TAXES: Hundreds show up for ‘Tea Party’

Local News

March 29, 2009

By Bill Wolcott The Niagara Gazette Sun Mar 29, 2009, 12:45 AM EDT

BUFFALO — Hundreds of men and women encircled speakers Saturday afternoon at the Buffalo inner harbor to protest taxes and almost everything about Albany.

With the USS Little Rock as a backdrop and the dilapidated Memorial Auditorium in the foreground, many people carried protest signs. An emotional Clarence man rushed up to the speaker and put $20 in protest money on the podium. Protesters were discouraged from tossing tea in the water, but a stream of citizens rushed to the stand and donated cash.

“People came forward with loads of cash. I had no idea this would happen,” said Jim Ostrowski of Free New York Blog. “I was flabbergasted. I didn’t know what to make of it.”

Citizens voiced a lot of gripes against Albany and the federal government. Some called for a revolution, some want to break New York City away from the state. The “three men in a room” issue got people hot. Some were angry about illegal aliens. Lies, pork and more fees fired up the folks.

“We got to let people know what the hell is going on,” Jake Zimpher said during his emotional burst. “It’s got to start somewhere. It should have started a while ago. We lost it when we had this election. People didn’t know what the hell they were doing. Look what we got in New York, three men in a room!”

Lee Bordeleau, the Lockportian who put the high tax billboard on Transit Road, noted state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, at the podium.

“It’s interesting,” Bordeleau said of Republicans. “They’re not in power anymore so they can come out and protest ... Now, they’re all against big spending. Where were they when they were in power? They were spending.”

“Niagara County is No. 1 again,” Bordeleau continued. “We have the highest taxes in the country and the highest unemployment (11.5 percent) in Western New York.”

Organizer Russ Thompson of Grand Island was dressed as John Adams.

“It started as a little fun and grew legs of its own,” the Massachusetts native said. “You see the results of it today. There’s a bunch of fed-up taxpayers, and they got the right to be.”

Jean Kiene of Lockport said, “We have to stop what’s going on if we’re going to continue to survive. Look at the condition our state is in. Look at our taxes. Can you imagine someone wanting to tax pop! Haircuts! It’s unreal.”

Signs of troubled times

Protesters carried some colorful signs during Saturday’s rally:

• No pensions for elected officials.

• New York, home of the free lunch, land of the taxed.

• Stop subsidizing stupidity

• Who said we don’t care about pork?

• The real names of three men in a room: Dewey, Cheatum and Howe.

• No jobs for illegal aliens

• No taxation with crappy representation.

• Who said we don’t care about pork?

• New York, Land of Taxes, Fees, tolls,

• Stop Fleecing Taxpayers

• What the hell are you doing with my money?

n “New York Tax Insanity. Don’t tread on Liberty.

n Albany is killing New York state. New York city, It’s time to cut you loose.

n They are bleeding us dry.

n We the people want term limits. It’s time to cut you loose.

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