Saturday, Nov. 14, North Carolinians can join with others from around the state promoting limited government and lower taxes to state lawmakers at the “Taxpayer March on Raleigh,” sponsored by North Carolina FreedomWorks.

FreedomWorks, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is a grass-roots organization founded in 1984 to recruit, educate, and train volunteer activists to fight for individual freedom and economic opportunity.

Organizers say the idea for the North Carolina event grew from the energy that followed the successful March on Washington co-sponsored by FreedomWorks Sept. 12. The national event drew hundreds of thousands of protesters from across the nation to voice their concerns to Congress over taxes, spending, and government expansion.

The Taxpayer March on Raleigh will start at 11:00 a.m. on Halifax Mall, which is located between the Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building and will include both a march and rally. Leading the kickoff will be former Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, the onetime U.S. House majority leader and current FreedomWorks chairman.

“We’re just now getting the word out and trying to get buses to bring in people from around the state,” said Allen Page, state director of FreedomWorks, in a phone interview. “We’re also contacting local and state media to let them know about the event.”

In response to limited media coverage of past town hall meetings and tea party protests in North Carolina, volunteers in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Charlotte have held a number of “Can You Hear Me” protests aimed at the media, said Page.

Effective grass-roots organizing

Since July 1, Page and fellow volunteer activists have visited U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s Greensboro office five times to protest and to deliver handwritten letters asking Hagan not to support congressional Democrats’ health care reform proposals.

“Handwritten letters drive them [Hagan’s staff] crazy because they cannot just scan in the letters,” Page said. “They must read each one and respond.” Handwritten letters send an important message to lawmakers when they see someone took the time to write a letter about an issue and then deliver it in person, Page added.

“We play by the rules,” Page remarked. “We act respectfully and peacefully at events, just like the protesters did during the March on Washington.”

With U.S. Senate and House leaders threatening the “nuclear option” to pass health care reform through budget reconciliation — a procedural process allowing a bill to pass the Senate with no more than 51 votes — some have questioned whether the tea parties, town hall meetings, and marches have had any effect on the fate of health care legislation.

“They have been very effective,” insisted Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks press secretary, in a phone interview with Carolina Journal. “Remember, President Obama and congressional Democrats first said they’d have a health care reform bill passed by July 4th. Then they said by the August recess, and now they’re scared they won’t get it by the end of the year.

“I believe people have been disappointed in politics and politicians,” Brandon stressed, “and independents who voted for Obama did not vote for a massive expansion of government. Fiscal conservatives have no levers of power right now, so they’ve taken to the streets.”

A quick Internet search of “tea parties,” for example, lists dozens of grass-roots groups across North Carolina founded by average citizens, from stay-at-home moms to senior citizens. These individuals are bringing others together to take action and let lawmakers know where they stand on issues like taxes, property rights, health care, individual freedom, and personal responsibility.

One sign that growing voter discontent in North Carolina could benefit Republicans in the next election comes from a Civitas Institute flash poll released Oct. 13. In a generic ballot for Congress, a majority (52 percent) of voters said they preferred a Republican over a Democrat candidate if the election were held today. The poll also showed swing voters heavily favoring Republicans.

Influencing policy, ensuring accountability

“We’re trying to influence policy,” Brandon said, “by building a permanent constituency. We’re doing voter education, attending campaign events, and training grass-roots activists to help conservative candidates get elected, but we’re not going away after the elections.” Brandon said FreedomWorks will ensure accountability of elected leaders by staying on top of what they’re doing in office.

Citing health care reform as an example, Brandon said lawmakers who approve legislation that does not reflect the will of the people may find it’s the last big vote they take, because they’ll be voted out of office.

“We want to make it clear to lawmakers that the endgame is about policy, not just getting elected,” Brandon said. “America doesn’t need European-sized government or taxes. We don’t need to expand entitlements that are already bankrupt. That’s part of the problem, not the solution.”

The March on Raleigh will call attention to state and national issues. Among the confirmed speakers are motivational speaker and author Mason Weaver; Bill Johnston, general manager and sales manager of WEQR-FM, the Curtis Media Group station in Kinston; Mitch Kokai, director of communications for the John Locke Foundation; and Curtis Wright, host of “The Morning Beat” on 93.7-FM and 106.3 FM in Wilmington.

Tax and health care issues are sure to be in focus. As highlighted in a recent article published on the Civitas Institute Web site, North Carolina imposed massive tax hikes of more than $1 billion to balance its Fiscal Year 2009-10 budget. Already plagued by one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, North Carolina raised sales, corporate, and income taxes, and introduced new taxes that will further weaken the state’s economy and competitiveness, especially compared with other southeastern states.

“The Tax Foundation currently ranks North Carolina’s business climate a dismal 39th in the nation, the worst ranking in the southeast,” writes Brian Balfour for the Civitas Institute, and “the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council ranks North Carolina 39th in terms of entrepreneur-friendly policy environments, also worst in the southeast.”

Other groups with similar goals of limiting government, promoting freedom, cutting spending, and lowering taxes also plan to attend the Taxpayer March on Raleigh. Truman Newberry, vice president of Wake County Taxpayers Association, for example, said his group will urge its members to publicize and attend the event.

Karen McMahan is a contributor to Carolina Journal.

[Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to clarify Bill Johnston’s title with Curtis Media Group.]