A million
or more rock Washington - Taxpayer march could be biggest
rally ever in capital
By Chelsea Schilling and Alyssa Farah - WorldNetDaily Posted:
September 12, 2009 - 9:57 pm Eastern
WASHINGTON
– The capital was rocked today by a taxpayer march and rally
that could be the biggest protest ever – potentially dwarfing
the Million Man March and the Promise Keepers Rally.
Though crowd estimates vary from as low as 60,000 to 70,000
according to ABC News to a high of 2 million by London Daily
Mail, photographs and videos of the march and rally demonstrate
its enormity.
The taxpayers stormed Washington, D.C., today, taking their
fight against excessive spending, bailouts, growth of big
government and soaring deficits to the front door of the U.S.
Capitol.
All week citizens have been heading to the Hill by the busloads
for the showdown today. The Tea Party Patriots' "Tea
Party Express" national bus tour has been hosting a series
of tea party rallies all across the nation. A caravan of buses,
speakers and entertainers arrived in Washington, D.C., just
in time for the march. The taxpayers have paid their own way
to the event.
The White House said Friday it was unaware of the rally.
President Obama has traveled to Minneapolis, Minn., to promote
his health-care plans at a rally there.
But so many taxpayers showed up on Pennsylvania Avenue that
the crowd ran out of room and the march was forced to begin
early.
WND was at the scene to get crowd reaction and take photos
of the protest.
Citizens
carried hand-made signs that read:
2010: Vote all incumbents out!
Our Constitution has termites!
We are under attack by our own government
Stop the march of socialism
You can put lipstick on communism, but it's still communism
My family, my doctor
Obamacare makes me sick
Go green: Recycle Congress
I'm not your ATM
We had a dream. We got a nightmare
Is this Russia?
You Lie!
Some people donned colonial costumes while the crowd was
sprinkled with U.S. and yellow "Don't tread on me"
flags.
Others,
like Laurie Slough of Orlando, Fla., also dressed in costume
to demonstrate their message. Slough wore a prison costume
and carried a sign that read, "Criminals in Congress,
your judgment day is coming."
WND also noticed many anti-ACORN signs, following the recent
controversy in which one of the organization's offices was
exposed supporting prostitution and human trafficking.
Politico reported among the signs seen were those asking
"Where's the Birth Certificate?" – reflections of
WND's extensive coverage of the yet-unanswered questions surrounding
Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility to serve as president.
Fox News reported lines of citizens completely filled Pennsylvania
Avenue for blocks.
"It was wall-to-wall people. I felt like I was in line
for Obama health care," said participant Robert Barney
of Chesapeake, Va.
Organizers have told the media they expect the event to be
the largest group of fiscal conservatives to ever gather in
Washington.
Richard Brigle, 57, a Vietnam War veteran and former Teamster,
came from Paw Paw, Mich. He told Fox News that he believes
the nation needs health-care reform – but not President Obama's
plan.
"My grandkids are going to be paying for this. It's
going to cost too much money that we don't have," he
said while marching with a wooden cane.
According to the Washington Times, the "Tea Party Express"
tour was the fourth most popular topic searched on Yahoo last
week. Joe Wierzbicki, national coordinator of the Tea Party
Express, told the Times he expected a large turnout.
"We were expecting 25,000 a few weeks ago, but now we
are hoping for over 50,000," Wierzbicki said.
Several
organizations united to help organize the National Taxpayer
Protest's descent on the Capitol, including: Freedom Works,
Grassfire/ResistNet, Tea Party Patriots, National Taxpayers
Union, Club for Growth, Americans for Tax Reform, Young Americans
for Liberty, Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, Our Country
Deserves Better, Campaign for Liberty, Leadership Institute,
Free Republic, Young America's Foundation, the National Association
of Rural Land Owners and Smart Girl Politics.
Brendan Steinhauser of FreedomWorks, one of the groups that
organized the event, told WND, "People want to do this.
The people who have been protesting around the country want
to come to Washington and do this in D.C. In a lot of ways,
they are being ignored and the media is underrepresenting
them and their numbers. They want to come together for one
big event and send a very clear message."