Irate taxpayers hold S.L. 'tea party'

Linda Nelson would do most anything for her children. On Wednesday, that included driving from Lindon to Salt Lake City and braving freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall to join a loud and large tax-day "tea party."

Nelson joined more than 1,200 other Utahns who called for tax relief and reduced federal spending because she is worried that decisions now being made by the federal government will unfairly burden her five children.

"As my kids come out of college, I can't imagine the taxes that they'll be responsible for," Nelson said. Government leaders "are not asking our generation to pay for this. They're going into debt that will take decades to pay off."

Nelson also was bothered by government involvement in private business, citing the forced resignation of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner as a move that should "never be allowed to happen."

The sign she held over her head at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building — "Debt is the problem, More debt is not the solution" — was popular, eliciting honks and waves from passing cars.

Speeches by Utah Republican congressmen Jason Chaffetz and Rob Bishop and state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff were popular, too, as they roundly criticized the federal stimulus package, financial bailouts and the growing budget deficit as missteps by the Obama administration and members of Congress — sentiments greeted with loud cheers by a crowd Salt Lake City police estimated at 1,200 to 1,500.

Chaffetz assured those in attendance that they were not alone in their frustration with the country's leadership.

"You represent … the majority of the people in the United States of America who are fed up with what's happening, and not happening, with their federal government," Chaffetz said.

Shurtleff quoted Founding Father Sam Adams and drew heavily on the metaphor of colonial resistance to British rule, the 1773 Boston Tea Party and current displeasure over federal spending.

"Something is seriously messed up here," Shurtleff said. "What happened to 'We the People'? This meeting can do nothing more to save our country. … We need to take action."

What that action might be wasn't entirely clear, though Bishop did present an alternative to the current measures being taken to address the nation's financial crisis.