Thousands of Tea Party protesters descended on Washington Thursday to rail against taxes on the last day to file with Uncle Sam.
The crowd gathered on Tax Day at Freedom Plaza, in the shadow of the Capitol, toting “God hates taxes” signs and breaking out in song commemorating the “communist in the White House.”
The daylong spectacle, which ended at the Washington Monument with a sea of yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, included the outrage of previous Tea Party rallies.
Tim Wipf made the trip from Oklahoma for the event, part of a series of nationwide protests being hailed as tax revolts.
“We are here because the government is robbing us,” Wipf said, his voice rising with each word. “We’re all angry and we’re not going to take it any more. One way or another this will be stopped.”
Some called for a national sales tax, others a flat tax, but the crowd united in scorn of what they see as a series of takeovers by a “gangster government,” so-dubbed by Tea Party icon, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.
Maine’s Sarah Snow-Brine carried a sign that read, “Your average racist right wing Tea Bag family.” Many in the crowd lambasted critics for confusing patriotism with racism.
In addition to Bachmann, a handful of conservative lawmakers led cries against the Internal Revenue Service — seeking the approval of a group disillusioned with Washington politicians, including Republicans.
Though few of the expected skirmishes materialized, some delivered one-finger salutes to a small group across the street thanking President Obama for delivering lower taxes to the majority of Americans.
And Dan Orzechow, who works at a Washington nonprofit, called protesters “hypocrites” as he walked by the plaza during his lunch break. In return, he was told to “get a job” and “stop mooching off the rest of us.”
Democrats have encouraged Republicans to cater to the group, saying they are out of the mainstream and will only hurt election prospects for conservatives in the fall.
For some tourists, the protest was more diversion than revolution.
After taking a picture with a teenager wielding a “Barack Hussein Hitler” sign, Amy Stevens, of Orlando, Fla., said, “It seems like they can’t agree on what they are angry about — guns, taxes, socialism, communism, death panels, religion — this is crazy.”
