Some Hawai'i residents fed up with what they see as government spending and taxation run amok voiced their discontent on three islands yesterday, joining tens of thousands of people nationwide who used the April 15 tax deadline day as the platform for their protests.

Claiming that Hawai'i is the most overtaxed state in the country at a time when the economy is flailing, Republican lawmakers took turns inciting a crowd of more than 400 at the state Capitol by saying that raising taxes to stimulate the economy drowns already struggling local residents.

Government spending should be reduced and government should shrink during difficult economic times, not expand, the Republican lawmakers said.

"Don't forget we are and always will be the patriots who love our country ... who will fight and die. You want to stimulate America? Believe in and practice the free market," said state Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawai'i Kai), wearing a top hat emblazoned with the American flag. "We will fight, we will win, we will return our country."

Across America yesterday, protesters staged "tea parties" directed at President Obama's new administration. In Washington, D.C., protesters threw what appeared to be a box of tea bags toward the White House, causing a brief lockdown at the compound.

Cries of government meddling rang out, from Kentucky, which just passed tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol, to Salt Lake City, where many in the crowd booed Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman for accepting about $1.5 billion in federal stimulus money.

Even in Alaska, where there is no statewide income tax or sales tax, hundreds of people held signs and chanted: "No more spending."

STATE TAX HIKES

On Tuesday, Hawai'i state lawmakers advanced several measures that would increase state income taxes on higher-income residents, divert hotel-room taxes from the counties, pare tax credits for businesses and investors, and shift money from a variety of special funds. Lawmakers have also kept alive a potential hike in hotel-room taxes and tax increases on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Those proposals are not what fiscal conservatives and Republicans had in mind for economic recovery.

"Our economy cannot thrive if we tax people for their success. Hawai'i taxes its people at the highest rate in the nation," said state Rep. Kymberly Pine, R-43rd ('Ewa Beach, Iroquois Point, Pu'uloa). "It's important for regular people to get involved in government."

State House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa), city Councilman Charles K. Djou, state Rep. Barbara Marumoto, R-19th (Wai'alae Iki, Kalani Valley, Kahala), and state Rep. Gene Ward, R-17th (Kalama Valley, Queen's Gate, Hawai'i Kai) all attended yesterday's rally.

'RUNNING WILD'

No Democratic lawmakers attended.

"One of the reasons voters have consistently repudiated Republicans over the years in Hawai'i is that they resort to name-calling and propaganda and rarely go beneath the surface on any issue," said Hawaii Democratic Party chairman Brian Schatz. "These are really serious times and we have difficult choices in front of us. If the Republicans had a constructive plan to balance the budget, they ought to be working with lawmakers rather than casting stones from the outside."

Protesters at the state Capitol waved signs that read "Over Taxation is Tyranny," "No More Pork," and "I'm already broke," while dressed in a variety of costumes.

A chain gang of high-school-age kids, dressed in black-and-white striped prison garb, wove through the crowd holding signs reading "Don't Tax My Future."

Music blared as speaker after speaker ripped Democratic state lawmakers for "overburdening" the people with tax increases at a time when residents are losing their jobs and suffering pay cuts.

"They're really running wild here (with spending) in this state. They need to slow up the (tax) increases," said Glen Van Ingen, a retired airline pilot living in Kane'ohe. "I'm interested in hearing what kind of support they (lawmakers) are getting for reducing taxation in this state."

Jason and Lindsey Davis, who recently moved to 'Ewa Beach from Texas, said they pay taxes here that amount to half the cost of their home in Texas.

"The government is stealing my son's future," said Lindsey Davis, a 23-year-old homemaker. "We try to put money away for our son but we can only do the bare minimum."

SOCIAL NETWORKING

The nationwide tea parties were promoted by FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington and led by former Republican House majority leader Dick Armey of Texas, who is now a lobbyist.

Organizers said the movement developed organically through online social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and through exposure on Fox News.

The movement attracted some Republicans considering 2012 presidential bids.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich planned to address a tea party in a New York City park last night. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal sent an e-mail to his supporters, letting them know about tea parties throughout the state.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford planned to attend two tea parties.

"There is no such thing as so-called free money, and that includes stimulus," Sanford told several thousand people outside the statehouse in Columbia, S.C. "Paying down debt is an old American theme and never a bad thing."

On Maui, about 250 protesters lined Ka'ahumanu Avenue in Kahului during the afternoon rush hours, following a midday event in Lahaina.

The group included Republicans, Libertarians, Democrats and nonpartisans.

Ha'iku furniture maker and former Maui police officer Marc Hodges said he is concerned about increasing size of government and government spending, and "an overreaching of authority."

"Our government is getting too big. It's been happening for awhile but it's accelerated during this administration," said Hodges, 41, who described himself as a Democrat. "This is a nonpartisan issue, but at the present the majority of the responsibility lies with Democrats."

The Associated Press and Advertiser Staff writer Christie Wilson contributed to this report.