2010 Tax Day Tea Party Speech

The following speech was given on April 15, 2010 at a Tax Day Tea Party Rally in Oceanside.
 
Hello everyone!

My name is Dana Matas and I am the Marketing and Internet Outreach Director for Stop Taxing Us. I am also a mom to three young children and am very concerned about their future freedoms.

America has always been known as the "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave." But since when are free people forced by their government to buy services they may not want or need, such as healthcare insurance? And since when do brave people expect their government to bail them out or take care of them? I know that without the freedom to fail, my children will no longer have the freedom or motivation to succeed!

In fact, despite what the media would have you believe, the entire Tea Party Movement is made up of concerned parents just like me and people just like you, who for the first time are getting involved in politics because we know the direction our country is completely unsustainable. Corruption is rampant in Washington. Spending is out of control. And government is intruding into our lives well beyond what our founders had intended.

And I don't just blame the Democratic Party because they happen to be in power, I blame the Republican Party as well. Both parties have not only abandoned their centrist platforms, they've completely abandoned our country's founding principles in exchange for their own self-serving pursuits!

But if we really want to be honest about how our country got to where we are today, we need to look in the mirror--we need to look at ourselves. The American electorate has applied the "outsource, drive-thru" mentality to its political responsibilities. Let's face it; the vast majority of us rely on sound bites and party affiliation when it comes to determining how to vote--and that's only IF we vote.

If I've learned anything over the past year, it's that there is no shortcut to protecting our freedom because those who are supposed to be watching out for us inevitably become consumed with looking out for themselves.

Even with the momentum of the Tea Party movement, I know our work has only just begun. When all the handmade signs are put away, the events are over, and we've overturned Congress, there will be no going back to the complacency from which we just awoke. We cannot continue to pack our schedule so tight with everything else, from work to kids' soccer games, that there is no room to serve our county.

As Tomas Paine said, "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigues of supporting it."

We need to get informed and stay informed. We need to examine candidates and hold our elected officials accountable. And, yes, we need to consider running for public office ourselves, even when it is burdensome on our time or financially undesirable.

Eternal vigilance over our freedoms is the price we pay for living in the greatest country on earth. I just hope history shows that it is a price Americans are willing to pay.

Thank you and God Bless America!