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

Critics of President Barack Obama marked national tax day Wednesday 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 would 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 teabags, 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 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.

"Save America. Stop Deficit Spending," read one placard there. "Too much tax. Too much government," another read.

Much smaller rallies took place in New York, Boston and Chicago, while others were planned in Miami and across other cities in Democrat-leaning California.

"When you see mom and pop businesses going under and people losing their homes while these big businesses and CEOs are getting bailed out, it's wrong," said Alice Broich, who organized a protest in Palm Springs, California.

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.





Dancers from Ensemble of the Turkish state opera and ballet perform the play "Rose Garden" during the Skopje Dance Festival. AFP/Robert Atanasovski