While many Americans spend April 15th scrambling to send in their federal and state tax returns, this year they can also participant in another nation-wide activity: a tea party! Attendees to these tea parties, however, will not be sipping cups of earl grey tea and munching on scones, they’ll be protesting. Known as the “Tax Day Tea Parties,” these rallies will be held in close to 2,000 cities across the nation to raise awareness of “out of control” government spending.
According to the official website for the Tax Day Tea Parties, the first tea party protests began in early 2009 when Rick Santelli, the On Air Editor for CNBC, set out on a rant to expose the content of the “stimulus bill” and the “pork projects” in the budget. He called for a “Chicago tea party” where advocates of the free-market system could join in a protest against government spending projects. On February 27, 2009, an estimated 30,000 Americans took to the streets in 40+ cities across the country in the first nationwide “Tea Party” protest. Organizers of the February 27th events pledged to continue on with an even bigger and better protest to follow the first. With April 15th being “Tax Day,” it was decided that the second round of protests should take place on this tax deadline.
Several think tanks in Atlas’s network will be participating in these tea parties. To find a tea party near you, click here.
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