As Tax Day Tea Party Rallies occurred throughout the American Nation on April 15th, Republicans for the National Interest Chairman Michael Erickson attended the rally at such Santa Rosa Courthouse Square. In speaking with a reporter, he stated: “We’re showing our support for the commitment of all of these good voters against increased taxes, the federal stimulus legislation, and the bailout of Wall Street.”
Hundreds in Santa Rosa Protest Taxes, by Martin Espinoza (SR Press Democrat)
Hundreds of people, many wearing tea bags pinned to their caps, shirts and jackets, rallied Wednesday afternoon at Old Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa to protest what they call excessive taxation and economic policies that are bankrupting the country.
As part of nationwide tax-day protests designed to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party, demonstrators blasted President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package and congressional Wall Street bailouts.
"Government is getting too big, infringing on a lot of our liberties," said Megan Cromwell, a 26-year-old Rohnert Park resident who helped organize the local event.
Cromwell said "out-of-control spending" is jeopardizing the country's finances and that its status as a debtor nation has weakened America's global standing.
Demonstrators waved American flags and carried signs with clever jabs at Obama, such as " 'Chains' We Can Believe in" and "Obama-nomics: Weapons of Mass Debt." Some stood holding flags and signs on the west side of Mendocino Avenue, their message affirmed by honking drivers.
Santa Rosa police officials said 450 to 500 people gathered at the square, a figure similar to organizers' estimates. The rally started at noon and lasted three hours.
Midway through the rally, about 100 protesters marched three blocks to the federal building at 777 Sonoma Ave. Only a handful entered before guards locked the doors and blocked the entrance.
Tax-day demonstrations took place across the country, from Kentucky, which just passed tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol, to South Carolina, where the governor has repeatedly criticized the $787 billion economic stimulus package Congress passed earlier this year.
In Atlanta, thousands of people gathered on the steps of the Georgia Capitol, where Fox News Channel conservative pundit Sean Hannity broadcast his show Wednesday night.
Reacting to the protests, Assembly Democrats in Sacramento unveiled a 150-foot scroll listing the more than $26 billion in state spending cuts made since 2003. More cuts to schools and other programs would have been needed without the $12.5 billion tax increase approved this year to help balance the budget, they said.
"The people of California support teachers and students more than tea bags and stunts," said Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, chairwoman of the Assembly Budget Committee.
Organizers in Santa Rosa and elsewhere said the movement developed organically through online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and through exposure on Fox News.
In Santa Rosa, the rally was described as a nonpartisan grass-roots movement of "mad-as-hell" taxpayers who want to end irresponsible spending and "socialist" tendencies in the Obama administration.
Cromwell, the rally organizer, said she and others were inspired by conservative Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck's 9/12 Project, an initiative to reclaim the values and principles Beck says were evident the day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
James Judd Jr., owner of J&M Manufacturing in Cotati, was among those participating in the rally. Judd, who allowed Cromwell and others to meet at his precision sheet metal business, said he's a "frustrated citizen" who opposes bailout policies that will increase the country's debt.
Michael Erickson, chairman of the Sonoma County Republican Party, echoed the sentiment.
"We're showing our support for the commitment of all of these good voters against increased taxes, the federal stimulus legislation and the bailout of Wall Street," he said.
Rally speaker Orlean Koehle, the president of the conservative Eagle Forum of California, held a sign that stated: "A Nation of Debtors is a Nation of Slaves."
Koehle invoked the spirit of the Boston Tea Party but fell short of inciting rebellion.
"It's not that I want us to have a revolution," she said, but she hoped the anti-tax movement will "shake up" government enough to end stimulus legislation and bailouts.
