A TEE Party activist displays his T-shirt

Around 80 citizens attended AFP’s TEE Party in the capital. Activists stood outside the House chambers to greet legislators as they entered and then moved to the viewing balcony to see our government at work. One activist had a campaign flyer from her Senator stating that she had worked to remove the franchise tax, eliminate the estate tax and make Kansas a more tax friendly state. She planned to remind her Senator what she said on the campaign trail.

At noon activist regrouped for a quick lunch. A few legislators joined the group including Sens. Susan Wagle, Dick Kelsey, Mike Petersen and Rep. Steve Brunk. A few organizers quickly addressed the group, including FairTax from Kansas City, Sedgwick County Commissioner Karl Peterjohn and grassroots activist and TEA Party organizer Amanda Grosserode.

FairTax activists have plan in place to bring the FairTax to Kansas. A bill is currently working its way through the Missouri Senate. Advocates noted the devastating effects that could happen here in Kansas if Missouri becomes much more business and tax friendly than Kansas.

Karl Peterjohn gave some tips on effective lobbying. He spoke about the important impact citizens can have on their government.

Amanda Grosserode mention another protest for Congressman Dennis Moore. Details will be announced on their website soon.

Participants were encouraged to visit legislators in the Docking State Office building and in the capital. Some plan to stay and hear the Governor’s address at 4pm if possible. Buses leaving for Johnson County and Wichita will still leave on time at 4pm however.

Reactions from citizens vary. A common theme seems to be the amount of taxpayer funded lobbying that is occuring under the dome. A group from invisiblekansas.com was also under the dome urging no cuts to their taxpayer funded activities. There seems to be every constituency imaginable under the dome lobbying legislators right now except taxpayer citizens.

Thank you to Ed Kearn and Helen Van Etten for the additional photos used in my previous photo essay and in this video.

Here’s some additional video shot by Ed Kearn.

An estimated 1,500 Kansans attended the TEA rally in Topeka tonight. Speakers included grassroots activists such as Kim Borchers and Elizabeth Patton as well as community business leaders like Tara Dimick of the Topeka Independent Business Association. The rally was concluded with a short speech by U.S. Senator Sam Brownback.

Todd Novascone spoke for a few minutes on behalf of Rep. Jerry Moran and later Jeff Kahrs addressed the crowd on behalf of Rep. Todd Tiahrt. Local state Reps. Lana Gordon and Joe Patton were also in attendance and got a warm reception from the crowd. Greg Schneider, a professor at Emporia State gave a short talk about health care. Several different books were raffled throughout the rally, including Dr. Schneider’s latest work.

Topeka TEA Rally Protester

Speakers and those attending the rally were quick to point out the improbability that all the rallies held across the nation were organized by Republican leaders. When asked, many in the crowd identified themselves as independents and stated that they were there for their nation, not a political party.

There were many creative signs, with one gentleman bringing a wheel barrel of manure and a sign that read, “Kansas Prolifigate Spending.”

I have video and other photos that I’ll hopefully get up later tonight or early tomorrow.

Liberals have been quick to try and dismiss the TEA parties. From what I saw tonight, folks are mad, and it’s not going away after one protest. Those folks are here to stay.

Let’s get the party started!

If you’re still looking for a party to attend, check out the AFP-Kansas list, or for Kansas City area parties, go here.

Three Kansas bloggers will be trying to report on all the tea parties across the state. The current plan is to somewhat divide up the state between various blogs. Here’s where you can find coverage and email your own on-site reports…

Kansas City area parties will be reported on Kansas Meadowlark. Click here to send an email.

Wichita and South-central Kansas area parties will be reported at the Voice for Wichita Liberty. Click here to send an email.

Western Kansas parites will be reported by Meadowlark on his Salina Journal blog. Click here to send an email.

Topeka and Southeast Kansas parties will be reported here. Click here to send an email.

First hand reports are encouraged! Try to include who the speakers were, how many attended, what the mood of the crowd was or anything else interesting happening. Pictures can be emailed. If you’re handy with video, consider uploading it to YouTube and sending the link to the above email addresses.
]]> http://www.kansasra.org/blog/archives/1148/feed 0 http://www.kansasra.org/blog/archives/1136 http://www.kansasra.org/blog/archives/1136#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:35:05 +0000 admin http://www.kansasra.org/blog/?p=1136 Wednesday marks TEA Day in Kansas and there are dozens of protests planned across the state.

To find a protest near you, go to www.teapartyday.com and click on “Locations.” You can also visit Americans for Prosperity-Kansas’ website at www.afpks.org or simply click here to view their list of statewide rallies. You might check AFP’s website first as they seem to have more information about times and specific locations, as well as organizer’s phone numbers so you can give them a call.

Contrary to what the media would love to believe, the rallies are spontaneous and are being organized at the grassroots level by citizens who have never before been politically engaged.

I’ve gotten several informational emails regarding various parties. I’ll share that info below along with some pre-party media coverage.

Emporia Rally Planned:

Americans speak with one voice in Emporia Kansas on April 15th, 2009 to say it is time to preserve, protect and defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic. As the government continues to abuse the citizens with outrageous spending we will gather at 6th and Merchant from 3:30 to 5:30PM to say ENOUGH! The 10th amendment of the constitution clearly says, if the federal government is not given the authority to do these things, they cannot and we will not allow them to continue. Bring your signs, flags, voice and patriotism! Americans will be heard!

Kansas City Tea Party Coverage:

These protests are taking place throughout the country. Grosserode, Lenexa, said the protests are not sponsored or affiliated with any political parties.

“It’s a conservative movement, but not a Republican movement,” she said. “There are Libertarians, Constitutional Party (members), a lot of independents; basically people who are fiscally conservative.

“There are different organizations trying to hijack the TEA Party movement, but we don’t have a sponsor, we’ve taken money from no one. All over the country, each TEA Party is unique and independent.”

Grosserode is a stay-at-home mom who home schools her 6-year-old child. She describes herself as politically knowledgeable, but she did not become politically active until becoming concerned about the amount of money being spent on earmarks in the Omnibus spending package, the size of the federal stimulus packages, and the increasing national debt.

Wichita Tea Party Coverage:

Salina Tea Party Coverage:

From noon to 1 p.m. at the commons area between the City-County Building and the Salina Public Library, a crowd that organizers hope reaches between 100 to 200 people is to gather to hear from movement representatives.

“Our whole mission is to train people to become active in their communities by running for elected positions, but also in simpler ways, by being active in the community,” said Marlene Bonilla, of Salina, who is helping organize the event.

Topeka Tea Party Coverage:

“They’re all over the state and folks, everyday citizens are putting things together, AFP and Kansas is just one part of the equation, we’re coming to help organize it but it’s folks that are just coming out from their homes and from their businesses and saying we’ve had enough.”

People from Topeka and surrounding areas can come here at 14th st and NW Gage and that way they can participate in the Tea Tax Party.