Published: April 16, 2009 08:16 am      

Crowd gathers in Flatwoods for Tea Party

FLATWOODS — A crowd of about 100 protesters gathered at Crager Park in Flatwoods for a tax day Tea Party on Wednesday.

Although organized by local activists as a nonpartisan event for those who wanted to protest “out of control government spending,” some attendees say that’s not what the event turned out to be.



Jody Patterson of Flatwoods said there were several reasons she came out on the cold, gray afternoon. “One of the first is to protest against this stimulus package,” she said. “They are printing money left and right.”

Patterson said she also believes government officials are “not following the constitution. They don’t pay any attention to it.” She is also concerned with the expansion of executive power both under the Bush administration and the new Obama administration. “The government was founded on three branches,” she said. “I don’t care who is in government. I don’t want all that power. I want it evenly divided.”

Like many others at the protest, Patterson said she is an Independent voter. “I think we need to be Americans first and our party second or third,” she said.

“I’m upset with just about everybody,” said another protester, John Schroeder, of Grayson. “No matter what party has been in Congress the last eight to 10 years they’ve spent money hand over fist. So it’s really not a Republican or Democrat thing. One is as bad as the other right now,” he said. Schroeder said he has tended to vote Republican but is first and foremost a conservative.

Schroeder, 62, who was holding a sign reading “Your mortgage is not my problem,” said he was there to protest the recent stimulus package and other “so called bailouts.”

“We feel like it’s too much and not for the right reasons. We just feel like the money is not being spent appropriately and it’s not going to help,” he said.

“I’m just really sick of what’s going on, what’s happened here in the last three months. I don’t care to pay my taxes, but I don’t want them wasting the money that we’re paying and they are spending it on stupid stuff,” said Pam Lyon, 48, of Flatwoods.

Bob Brogren of Catlettsburg also attended to protest government spending, which he described as “out of control,” but left the protest because of remarks by guest speaker Jason Banks.

Banks, a local youth minister and former Ron Paul supporter, asked to speak at the event, according to organizer JoAnn Davis.

“This guy is out there in outer space. This is not what this is supposed to be,” Brogren said. “This is supposed to be... spending is out of control. I’m not here to cast blame on the government.

“This is what is going to happen to tea parties around the country. You’re going to have a weirdo like that that comes up there and, all of a sudden, we’re a bunch of idiots and right-wing extremists and this guy, I don’t know who the hell he is, but I tell you, this is not what I came here for. They have sold us all down the river here and this is not what we need.”

Several other protesters could also be seen leaving the event during Banks’ remarks but declined to be interviewed.

Banks, 31, who spoke for about 20 minutes and later described himself as a Libertarian, started off in his remarks rallying against taxes. “Paying taxes is not patriotic. There is nothing noble about paying taxes,” he said. “I’m not happy forking over any of my income to this nation or any nation on this planet.”

Banks drew loud applause when he called for the abolishment of the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Service, which he described as “erroneous, illegitimate thuggish institutions” and “enemies to the United States of America.”

Later he spoke against other government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Transportation Administration and the Federal Aviation Authority, which he said are a waste of tax dollars and fail to do their jobs.

However, he also called for more involvement by regular citizens in electing political leaders who are more in tune with regular citizens.

“We need to stop electing career politicians, politicians that have no connection to the average citizen. Every election we elect a ruling class. On the local level we need to stop electing the good ol’ boys and start electing political outsiders, citizens like you and me that have no agenda other than serving the people’s needs and not the government’s needs. On the federal level we need to stop electing elitists and family dynasties...” he said.

Davis, of Flatwoods, also encouraged the crowd to become more involved in voicing opinions to lawmakers. She said was pleased with the event and plans to help organize more.

According to Davis, the nonpartisan protest was arranged in part with help from the American Family Association. The AFA describes it elf on its Web site as a nonprofit organization that exists to “reflect Biblical truth and traditional family values.”