Anti-Obama 'tea party' protests mark US tax day

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at 10:26 PM Posted by Beijing News


Critics of President Barack Obama marked national tax day with "tea party" protests that Republicans called the birth of a grassroots opposition, but Democrats dismissed as a fraud.

Modest crowds gathered under blustery skies in Washington, Miami, New York and Boston, with several thousands meeting in Sacramento, California, to protest taxes, government bailouts and Obama's big-spending budget proposals.

Organizer Eric Odom said protests were to take place in almost 800 cities in a "new day for the freedom movement."

The demonstrations, styled on the famed 1773 Boston Tea Party revolt against British colonial taxes, came as Americans rushed to meet the annual deadline for filing income tax returns.

Protests featured tea bags, iced tea and other tea-related props, complete with a planned re-enactment of the original dumping of tea into Boston harbor.

But despite the catchy theme, there were questions about whether the scattered, mostly Republican forces could achieve a significant turnout.

The Republican party has been in disarray since Senator John McCain lost the White House to Obama last year and support from senior figures to the tea parties appeared lukewarm.

While Newt Gingrich, a former Congressional leader, attended a New York gathering, McCain's vice presidential pick Sarah Palin was among several prominent leaders staying away, according to the Politico news website.

Protestors were also weakened by broad support among Americans for Obama's far-reaching economic policies, including a 787-billion-dollar anti-recession stimulus package.

A USA Today/Gallup poll published Wednesday found that a majority of Americans favor Obama's expansion of the government's role in the economy, at least for now.

One of the bigger demonstrations took place in Washington near the White House, where about 1,000 people waved placards including "Stop Big Government" and "Taxation is Piracy."

"My money is disappearing," said one protestor, Marilyn Henretty 70, a retiree. "We are tired of being taxed without representation."

Police told the rally to disperse after someone threw tea over the White House fence.

Fox television news -- which along with conservative radio shows gave intensive coverage to the event -- showed footage of a crowd in Sacramento that it said numbered 5,000.

Much smaller rallies took place in New York, Boston and Chicago, and other cities in Democrat-leaning California.

Around 1,000 people attended an event in Santa Ana, south of Los Angeles. "The tax situation is just getting out of hand and spending is out of control," said protester Daniel Flucke.

Dick Armey, chairman of the conservative Freedom Works group, described the tea parties as "the shot across the bow as taxpayers defend themselves against out of control government spending."

But liberals mocked the protests as a flop, even poking fun at Republicans' seemingly innocent vow to go "teabagging," which in slang means a sex act.





A view of a mosque in Cairo during sunset. REUTERS/Tarek Mostafa

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