News 12 at 11 o'clock, April 15, 2009

AUGUSTA, Ga. --- Close to 2,000 people showed up in downtown Augusta for a rally protesting taxes and other causes. It was one of hundreds of similar tea party events that took place around the country. Many of the supporters who attended the rally tonight say they're tired of all of the spending and taxes.

It was a packed house at the Jessye Norman Amphitheater with several speakers on hand to talk about the problem with taxes and what they'd like to see as a solution.

Mike and Cecelia Daniels carried signs to express their dissatisfaction with what they say is needless overspending and too much taxation.

"The United States government has gotten too big, it's spending too much, it's taxing too much, it's not listening to heartland America and it's time for us to stand up and raise our voices and be heard and hopefully precipitate some change,"says Mike Daniels.

Daniels, along with his wife and over a thousand others, took part in the "tea party". "TEA" in this case stands for "Taxed Enough Already". The event is just one of hundreds held across the country.

One of the speakers in Augusta was Congressman Paul Broun. Congressman Broun says he believes the current rate of spending will continue to add to the country's excessive debt.

Nationally, the tea parties were promoted by Freedomworks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.