Hundreds of people rallied Wednesday near Bellevue City Hall, taking part in a series of nation-wide Tax Day Tea Party demonstrations that vilified taxes and government spending.
The speakers, including Bellevue City Councilmember Conrad Lee, denounced bailouts, pork-barrel spending, and President Obama’s tax proposals, which would raise the capital-gains tax to Clinton-era levels and allow some of the Bush cuts to expire next year.
Conservative groups promoted the Tea Party rallies, billing them as non-partisan demonstrations.
The web site RedCounty.com described the events as “an ad hoc, grassroots movement – a coalition of Republicans, independents, conservatives, libertarians, and even disaffected Democrats.”
One activist-musician stood before the crowd with an acoustic guitar and sang “I’m Proud to be an American.”
Rick Hegdahl attended the Bellevue rally to shoot video and photos for the blog Northwest Progressive Institute Advocate. The navy veteran suggested he wasn’t inspired by the activists.
“There’s a whole lot of people shocked because they’re no longer in power,” he said. “They like to congregate with like minds. I’m fine with it.”
Hegdahl indicated he’s partial to the “social capitalist” movement that he says is gaining traction in the United States, which he evidenced by citing a recent Rasmussen Poll that showed 20 percent of its respondents preferred socialism over capitalism.
“There’s not a whole lot of support these days for capitalism,” he said.
That isn’t the case with Bellevue resident Renay Bennett.
“Let’s get back to basics and get back to the constitution,” she said. “That’s what tells us what to do legally.
“You cannot spend your way into prosperity. You cannot spend your way out of debt.”
Lee agreed with the notion that government needs to curb spending and taxation.
“I think we’re getting the message that government is not the answer,” he said. “We have to rely on people’s initiative and self-reliance. The answer is not to spend, but to be responsible, accountable, and look at priorities.”
