By Marshall Griffin, St. Louis Public Radio
Jefferson City, Mo. – Missouri's State Capitol was the site of a Tea Party rally Tuesday.
Around 400 people crowded onto the south lawn to hear several Republican lawmakers and Lt. Governor Peter Kinder criticize the recently-signed national health care bill.
The keynote speaker was talk show host and son of former President Ronald Reagan, Michael Reagan. He told the crowd that liberals and progressives are "like termites."
"...Who eat away at the foundation, and if we don't temp them on a regular basis, they're going to keep eating away," Reagan said.
Reagan also told the audience that the move to pass the federal health care law was about gaining control over the lives of American citizens.
"Thomas Jefferson said this to his friend, William Smith...he said, 'About every 20 years we need a rebellion in the United States of America'...because without a rebellion, the government will take over more and more and more of our lives," Reagan said.
But he also suggested that conservatives need to emulate liberals in their long-term outlook.
"Liberals and progressives are led by their ideology...it seems we're always looking for that leader...let your ideology lead...let that be the leader," Reagan said.
Today's rally was a forerunner to numerous Tea Party rallies scheduled for Thursday, April 15th, across Missouri and around the country, which are timed to coincide with the deadline for filing income tax returns.