TEA PARTY ANSWERS CHARGES BY DEMOCRATIC CHAIRMAN CRAIG STEPHENS

Kent, Ohio – Today, Portage County TEA Party Executive Director, Tom Zawistowski, responded to accusations made by Portage Democratic Chairman, Craig Stephens, about the TEA Party Movement on Thursday at a Democratic fund raiser held at the Italian-American Club in Ravenna.  At that event, Stephens was quoted as saying,  “We need strong leadership there (county commissioner), we don’t need tea-baggers that are running around saying that the Sheriff’s Office spends too much money, let’s cut tax, let’s get rid of deputies, let’s get rid of school teachers, let’s get rid of fireman, let’s get rid of police officers… That’s bull.”

In responding to Stephens comments, Zawistowski said “The only BS in Portage County is coming out of Craig Stephens mouth.  Mr. Stephens obviously has not attended any of the 18 Township outreach meetings we have held in the past 6 months, where we say over and over that it is an outrage that Democratic mayors, like Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, were cutting police and fire department staff instead of cutting administrative and unconstitutional social programs. Look around Craig, you don’t see any conservatives cutting police – they are all Democrats.  Stephens charges are similar to President Obama saying the Republicans are stopping his agenda when he controls all three branches of government.  Nobody’s buying that bull either.”

Zawistowski went on to say, “ We challenge Mr. Stephens to find any quote from anyone in the Portage Count TEA Party every saying anything about cutting any police, sheriff deputies or fireman. Its a flat out lie. It is clear that Mr. Stephens and the other “good old-boys” in Ravenna still have no respect for the public they are supposed to serve, when he intentionally uses the derogatory name of “tea-baggers” to describe the fastest growing citizen group in the county that now has over 1,600 active members. Stephens can make all the false accusations he wants, the fact is that Democratic “leadership” has put our county our state and our country in financial ruin and in November we will look forward to rectifying that situation.” 

The TEA Party is not a political party but a political movement.  It is loosely based on the Boston Tea Party of 1773 in which American Colonists rebelled against the “Taxation Without Representation” of the King of England and the English Parliament by dumping tea into Boston Harbor.  The initials TEA are today used to show that many current American citizens feel that they are “Taxed Enough Already” by the U.S. Government as well as state and local governments. The movement is attempting to motivate common American citizens to take a more active role in selecting and electing representatives that are committed to representing the people who elected them, instead of their own political parties and other special interest groups.