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Owensboro tea party hits close to home

By Stuart Peck - bio | email | Twitter

OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - In Owensboro, citizens have held two tea parties Wednesday.

With the recent local insurance premium tax increase, for some residents, Wednesday's protests are more personal.  

The city and Daviess County voted earlier this year to raise the insurance premium tax to help pay for the downtown redevelopment project.

A lot of residents support that idea, but some gathered at Mitch McConnell Plaza were not happy with current spending on the local and federal levels.

"All these people are here because taxes have gone up, gas prices have gone up," resident Arthur Henry said. 

Tea bags in hand, Owensboro and Daviess County residents also expressed their anger with local leaders for raising the insurance premium tax.

"The people of Owensboro and Daviess County are pretty much fed up with some of the people who reside in this building," resident Rodger Connor said. "The mayor, the county judge over at the court house for what they've done to us with the downtown. They wouldn't listen to what the people had to say."

Around 150 people gathered outside city hall Wednesday morning for the tea party.

The morning tea party was one of many across the country Wednesday, inspired by the original Boston tea party when Americans protested a half cent tax increase on tea.

"We're losing jobs and yet they want to let people come in from other countries that'll work cheaper so we can push other people out of work," Henry said.

Even though the insurance premium tax has been passed and downtown redevelopment is moving forward, protesters said their voices would be heard on election day.

"We have had it and we're not going to take it anymore," Connor said. "We're going to do it the right way, we're going to do it at the ballot box."

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