Tea Party participants express bailout opposition

YAKIMA, Wash. — For the second time in five days, hundreds of angry people gathered in downtown Yakima for a "tea party" demonstration Wednesday in protest of federal bailout and stimulus spending.

The demonstration, which began at 3 p.m. at Millennium Plaza, focused on federal spending but also touched on immigration, gun rights, the $9 billion state budget deficit and gay rights. Even a proposal to change Yakima County's off-road-vehicle ordinance came up a couple of times.

Organized by Bob West, Joe Ray and Kirk Groenig of Yakima, with help from radio station 1280 KIT-AM, the tea party coincided with similar events around the country. The events paid homage to the 1773 Boston Tea Party tax protest by colonists against the British.

It was the second in Yakima, where a tea party Saturday drew a crowd estimated from 300 (by police) to 600 (by event organizers). Wednesday's was even larger, with organizers saying about 700 attended while police put the number between 500 and 700.

More than a dozen members of the crowd spoke out, using the open microphones provided for them. They joined the event's scheduled speakers in condemning the federal government's use of public money.

"I am sick and tired of hearing the private sector blamed for this mess," said 55-year-old Elizabeth Benefiel of Yakima.

The free market should
be allowed to solve the prob-lem without government intervention, said Benefiel, who carried a sign reading: "Your mortgage is not my problem."

Others, such as scheduled speaker Sandra Belzer Brendale, spoke of Wednesday's demonstration as a mere starting point.

"Are you going to meet, eat and retreat?" asked Brendale, founder of the group So Tired of Paying. "Or are you going to fight until you bleed? And when I say 'bleed,' I mean your time, your money, and your talent, to move forward from here."

A regular at anti-illegal
immigration demonstra-tions, Brendale also urged the crowd to sign petitions to get Initiative 1043 on the ballot. The initiative seeks to crack down on illegal immigrants by making them show proof of legal residence for driver's licenses and public benefits. It also would require state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law.

Fighting illegal immigration was a strong undercurrent at the rally, where signs with slogans such as "Where's the Fence" and "No License for Illegals" mixed with the anti-bailout messages.

The fear that the Obama administration will restrict gun rights was another hot topic.

"They fear we may take up those arms and take them to task," Ray, a Yakima resident and state director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, told the crowd.

Skip Schoff, who was not a scheduled speaker but is a recognizable face as vice president of Christian Broadcasting of Yakima, took the mic and veered the demonstration in yet another direction.

As the state House was passing an expansion of domestic partner rights Wednesday afternoon, Schoff was railing against state Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and state Rep. Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, for crossing party lines to support the measure.

"Look and see what Curtis King and Norm Johnson have just supported in Olympia. ... Marriage has been between one man and one woman for 6,000 years in our society," he said, drawing loud applause.

Other audience members urged people to attend a county meeting next Tuesday on the off-road vehicle matter. That was far enough off topic that it actually drew a mild reprimand from Dave Ettl, a KIT personality and the emcee of the event.

After that, speakers stuck mostly to federal spending issues. Even the guy with the toy stuffed pig on his head.

"I'm part of the bottom 50 percent," said Craig Westbrook, a 54-year-old cell phone store employee, who wore the plush pig as a hat to protest pork-barrel spending. "So why do I stand up for not raising taxes on the rich? Because he's the guy who I might have to go to for a job."

* Pat Muir can be reached at 577-7693 or pmuir@yakimaherald.com.