WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Louisville taxpayers take part in national tax day protest
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By Elizabeth Donatelli - bio | email
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - American taxpayers across the country - including hundreds in Louisville's Jefferson Square - spent April 15 protesting what they call out-of-control government spending. Tax Day Tea Party 2009 is a grassroots movement spreading mostly over the Internet and by word of mouth based on the historic Boston Tea Party.
It's clear many of the protesters love their country, but hate where it's headed.
"They want to increase our taxes and get all the money they can and throw it away on their programs," said Republican Mike Haag.
The rallies across the country were dubbed "tea parties."
"The first Boston Tea Party was a tax revolt against England," said Haag. "This one is a tax revolt against the people in our government."
The word "TEA" on one of the signs spelled out: "Taxed Enough Already." Another read that "change" is all they have left. Parties like the one in Louisville happened in hundreds of cities and were led by ordinary people like 24-year-old Wendy Caswell. She was never political until now.
"When I went to look for one (Tea Party) in Louisville, there just wasn't one," said Caswell. "I had the skills, I had the time, so I just decided to start one."
Most of the attendees were Republicans, but Caswell, the organizer, says she's a Democrat.
"I don't understand how printing money and handing out more money when we're already in debt is the solution," said Caswell.
Caswell said organizing the rally wasn't hard: all she did was post one thing online and it spread like wildfire, bringing easily more than 1,000 people to get politicians' attention.
"I think they're sitting in their fancy taxpayer funded offices laughing at us saying, 'Oh, oh, oh, big deal tea party!'" said Harry Lee, an Independent. "But this is a start, let's put it that way."
(Copyright 2009 WAVE-TV. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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