OPINION: Would you like to attend a tea party?

The movement was started by a reporter on CNBC, Rick Santelli, in February, when he called for a tea party on Lake Michigan in protest of government action which he said was “promoting bad behavior” by subsidizing “the losers’ mortgages.”

Over 50 protests have already occurred across the nation, drawing some 30,000 people. There were 4,000 at a protest in Orlando and another five thousand in Cincinnati. Now over 120 cities and towns have announced plans for “tea parties” on tax day, April 15. There are currently plans in a number of Georgia cities including Atlanta, Augusta, Leesburg, Macon, Savannah and Warner Robins. You can find a nationwide list of scheduled parties at http://taxdayteaparty.com.

This movement is sounding a lot like past tax protest that have greatly influenced our nation. There was, of course, the Boston Tea Party conducted by the Sons of Liberty that helped instigate the American Revolution. Then a major tax rebellion led to the bloodiest war ever fought on the North American continent. It was in protest of a massive tax increase known as the Morrell Tax that caused the southern states to rebel against the federal government and establish the Confederate States of America.

Now this series of “tea parties” may well be the harbinger of the next great tax revolt in America. But this one will be fought in the media, on the internet and the election booths, not with guns and swords. I hope and pray that I am right about that.

Due to the fact that congressional elections occur every two years, we will have a new opportunity to strike against President Obama’s dangerous tax and spend program in 2010. Already the battle lines are being formed. Bloggers and comment writers on the net are urging the Republican Party to make the Democrat’s spending plan a major part of their platform. People who explore the Internet are finding a new interest in independent and third party candidates among those who are blaming both major parties for the economic disaster we now face.

The question is this: Will the April 15 protest be big enough and loud enough to influence the President’s spending program, or will he ignore the protest and charge ahead with his program? If he listens and modifies his programs to control the runaway spending, he may be able to keep control of his administration. If he continues on his current track, I predict that Republicans will regain control of the House of Representatives in 2010, and the Presidency in 1012. I will also predict that if the Obama administration fails as badly as I suspect it will, there will not be another Democratic president for at least 50 years.

Voters of this nation will not let this kind of economic abuse stand. The only question is whether they can reverse it before terminal damage is done.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://frankgillispie.tripod.com/