By TODD HELBERG
cnedit@crescent-news.com
A Holgate woman fed up with the high price of government has helped organize a local "tea party" in Defiance County.
The event, mirroring larger protest rallies against big government that have occurred around the country, is scheduled from 12-2 p.m. Wednesday on the steps of the Defiance County Courthouse. This also falls -- by no coincidence, according to organizers -- on the national tax filing deadline day (April 15).
The inspiration for the name is the famed Boston Tea Party of 1773, in which American colonists showed their displeasure with British tax policy by dumping tea into Boston Harbor.
No tea will be dumped into any local waters Wednesday, but organizer Maggie Spangler of Holgate says the event will demonstrate some Americans' dislike of taxes to pay for big government. She says the word "tea" is actually an acronym that stands for "taxed enough already."
"It's pretty much everyday American citizens who are tired or fed up with the way government has been spending our money -- with the bailouts, not holding people responsible for their actions, the stimulus package and all kinds of taxes that we already have, and how they are going to cover these bailouts and stimulus packages by increasing our taxes and having more fees on top of what we are already paying," said Spangler.
She and other organizers were trying on Friday to secure speakers for the event. Because tea party organizers share many beliefs with Libertarians -- who advocate a small role for government in American life -- Spangler said an attempt was made to secure a speaker from the Libertarian Party.
Although Spangler has voted Republican, she said she is giving the Libertarians serious consideration.
"In the past I've always voted Republican, but I don't know if I am going to remain a Republican or what I am doing because I am kind of fed up with both parties -- Democrat and Republican," she said. " I'm looking honestly at the Libertarian Party."
This morning, Defiance County commissioners approved Spangler's request for a permit to use the courthouse's front and side lawns, facing south and west.
Asked why she chose Defiance for the protest rather than Napoleon -- in her home county (Henry) -- Spangler said: "We discussed that, but we felt that with Defiance being bigger and the way that so many main roads run downtown past the courthouse we would have more exposure holding it at the Defiance courthouse instead of Napoleon."
An identical event is also planned Wednesday at the Fulton County Courthouse in Wauseon from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
According to a press release issued by Spangler and another Henry County organizer (Sharon Osborne), Wauseon and Defiance are two of approximately 1,900 localities nationwide where tea parties will be held Wednesday. Others are scheduled in Toledo, Lima, Tiffin and Ann Arbor, Mich.