Hundreds protest taxes at suburban tea party rallies

PalatineOn the day that many Americans were filing their taxes at the last moment, hundreds of Illinois tea partyers filed into Volunteer Plaza in Palatine to protest their taxes and government spending.Craig Mijares, the regional coordinator for the Taxed Enough Already party in Palatine, opened the rally."We demand lower taxes and smaller government, period," said Mijares. "I'm doing the right thing for my children. I want to pass a future to them that's better than how I grew up, and we are not on that course right now."Ralliers were mostly united in their disdain for President Barack Obama and the health care reform bill. Various signs called the president socialist, Marxist and fascist. A big banner implored Americans to "Save the Constitution," and American and "Don't Tread On Me" flags were in abundance.Drivers passing the park on Northwest Highway honked in support."I didn't like Obama's health care plan, and I urged Melissa Bean to vote no, but she still voted yes. I'm tired of my country going down before my future or my children's' futures," said Chris Dille, a College of Lake County student volunteering for Republican candidate Joe Walsh's campaign for the 8th congressional district."I've been frustrated for a long time with our two parties," said Herb March of Mount Prospect, attending his first tea party rally.Despite an increasing disillusionment on the part of tea partyers for the GOP, prominent Republican politicians turned out to the Palatine rally.They included Walsh, state Sen. Matt Murphy, 54th House district candidate Tom Morrison and Long Grove Village President Maria Rodriguez. Libertarian Brian Costin, candidate for Schaumburg village president in 2011, also attended.Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski was there garnering support for HR 1057, which calls for a forensic audit of state government spending.He compared the tea party movement to Solidarity, the Polish trade union led in the 1980s by Lech Walesa that the communist regime tried to destroy but eventually had to negotiate with."Illinois is 45th in job growth from 2003 to 2007. Someone had to work hard to mess this up," said Rodriguez, there with Andrzewski's For the Good of Illinois group.The tea party was briefly crashed by a few people led by Jim Rudd, a 19-year-old Harper College student, who held a sign reading "Capitalism isn't Freedom.""We're just trying to show that there is violent rhetoric in the movement that people are following, and that capitalism and the free market isn't the cure," Rudd said, to boos.Palatine police told them they would have to go across the street because they did not have the required permit to protest there.One of the students with Rudd had the corner of her sign, which told tea partyers to quit watching Fox News, torn, as they were leaving.-- Peter McGrainKane CountyHundreds of Kane County residents fed up with the political direction of the country gathered in pockets of protest Thursday to rally in support for change and rally more people, young and old, to their cause.From the onset of the rally at the Kane County Government Center in Geneva, it was clear part of the mission of the day would be dispelling any negative views others may have about the Tea Party movement."We're not here because we don't like paying taxes," said Elgin Tea Party member Todd Hartwell. "We're here because we don't like the way (Congress) acts like drunken sailors with our money. The difference is, drunken sailors actually earn their money."Many members of the crowd wore "Reagan for President", "Randy Hultgren Republican for Congress" and "Ron Paul 2008" T-shirts, but the vitriol wasn't directed only at Democrats. Speakers made it clear the anger about Congress overspending began with the George W. Bush presidency, and they wouldn't mind seeing every member of Congress voted out as soon as possible. Speeches about term limits and calls for a balanced budget brought frequent cheers from a crowd that brought the government center parking lot to overflow limits.In Algonquin, many of the attendees brought children with them for a Constitutional lesson.Dawn Bauman of Algonquin was one of about 70 attendees at the rally at Cornish Park. She told an organizer she felt the education her 5-year-old daughter, Brooke, was getting at the rally was more than she would be getting at school, part of which she missed to attend the rally. For others, like Stephanie Wilson of Algonquin, the rally was about remembering the founding movement of the country they love. "People think it's American to support whatever the President tells you," Wilson said. "They forget the history that we started with a bunch of people who did the exact opposite. The original tea party was a protest against the government."Algonquin tea party organizer Julie Sanford said she got involved to be a good example for her niece. "Someday I'm going to have to look her in the eye when she says, 'Aunt Julie, what did you do about what's happening in our country, and this deficit and all this restrictions of freedom?' I have to answer her. I have to let her know that I stood up."-- James Fuller and Christopher HankinsNapervilleIt was a sunny, unseasonably warm day. It also was tax day, deadline to file one's state and federal income taxes. Those things converged and made it a perfect day to protest taxation in general.A crowd estimated at roughly 400 to 500 people - many senior citizens, many waving American flags, many carrying signs - showed up at Naperville City Hall as part of a nationwide tea party rally. The local effort was sponsored by the Freedom tea party of Naperville.One of the speakers was Dan Proft, an unsuccessful GOP candidate for governor and radio commentator. He told the group, "We are standing up against the onslaught of socialism and yelling, 'Stop.'"His message seemed to resonate with Gail and Ralph Hinkle of Wheaton, who attended the rally. Asked why they attended, Gail said, "Because I'm an American and I want my country back."-- Bev HorneFalse20001200Gail and Ralph Hinkle of Wheaton show their support at the tax day rally on Thursday held at Naperville Municipal Center.Bev Horne | Staff PhotographerFalse <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Photo Galleries</h2><ul class="gallery"><li><a href="/story/?id=373500">Images of tea party rallies in the suburbs </a></li></ul><h2>Video</h2><ul class="video"><!-- Start of Brightcove Player --><div style="display:none"></div><!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at https://accounts.brightcove.com/en/terms-and-conditions/.--><script type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object id="myExperience78314026001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="width" value="300" /><param name="height" value="255" /><param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /><param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/><param name="isVid" value="true" /><param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true" /><param name="@videoPlayer" value="78314026001" /></object><!--This script tag will cause the Brightcove Players defined above it to be created as soonas the line is read by the browser. 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