Freedom to protest

By Andrea Freygang

In the spirit of Independence Day, protestors gathered around different federal offices and buildings this week to protest the increased government programs, taxes and also the planned universal health care program. Amidst tea parties,

Photo of rally at Congressman Robert Wexler's office in Boca Raton. Photo by Daria DiGiovanni

petitions to support or rally against amendments, medical marijuana and other issues, Americans in South Florida recognized Independence Day not only as a day of freedom, but also a day to exercise their rights in hopes of changing the greater political climate, a notion the U.S. was founded on.

See a report on one protest at Rallying for Free Market Healthcare in Boca Raton by Daria DiGiovanni.

Today, for the Fourth of July, people are protesting on the steps of Federal buildings nationwide, including downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Photo by Daria DiGiovanni

More photos from Daria Rally photos

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Photo by Stacy Hayes

Photos from the Fourth of July Broward County Tea Party

Photo by Paula Ettline

For the second time this year, several thousand people showed up in Broward County on the Fourth of July to protest government actions. While some approached the old stand-by topic of abortion, others targeted the increased taxes, fees, the new pending universal health care plan (with a letter from your legislator coming later).

Photo by Stacy Hayes

“You deserve access to the same kind of insurance that I have as a Member of Congress.  I get to choose from a variety of plans from a number of companies, so that I can choose the level of coverage that is right for my family,” said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Broward County. “Since 2000 alone, average family premiums have increased by 88 percent in Florida. Roughly 9.8 million people in Florida get health insurance at work, where family premiums average $12,780 – about the annual earning of a full-time minimum wage job.”

Despite supposed well intentions but Wasserman-Schultz and other legislators is that many others are concerned about it subsidizing people who aren’t putting in their fare share, hence the large protest this week against the plan. Others are still lambasting the stimulus plan. You can learn how to (supposedly) track the stimulus funding in this post: New Web site to track Florida’s stimulus dollars from Washington.

“I went to the event because I don’t want my son to have to pay for Obama’s spending spree,” said Stacy Hayes. “I”m looking forward to the next event.”

Others campaigned to Audit the Fed – Ron Paul is spearheading the movement. Visit Paul’s site to learn more about HR 1207.

I found a video from the event on You Tube. Here’s another video by Melissa Presnell Kloepfer showing how many attended the tea party.

Here’s another link at South Florida Tea Party. Another page is Florida Tea Party Network.

Photo by Paula Ettline

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Posted by admin on Jul 4 2009. Filed under National politics, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry