Thousands turn out for tax protest at Capitol

Thousands of tax protesters streamed Wednesday to state government’s front lawn, creating a sign-waving, anthem-shouting mass as darkness fell.

The Atlanta “Tea Party” at the Georgia Capitol stretched for blocks in protest of federal spending and the Obama Administration’s efforts to stimulate the economy.

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Kimberly Smith/ksmith@ajc.com

Zachary Adamski (left), 13 of Lawrenceville, questions the government debt he already owes as he and his sister, Amanda Adamski, 17, attend Atlanta Tea Party with their mother Mary Adamski.

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“We stand here tonight seeing clearly what has been done and what we must do,” state Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger), said.

Graves quoted a favorite of the crowd, the late former President Ronald Reagan, who warned “a government is never more dangerous than when our desire to have it help us … blinds us to how it can harm us.”

The Atlanta rally was one of 20 around the state and more than 300 around the country. Billed as grass-roots protests, critics — especially Democrats — have labeled the gatherings as frauds created by Republican advocacy groups with the backing of deep-pocketed lobbyists and Fox News.

An expected counterprotest at the Capitol never seemed to materialize. Five state troopers stood watch along a stretch of Courtland Street where the counterprotest was expected.

Meanwhile, at the Capitol itself, protesters — who model themselves after the Revolutionary-era Boston Tea Party — decried a federal government they say has lost touch.

Speaker after speaker complained about the bailouts of banks, automakers, mortgage lenders and anyone they deemed responsible for the current economic crisis. Fox News erected a massive set where conservative personality Sean Hannity planned to broadcast live.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) spoke. His organization, Freedom Works, is a primary organizer of many of the tea parties around the nation. Armey’s group, along with conservative groups Americans for Prosperity and American Solutions for Winning the Future, founded by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), helped organize the events. Gingrich was scheduled to speak at the New York City tea party. American Solutions president and CEO Dave Ryan spoke here.

Armey planned to address the concerns critics have raised over who was in charge of the events.

“I plan to tell everybody they need to make it clear it’s their gathering,” Armey said before the rally, as he stood at the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Courtland Street. “It’s not organized by big shots in Washington.”

And there were plenty of non-big shots in the crowd.

Amber Anneshensley and her brother, Michael Obetz, both 15 and from Suwanee, held signs to support the cause. Michael’s said, “Honk if we pay your mortgage.”

Their mother, Paula Lanier, said she brought her children to the rally to “teach them to speak up for what they believe in.”

“I don’t like how government is spending my money, raising my taxes to give it to people who let their own businesses fail.”

Jason Pye of Covington, the legislative director for the Georgia Libertarian Party, had mixed emotions about the rally. He and his fellow Libertarians have long supported the ideals exhorted Wednesday: less government, free markets and a Darwinian-approach to private business.

Many of those speaking, he said, haven’t always protected those ideals.

“I’m happy people are getting together,” he said. “But the movement has been co-opted by Republicans who are trying to regain their identity and want to forget George W. Bush existed. Libertarians aren’t forgetting.”

Earlier Wednesday at a tea party in Marietta, Ty Hunter was among a festive rally crowd of several hundred at the Marietta Square.

“When I was a boy, things were so much simpler. Government was not so much a part of our life, now it’s in every thing we do,” Hunter said. “It’s like we’re losing our liberty.”

Mingling with the crowd were people in Revolutionary War-era costumes. At the start, “Paul Revere” rode in to the square on his horse to warn the people of outrageous taxation.

Beth Pollard of Smyrna came to the rally wearing a hat adorned with tea bags.

“It’s my first time expressing my feelings about what is happening in Washington,” Pollard said. “I’m glad to live in a country where freedom is appreciated.”

In Atlanta, local conservative pundit and author Phil Kent warned the crowd to be wary.

“Throughout history, oppressors have tried to control people,” he said. That control, he said, has come from limiting free speech and the right to self-defense and through “servitude with high taxes.”

“We can’t have that happen here!” he said, to applause.