Grand Rapids resident Tomas Ojeda holds an American flag while standing with over 200 other Michigan residents in protest of the recently passed stimulus package. Ojeda said that he felt it was important to come out in protest because “it was spending that got us into this mess, and now the government wants us to think that spending is going to get us out of it.”
Lansing — More than 300 protesters of all ages flooded the Capitol steps Friday afternoon, with signs, flags and tea bags in hand.
The event was one of more than 40 “tea parties” held in cities across the nation to rally against the federal economic stimulus package.
Protesters’ spirits and signs remained high as they listened to speakers and sang verses of “God Bless America” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
But the event was more than just a protest, event co-organizer Joan Fabiano said.
She said it was a grassroots effort, much like the Boston Tea Party, to stand up against taxation without representation, pork-barrel spending and earmarks contained in the stimulus package.
“The encroachment of the government, the taxation without representation that was epitomized in the so-called stimulus bill and the encroaching socialism in the free market is almost like a bloodless coup to overthrow our form of government,” Fabiano said.
The event was sponsored by Top Conservatives on Twitter (TCOT), Smart Girl Politics, the DontGo Movement, Americans for Tax Reform, the Heartland Institute and American Spectator Magazine.
But it’s not just people who were on the Capitol steps last week who said they oppose the package.
Political theory and constitutional democracy junior ?Louie Glinzak said he was surprised by how quickly the package was passed and was unhappy with its contents, which he said included unnecessary projects and welfare program reforms.
“We keep on spending ?and that kind of action is going to continue to hurt our dollar, our purchasing power,” said Glinzak, who also is press secretary for the MSU College Republicans.
Some who support the stimulus package feel differently. State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said the package invests in programs that will produce jobs.
“It puts people to work,” Meadows said. “It’s really hard to find a negative.”
Nic Clark, a political science senior and communications director for the MSU Democrats, said he agrees. He said he doesn’t see why anyone would reject funding that could alleviate student debt.
“Regardless of the politics, we need to think about what’s good for the American people,” Clark said.
Assistant professor of political science Matt Grossmann said most of the controversy is driven partially by party politics and partially by true concern over the package’s effectiveness.
“From the perspective of people who are opposed to it, we are borrowing money irresponsibly to advance particular interests today, and if you’re for it, you say it’s … trying to stimulate the economy,” Grossmann said.
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