Everything stops for Tea!

Everything stops for Tea!

 Grandma isn’t shovel ready.
 
 

"All we have to do is keep this up until Saturday," she said.

But who are these people so set against the president’s plan to extend affordable healthcare to more than 30 million Americans and stop insurance companies denying care?
 
Michael Ostrolenk, an independent political consultant,  told me that the Tea Party is a small but vocal group that has helped derail Obama's healthcare reform so far.
 
"The Tea Party people seem to represent an expression of the libertarian pulse which is foundational to America," he said.

"There's also recognition by the Tea party folks and others that many of our institutions such as banks, education, healthcare and churches  which have sustained us 'til now are falling apart - and then you add to that fear and ignorance."
 
So rallies like this are a myriad of opinions - mostly negative about the President and his policies. 
 
 

Mr Obama is not my President, he is a dictator.
 
 

That was Kathy Ropte from Georgia who believes Obama’s spent too much money effectively "buying votes" in congress to get reform passed.
 
"With that money … why aren’t they doing something just for those 30 million additional people?," she asked. 

"And even when they do get those 30 additional million people there was still - what I think it was - 25 million more that still don’t have healthcare. How about we get rid of the illegal aliens inside this country."
 
Many here feel that President Obama would never have been elected if he’d been more open about what his campaign slogan “Hope and Change” actually meant. 

Gina another protestor told me more:

"Hey look America, were going to change you into a socialist country we’re going to take away your rights and your liberties and your freedoms how about voting for me do you think they would have got elected if they had been more specific on change?"
 
Me - "You don't really think the president wants to turn this into a socialist country - you don't really believe that do you?"
 
"Yes I do!"
 
Michael Ostrolenk said:

"The Tea Party folks, as an expression of the American libertarian impulse, are in favour of limiting government power."
 
To be fair all the protestors I met agreed there’s a need for healthcare reform ... they just have different means of getting there.

Joseph Panas, from Pennsylvania told me:
 
“And the solution to that is the market place ... they're business people they’re entrepreneurs, they would very quickly react to market forces not to federal regulation - that will kill this country!”
 
Rallies like this will take place outside Democratic Party offices all over Washington DC this week .... they're a small but vocal group with friends in high places but it's unlikely they'll be able to stop some kind of healthcare reform being passed.