Dr. Tom Stevens, OPNY President, "Humorous Yet Eloquent" At Independence Day Tea Party

Dr. Tom Stevens, OPNY President, addressed a Tea Party held on July 4, 2009 in Bowne Park in Queens, New York.

In an article entitled "Tea Party Held On Fourth Of July", which was published in the July 9, 2009 edition of the Queens Chronicle, AnnMarie Costella, a Chronicle Contributor, wrote the following about Dr. Stevens' speech:

In a humorous yet eloquent display, Tom Stevens, membership director of the Queens Libertarian Party and president of the Objectivist Party of New York, took out his official hand-carved Harry Potter wand and after each wave named a different goal like smaller government, lower taxes and more individual liberties.

"No, magic doesn't work," Stevens said. "Objectivism has a philosophy. It doesn't believe in magic and mysticism because it obviously doesn't work. We believe instead in reason and logic and taking action and personal responsibility for changing what is wrong by getting involved locally and making a difference."

John Procida, chairman of the Queens Libertarian Party, who organized the event, was quoted in the article as saying:

This country is going to the dogs. We are not the country that our forefathers fought for. We are not a country of free people anymore. Freedom is the key. Socialism is a disease. It causes people to become lazy.

Ronald S. Ramo, OPNY Treasurer, who spoke at the Tea Party was quoted as saying:

In this economic crisis, the Federal Reserve, in a counter-intuitive fashion, has decided it is best to keep printing money at the highest rate possible...I think it is time that we end this charade. It is time that we have an audit of the Federal Reserve to find out where the money is and where it is going.

Dan Halloran, an attorney specializing in constitutional law, who is running for the District 19 City Council seat, said "citizens need to take a pro-active approach to government and express their concerns and dissatisfaction". In a good summary of why people turned out to participate in the July 4th Tea Party, Mr. Halloran was quoted in the article as saying:

What better day than July Fourth, the founding of our nation, for us to come out and actually show not only that we care about these issues, not only are we aware of what's going on in our government or not going on in our government, but we are taking action to do something about it.

In similar Tea Party rallies held around the country this year, "tea" has become an acronym for "Taxed Enough Already".