Oregon FreedomWorks Activists Join Large Pro-Freedom Protest
As FreedomWorks Northwest Director Russ Walker explained to the Oregonian, “This is the shot across the bow,” to tax-hiking politicians. The shot he is referring to of course is the record breaking Tax Day Tea Party protest movement. Since February, FreedomWorks has been helping hundreds of thousands of citizens all across the country coordinate modern-day “Tea Party” protests. This Tea Party Tour reached an historic milestone yesterday when media reports estimated that half a million protesters took to the streets on Tax Day, attending over 1,000 events and sending a message loud and clear to Obama and his liberal allies in Congress; enough is enough!
In no state was the taxpayer’s unrest more evident than Oregon on tax day. In total, 20 separate events were held across the state, both large and small. Over 3,000 turned out at the state Capitol in Salem, a combined Eugene/Springfield rally drew 1,200, and 1,000 angry taxpayers rallied at Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland. Not to be out-done, the small towns carried their weight with events in Rouge River, Newburg, Enterprise and Coos Bay to name just a few.
The events were well covered by the local media, such as The Statesman Journal, which quoted local activist Tom Vause; “If you look at what they’ve already done and what they plan to do, my great-great-grandchildren’s grandchildren are not going to be able to pay this debt off. They are hocking this country into debt so much that the country can’t survive.” Along with the print media, FreedomWorks activist Laura Bell was interviewed on Fox 12’s Good Day Oregon. This is the kind of positive coverage that grabs the attention of Oregon’s voters and politicians.
FreedomWorks is committed to mobilizing this newly invigorated grassroots machine to fight tax hikes on the national, state, and local levels. We will continue to train these new angry taxpayers how to be effective activists for freedom while running ballot initiatives to decrease the size, scope, and cost of Oregon’s government. On the national level, FreedomWorks is organizing an event in Washington, D.C. on September 12 of this year to bring thousands of limited government advocates from all over the country to the nation’s capitol. There we will continue the “tea party” themed protests with a massive rally as well as participate in tactical issue advocacy training and lobbying of Capitol Hill offices on a host of economic freedom issues.
