Tea Party gathering draws several hundred people together

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor A boisterous crowd of several hundred people from all corners of the state gathered in Onaway last Saturday to protest government spending and high taxes. The Tea Party, the third in Onaway, and easily the biggest at between 350 to 400 in attendance, coincidentally was conducted on the same day of the inaugural national Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee with Sarah Palin as the keynote speaker. Congressman Pete Hoekstra, a gubernatorial candidate for Michigan governor, highlighted the speakers in front of the standing-room crowd in Onaway High School?s cafetorium.

?IT DOESN?T need to be this way,? said Hoekstra, in his brief opening remarks. ?Michigan is worth saving, Michigan?s future begins with us.? Following the statement, he immediately opened the floor to questions ranging from the national health care proposal, job creation and ?what is it that you can bring to the table?to lower our tax burden??

Hoekstra said, ?Not only do we need to look at the business tax, we need to look at the income tax, we need to take a look at the sales tax and we need to take a look at property tax, and we need to come up with a new system of taxing.? He also spoke about the bureaucracy of the former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

?Everywhere I go, people say it is hard to do business in Michigan,? he commented, ?whether it?s 11 months for a permit, whether it?s bureaucracy or paperwork?? Hoekstra told the audience, if he becomes governor, ?the bureaucracy is going to recognize that they work for you and not themselves.? He spoke of a fish farm owner in the state, who was not allowed to expand his operation.

Leading up to Hoekstra?s Q & A time, the crowd heard from several candidates for Congress and seats in Lansing. ONE OF THE most impassioned speakers was ?Trucker Randy,? a former truck driver from Traverse City who quit his job because he could no longer make a living on the road. He came home and started working for far less, because it was the only job he could find.

?I get so frustrated. I don?t like the direction my country is going in,? he said, which was followed by a rousing round of applause. ?I just see how things have changed, and we?re not doing anything about

it, and the politicians we elect aren?t listening to us anymore.? The Onaway Tea Parties started about a year ago with Lyle and Trudy Dickinson bringing together citizens concerned about the direction of the country and their liberties. ?They (Lyle and Trudy) single-handedly have got the Tea Party movement going in Presque Isle County,? said Bob Brietzke, one of the organizers and moderator of Saturday?s four-hour event. ?It was great to see the passion exhibited by those who turned out who feel we need to have a change in our country and in our state, with jobs being the most important issues on their minds.?

Onaway Veterans of Foreign Post 5857 presented the colors, Marge Skinner sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic, Rev. Mike Sullivan opened with a prayer, and the Northern Michigan A-Cord?s sang the National Anthem. Petoskey radio talk show host Greg Marshall also took questions at the end of the program.