Tea Party-Aligned 'Maxed Out' Tour Hits Parsippany

About 50 concerned citizens from Parsippany and beyond came out for the last stop of the three-week Americans for Prosperity "Maxed Out" Spending Tour. Organizers said the event, held Saturday at the Police Athletic League building on Baldwin Road, was an attempt to tell Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to address the nation's fiscal crisis.

In an hour-long program that included humor, patriotic songs and history lessons, speakers took aim at what they called the "liberal media" and warned that without significant spending cuts and a reduction of the national debt, the federal government would drive the U.S. into bankruptcy.

New Jersey Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, a Republican from the 25th legislative district, assailed the "bipartisan spending blizzard" he says will rob American children of their futures.

Carroll cited a 2008 campaign quote by President Obama in which he said, "Our invidivual salvation depends upon our collective salvation."

The assemblyman, calling for a more self-reliant populace, said Obama "got it backwards." Instead, he pointed to a statement from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said that nothing is owed to anyone and that everything has to be earned.

Carroll blasted the existence of entitlement programs, saying that it is time for the government to "stop stealing" from self-reliant Peters to pay "greedy Pauls."

"It's not about money," he insisted. "It's about freedom."

AFP's New Jersey State Director Steve Lonegan offered attendees a lesson from the state's past.

Lonegan noted that New Jersey has been a leader of economic success in the U.S. from Revolutionary War times through 2001. He chalked the state's long-standing success up to three things: self-governance via small towns, local control of schools and a spirit of liberty and individual responsibility.

Now, he said, New Jersey is an "economic basket case" that has the second highest unemployment and sales tax rates, the highest corporate and property taxes, and the highest spending per capita in the nation.

"Massive government spending threatens to bankrupt us," he said.

According to Lonegan, the nation's best hope is to fight for liberty and old New Jersey values.

"That spirit re-emerged in the Tea Party movement," he said.

Lonegan said it is time to show that spirit to Frelinghuysen, who voted for bailouts of the auto and banking industries and the Cash for Clunkers program. The AFP also said the congressman led the New Jersey GOP delegation in voting against the Republican/Tea Party proposal to slash $100 billion from the U.S. budget.

Lonegan urged those attending the rally to sign an AFP petition calling for Rep. Frelinghuysen to vote for Republican legislation that would rein in federal spending, defund the Congress-approved health care plan and cut the nation's debt.

Americans for Prosperity is a nonprofit group of conservative grassroots activists who work to promote limited government and free markets on the local, state and federal levels. The organization, according to spokesperson Michael Proto, is not a Tea Party group, however, he says that the two have similar concerns.

The "Maxed Out" tour visited 35 locations throughout the 11th congressional district to spread its message and to collect petition signatures. Proto said the signed petitions will be delivered to Frelinghuysen.

Lonegan said AFP is sponsoring similar tours across the country.