HONOLULU - Hundreds of protesters upset about potential tax hikes and government spending at the state and federal levels rallied at the state Capitol rotunda on Wednesday in the first Tax Day protest there in several years.
The event had all the trappings of a grass-roots uprising with hand-painted signs bearing catchy slogans, parents pushing their small children in strollers and adults wearing colorful outfits.
But it and several similar rallies on Kauai, Maui and the Big Island were organized and publicized by a coalition of conservative groups, small-business owners and Hawaii Republicans.
As such, they were much like hundreds of protests of varying sizes in cities around the country, some of which were broadcast by Fox News and supported by current and former national Republican leaders.
In Hawaii, several of the state's eight GOP legislators attended the Capitol rally. But the state's top two Republican officeholders - Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James ''Duke'' Aiona - stayed away even though they oppose tax hikes to help close the state's significant budget deficit.
And despite organizers assertions that the rally did not have political motivations, there were undercurrents of electoral politics.
''Boot them out,'' Sen. Sam Slom, R-Diamond Head-Hawaii Kai, said to the crowd, referring to Democratic colleagues who recently voted for tax increase bills. ''Don't re-elect them. . . . A vote for taxes is against your economic freedom.''
Honolulu Councilman Charles Djou, who next year will seek the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat now held by Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie, said, ''make sure that on Election Day, if you want your politicians to stop wasting your money, the best way is to make sure they don't get your money in the first place.''
Even Lingle's handling of state government came in for a bit of criticism from Mike Palcic, a small businessman and possible candidate for state Republican chairman.
''Our governor has proposed lowering the salaries of state workers,'' he said. ''Our governor needs to cut our state work force.''
Lingle opposes laying off state workers as a way to close the state budget gap, though she has suggested that doing so may be an option if state employee unions do not agree to wage and benefit concessions.
The signs ranged from the mildly humorous - ''Got kids? Say goodbye to their future'' - to the more serious in tone - ''Don't tax me to pay AIG.''
Jared Law, a registered nurse from Mililani, said he is worried about the federal debt that now totals several trillions of dollars as he held a sign in front of the Capitol that read, ''Cut taxes, not deals. End the spending spree.''
''I'm here for my kids and their futures,'' said Law, 34. ''I can't imagine the kinds of taxes they will be paying.''
In Kailua-Kona on the Big Island, more than 100 people lined Queen Kaahumanu Highway for a sign- and flag-waving protest that began at noon and continued for several hours, slowing afternoon traffic.
''Our concern is for this country and the radical agenda we've seen on a federal level. It's tyrannical,'' said Claire Eddo, 72, of Kona. ''I hope this is a moment to wake people up. We don't have a king. That's why we rebelled against England - the amount of taxes.''
Charlie Yielo, who helped organize the rally, said she hopes the event reinforces the meaning of the country's founding principles.
''The answer is getting back to the original Constitution, get back to grass roots,'' Yielo said. ''A lot of people are losing their businesses because of the high taxes. If we are going to be taxed, we'd like to be represented and we are not.''
Yielo said she was encouraged by the number of people who attended the rally and the positive response from drivers.
''We are not rich people out here. These are ordinary people who are fed up with the way things are going,'' she said. ''We want America back. I pray this has an impact.''
Democrats said the Tax Day rallies were political talk more useful for bumper stickers than actual policy.
''The Republicans are going to have to do more than their standard rhetoric about taxes in order to be successful. They need some new ideas,'' said Brian Schatz, chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party. ''It's a tired old line of attack.''
Democratic legislators have said that while they would rather not raise taxes, it is preferable to a proposal by Lingle that assumes she can wrangle $278 million in labor concessions from state worker unions this year.
A press release from the state Democratic Party asserted the Democrat-backed federal economic stimulus bill included several tax credits, including one that is now adding about $65 a month to the paychecks of about 95 percent of working families.
Lowell Kalapa, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, said he understood the concern about raising taxes during a recession. But he said he would not attend the protests because they rarely target the other side of the equation - government spending.
''You can't have it both ways. You can't have low taxes and have a lot of services,'' Kalapa said. ''If we really want to have a lower tax burden, you have to have a concurrent lowering of services.''
The Tax Day protests were organized by the Hawaii Republican Assembly, the Grassroot Institute, state Republican legislators and the state GOP.
