Nationwide protests target tax burden, Obama policies

ATLANTA (AP) — They protested not far from the site of the original Boston Tea Party, and in hundreds of other places. Some wore Revolutionary garb, some wore tea bags on their hats, and others chose T-shirts that declared “revolution is brewing.”

Tens of thousands of colorful, and sometimes angry, protesters observed the national income tax deadline day by attending “tea parties” to protest government spending, bailouts and taxes, in some cities to the beat of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Some brought their kids to help make the point that the federal government is running up debts for future generations to pay.

Laura Watkins pushed her 2-year-old daughter, Zoe, around in a stroller with a sign attached to the front saying “My Piggy Bank is Not Your ATM.” Watkins, of Louisville, turned up at the protest after reading about it online and hearing about it on Fox News.

“I don’t want my daughter to inherit all this debt,” Watkins said.

The rallies were directed both at Americans’ tax burden and at President Barack Obama’s new administration. Protesters even threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House, causing a brief lockdown at the compound.

Outside the Alamo in San Antonio, Mike Smart held up a white handwritten sign that said, “I’ll keep my freedom, my $ and my guns. You keep the change.”

Shouts rang out from Kentucky, which just passed tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol, to Salt Lake City, where many in the crowd booed Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman for accepting about $1.5 billion in stimulus money. Even in Alaska, where there is no statewide income tax or sales tax, hundreds of people held signs and chanted, “No more spending.”