FreedomWorks

Political junkies now have their own summer sequel to ponder: Tea Parties 2, Independence Day.

Local conservative and libertarian political activists, who threw ”tea party” protests on April 15, will rally again Friday in Easton as part of hundreds of demonstrations across the nation this weekend.

While their numbers are smaller this time around, their target is again big government, in particular President Barack Obama’s cap and trade energy proposal and plan to overhaul health care.

Demonstrators who oppose universal health care and the government-option in health-care reform plan to protest outside U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler’s office in Boca Raton on Thursday.

Stock up on the Earl Grey and the English Breakfast: the GOP-led tea party activists are set to begin another series of anti-tax demonstrations around the country in July.

The first round of tea — or “Taxed Enough Already” — parties will begin “on or around” July 4 and will focus on opposition to government-run health care, according to national tea party coordinator Jenny Beth Martin.

Isn’t it funny how a string of good old fashioned, car-burning riots in the middle east has become a trendy global cause celebre for freedom, while peaceful protests against government waste and exorbitant taxes in America were dubbed “unhealthy” by the president’s top adviser and “racist” by some in the media?

Reflecting on the success of the tea party events held in Albany and Leesburg earlier in the year, officials plan to spend the Independence Day holiday protesting what they say is wasteful government spending.

Organizers from Dougherty, Lee and Sumter counties are joining forces to host a tea party on the Fourth of July in Plains City Park.

“We are all combining efforts on this one,” said Mike Sabot, one of the organizers for the event. “We are expecting (the attendance) to be bigger. Anything over 1,000 we will be happy with.”

SALEM — Democrats have rolled the dice in a big way by approving more than $1 billion in tax increases in the waning weeks of the legislative session, gambling that Oregon has undergone a profound political change since the days of property tax limits and income tax rejections.

The new taxes — on upper earners, corporations, hospitals and gasoline — help balance a shaky budget and offer an exit strategy that sends lawmakers home by July. But it could be a short vacation.

Nobody is happy that the city will have to pay an extra $15.7 million to finish the baseball stadium downtown, but cries of dismay yesterday were mixed with calls for stadium construction to continue.

The Winston-Salem City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday to discuss and possibly take action on a deal to finish the stadium.

“I’m still struggling with it,” said Council Member Robert Clark, who represents the city’s West ward. “It is very complicated, and there is no win-win answer. Every answer has terrible consequences.”

FreedomWorks, the conservative organization that had a big hand in the Tea Party rallies this past April, is gearing up for a new “Taxpayer March On Washington” for September 12 — with a very interesting logo.

The intriguing thing here, as Ron Gunzburger pointed out, is that the logo makes use of left-handed fists, colored in red — a traditional symbol all around the world for communism and militant socialism.

As Congress and the president look to expand government’s role in health care, taxpayers are left singing the old Waylon Jennings line, “Your thirst for riches is more than my pockets can stand.” But with the Obama administration’s health care plan predicted to cost $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, middle-class taxpayers are about to find their pockets emptied even more. To pay for this, the Senate Finance Committee is considering a throng of new taxes, including higher levies on beer and wine, plus a new tax on non-diet soda.

Close to 300 Gwinnett County residents gathered at Suwanee Town Center Park on Monday evening to increase pressure on the County Commission to balance its budget without raising property taxes.

The rally, sponsored by FreedomWorks and Atlanta Tea Party Patriots, featured an array of state and local officials, including state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, Rep. Melvin Everson (R-Snellville) and Secretary of State Karen Handel.

“Real Republicans cut spending at all levels,” said County Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, who has already spoken out against the proposal.