TEA PARTY

Everyone who lives in the United States knows that your federal and state income taxes are due on April 15th every year. This year something extra happened around the United States on April 15. It was tea parties.

The tea parties were rallies by Americans, all across the country protesting our taxes. In colonial times, there had been a tea party in Boston, about tax on tea by the British Government on the colonies. The colonists of Boston dumped tea off the ships in to Boston Harbor to show their anger over the tax. They supposedly said, "No taxation with out representation."

In Norwich, Connecticut, on Wednesday, April 15, 2009, (on a beautiful sunny spring day), between an estimated 1,000 and 2,000 Citizens of Connecticut came together to celebrate, the modern day tea party. This time there was no dumping tea into a harbor. There were however, talks by speakers of all political parties about our freedoms and rights as United States Citizens. The speakers talked of our Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press. The right to peacefully gather and talk about taxes was mentioned.

The theme was that we (U.S. taxpayers) pay taxes and have no control how the money is spent. Americans do have representation, but no say in how our tax dollars are spent. People were critical of how President Obama was spending the tax dollars. In Obama's defense, no one seems to know how to fix the economy. All the different parts of the United States economy are in shambles.

The police had no problems, that I could see. It was a large crowd of people, all getting along in unity of the cause. Cars were driving past the park, blowing their horns in support. It was a good day for the people of Norwich.

In the Mohegan Court System, Mohegan Tribal members are fighting for our (the Mohegan Tribe's) freedoms and rights. The right to vote for who you want, and the right to speak and print what you want. Another case may be on the horizon soon.

How about the government community center building that no one seems to want? How about the Project Horizon hotel? What about a government that wants to expand to Palmer, Massachusetts? Who is responsible for the losses the Mohegan Sun Casino is having?

As I left, I thought does this apply to the Mohegan Tribal Government? Is our (the Mohegan Tribe) government spending revenues without considering the wishes and desires of the tribe? Do we have a representative government? How hard is it for the Mohegan Tribal Council to do the will of the people? Should we remember how the government functions at election time? Should any of the five Tribal Councilors who are running for re-election be worried? Should they go?

Maybe the Mohegan Tribe should have a tea party? What do you think?