by Dick Armey www.FreedomWorks.org

LINK>>> Hawaii TEA Party sign up

On February 27th, 2009 thousands of Americans heeded the call of CNBC's Rick Santelli and took to the streets in dozens of cities across the country to protest bailouts and wasteful spending. The American people were angered by President Bush's TARP bailout and the prospect of a mortgage bailout by the new president, Barack Obama.

This first major wave of street protests on February 27th ignited a massive, national protest movement against big government, and swept the country in a matter of weeks. Many of you participated in the original wave of protests, and some even led them. Others got involved on April 15th, when more than a thousand protests occurred across the country.

This movement became known as "the tea party movement" and ended up creating a huge community-based political force that would flood the phone lines of Congress with opposition to a government takeover of healthcare, take on the politicians in spirited townhall meetings and organize the largest protest of big government in American history -- the Sep. 12th Taxpayer March on Washington.

The uprising of fiscal conservatives caught the political class off guard and took the nation by storm. It ultimately was able to - against all odds - deal Obamacare a death blow and deliver a stunning loss to the liberal agenda in Massachusetts. This movement has a lot to celebrate, and a lot to be proud of. But the work must continue, and the fight must go on.

To that end, FreedomWorks is supporting grassroots Americans in an effort to re-ignite the protests against big government in 2010. The first national day of protests will be this Feb. 27th in cities across the country. If you have not heard about a protest in your community, please connect with others and organize one. CLICK HERE TO JOIN OR ORGANIZE A FEB. 27th PROTEST!

Also, we are encouraging our members to host film screenings of Tea Party: The Documentary Film to coincide with the protests on Feb. 27th. CLICK HERE to purchase your copy of the film and then ORGANIZE A FILM SCREENING in your community.

2009 will be remembered as the year that the second American revolution was born to defend liberty from a massive leftist assault. Let's work together to make sure that 2010 will be remembered as the year that this revolution began to take America back from the socialists once and for all.

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Rick Santelli, February, 2009