House Republican Organizational Committee

A raucous crowd of “tea party” tax protesters took over the state Capitol steps Wednesday, dangling tea bags from their eyeglass frames in an effort to send a message to the other Washington about the federal financial bailout.

The rally, which was one of many similar events throughout the state and nation Wednesday, drew an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 people who chanted “stop spending my money!”

And many in the crowd called last year’s federal bank bailout a form of socialism.

State Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, blamed “out of control” federal spending and government growth for the nation’s economic crisis.

“Guess what, my friends? We can’t be half-socialist any more than we can be half-pregnant. When you get pregnant with a little socialism, sooner or later you are going to give birth to a full-grown Marxist,” Holmquist said to cheers.

The rally included a locally organized march from Olympia City Hall. A conservative think tank, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, used the occasion to share concern about state-level spending.

Marchers in Olympia carried signs identifying their hometowns. March organizer Ken Morse said that after he counted 55 cities from throughout the state, including Eastern Washington, he stopped counting.

A big motivator for many rallygoers is the national debt, which has risen to more than $11 trillion, much of it occurring under the watch of Republican presidents.

“I was in the ‘Reagan Revolution.’ I have been struck by the wide base that this has,” Morse said after bringing people in his crowd to the even larger crowd EFF had amassed. “People are from all over Puget Sound.”

State Patrol Sgt. Ted DeHart said the rally was the largest protest held at the Capitol in several years. A series of speakers egged on the crowd, including Lynn Harsh, chief executive of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation think tank, initiative promoter Tim Eyman, KVI 570 AM radio host Kirby Wilbur and Holmquist.

“As you leave these steps, this is not the end but the beginning” of a movement, Wilbur told the crowd. He also called out to Gov. Chris Gregoire, saying, “Governor, if you’re home, we cannot survive this debt!”

Wilbur said in an interview that a gasoline-tax increase supported by Gregoire in 2005 drew a stronger response from the public than the bank bailout and President Barack Obama’s stimulus package have done so far. But he said the economic situation still is a problem, and there remains a threat of higher taxes — including possible action by lawmakers to raise taxes or send a measure to the Nov. 3 ballot asking voters to approve higher taxes.

Eyman used the event as a way to let more voters know about his property-tax initiative, I-1033, which he is trying to get onto the Nov. 3 ballot.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, is among those who have spoken about a need for higher taxes, and she said the rally does not change the situation. But she said she respects the right and ability of protesters to organize and tell their story at the Capitol.

“My reaction is that at the federal level, what my mom would say is, it’s like closing the barn door after the horse is already out,” Brown said of the federal-debt concerns. “In other words, I think that the Bush administration dramatically expanded our national debt and created the conditions for these bailouts. I think they are laying blame in the wrong places, blaming the Obama administration for the fiscal mess the country is in right now.”

Brown said that at the state level, Washington faces a “very serious recession, and we’re responding it to it responsibly with a balanced budget. It’s a really serious setback for public schools, for higher education, for human services in Washington. So I completely disagree with their argument that it is a spending problem.”

Washington’s relative burden for state and local taxes is below the national average. Washington ranked No. 35 in the nation in 2008, according to the conservative Tax Foundation’s ranking of states in relation to personal income. The state was No. 30 in 1998, No. 24 in 1988 and No. 19 in 1978.

But taxpayers at the Capitol said they are concerned that taxes will go up in the future — especially at the federal level. As Harsh put it: “We’re here today to question their judgment.”

Jerry Stephenson, a semi-retired military veteran who now is “trying to sell yachts” for a living, wore tea bags on his eyeglass frames and held up a sign that said: “Don’t spread my wealth; spread my work ethic.”

“I spent 22 1/2 years with the Marine Corps defending a country I no longer recognize,” said Stephenson, who lives in Edgewood, east of Tacoma. The national debt “was always a problem,” he said, but he sees a bigger risk under Obama and has fears government will go after gun rights, too.

“I don’t recognize the GOP anymore, for that matter,” Stephenson added. “There isn’t a difference between the Republicans and the Democrats anymore. John F. Kennedy would be considered a conservative today. That’s how far the pendulum has swung.”

Carol Hawley, a photographer who lives in Olympia, said she attended because she is concerned about “big government spending.” She said she was angry that members of Congress did not read the fine print of the bank bailout and stimulus packages before voting, and she hopes that Gregoire acknowledges that she is aware of the protesters.

Tom Crowson, a former firefighter who ran for Congress from Olympia a few years ago, said it was exciting to draw such a big crowd in a place like Olympia. He said the federal approach is the opposite of what families need to do in a time like this, and he said he doesn’t see how Obama can keep his promise to cut taxes for middle-income Americans if the debt keeps growing.

“When your family is out of money, the best thing to do is not spend more money,” Crowson said, dismissing economists’ arguments that government spending can blunt the severity of a recession.

Thomas Knepper said he had supported Bush but blames him and Republicans who controlled Congress until 2006 for some of the federal debt.

“I think it was absolutely a criminal act under George Bush” to authorize the bailouts, said Thomas Knepper, who attended with his wife, Sharon. “We did vote for him, but I think the last two years of his presidency were a crime. He’s the one who started this.”

But having said that, Knepper said he fears Obama wants to undermine the Constitution, replacing it with “a new foundation,” and is leading the country toward higher taxes that will burden his grandchildren.

Sharon Knepper said she is “waiting for a third party” to emerge. She held a sign that read, “Keep your Change so I can keep my dollars.”

At the other end of the spectrum was Dave Groves of Olympia, who said quietly that he showed up to see what the fuss was all about.

Groves wore a button referring to the state budget that said, “Cuts Hurt.” Groves said he had suspicions the rally was an effort by interest groups to revive the Republican Party.