Tax Day rally: largest of year for Olympia WA

The protesters' signs made their message crystal clear: No. More. Taxes.

The national Tax Day Tea Party brought the largest rally of the year to the Washington Capitol on Wednesday, with the State Patrol estimating the crowd at more than 5,000.

The tax protesters swarmed the Capitol steps, saying they were tapping into the spirit of the 1773 Boston Tea Party to send lawmakers a message.

"We're here to protest wicked government and taxes," said Sarah Wynder of Olympia.

No tea chests were emptied on the steps of the Capitol, or in nearby Capitol Lake. But Wynder and her father James were distributing tea bags to the crowd. Those in attendance were encouraged to drop tea bags off with their state senators and representatives to deliver their no-new-taxes message.

Whipped up by conservative commentators and bloggers, tens of thousands of protesters staged "tea parties" around the country to tap into the concern stirred up by a bad economy, government spending and bailouts.

The nationwide rallies were directed at President Barack Obama's new administration on a symbolic day: the deadline to file income taxes. Protesters even threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House, causing a brief lockdown at the compound.

Many in the Olympia crowd were also protesting the state's Democratically controlled Legislature. The way some protesters see it, America is on a slow slide into Marxism.

"We're here to reinforce the message of the original Tea Party because it needs to happen again," said Carolyn Lake of Tacoma. "There's a difference between America and socialism."

"They want us to hold our noses and take a little socialism, like a child taking a bitter pill," said state Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. But she said a little socialism is like being a little bit pregnant: "Sooner of later, you're going to give birth to a full-blown Marxist."

Todd Donovan, a Western Washington University political scientist, said the Boston Tea Party was a natural choice for a rally theme.

He said modern use of revolutionary themes dates to the rise of free-market and limited-government conservatives who rose to prominence during the Reagan era.

"In the 1970s there was an attempt to create a lineage back to the Revolutionary era because our revolution was an anti-tax revolution," Donovan said.

Victor Meyers of Kent, a self-proclaimed conservative, dressed like a Revolutionary War soldier with a tri-corner hat. He said he's sick of taxes and hopes the size of the crowd drives home that message to Gov. Chris Gregoire.

Meyers also had a knapsack full of tea bags slung across his chest, which he said he wanted to deliver to Rep. Geoff Simpson, D-Covington, who represents him.

Others expressed frustration with all government, including Republicans.

Whipped up by a series of speakers, the crowd began chanting, "No more pork!" Among the rally signs: "Socialism never succeeds," "Nazis were socialists too," and "I am not your ATM."

One speaker repeatedly referred to House Speaker Frank Chopp, a Democrat, as "Frank Pork Chopp."

Radio host Kirby Wilbur of KVI-AM said Americans need to help each other, not rely on the government to fix the country's economy.

"Go out to dinner, buy a car, and stimulate the economy yourself," Wilbur told the crowd.

But while noting the protesters were exercising their constitutional rights, Simpson questioned the usefulness of the free market rhetoric.

"We've seen over the last several years how great the private sector takes care of things," Simpson said of the current fiscal malaise. "I was hoping to hear from them today about how they propose to close the $9 billion (state) budget gap with just private philanthropy. But I didn't hear from them. What is their proposal?"