A sign is seen on the lawn of the Statehouse a rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Tax Day Tea Party protests were held everywhere from Kentucky, which just passed tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol, to S.C., where the governor has repeatedly criticized the $787 billion economic stimulus package Congress passed earlier this year.
Vince Schuck of Newfane, Vt., wears a hat festooned with tea bags during a rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Schuck was one of many taking part in a national Tax Day Tea (Taxed Enough Already) Party in Vermont.
Washington, D.C.
Protestors take part in a tea party demonstration, Wednesday, April 15, 2009, in Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington. Protesters began gathering at state Capitols and in neighborhoods and town squares across the country Wednesday to kick off a series of tax-day protests designed to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party.
A robot is seen on the sidewalk in front of the north gate of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 15, 2009, after tax protesters threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags over the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue. The White House compound was locked down and officers cleared the street and Lafayette Park across from the White House. Journalists were ordered back inside the press room.
New York
Bill Forster of Ilion, N.Y., listens to a speaker during a tax day tea party rally in Albany, N.Y., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Nationwide rallies were organized to protest the federal economic stimulus package and other ways the government handles money.
Pennsylvania
Karen O'Neill of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., holds a sign in the rain during a tax day protest on the steps of the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Protesters around the country are gearing up to rally against tax day with "tea parties." Organizers say they're steamed at government spending since President Barack Obama's administration took over and are planning their own mini-revolts.
Capitol Police Sergeant Ruby Crawford collects tea bags delivered to Gov. Ed Rendell during a tax day protest at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Protesters around the country are gearing up to rally against tax day with "tea parties."
Connecticut
Russell Wirtalla, dressed as a Colonial soldier, joins tax protesters rallying on the north steps of the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. The protests, deemed "tea parties," are designed to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party in 1773 when colonists protested British "taxation without representation" by dumping taxed tea into Boston Harbor.
West Virginia
Five-year-old Elianna Dickens participates in a rally sponsored by West Virginia Concerned Citizens on the steps of the West Virginia state Capitol in Charleston, W. Va. Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
Iowa
Libby Young, of Des Moines, wears a tea bag on her sunglasses during a tax day protest, Wednesday, April 15, 2009, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa.
Illinois
Protesters carrying signs and American flags participate in a tax day tea party rally at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
Massachusetts
Richard Holland, a member of the Plymouth Rock Foundation, hands out flyers during a tax day protest on the Boston Common in Boston, Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Protesters began gathering at state Capitols and in neighborhoods and town squares across the country Wednesday to kick off a series of tax-day protests designed to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party.
Texas
Gov. Rick Perry, foreground, fires up the crowd during a "Don't Mess With Texas" tea party rally at City Hall Wednesday, April 15, 2009, in Austin, Texas. Perry said that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principals and the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation and spending.
North Carolina
Protestors gather on the steps of Goldsboro City Hall in Goldsboro, N.C. for a Tax Day Tea Party rally on Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Protesters gathered at state Capitols and in neighborhoods and town squares across the country Wednesday to kick off a series of tax-day protests designed to echo the rebellion of the Boston Tea Party.
Michigan
Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher was the featured speaker as about 4,000 people protested government bailouts and tax increases outside the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich. Wurzelbacher made news during the presidential campaign when he asked then candidate Sen. Barack Obama about taxes.
California
At a rally in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office in the San Francisco federal building, Agnes Bernstein, who grew up in Poland under socialist rule, warned that the U.S. could be following the same path. She told CBS News: "The government is growing too big... I was fortunate to see the transfer from socialism to a free market economy in Poland and I'm very sad to see that the opposite is happening here."
The San Francisco rally was non-partisan, attractING Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, and independents opposed to higher taxes and more government bailouts. The front of one protester's sign said "Voting Republican = More Taxes & Debt." The other side said the same thing about Democrats.
Tennessee
A large crowd takes part in a tax day protest in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 15, 2009.