600 gather for Auburn Tea Party protest

More than 600 people gathered outside of the Auburn University Library Wednesday for one of hundreds of Tax Day Tea Parties across the nation with a message for our government: Stop overspending.

Private citizens and public officials took the microphone at the protest to voice their concerns, while others threw tea bags into a plastic pool.

The main theme among speakers and spectators was that the government is overspending and that Americans will be paying for government bailouts and the stimulus plan for years to come.

“This is for all Americans, no matter what affiliation, who don’t agree with spending in Washington,” said Paige Collins, one of the event organizers. “I do believe Washington should spend our money wisely. Thomas Jefferson said, ‘Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have.’”

Protesters held signs displaying their thoughts on the subject, including:

—“I will keep my freedom, my guns, my money. You keep the change.”

—“United States. Not welfare states.”

—“No pork with my tea.”

—“Honk if I’m paying your mortgage.”

Opelika Municipal Judge Ben Hand, who spoke at the event, said, “We run the government. We are the government and we’ve had enough.”

Tim James, who plans to run for Alabama governor in 2010, also stopped by.

“In a blink of an eye we’ve become Europe,” he said. “They lay that debt on the back of our children and grandchildren. It’s not right.”