Washington (CNSNews.com) – Sarah Bond’s outrage over massive deficit spending and debt is not a partisan matter for her. And it was enough to motivate her to travel from San Diego to Washington to let politicians know what she thinks.
“I’m here out of sheer frustration of spending from both parties, and this started with TARP,” Bond said, referring to the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, pushed by President George W. Bush and supported mostly by congressional Democrats.
Bond was part of a large crowd marching on Washington on Saturday. Adam Brandon, spokesman for Freedom Works Foundation, one of the main sponsors of the event, estimated the crowd at 150,000. But on Sunday, the group’s Web site estimated that hundreds of thousands of people turned out.
Regardless of precise number, Bond told CNSNews.com that members of Congress “are just confused and panicking because they never had to deal with this many fiscal conservatives before.”
Wayne Hayes, of Quincy, Fla., stood holding a sign that read, “American = 65 years, Democrat = 43 years, Independent = 9 days.”
“The Democrats left me a long time ago, and I couldn’t jump to the Republicans because you can’t tell them apart,” Hayes said. “America has got to do something with all this debt going to our grandchildren.”
The crowd heard from a number of speakers, including High Caliber, a conservative rapper, who chanted, “This is the USA not the USSR, we need more Ann Coulter’s and less Bill Mahers.”
“I’ve done tea parties for 500 people. But not 500,000 or whatever it is we’ve got here,” he told CNSNews.com after his appearance on stage. “It represents a bright future for America that you know not everybody is sitting at home on their butt watching TV saying, ‘There is nothing I can do about it.’ Look at the crowd. I haven’t seen this many people at a football game. I think it’s the start of a revolution.”
Others speakers agreed. “I’m just overwhelmed by this outpouring of support for the principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, and I know it will make a difference,” House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence of Indiana told CNSNews.com.
“If you look through American history, every great movement has begun as a popular movement. With runaway federal spending under Republican and Democratic administrations, I think the American people have finally woken up and they are going to demand that we put our fiscal house in order,” Pence said.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) also thought the gathering represented a fundamental realignment of politics in America.
“Anybody that doesn’t recognize this is mainstream America is going to miss the boat. I hope my party, the Republicans, realize that this is not a right-wing group,” DeMint told CNSNews.com. “This is moms and dads and grandpas and grandmas. This is Democrats and independents. They just are alarmed at growth of government and debt and takeovers and the health care was just a tipping point.”
George Skypeck, a Vietnam Army veteran from Accokeek, Md., said Americans are rising up as they did in the 1960s, only this time it is not the radicals who are speaking up. “The 60s radicals are now in office,” he said. “I didn’t like them then, and I don’t like them now.”
Sandra Benson of Orlando, Fla., said she came to Washington for the weekend because she was worried about future generations.
“I am so opposed to the massive spending,” she told CNSNews.com. “Our grandchildren will be taxed. I am not in agreement with Obama and I don’t like the idea of czars.”
Some of the signs read, “Prosecute ACORN, Not the CIA,” “Stop Spending and Start Cutting,” “Obomunism,” “Not with My Money,” and “Adams-Madison-Jefferson: The Original Right Wing Extremists.”
Tom Hill of West Haven, Conn., held a sign reading, “Today’s State Controlled Media,” calling ABC News the “All Barack Channel,” CNN the “Counterfeit News Network,” NBC News “Nothing But Crap” and CBS News “Controlled By State.”
At the west end of the Capitol, away from the various speakers on the stage, the scene resembled a weekend picnic.
A small number of liberals also braved the crowd. In one corner of downtown Washington, near the TV trucks, a group of about 10 anti-Tea Party protestors wore black tuxedos and top hats -- like the capitalist figure in the Monopoly game. “Bring Back Bush, Bring Back Bush,” they mockingly chanted.
But when someone said, “Don’t bring back Bush, Palin in 2012,” referring to 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, a larger group began chanting, “Palin, Palin, Palin.”