I am soooo happy with what went down today...

[EndTheFed]

Several thousand in Huntsville, AL

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

3-4k in Dutchess County NY

Keynesian Economics was the subject of a skit that lampooned it; parody even the dullest could grasp

A YAL guy did a great speech



Another speaker lambasted the fed

All of the monetary policy bashing dovetailed nicely with 1500 pieces of propaganda my brother and I got rid of (~500 Constitutions w/inserts, about a 100 "sound money" slim jims and the same# "join the revolution" tri-folds. + ~500 HR1207/S604 "postcards" pre-addressed to the various congresscritters)

An RP guy joined me right away to help, As usual the constitutions were a hit, We ran out in about half an hour. My brother created/distributed the, "fill in your return address, put a stamp on it, add your 2cents, and mail it" postcards, haha, they were a big hit...

Had a lot of quiet, and open, support. The Young Republicans let me place a small stack of trifolds on their table, (and I saw one there as I left...) Had a couple conversations in the crowd with people who, "are getting more and more on your side everyday." Had a pleasant talk with a lady who, "didn't agree with our Foriegn Policy", and was left with a new outlook... It was like I could see the onion being peeled behind her eyes.

I got interviewed by what might have been a Huffpost crew, said they were with "cable channel 18" (there is no Ch 18 around here), I hope it was...



One other note, the line at the voter registration table was looooonng.

Hmmmm....

All in all, a good day

 

[LATruth]

on the steps of the state capitol. The unofficial tally was about 3,000, though i'd say 4,000 - 5,000. Interesting to note that former governor buddy romer was there. But bobby jindal was nowhere to be seen.

i've heard nothing but positive feedback! The crowd was estimated to be between 3000 and 5000 people. Our guest speakers were amazing. The signs people carried were great! You guys are so creative... The day was overwhelming and it was encouraging to see so many who feel so strongly about our country. I wonder what congress is thinking today...

Yeah, the media lies... I wouldn't trust any numbers reported by MSM.

 

[Ozwest]

Great Pics.

Thank you.

 

[Danke]

I wasn't there in St. Paul, but my friend said around 10,000. However, the news reported this:

"organizers estimated the crowd to be 10,000. The police said it was more like 2,000"

 

[Gideon]

San Jose Tea Party Photo Essay

The Peaceful protest began at around 4 PM in San Jose.

Folks were showing their signs and having fun.

Then the agitators arrived.

The confrontations began and some minor skirmishes broke out. The only violence I witnessed was a push from a man towards one of the agitators. The "pusher" later told me that an agitator had attempted to grab his camera.

So in come the riot police, who cordoned off the disruptive agitators so that they could continue their counter-protest unobstructed.

The disruption made for some excitement, and it appeared that a good time was had by most.

I estimate that about 3000 people attended, and it was especially gratifying to see the time and effort that people had taken to make their own slogans and signs.

 

[ryanduff]

If we average 2000 people at each of the 300 rallies... that's over half a million people protesting yesterday... 600,000...
​

WOW!!!​

 

[kathy88]

80 in Wellsboro PA

 

[werdd]

500 here

 

[Ozwest]

Keep it Rock'in.

You guys are the best!

 

[acptulsa]

One midday event here was estimated at 5K. The evening event was about five hundred (a little more as time went on and more people showed). The downtown event at midday was somewhere in between.

 

[RoyalShock]

While I wasn't there, here is a pic from the local paper in Hutchinson, KS. The best estimate was the organizer saying she "hoped for 2,000". Which isn't bad for a town of 40k.

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

[url]http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?05fead1c-37e3-4feb-887b-f4012a915751[/URL]

Don't Tax Me Bro
Nearly 1,000 People at 7 Tea Parties in Four Hawaii Counties Protest Bail Outs, Buy Outs, Bad Government Behavior and Massive Tax Hikes That are Looming to Pay for it All
By Malia Zimmerman , 4/16/2009 3:00:44 PM

Emulating revolutionaries at the Boston Tea Party in 1773, millions of people around the country yesterday took part in an estimated 600 tea parties in 50 states to protest what they see as bad government behavior - bailouts, buyouts, wasted taxpayer money on the stimulus package, and massive tax hikes to pay for it all. In Hawaii, seven tea parties were held in all four Hawaii counties, the largest being on Oahu at the Hawaii State Capitol.

Nearly 1,000 people attended the Honolulu event between 4-7 p.m., with many wearing costumes and carrying their own handmade signs.

Not only were attendees frustrated and outraged over government taxes, spending, and bailouts of private, poorly managed companies, they were also angry with local lawmakers in the county councils and state legislature who are proposing massive tax hikes on virtually everything in the state.

They are right to be angry. They are right to be frustrated. Whether its beer, cigarettes, tobacco products, car rentals, gasoline, automobiles, property, real estate sales, Internet sales, hotel rooms, insurance premiums, or getting your car towed, these goods and services are scheduled for massive tax hikes unless the majority of Hawaii lawmakers suddenly come to their senses before the legislative session ends May 7.

And worst of all are the proposals to increase to the state’s General Excise Tax, which already is equivalent to about a 12 to 16 percent sales tax because it taxes goods and services at every level of transaction; to hike our income tax 33 percent, and to create of a whole new sales tax. These increases will hurt everyone in Hawaii, even the government workers they are raising our taxes to pay.

