IMAGES FROM THE TEA PARTY
In 60 Seconds
Springfield, Mo.
4/15/09
More Video of my Q & A with Attendees . . . Courtesy of the hardest working photographer in all of television, Taka Yokoyama.
Plus: Raw Opinions on Roy Blunt, Kit Bond, Claire McCaskill and Sarah Steelman
(Click on the final TWO clips)
*WATCH IT ALL BELOW*
THIS IS CONSERVATIVE AMERICA
In the first clip,
Mark Brown voices his opinion about why President Obama should be impeached for his economic policies. "He's not doing what he promised. He's a liar," said Brown. Brown dismissed a question about Bush-era spending, saying it's "nothing like it is now."
Angela Galiana attended the rally holding a picture of her three children and said she was worried the President would saddle them with overwhelming debt. She said the main reason she attended was tax policy. But even though Galiana would benefit from Obama's tax cut this year, she said his long-term policies impacting businesses would override any gain this year. "He's taking higher class citizens who are making over $250,000 . . . It's not fair," she said.
Janice Parker said she stood on Chestnut Expressway to show her displeasure with political profiling in the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) report. "All I know is, they were trying to profile, and I didn't care for it," Parker explained.
WATCH THE KY3 NEWS @ 6 COVERAGE HERE
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COUNTERPOINT:
Drury University Professor of Economics Steve Mullins offered a counterpoint to the protests, noting that the current debt level as a percentage of the economy is lower now than it was during President Reagan's administration. "These people weren't protesting then. These people haven't been protesting for the past eight years, where we've spent more than $500 billion dollars a year more on wars, tax cuts and a Medicare prescription drug benefit."
Mullins said that while he believes some of the Tea Day party attendees have genuine concerns, many were there for purely partisan reasons. "Why just under the current administration does borrowing and budget deficits scare you so much," Mullins asked. "When you put these numbers in perspective, they're not as scary as some of the critics could make them out to be."
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"We're Going on A Spending Frenzy"
Karen Richmond was one of the most articulate Tea Partiers we met -- and she's a conservative who feels abandoned by GOP leaders.
So I asked her what she thought about a variety of Missouri pols -- and their fiscal conservative credentials.
On Roy Blunt: "He's been there too long . . . I really liked Jim Talent."
Richmond just offered a hearty belly-laugh when we asked if one particular Missouri Republican was a true conservative.
To see who she laughed off, CLICK ABOVE.
"They're Not Listening To The People"
DON'T WANT PORK
"I'm against Republican representatives not listening to us."
Sandy Thompson is self-described independent who feels sold out.
"I think we need to clean out the Congress and we need to clean out the Senate," Thompson said.
*WATCH HER RATE MISSOURI POLS ABOVE*
TEA TIME RETURNTH
