Standing at the steps of the Ohio Statehouse on April 15th and on the US Capitol’s lawn on 9-12, I felt the rumbling of a nation. We all let the government get bigger and bigger until it mushroom clouded into some of the biggest spending bills in history BUT we saw the error of our ways, either in our party-line ideology or in our apathy to the government’s agenda. We stood out in our town squares, state capitols, and federal plazas protesting “No More Bailouts,” “End the FED,” and “This country began with a tax revolt!” And the result? There remains to be a Healthcare bill passed, the Cap & Trade bill sits in committee, the Card Check idea has been ignored, and more and more banks, originally bailed out, are trying to give the government handouts back. Out of it all, I saw that the less spending, government shrinking movement was still alive after all these years.

Then, I read about the chance the Tea Party groups would be expanding their target lists to larger institutions such as Wall Street and I knew populism was rearing its ugly head. This form of populism is pitting common folk against the elites of the financial industry. Tea Party members need to understand: It is not the big corporations or the banks that caused the financial catastrophe but the government imposing itself on these sectors of our economy. The government imposed hefty regulations on housing institutions to make more, risky loans to unreliable lenders. The Federal Reserve continually manipulates our credit, which affects the power of banks. Even the failing automotive firms have been prey to imposed labor laws and emissions standards.

The Tea Parties are a fantastic idea, developed by Americans for Americans, but only because they were focused and on point with the issue, the government issue. If they splinter with populism, they lose the only real chance at stopping these government-expanding bills from becoming a reality. I certainly hope those angry at the companies understand those firms were chained by our government and that by changing policy and those making the laws will ensure bailouts never happen again. Remember, regulation is killing our productivity and our entrepreneurship. Business and Free-Trade is the way to revive the economy. So at the next protest, the next townhall meeting, the next press conference, stand up and fight for a handcuffed government, not a shackled economy.

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