While some taxpayers were rushing to get their returns filed last Thursday, others attended tea-party rallies across the country to show their dissatisfaction with the American tax system. According to the Wall Street Journal, the organizers chose the tax deadline to hold rallies in order to highlight “onerous taxes and a bloated federal government.”
The activists protested Democratic policies and displayed varying attitudes toward prominent Republicans. Some groups invited marquee conservatives, such as former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who addressed around 500 people in Austin, Texas.
Other organizers refused to invite politicians of any stripe, reflecting the deep distrust many in the movement feel toward elected officials.
In Wisconsin, several tea-party groups protested a decision to let former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson address a rally in Madison. Saying it was "time for new voices and new faces," Mr. Thompson used his speech to announce that he would not challenge Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold in his bid for re-election.
The rallies in town squares and hotel ballrooms from Philadelphia to San Diego came a year after a similar spate of April 15 protests put the small-government, anti-tax movement on the national map.