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Local Tea Party aims to
educate voters on issues

by CHRIS GRAY
Observer Staff Writer

      If keeping abreast of important legislation, policies and candidates is your cup of tea, then this group is for you.
       A group of concerned citizens have formed a Romeo Area Tea Party to discuss issues affecting the country and to help educate voters regardless of their political affiliations.
       The group began when residents Jean Obrecht, Jan deBeauclair and Linda Kelly started talking over their concerns about the government after attending a rally in Troy. They decided they would do more than just think about it and formed a Tea Party in the local area.
       "We're just ordinary citizens with a conservative view, and we want the Constitution to be honored and not forgotten, because that is how our country was founded," said Obrecht.
       Obrecht volunteered to have the first meeting in her basement on Feb. 1. She said she was surprised when, by word-of-mouth, a group of 50 people showed up.
       As word spread about the local Tea Party, residents from the area and from as far as Warren, Sterling Heights and Harper Woods called to see if they could participate in the most recent meeting that took place March 1. Obrecht said she anticipated about 150 people, so they booked a room at the Community Center on Morton Street.
       "We started out thinking we'd have a dozen people at the first meeting, and here we are, with about 150 to 200 people at our second meeting," said deBeauclair. "It just shows you how much discontent there is in the country right now."
       The national Tea Party movement began last year, mainly in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The groups generally have a fiscally conservative stance and rally against taxes and increasing the national debt.
       The term "tea party" refers to the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773, which was held to protest taxation without representation.
       "The basic things we want to tackle first are taxes, the growing government which is intruding upon our lives, and the disrespect and apparent disregard for the Constitution," said deBeauclair.
       Obrecht said the Romeo Tea Party is not affiliated with any specific political parties and do not wish to tell people how they should vote.
       "We have become more and more aware of how far we are being removed from the ideas that the founders of this country brought forth in the Constitution," Obrecht said.
       Some of the concerns the group shares are about how energy is handled, the federal stimulus package and health care. Obrecht said the group does believe people should have an opportunity to have health care, but without the government being in charge of it.
       "The way we're going about it just isn't right," she said.
       The concerns stretch beyond the current administration, though. She said the group plans to provide information about current topics and even offer a class about the Constitution.
       "We hope to provide different avenues people can access to get the information they need to become informed voters," she said. "The only place we're going to change anything is the voting booth."
       The next meeting for the Tea Party is scheduled for March 29. Contact Obrecht at (586) 752-3003 or deBeauclair at (586) 752-7524 for more information.