated 2,000 people through this minor news coverage, word of mouth and talk radio.
Boston University College of Engineering freshman Richard Rakowski, who said he heard about the event on Facebook, said he took time out of his school day to voice his unhappiness.
‘There’s so much wasted spending,’ he said.
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