Last weekend, over 5,000 people gathered in Cincinnati to protest the bailouts and multi-trillion dollar spending in Washington in a Modern Day Boston Tea Party. Michelle Malkin reports that this is the beginning of a growing revolutionary movement. “The tax-paying rebels are not going away. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, March 7, an estimated 500 protesters gathered for a Tea Party at Titletown Brewing. Similar Tea Parties have been held in Seattle, Denver, Mesa, Arizona, Olathe, Kansas and in other cities around the country but the Cincinnati protest is by far the largest one yet.

The Tea Party concept, of course, gets its name from the famous Boston Tea Party of 1773 when colonial Americans said to George III of England that the colonists would not accept any further taxes imposed by the Crown unless they had representation in Parliament and were able to speak on and vote on all issues. The colonists just wanted a seat at the decision table. When George III denied the colonists that seat, revolution was all but assured.

Strangely, as citizens of the United States with elected representatives in Congress, we find ourselves in a position very similar to colonial Americans almost 250 years ago. While we elect our representatives and senators and technically their votes reflect our wishes, increasingly they pass legislation and increase taxes without checking with their constituents.

Here at Inside Government our mission is to help explain and provide insight into how our government works and to help empower citizens to take action by providing tools to contact representatives or sometimes just to raise another voice.

Sadly, it is becoming increasingly common that when citizens do take action–when first time letter writers decide to contact their representatives such as over the first $800 Billion Bailout last October or when people like me who blog about the state of our government and the actions of our elected leaders–our elected representatives feel it’s acceptable to whip out a form letter and send it off via email or postal mail; in most cases totally ignoring everything that we had to say in our letter, and that we took time out of our busy schedules to write.

Such is the case with a recent letter I sent off to my State Representative in Michigan, Gail Haines. But before I get to that letter and Representative Haines’ response, some background. Gail Haines is a Republican, and I voted for her to represent my district because her predecessor was unresponsive to the needs of us living in Michigan’s 43rd District. I was also inspired by Haines’ campaign and what she promised the residents of our district. Unfortunately, she has proven to be no different than her predecessors, no different from any other politician, and thus, even a bigger disappointment.

President Obama made a pledge to the American people that there would be a transparent website to track and calculate where the funds being spent on economic recovery were going to and how they were being allocated. The site: Recovery.Gov has been developed and has a section that provides an Accountability and Transparency tab, the ability to view financial disbursements per each individual state, and many other features that will be incorporated into the site as it continues to develop.

Well, on the surface this post may not really appear to be related to this blog. However, this is very much a non-partisan issue that will affect most of us regardless of what your politics are. What I’m talking about is the revision to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act that will be in effect February 10, 2009.

The CPSIA has been revised, submitted to Congress for approval, and signed off by President Bush that now states that any and all products intended for use by children under the age of 12 will now need to be tested for lead, not only by the manufacturers, but also by the retailers.  In order for any retailer to sell any products to be used by children under the age of 12 the retailers are now required to get a certificate stating the product is safe and contains no lead.  Here’s the FAQS.

Economy in Flames

President-elect Barack Obama this morning will warn that unless “dramatic action” is taken quickly, it may be too late to pull the economy out of a recession that could last for years.

His staff just released excerpts from a speech the president-elect is due to give at 11 a.m. ET. Among those excerpts:

• “I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years. The unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. We could lose a generation of potential and promise, as more young Americans are forced to forgo dreams of college or the chance to train for the jobs of the future. And our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.

“In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.”