September 12, 11:20 PMCobb County Conservative ExaminerJim Jess

A tea party rally at Roswell City Hall drew more than 1,500 participants who oppose big government, government-run health care and excessive spending by Washington, D.C. politicians. The rally began at 11:00 Saturday morning and continued into the afternoon. Participants from across the metro area gathered to hear talk show host Herman Cain and grassroots leaders talk about the Constitution, health care, and Second Amendment rights.

The event was organized by North Fulton and Friends Tea Party and was supported by a number of organizations, including Americans for Fair Taxation (FairTax.org), Americans for Prosperity, Georgia Tea Party, Inc., and other grassroots groups.

Country radio personality Moby of “Moby in the Morning” served as emcee for the event and addressed the question of gun rights. He said, “The Second Amendment is about freedom to choose” to protect your life and property. For Moby, it’s a simple issue of self-defense, the right to defend what is yours.

WSB’s Herman Cain acknowledged the huge 912 March on Washington, which was taking place simultaneously, along with hundreds of other tea party events across the nation. When he announced that the Washington, D.C. event had attracted 1.5 million participants, the crowd cheered for several minutes.

Cain observed, “We are making a difference” in what is happening in Washington, D.C. He gave several examples of how the tea party movement had impacted work in Congress. The cap-and-trade, or climate bill, passed by the House has slowed down in the Senate. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the committee with responsibility for the legislation, has said that she doubts her committee will have a bill ready before the end of the year. Health care legislation, which President Obama wanted to sign before the August congressional recess, has slowed down in the House, due, in part, to the moderate “blue dog” Democrats’ lack of enthusiasm for the bill being pushed by the president and House liberals. The “blue dogs” are hearing from a lot of the tea party activists.

The tea party movement continues to draw crowds to rallies in the metro area, just as health care town hall meetings drew record crowds that included many tea party activists in the month of August.

Laura Harrison, President of the Paulding County 9-12 Group, spoke to the crowd about the importance of the Constitution. She talked about the Tenth Amendment, which says that the rights not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states, or to the people. She stressed that the states must reassert their authority.

Harrison only recently became involved in the tea party movement, partly due to her desire to understand and teach people about the Constitution. She obtained materials from the National Center for Constitutional Studies and offers free seminars to those who want to learn about our nation’s charter for government. As Harrison says, “The Constitution is so vitally important.”