PROTEST GROUPS TO HOLD JULY 4 RALLIES
by Amanda McElfresh - The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

The Acadiana Tea Party will host a Freedom Rally at 4 p.m. Saturday at Beaullieu Park. The event will feature patriotic music, historical skits, children's activities and more, according to a message on the group's Web site from its head, Glenn Ellerbe.

Ellerbe noted in the message this will not be a repeat of the April 15 event, in which several people in Lafayette and elsewhere held "tea parties" to express dissatisfaction with the federal government.
"We have a whole different vision for July 4, which takes the next step beyond complaining," Ellerbe wrote. "This time, the focus is to get everyone informed about the 'big picture,' and then explain some solutions, followed by giving everyone the opportunity to organize and activate with others who share a passion for the same specific issues that you do."

In addition, the New Iberia tea party will gather at 11 a.m. Saturday in New Iberia City Park to protest the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of legislation that would impose limits on pollutants from power plants, factories and refineries and force a shift to "greener" forms of energy. Democrats have said the measure will combat global warming, and Republicans have said the bill includes the largest tax increase in American history.