Hundreds voice fears, concerns at tea party
By Phil Ray, pray@altioonamirror.comArticle Photos
HOLLIDAYSBURG - They came to the Blair County tea party Wednesday bearing signs: "Give me liberty, not debt"; "Hey you Gov. You work for U.S."; "Washington, please leave us alone."
One man came with tea bags wrapped around his ears.
Others came with concerns.
"I'm here because I believe what our forefathers fought for. ... Our very freedoms, some are already gone. ... I want my grandchildren to have freedom, not tyranny," Marty Lawrence of Patton said.
"We are spending money way too fast that we don't have - ridiculous," Tim Sumner of Altoona said.
"I'm protesting the things the government is doing to our country: socialized programs, high taxes, bailouts. Let capitalism work," said truck driver Paul Smith of Ashville.
Standing in a steady rain being teased by a cold breeze, Beverly and Paul Bobby of Mahaffey said they traveled all the way to the steps of the Blair County Courthouse to participate in one of the 760 tea parties that were held nationwide on tax day.
The Bobbys said they are opposed to the free spending that is going on in America and the direction President Barack Obama is taking the nation.
One of the organizers of the local protest was Jim Rokosky, chief operating officer of Digital Solutions in Altoona.
He said he has been involved as a social and fiscal conservative for many years, but he said the idea of a local tea party arose after a discussion with Beth Britz of Duncansville, the mother of two boys in college.
She gave him a call, he said, and suggested it was time "to get up and do something."
"We have been stirred to action, not just talking across the kitchen table," he said.
He told a crowd of several hundred on the courthouse patio that the nation has taken a "a radical lurch to the left the last few years."
"You have Congress and the president spending trillons of borrowed dollars, leaving that debt to our children. ... We tripled spending in 90 days. That is not the change we voted for, " he said to the crowd.
Gary D. Dull, a founder of the Faith and Freedom Institute, reviewed the unalienable rights in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
"So what are we here for today? ... Simply to say to those who have been trying to take our government away from us, 'Shame on you. Stop taking our freedoms away from us.'"
Former radio talk show host Steve Clark told the large crowd to "stand together. They [politicians] will listen. They will listen if you yell loud enough."
Hollidaysburg Police Chief Jeff Ketner estimated Wednesday's crowd to be between 400 and 500.
Blair County Commissioner Terry Tomassetti, who attended the tea party, said the opinions expressed by the crowd were a "good barometer of the level of dissatisfaction here in Blair County."
Jeff Urbanchuck, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-9th District, who was in Bedford County working on economic development issues, said the congressman viewed the tea party as "a healthy exercise in free speech."
He said the rally was less about parties and more about principles such as reduced spending, lower taxes and smaller government.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
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theadvocate
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04-17-09 2:38 PM
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danny, if only you could be paid for your rant and rave about how bad the new President is. Put that effort into finding work. You will be surprised how many jobs there are out there for intelligent people like you
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dannyglas
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04-17-09 12:01 PM
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The Obama administration is again invoking government secrecy in defending the Bush administration’s wiretapping program, this time against a lawsuit by AT&T customers who claim federal agents illegally intercepted their phone calls and gained access to their records. Blair: lets chant together now: Impeach BeeHO, Impeach BeeHO, Impeach BeeHO...oh well
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dannyglas
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04-17-09 10:45 AM
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plankroad: One of them lied under oath - which one would that be????
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dannyglas
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04-17-09 10:43 AM
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arthur: Don't waste your time with this uneducated moron. Whe doesn't understand that the wire taps are now being implemented by BeeHO to include phone calls made inside our own borders! Yeah, thats change alright! The ignorance of some people on here its no wonder they don't use their real names! I'd be embarrassed too!
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OooohNoooo
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04-17-09 9:25 AM
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BlairProgress... I was there... Our household income is well over $250K, as was alot of the folks there... Drs, Lawyers, Business owners... and you call us White Trash Hicks? Were probably supporting your Access card swiping butt!
