Hundreds rally at Pavilion Tax Day Tea Party protest

About 1,400 people, young and old alike, hunkered under the Pavilion on the Downtown Mall on Wednesday afternoon, boisterously cheering as speakers vented frustration with government spending on the deadline day to pay taxes.

Many in the crowd held signs chastising the government, focused mostly on the Obama administration and Congress.

“Can We Bankrupt The Country??? Yes We Can!” read one sign. “Socialism: Your tax dollars at work, for those who won’t,” read another.

The Tax Day Tea Party was one of hundreds held nationwide.

The local event was sponsored by the Jefferson Area Tea Party, which touts itself as a nonpartisan group that believes in limited government and taxes and promotes a free enterprise system.

One of numerous speakers, Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, told the audience members that Thomas Jefferson would be proud of them for speaking out against too much government.

Quoting Jefferson, he said: “‘Liberty can never be safe but in the hands of the people.’ Who agrees with that?”

The crowd roared its approval.

Numerous speakers talked about an out-of-control government that has gone overboard with taxing and spending.

Speakers, who included John Munchmeyer, Jefferson Area Libertarian chairman, focused on several federal spending issues, such as education, Social Security and healthcare, as well as the bailout of banks and the auto industry.

Though President Barack Obama was not targeted specifically, his administration’s $787 billion stimulus package and $3.5 trillion budget were key focuses of the event.

Steve Majewski, a University of Virginia professor and Albemarle resident, said he didn’t see the event as partisan. Instead, he saw it as the culmination of people who have grown fearful of an overreaching government.

“Just frustrated with what’s happening with my government,” said Majewski, holding a sign that read on one side, “Proudly Living Within My Means Responsibly Paying Off A Mortgage I Can Afford.”

“I think there are a lot of dissatisfied people,” he said, adding that he believes government spending has been out of control for some time now.

But under Obama, it is “accelerating to the point where people are scared.”

Shelly Ripa brought her 9-year-old son Riley. Both held signs against spending taxpayer money to help the undeserving, including bank executives and the poor who manipulate the system.

Ripa, a conservative who is equally disappointed with the Republican Party, said she fears the direction Obama’s administration is taking the country.

“I want to express myself with my disappointment in the government,” the stay-at-home mom said.

Dressed as Thomas Paine, Joe Thomas, a radio host at Charlottesville’s WCHV 1260 AM, was the emcee at the event.

“Today doesn’t mean anything if we let November slip away,” Thomas said at one point as the crowd cheered.

Another of the speakers, John Taylor, got the audience members fired up when he said they should start a “raise my taxes, lose my vote campaign.”

Taylor, chairman of conservative think tank Tertium Quid, said that freedom often comes with a cost, such as businesses going bankrupt and politicians being thrown out of office.

The crowd heartily cheered those sentiments.

Lawrence Eagleburger, secretary of state under George H.W. Bush and who served in the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Carter and Reagan, was the keynote speaker.

Local residents Roger Schwerkert and Bill Hay put the event together.

They said it started small but grew as word spread.

“It’s just very gratifying to see people who feel the same way,” Schwerkert said.

“There’s a lot of people,” added Hay, “who want to see change.”