Protesters take U.S. to task for spending

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

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

“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 President Ronald Reagan, who warned that “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 across the country. Billed as grassroots protests, the gatherings were attacked by critics as frauds created by Republican advocacy groups with the backing of deep-pocketed lobbyists and Fox News Channel, which reported prominently on the movement.

But an expected counterprotest at the Capitol never seemed to materialize. Five state troopers stood watch along a stretch of Courtland Street where it was to be held.

At the Capitol itself, protesters —- who modeled themselves on 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 Channel erected a massive set where top-rated host Sean Hannity held his nightly show.

Among the speakers was former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), whose Freedom Works group was a primary organizer of many of the tea parties around the nation. Also among the organizers were Americans for Prosperity and American Solutions for Winning the Future, founded by former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Gingrich spoke at a tea party in New York City, while American Solutions president and CEO Dave Ryan spoke in Atlanta.

In an interview before the event, Armey said he would address the claims about who was behind the events.

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

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,” Lanier said.

Jason Pye of Covington, 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.

But 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 at Marietta Square, Ty Hunter was among a festive crowd of several hundred.

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

Mingling with the crowd were people in Revolutionary War-era costume. As the rally began, a “Paul Revere” on horseback rode into the square 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.”

At the Atlanta event, local 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.

VOICES

“I’m ready to change things. We’ve got to be seen and heard.”

AMLIE LEWIS, Sandy Springs

“Stop spending! Stop spending!”

SUSAN BUZZARD, Roswell

“Even as a Republican, I was disgusted with George Bush. But anybody that thinks … we can solve our problems by spending more is an idiot.”

ALLEN BALDWIN, Peachtree City