When is enough, enough?

According to national statistics, Hawaii’s already the highest overall taxed state in the nation. When will lawmakers realize the pain they are causing Hawaii families? When will they understand how they are hurting our economic recovery by strangling small businesses, the lifeblood of jobs in this community, and forcing layoffs and cutbacks? When will they realize that with tax hikes, especially the general excise tax on all goods and services including food and medical services, that they hurt the poorest of the poor and force more people into homelessness?

They may not care that they are taking away our freedom to spend our money in the economy as we see fit, which naturally hurts economic recovery and forces more businesses to close, but since more than 90 percent of the legislature and city council are made up of Democrats who purport to have run for office to help the poor and downtrodden, isn’t it disingenuous to pass tax hikes and implement policies that cause more people to lose their homes and their jobs?

Since these elected officials say they care about Hawaii’s keiki, shouldn’t they at least pretend to care about their families’ welfare and financial stability?
Judging by the signs and turnout yesterday, discontent is spreading among Hawaii taxpayers and a revolution is brewing.

While the media tried to portray the event as a “republican” organized event, it certainly was not.

Sure, no Democrat lawmakers showed up – even though some have voted against tax hikes pending in the legislature. The Democrats were personally invited by Rep. Kymberly Pine and Senator Sam Slom, two of the primary organizers of the event – but they were later told by their more moderate Democratic colleagues that they planned to show but didn’t because they feared retaliation in the form of CIP funding cuts for their districts.

To their credit, Rep. Cynthia Thielen, Rep. Barbara Marumoto, Rep. Lynn Finnegan, Rep. Gene Ward, former Senator Gordon Trimble and City Council Member Charles Djou also all took part.

However, there several hundred people who were not affiliated with any political party, and several of the sponsors, including the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii and Smart Business Hawaii, have no political affiliation.

To emphasize this point, the person who first initiated the event, local contractor Joe Pandolfe, is not a political guy. “I’m just a regular Joe. I like to stay behind the scenes and stay below the radar. For me to do this is huge,” he says, noting he is not a member of any political party.

Deeming himself “Joe the Builder”, the union trained Pandolfe opened his own contracting business four years ago, and had many jobs scheduled for 2009, but that all changed when the talk of giant tax increases locally and nationally became a new reality. He says when politicians started increasing taxes to balance their budgets, many clients canceled their projects.

“They kept telling me one after the other, things are so uncertain with all these tax increases that they wanted to hold off for now. I had to lay people off and stop buying products from companies here. They too had to lay people off. It was just crazy and so fast,” Pandolfe says.

Many new people who haven’t been to other such protests turned out yesterday to voice their discontent – and they brought their children and grandchildren.

Dressed in jail costumes, kids ran around carrying signs that said things like, “I’m in the first grade, and already a trillion dollars in debt.”

One family dressed as if they’d stepped out of the Revolutionary War 200 plus years ago. Rep. Marumoto brought her own tea set. Some woman dressed as Miss Liberty, and another woman in a wheelchair, as an Indian in war paint. Another man dressed as a giant screw.

Parents and other discontents carried signs that said: “The real pirates are in Washington and the Hawaii Legislature”; “Signs=$20, Gas=$25, Babysitter=$50, Freedom=Priceless; “Don’t Tax Me Bro”; “High Property Crime in Hawaii? They Learn from our Legislators”; “Restore honesty to money”; “No More Pork”; and “No New Taxes.”

However, no one dumped tea in the capitol’s already toxic moat.

Slom, a speaker, summed it up best in a recent column in Hawaii Reporter: “If anything, the state needs to do more belt tightening like families and small businesses finding new ways of funding or possibly cutting programs. Hawaii should not be among the most taxed states in the nation forever.”

He emphasized this point by tackling a full-sized pink pig there to represent all the unnecessary pork in recent government spending (ok that part was loosely scripted and may be somewhere on YouTube by now since they both fell to the ground and then were pelted by water balloons).

The best part about the event, sponsored, organized and promoted by a wide range of sponsors, were all the new people who showed up, and their willingness and honesty in openly expressing their outrage at their out of control government and its runaway spending.

That kind of raw spontaneous protest by average Joes is something Hawaii rarely sees – and needs more of – so the hungry, monstrous bureaucracy doesn’t keep consuming our money, our freedoms, our livelihoods, our businesses, our economic vitality, our American dreams and all that it means to be American.

Will that translate to the 2010 election in Hawaii? Ninety percent of the legislature and city council that continues to steal this American dream via tax hikes, sure hopes not.

But those in Hawaii and all across the country who fight for what our founding fathers did during the revolutionary war – no taxation without representation and their freedom – hope their voices and votes make enough of a difference to turn our country from this dangerous, devastating course.
All photos courtesy of mailto:[email protected]
Malia Zimmerman is the editor of Hawaii Reporter. She can be reached at mailto:[email protected]

 

[Bill M DC]

Washington, DC a.k.a. Obamaton had 2,000 according to local media. Amazing thing, other than our turnout, is there were almost no cops and not one cop in riot gear and we were just a few hundred feet from the White House. I'd really like to know who threw the box of tea over the White House fence.