Tax protesters across North Carolina continue to share their displeasure about government bailouts, costly stimulus packages, and pork-barrel spending. They’ve gathered to take part in a series of Tea Parties, including one set last weekend in Graham.

The tea party movement attracted the most attention April 15, as millions of Americans flocked to the post office to file their last-minute tax returns and hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to state capitals, public parks, and town halls for public protests.

It was the latest development in a movement that limited-government advocates say reflects renewed outrage at the tax-and-spend mentality in Washington. Ignited in February when CNBC pundit Rick Santelli suggested a Chicago “tea party” to decry wasteful government spending, the idea has caught on in hundreds of cities and towns from coast to coast. And its criticism is not limited to one political party, either.

“Neither party tells the truth about budgets or taxes,” said Mike Munger, a Duke University political science professor who spoke at a Tax Day tea party in Raleigh. “Until voters stop rewarding politicians for telling lies, the lies are going to continue.”

By some estimates, around 1 million Americans took to the streets April 15 in locally organized rallies, modeled after the famous Boston Tea Party in which American colonists protested a British-imposed tax on imported tea.

About 15,000 taxpayers turned out in Atlanta for an event that included headliner talk radio host Sean Hannity, while thousands attended tea parties ranging from New York City to Bakersfield, Calif.

In Raleigh, protesters gathered at the Federal Courthouse holding signs that bore such slogans as “Don’t spread my wealth, spread my work ethic,” and “Born free, taxed to death.” They later joined thousands more on the grounds of the State Capitol, forming a crowd that overflowed onto the surrounding streets.

“It was astounding,” said Melodye Aben, coordinator for the Raleigh event. “The only issue that we had for the whole thing was that our sound system wasn’t good enough for the size of the crowd.”

Statewide, around 20,000 North Carolinians attended rallies in over 30 cities and towns — from Franklin in the mountains to Kill Devil Hills on the coast. More rallies are planned for the coming months, including another in the state capital July 4.

Citizens participate

Although backed by grass-roots conservative groups such as Freedom Works, tea parties have attracted a crosssection of Americans fed up with what they view as reckless spending. The movement got its start in October when a blogger proposed sending tea bags to the White House and Congress to protest a $700 billion mortgage industry bailout that was backed by former President George W. Bush and some congressional Republicans.

Nearly all of the manpower behind the events comes from normal citizens donating their time, said Daniel Martinez, another tea party coordinator in North Carolina.

“Everybody has jobs, everybody works long hours, some have kids, and they’re all coming together on this,” he said.
Martinez says he has no political affiliation, but overspending at the federal level prompted him to get involved. “I don’t see how you can spend your way out of debt. I can’t do that as a private citizen,” he said.

Dallas Woodhouse, state director of the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, assisted with several tea parties in the state. He said “a whole new crop of people” is getting involved and coordinating events in cities and towns.

Liberal pundits, however, claim Republican Party operatives are instigating the movement. Economist Paul Krugman, writing in The New York Times, called the tea parties “fake grass-roots” events “manufactured by the usual suspects.”

The Obama administration says participants are unrepresentative of the American public. Appearing on CBS News’ Face the Nation April 19, White House senior advisor David Axelrod called the tea parties “unhealthy.”
“The thing that bewilders me is [that] this president just cut taxes for 95 percent of the American people,” he said. “So, I think the tea bags should be directed elsewhere, because he certainly understands the burden that people face.”

Analysts point out that Obama’s tax relief plan includes a series of tax credits that redistribute wealth from Americans who pay income taxes to those who do not, and that the president plans to let the Bush administration tax cuts expire.

“That was clearly fiction when he said it,” said Munger of Obama’s tax cut pledge. “Our political system chooses the candidate who can tell the biggest whopper with a straight face.”

Conservative observers also have plenty of criticism for the mainstream media, which they claim either ignored the tea parties or portrayed participants as right-wing extremists. Critics say that, in several instances, reporters became the centerpiece of their own stories, using derogatory terms to describe the events or even debating those in attendance.

Political clout

The economic situation and heightened fears of tax hikes are two factors driving participation in the tea parties, according to North Carolina State University political science professor Andrew Taylor.

“People understand that this is a weapon that policy-makers have, and they are talking seriously about tax increases of all different types,” he said.

Much of the tea partiers’ ire is leveled at federal spending, which, fueled by a series of economic interventions designed to jump-start the economy, has reached record levels in recent months. Large outlays for government-sponsored health care and energy policies included in the president’s budget have stoked fears among some economists of inflation and unsustainable debt.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in March that deficits will total almost $1.7 trillion this year and $1.1 trillion next year, the largest percentage of Gross Domestic Product since World War II. The CBO also predicted that Obama’s proposed budget would double the deficit during the next decade.

Those stark economic conditions are bringing people out who have never participated in rallies before, says Aben. “Every day folks — moms, dads, grandparents — have said enough,” she said.

Despite widespread interest, Congress has given the tea parties a mixed reception. Several dozen elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., spoke at rallies on Tax Day. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., sponsored a resolution recognizing the events. But many lawmakers have been silent.

Taylor said the tea parties could have some political implications in 2010. “A lot of it is going to depend on how the economy progresses in the next six to nine months, as people start to attribute performance to the Obama administration,” he said.

Tax protests have been done periodically throughout American history and are a good way of generating publicity for policy goals, Taylor added.

But according to Munger, the movement needs to go beyond protest and latch onto a positive message in order to be successful.

“Right now, the tea party movement is mostly against,” he said. “The thing that matters is being able to create enthusiasm and a positive vision.”

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.