January 11, 2010
Tea Party protesters march outside Cobo at the Auto show Counter-protesters, made up mainly of auto workers, outnumbered the Tea Party groups, shouting pro-worker slogans and carrying signs like "there are no Teabaggers in soup lines." By KATHLEEN GRAY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER About two dozen Tea Party protesters were demonstrating outside the auto show at Cobo this morning. They showed up to protest the government bailout of General Motors and Chrysler. "They think we can stimulate our way out of this economic malaise," said Jeffrey McQueen, a Rochester resident and member of USRevolution. "But the only way out is to cut taxes." Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, came to the protest this morning to show solidarity with the Tea Party crowd, but left before the demonstration began. "I don't think it's healthy for the government to control GM," he said. "Because they're a group of people who can't balance a budget. Do we want them calling the shots with the auto industry?" He said he would not have voted for the auto bailout the way it was worded, but would have supported something similar to the deal that Chrysler struck in the 1970s. "I would have pushed for some sort of collateralized loan," he said. Counter-protesters, made up mainly of auto workers, outnumbered the Tea Party groups, shouting pro-worker slogans and carrying signs like "there are no Teabaggers in soup lines." But not all the counter-protesters were fans of the Detroit 3. "I'm an auto worker and I'm worried about my pension," said Mark Farris, 58, of Monroe. "I'm afraid they filed for bankruptcy to get out of their obligation to retirees." Other local antitax groups, however, decided to stay away from the auto show, citing loyalty to the homegrown auto industry. “This is a huge event for Detroit and a lot of businesses depend on the revenues form this event,” said Joan Fabiano, a General Motors retiree and leader of Grassroots in Michigan, a Lansing-based Tea Party organization. “I’m adamantly opposed to the government takeover of a private industry, but at the same time, this particular action is ill-conceived and only hurts fellow Michiganders.” Fabiano said many other state Tea Party organizations agreed with her stance. “We don’t always march in lockstep,” she said. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
