Area Tea Party Supporters Hold Labor Day Weekend Rally in Milford

MILFORD — Sung to the tune of the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love" — "Bye bye cash, where is the voting box? I think I'm going to cry. Kiss my assets goodbye."

Thus, the three members of the Alexander Hamiltones put into verse, a sentiment that is popular with many tea party supporters. The three men, from the Plymouth-based Rattle With Us Tea Party group, appeared at the party's Labor Day weekend rally on Saturday at Central Park in Milford.

Tea Party supporters, including the tea parties of West Oakland, Brighton and Lakes Area (which includes White Lake) and RetakeOurGov of Hartland.

Organizers estimate more than 1,000 attended, and the national Tea Party Express bus tour made one of its two stops in Michigan at the event. Wes Nakagiri, treasurer of RetakeOurGov, Hartland, said Hillsdale was the national bus tour's first stop in Michigan. From Milford, the bus traveled on to Cleveland, OH.

On the front stage, Chairman Amy Kremer, of the Tea Party Express bus tour, helped get the audience excited about the 2012 presidential election.

"We are going to choose the next nominee," Kremer said. "We are taking our country back. This movement has done amazing things."

This includes the Cut, Cap and Balance Act, to establish government spending caps. It was defeated in the U.S. Senate, but Sen. Harry Reid won't be in charge next November, Kremer said. "We are going to take that gavel out of his hand and fire him."

The Tea Party Express bus tour, which began Aug. 27 in Napa, CA, has been getting a great reception, she said. "People are excited. They are really engaged. They want to defeat Barack Obama."

Rose Drouillard, of the Brighton Tea Party, said she thought the rally was going great for a holiday weekend. "We are quite pleased with the crowd and participation and supportive members," Drouillard said.

She joined the Brighton group in April 2010.

"We believe in our freedom and liberties, the Constitution, our military and small limited government, and a free market system," Drouillard said.

One of the youngest Tea Party members at the event was Dan Pool of Milford, a 22-year-old student at Oakland University.

"We are fighting against totalitarianism," Pool said. "The left never says when government is big enough."

Pool, from the Tea Party Patriots of West Oakland County, said Tea Party members stand for fiscal conservatism and limited government. In addition, his group recently held an informational session on radical Islam and the "Creeping Threat of Islam in America," another topic Tea Party members have concerns about.

Ben Smith, a Fenton City Council member, went to the rally to see what was going on.

"I'm just nosy," Smith said. " I agree with a lot of it. I don't agree with all of it.

"I try not to affiliate myself with any party in particular. I'm very small-town America, where it's nonpartisan. What I am striving for is the best thing for my city, not what's best for my party."

Sponsors of the tea party rally sold T-shirts and other items to help support their tea party groups' activities. RetakeOurGov had a dunk tank fundraiser where $3 bought three shots at a cardboard photo of Sen. Debbie Stabenow. A hit resulted in water from a toilet pouring down on a picture of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). It was a way to poke fun at elected officials in Washington, D.C., Nakagiri said.

Mark Lollio, of the Alexander Hamiltones, summed up the feelings of many attendees at the rally. "Our country is going in the wrong direction."

Government is too big and too involved in people's personal lives, he said. Lollio, a small business owner for 36 years, favors less regulation. He would like the government to step aside and let businesses create jobs.

"The government can't create jobs. We create jobs," he said. "It's not so much 'Taxed Enough Already.' It's SEA ('Spent Enough Already')."