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PlankRoadPounder1
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04-16-09 11:19 PM
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How is George Bush not in jail for treason But Clinton gets impeached for busting semen
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Blairprogress
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04-16-09 11:12 PM
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ArtHUR, rarely read or respond to your posts but this one was too easy. The government was listening to your phone call and somehow that's okay with you. WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews. Interesting that the right wing hack Mirror Editors are mum on this gross injustice.
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Blairprogress
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04-16-09 11:03 PM
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Talk about "losing our liberty". Can't wait for President Bush to go to jail where he belongs A Bush administration memo from 2005, intended to establish a legal basis for aggressive interrogation techniques, contains a footnote that actually describes waterboarding as falling within the administration's definition of torture. The footnote, found within one of the Office of Legal Council memos released by the Obama administration on Thursday, suggests that officials in the previous White House likely knew that they were torturing terrorism suspects at a time when they claimed to not be involved in such a practice.
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ArtHUR
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04-16-09 9:53 PM
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Blair, NO! You are wrong yet again. He didnt just randomly spy on American citizens. The NSA tapped the phone calls of SUSPECTED TERRORISTS. Will you PLEASE try to educate yourself on facts?
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Blairprogress
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04-16-09 9:49 PM
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Hey Gary D. Dull, do you know President Bush tapped your phone and spied on your conversations? Are these the actions you were protesting yesterday?
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Blairprogress
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04-16-09 9:47 PM
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Hey White Trash Hicks, you got a tax cut right? Unless you make over $250K, which I'm pretty sure none of these hate American conservatives do, you received a tax cut.
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Leprechaun
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04-16-09 9:23 PM
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So, Commissioner TT says that is was a "good barometer of the dissatisfaction here in Blair County," real genius he. Of course this would make sense here in good ole CONSERVATIVE Blair County where the Shuster's do nothing and get reelected every two years. What happened nationally on Nov. 4, 2008, Terry was a barometer of the dissatisfaction nation wide with your boy 'W' and the rest of his crowd. We've got the power now, so get used to it you Chump!!
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lambs1
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04-16-09 9:02 PM
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SSI is the Governments biggest joke next to welfare.
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lambs1
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04-16-09 9:00 PM
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VICTIMS, and ENTITLEMENT!!!!=Demonrats!
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OooohNoooo
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04-16-09 8:48 PM
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Social Security disability is the biggest scam ever to come down the road. Once Grandma figures out how to manipulate the system, she tells welfare rat daughter "Hey, they'll give you more money if you get fat, develop diabetesor a heart condition and say you're disabled?... YOU NEVER WORKED IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU LOWLIFE! get some respect for yourself, get out on the streets, look for a job and don't be the fourth gneration to sponge off of me!
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dannyglas
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04-16-09 8:25 PM
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I'll bet that if yesterday was called a "Pitty Party" for our weak, needy, lazy, incompetent, freeloaders, et al Katie Kuran Kuric would have been there to cover it!
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lambs1
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04-16-09 8:19 PM
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Victims!
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dannyglas
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04-16-09 7:55 PM
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lambs: That too but too much to ask for in today's society of entitlements. ooonoo: I'm with ya. Social Security bums as well. My cousin, deadbeat union guy, only 58 years old, for the past 6 years has been collecting SS because of bad knees! Maybe their bad because he wieghs 300 lbs. Biggest joke is he's never had a new vehicle until he started collecting SS because he was one of those union workers that would only go back to work long enough to get enough unemployment credits in order to sit on his ass until his bennies were about to run out. Scumbag!
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lambs1
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04-16-09 7:40 PM
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moral
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lambs1
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04-16-09 7:39 PM
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Or morol standards?
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dannyglas
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04-16-09 7:14 PM
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166482: Do you favor spreading the wealth? How about spreading good work ethic!
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lambs1
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04-16-09 6:49 PM
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666 better than snowballing each other..
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lambs1
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04-16-09 6:48 PM
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The Republican party is not getting smaller as you would wish, and further more no sympathy needed!
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166482
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04-16-09 6:47 PM
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One thing they seem to know a lot about is Tea Bagging one another. haha.
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lambs1
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04-16-09 6:47 PM
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Teabagging r ed necks.. Sign me up!!!
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