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Published: Wednesday, Apr. 15, 2009 / Updated: Wednesday, Apr. 15, 2009 01:22 PM

TEA time in Fort Mill

FORT MILL -- 

Americans have the right to peacefully assemble, and that’s just what they did during today’s “TEA party” to protest taxes and how Congress spends the public’s money.

“There are so many people who have no clue to what’s going on in the government with their taxes and government spending,” co-organizer Beth Donnelly, a Fort Mill resident said. “They need to know. It’s their future. It’s their children's future and America’s future. We need to protect it."

More than 100 people turned out today just before lunch for the TEA — Taxed Enough Already — party that was held in front of Fort Mill’s Town Hall. It was one of three organized TEA protests held in York County today, the deadline to file state and federal tax returns.

Adults and children carted signs that decried government spending and showcased America’s signature red, white and blue. Some adults signed petitions earmarked for Congressman John Spratt (D-York) and President Barack Obama to stop excessive governmental spending, Donnelly said.

“Stop the insanity,” she said after the protest ended.

During the hour-long event, Fort Mill residents echoed “enough already” with spending.

“Today was National TEA Party day,” Tom Donnelly, Beth’s husband, said. “It’s really about people getting out to let the government know that we’re fed up with runaway government spending and the will of the people being ignored.”

And locals such as Ralph Sauers Jr. agreed.

“We look at the debt crisis,” Sauers said. “That has opened up our eyes to see that spending is out of control. If we as citizens operated our homes the way Congress operates the federal budget, we’d be out of our homes because we couldn’t float the debt.”

Then there’s the bigger picture: passing the government’s debt to future generations.

“We as the people are becoming debtors to the federal government,” Sauers said. “If in my house we run short one month in money, I have to cut things. That’s not being done in Congress. We have become a culture accustomed to living in debt.”