By Ashley Fuller
afuller@cherokeetribune.com

A Towne Lake woman is part of a national movement to use a “Tea Party” to once again protest taxes levied on Americans.

Jenny Beth Martin is the assistant event coordinator for the Nationwide Tax Day Tea Party movement and co-chairwoman of the Atlanta event planned for April 15, the day income taxes are due. She also is director of congressional outreach for one of the movement’s sponsor organizations, Smart Girl Politics.

The first Tea Party protest, which she also had a hand in planning, occurred in February after CNBC on-air personality Rick Santelli called for a Chicago Tea Party to protest government spending.

“It hit a chord with conservatives,” she said of the idea, which soon became a hot topic through the Twitter social networking service.

Mrs. Martin participated in a conference call to plan the first Tea Party and, within a few business days, tax-protest events were staged in more than 40 cities.

The April Tea Party could grow to 300 cities, Mrs. Martin estimates.

“This has mushroomed in a way we never imagined,” said Mrs. Martin, adding people have been energized by the concept. During the conference call to set up the February event, she said “you could sense people had excitement and passion.”

Her duties for the Atlanta event to be held at the Capitol include communicating details to attendees, securing speakers, arranging sign-making parties, coordinating carpools to the Capitol, publicity and public relations. She also maintains the event Web site at www.atlantateaparty.net.

Her involvement adds up to about 20 to 25 hours a week.

“It is like a part-time job,” she said, adding the cause is worth it. “It is a call for fiscal responsibility.”

She said the message of the Tea Party is intended to be non-partisan, noting while many people involved in the protest are Republicans and Libertarians, Democrats are invited, too.

“It is aimed at everyone in D.C.,” she said.

This month, American Solutions for Winning the Future, a non-partisan organization created by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, signed on as a sponsor of the Tea Party. Other sponsors include the DontGo Movement (http://dontgo.ning.com) and Top Conservatives on Twitter (www.topconservativesontwitter.org) as well as conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, radio host Dana Loesch and GOPUSA.

Amy Kremer of Cobb County, event chairwoman for the nationwide Tea Party movement, said people are serious about making their voices heard to elected officials.

“We are tired of the excess spending. It has got to stop,” she said, noting another large Tea Party event for the Fourth of July is in the works.

Mrs. Martin said the event has been helped by social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

“The power these tools have is amazing,” she said. “Five years ago, this would not have been possible to coordinate as rapidly. The tools were not there to do it.”

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