Armed with a musket, William Temple of Brunswick joined more than 300 people who converged on the Chattahoochee Technical College campus in Jasper Saturday to defend what they see as the American dream.
Sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity Foundation and the Tea Parties of North Georgia, the Defending the American Dream Summit drew a mix of younger and older activists.
“The American dream is all about striving to be the best you can be,” said Mark Taylor, a 16-year-old student from Savannah. “And when we talk about prosperity, it is not material prosperity, it is prosperity of ideas and free thought.”
Temple, who along with three other men was dressed in Revolutionary War period costume, said the ideas being put forth are the same ones on which the country was founded. He was at the summit to promote this year's 9/12 Tea Party gathering in Kansas City.
The Tea Party movement is picking up steam, attendees said. “The more people get disgusted with what is going on in Washington the more people will come to the Tea Party,” said Cheryl Espy-Dalton, 68, of the Clayton County 9/12 Tea Party.
“At this point it is not about red or blue, it is the policies you vote for, and the Tea Party folks don’t agree with how many of them are voting, no matter what color they’re wearing,” she said.
The day was full of workshops as well as discussions, a format organizers felt would resonate with participants.
“We wanted this to be more than a rally,” said Virginia Galloway, APF state director. “There is a rally element, but there are also classes so people can learn more about the issues and take them back to their communities.”
Among the first speakers and presenters were U.S. Reps. Phil Gingrey, Tom Graves and Tom Price, all whom blasted federal spending and big government.
“We’ve got to do something about this runaway fiscal insanity in Washington,” Gingrey told listeners. “The provisions in Obamacare are budget killers, especially on a state and local level.”
Price told the group defending the American dream means preserving freedoms and creating opportunities.
“Government must be finite and limited,” he said. “You can’t have big dreams and big government.”
Espy-Dalton said she thinks changes in Washington will happen once Tea Party supporters begin to change the Democratic and Republican parties, from the inside out.
“We’ve got to change the processes,” she said. “Once we change those processes we can change who is in office and we can go back to governing according to the Constitution.”
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