A Call to Action

I would like to thank President Barack Obama for inspiring me to become a more aware and involved citizen.

When the Tea Party movement really started to catch fire in early 2009, its critics scoffed, claiming this moniker was senseless, because the impetus for the original Boston Tea Party was "Taxation without Representation." Each of us is represented by two Senators and a US Representative at the federal level, so how could anyone in our day use the Boston Tea Party as inspiration for a popular movement against the government?

Well, aside from the fact that the Tea Party movement represents a broad spectrum of grievances against our federal government, there really is an issue of "Taxation without Representation" at work here.

In the wake of Scott Brown's Senate victory in Massachusetts, President Obama interpreted the historic event, as well as strong public disapproval of his health care plan by saying:

"If there's one thing that I regret this year is that we were so busy just getting stuff done and dealing with the immediate crises that were in front of us that I think we lost some of that sense of speaking directly to the American people about what their core values are and why we have to make sure those institutions are matching up with those values."

(emphasis mine)

The President just doesn't get it. His response should have centered on the fact that he and his fellow Democrats had lost "some of that sense" of LISTENING to, not SPEAKING to, the American people. But my observation of this President has led me to one conclusion, that President Obama and Democrats in Congress will not consider the voice of the American people. Will we ever forget Speaker Pelosi's famous words:

“But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."

So we are suffering from a lack of representation. President Obama and Democrats in Congress have ignored the will of the people. I cannot stand for this. I will not stand for it.

Thanks again, Mr. President. You've got me fired up.