Taxes send tea into the Wabash

Lafayette, Ind. (WLFI) - The first tea party Wednesday afternoon had the Pedestrian bridge packed with people wanting their voices to be heard.  Many say the government is spending too much money, and it's unfair to taxpayers.

"He reminds me of a President that was elected to lead the country, like a little kid that was turned loose in a candy story, spend this, spend that, spend this, spend that," said Bonnie Long.
 

"We're here to protest big government in general really. It's just the fact that government has so much control in everyday american lives and we are here to get more power back in the people's hands," said Erin Coffman.
 

"I'm here to support the constitution, and the stage that we've reached now, I think the constitution and following that is the way out of our troubles," said Roger Mleynek.

Janet Anderson traveled all the way from Valparaiso with signs in hand to make sure that her voice is heard.
 

"The Government is just not being careful with people's money and they don't have a clue of how people are wroking hard to better themselves," said Janet Anderson.
 

Event co-organizer Matt Poole says he hopes to accomplish three things with the tea party: education, information and a call to action.
 

"I hope that people understand what the intent of the Government when it was founded was and what it should still be," said Poole.
 

The event wasn't just about throwing tea into the Wabash river, it also included many guest speakers. The tea party also allowed concerned citizens to speak.

"This is America and everyone deserves to have a voice so we opened it up to open mic and give everybody an opportunity to voice their opinions," said Poole.

There was concern about littering, and whether tea would pollute the Wabash.  Environmentalists were in boats to collect the bags when they were tossed into the river.  City police officers were on hand to monitor the crowd, but I'm told there weren't any additional cost for that.

Another Tea Party was held on the Myers Pedestrian Bridge between Lafayette and West Lafayette at 6p.m.