Attend a Tax Day Tea Party - If You Can't, There's a Mail-In Alternative

The Tax Day Tea Party is next Wednesday, April 15. Chicago's Tea Party will be at Kluczynski Federal Building Plaza, 230 S. Dearborn (information for this location and for other locations in Illinois is here.) And as usual, there are those (other than the old media) who don't want to allow ordinary taxpayers to have their say. World Net Daily is reporting that ACORN may be planning to crash the demonstrations:

With only one week left before citizens in 2,000 U.S. cities take to the streets in protest of government spending this Tax Day, will ACORN and the Huffington Post crash the party?

ACORN spokesman Charles Jackson told WND his group will be rallying on the same day.

"ACORN is going to be engaged in a series of rallies across the country on April 15 in support of the priorities outlined in President Obama's first budget – investments in education, health care, and getting Americans back to work," Jackson said.

He continued, "This is the first we've heard of these 'tea parties' and, frankly, a gripe-fest by a bunch of conservatives whose preferred economic policies got us in this mess in the first place is of no interest to us."

Here's a bird's eye view of the little "gripe fest" by location:

These are non-partisan events, by the way. (You don't have to be party-affiliated to be fed up with excessive taxation and government spending, as it turns out. Who knew?) According to World Net Daily, "The American Family Association is reporting tea parties for 1,856 cities Wednesday, and WND has confirmed information for more than 450 protests." WND also has a comprehensive list of locations, and a Tea Party Forum.

Because this truly is a grass roots movement, there is no single, centralized place for information, but the Tax Day Tea Party site is as close as it gets. If you absolutely cannot make it, there is still a way for you to be heard. Well before Rick Santelli's unscripted outburst on CNBC led to spontaneous tea party demonstrations all over the country nine days later, we told you about the online tea-party revolution that erupted on February 3rd over tax-evading nominees. This Twitter Tea Party has resources for you to protest by mail if you cannot attend a rally on the April 15th. (The inability to take off work to attend protests is a common malady among taxpayers, strangely enough.)

Oh - almost forgot about Huffington Post's "tracking" effort:

"The Huffington Post wants to have citizen journalists at as many of these events as possible," the website states. "If you think you'd be interested in attending one of the Tea Parties and reporting back to us with dispatches, photos, or video, click here to sign up. We'll contact you shortly with further instructions."

A link takes readers to a sign-up page where the Huffington Post explains, "On tax day, April 15, there will be protests with conservative movement leaders across the country, railing against government and high taxes. HuffPost is developing a citizen reporting team to keep track of this movement."

So, for a bit of fun, be sure to take your still or video camera so you can keep track of them while they keep track of you, and if you're attending the Chicago Tea Party, be sure to bring lots - I mean lots - of quarters.