Coffee Party USA Hosts Union County Meeting in Springfield

Despite 30-mile-an-hour winds and heavy rain, a handful of concerned citizens showed up at 10 a.m. to fix America.

In two hours of lively, wide-ranging and well-informed discussion at Panera Bread, they expressed misgivings about how they see corporations and lobbyists influencing legislation, America's dependence on foreign oil, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, abuse of the environment, lack of health care reform, and avoidance of financial services regulation.

Dysfunctional Congress, Both Parties at Fault

Everyone agreed that Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, has failed repeatedly to address such issues effectively. That's why they braved bad weather to see if the recently formed Coffee Party USA will give voice to Americans who want to "see cooperation in government to create positive solutions," according to a prepared handout.

Michael Redmond, the volunteer Union County coordinator for the Coffee Party, explained that it's not a political movement.

"It's a community organization to foster discussion of the social, political, and economic issues facing the country," he said, adding that "we're not the anti-Tea Party or a reaction to it. The Coffee Party's position is that we're non-aligned. We believe we can foster positive change by drawing people from all walks of life, people who are frustrated over the failures in our political system, and get them talking and taking action to fix what's broken."

Polite Discourse, Attentive Listeners

The conversation at Panera Bread was civil in the extreme. People spoke one at a time. No one shouted. No name calling. Yet there were sharply expressed opinions. On health care, Ed O'Malley from Cranford said, "We spend two to three times more on health care than other industrialized countries do, but our health outcomes are no better." Lou Brockway, North Plainfield, quipped, "We already have 'death panels.' They're called health insurance companies."

Kevin Evans-Luttcrodt of Bridgewater summed up the consensus that the "the American democratic process is broken" and added, "We have to educate ourselves about what's wrong and then motivate ourselves and others to change the system so it works."

Coffee, Anyone?

The Coffee Party USA appeared on the national scene in February 2010. It caused a lot of buzz and garnered media coverage on the major broadcast and cable news networks and in the mainstream press. Unlike the Tea Party, which is said to have paid political operatives from the Republican Party to organize its events, the Coffee Party is an all-volunteer organization, led by an articulate, soft-spoken woman, Annabel Park, who lives in Washington, DC. Despite its moderately stated goals, the Coffee Party claims to have attracted about 100,000 members nationwide in little more than a month, and it has organized today's National Coffee Party Day event at nearly 400 coffee shops in 44 states.

For its next event, the Coffee Party is developing an organizing packet for March 27 and Coffee with Congress. In response to today's events, CNN has already broadcast a 30-minute segment on Coffee Parties and announced that they will be airing IReports from viewers all day.