TEA protesters take to the streets against bailouts, spending

Lynne Syring is angry.

She has watched the federal government “throw money away” for too long, and the recent stimulus package and bailouts were the last straw, she said.

She decided to put her anger into action, and she joined more than 50 protesters Wednesday at the TEA Party in front of Olathe City Hall.

The protesters lined both sides of Santa Fe Street near Kansas Avenue at 11 a.m., holding various signs that said, “Take your greedy hands out of my kids and grandkids pockets,” “No more bailouts,” and “Can we bankrupt the country? Yes we can.”

TEA, an acronym for Taxed Enough Already, is a nationwide effort to protest the federal government’s stimulus packages and proposed spending plans on Tax Day.

Lana Balderas organized the Olathe TEA Party after reading a request for volunteers on the Americans for Prosperity’s Web site. AFP is a Washington, D.C.-based political advocacy group that describes itself as “an organization of grassroots leaders who engage citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local, state and federal levels.”

“We feel like we don’t have representation now,” Balderas said. “We think we can do more for the economy through our personal spending than the government can do.” She said she joined the TEA Party movement because the unsustainable spending of the federal government in the recent stimulus packages and bailouts will put present and future generations of taxpayers in debt.

“This is not good for our country,” she said.

Arlen Siegfreid, a state representative for Olathe’s 15th District, said he agrees with the protesters’ message and told the group he appreciated their efforts.

“Kansas has the same fundamental problem that Washington has,” he said about the state government. “We spend more money than we have coming in.”

Most of the people who participated in the protest signed a petition that U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, 1st District of Kansas, will present to Congress.

“We’re collecting names from across Kansas to petition for reform of the tax structure,” said Aaron Trost, campaign manager for Moran.

He said Moran will present the names during an address on the floor of the House. At age 63, this the first time Syring has protested the government.

“They always call conservatives the silent majority,” she said. “But we’re not silent anymore.”