Tea party members vow to win at election time

Supporters of the Tea Party movement, angered over President Barack Obama's policies, gathered in downtown Tampa this evening, vowing to take back the government in this fall's congressional elections.

An estimated 1,200 people packed Joe Chillura Courthouse Square at Kennedy Boulevard and Morgan Street for the Tax Day Tea Party rally sponsored by the local Tea Party group.

Organizer Sharon Calvert said holding the event on the date federal taxes must be filed is symbolic. Big government and anxiety over increased taxes in the wake of the health care overhaul are some of the grievances of Tea Party supporters.

"We are overtaxed, overregulated and we're overspending," Calvert said. "We're astonished over the bailing out of big banks, big car companies and insurance companies. It hit a nerve."

Similar rallies were held in other Florida cities and across the country. The events pave "a way to the ballot box" for the November elections, urging tea party supporters and those who share their view to elect candidates who stand against Obama's policies.

The Tampa rally, which started at 4:30 p.m. and lasted until 8, featured several speakers who talked about health care reform, government spending, the economy, the environment and other matters.

Hillsborough County Commission Chairman Ken Hagan was among the first to address the crowd.

"We can and will make a difference and save this country of ours," Hagan said. "A nation can't tax and spend itself to prosperity."

Speaker Ed Braddy, the executive director of the nonprofit public policy group the American Dream Coalition, was critical of the proposals for light and high-speed rail. Obama has approved $1.25 billion for Florida's $2.65 billion Tampa-to-Orlando high-speed route.

Braddy called the rail plans "a fairy tale" and a "fad" that will take more money away from taxpayers.

"We're going to consign our children to perpetual debt," Braddy said. "Light rail is one of those urban fads that mayors all over the country have fainting spells over."

Rick Davis, a board member of Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry, opposed Obama's earth-friendly environmental stance. Davis said global warming is a hoax.

"It has nothing to do with climate change," Davis said. "It has everything to do with power, control and money. Your money."

Out of the more than 1,200 that showed support for the Tea Party, only a handful stood in opposition. One of them was Tampa resident Janet Marks.

"The American people voted and they voted for Obama," Marks said. "I came today to oppose what I think is anarchy."

Around her, Tea Party supporters held signs that said, "Don't Tax Me Bro," "Obamunism," and "Nope," a play on Obama's "Hope" campaign. Many waved yellow flags emblazoned with the iconic snake symbol and phrase "Don't Tread On Me" from the nation's colonial days. Others dressed as the nation's founding fathers.

Marks said the use of those symbols was disturbing.

"This isn't 1775," she said. "It isn't the same dynamic anymore. They've co-opted very historical concepts. The Tea Party is very polarized, very black and white."

Mike Freese of St. Petersburg said he and other Tea Party supporters are simply fighting for individual freedoms. Freese was holding a sign that showed Obama in a red Uncle Sam suit with a pointing finger. Under the caricature was the slogan, "I Want You to Be a Socialist."

"We're just Americans," Freese said. "We're not a bunch of radicals. We're just mad."