One December evening in 1773, Massachusetts colonists tossed tea into Boston Harbor to protest an unresponsive government’s oppressive levies.
The contemporary spending spree upon which Washington, DC, first embarked last fall has sparked a movement reminiscent of that colonial spirit.
Grassroots “Taxpayer Tea Party” groups began sprouting up around the country over the last week or so.
Several cities hosted rallies yesterday, and the wave hits New York today in City Hall Park at 2 p.m.
The spark for most of these events has been a federal spigot pouring out money like a broken fire hydrant in August:
* Bailouts for banks, automakers and home mortgages.
* A $787 billion stimulus.
* Adding insult to injury – a $3.6 tril lion budget.
But there’s a heckuva lot of local stuff for New Yorkers to raise Cain over – including a range of new taxes and fees proposed to bail out a near-bankrupt state and Albany’s refusal to consider seeking economies from New York’s grotesquely bloated public sector.
The “Taxpayer Tea Party” movement may not go anywhere – but it sure gives overtaxed, tapped-out folks a place to let off a little steam.
At the same time, that 1773 tea party energized more than a few people, so who knows where this one might go?