They called it a modern day TEA (taxed enough already) party, modeled after the Boston Tea Party. They intended it to be a wakeup call for politicians.

In Springfield, people of all ages and political stripes attended the rally but it was mostly conservatives who think the government is growing too large and is saddling future generations with too much debt.

For more video of interviews with people at the TEA party in Springfield, click here.

“USA, USA,” people chanted.

“We're citizens fed up with our government.”

“We will not over-debt our grandchildren.”

They came bearing signs decrying socialism and flags demonstrating patriotism. There were the Fair Taxers, the anti-immigration advocates, and many who just don’t like President Obama.

“He's not doing what he promised. He's a liar.”

But the overarching protest was against the government’s use of taxpayers’ dollars.

“I'm out here because I'm sick and tired of Congress spending all of my granddaughter's money.”

These people are fed up with the stimulus, the bailouts and the spending.

“We're going on a spending frenzy.”

“We don't want any more pork.”

“You can't spend your way out of a depression.”

On the other hand says Steve Mullins, a Drury University professor of economics, spending may be just the right medicine.

“We also learned during the 1930s that what got us out of that depression was federal spending on the war, and that's precisely what this stimulus package is designed to do,” said Mullins.

Many of the TEA partiers also griped about new taxes.

“Too much taxes; they're just giving our money away.”

Even though Obama’s stimulus package includes a middle class tax cut, Janice Parker thinks it’ll be canceled out by his other eventual tax hikes.

“They wonder why our corporations are going overseas like rats on a sinking ship and the answer to that is to raise taxes on corporations; that's absurd.”

Mullins argues that, in the big picture, the debt was higher in the 1980s under President Reagan.

“Why just under the current administration does borrowing and budget deficits scare you so much?” asked Mullins. “Where were you during the last eight years when debt was rising as a percentage of GDP (gross domestic product)?”

“Didn't this start under Bush, the first bailout?” a reporter asked.

“Nothing like it is now,” said a protestor.

Skeptics may call it all a tempest in a TEA pot but, for conservatives, it’s a warning shot.

“They're not listening to the people.”

Not everyone thought the rally was good for the conservative movement. One Republican said he came because he supported the Fair Tax plan, which would replace income taxes with a national sales tax, but left when he saw a sign calling President Obama a secret Muslim.
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Hundreds of TEA Party protestors lined Missouri 76 in Branson on Wednesday morning and moved to a restaurant at Branson Landing in the afternoon. Other TEA parties were in Cassville and other places in the Ozarks, and started at 5 near the main U.S. Post Office in downtown Springfield.
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From The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Thousands of people turned out for a Tax Day rally at the Liberty Memorial. The crowd waved signs and beat rally sticks as several speakers railed against stimulus spending, federal bailouts and what they called government's efforts to take away Americans' liberties.

Many of the speakers also urged those attending to begin working to replace current government leaders during next year's mid-term elections.

Platte County prosecutor Eric Zahnd said government spending had become like Alice in Wonderland's "World of Nonsense." He said America's good people must stand up and say "No More" in order to return sanity to government.
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HANNIBAL, Mo. -- Protesters around Missouri joined others around the country in tax-day TEA parties, expressing anger and frustration about government spending since President Obama took office. In Mark Twain's hometown of Hannibal, about 200 people gathered at Central Park, then marched four blocks to the Mississippi River and dumped in a burlap bag full of tea bags.

People at the Hannibal rally are worried about a variety of issues including abortion and gun control but the big issue was the $787 billion economic stimulus package Congress passed earlier this year. Several people at the rally worried their children and grandchildren will ultimately pay the tab.

Other rallies were in towns ranging from Kirksville and Mexico to St. Louis and Kansas City.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Hundreds of protesters gathered at the state Capitol to protest the Obama administration's budget policies. At the rally outside the Capitol, several protesters waved signs warning that their anger could end up directed at other elected officials in the state.

The rally coincided with the deadline for filing income tax returns. It was one of a number held around the country to protest government spending since President Barack Obama took office.

Thomas Cox, who organized the Little Rock rally, said a lot of people aren't going to be silent any longer about their opposition to the Obama administration's spending policies. The crowd included several protesters dressed like Revolutionary War soldiers in line with the rally's theme echoing the Boston Tea Party protest of British taxes in the 18th century.

Several people in the crowd held up signs singling out elected officials in the state, who they say will face voter ire at the ballot box near year. One sign said "Lincoln, Pryor, are you listening?" in an effort to direct anti-spending sentiments to the state's two U.S. senators, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor.

Earlier in the day, at the main post office in Little Rock, administration supporters also held a rally. They passed out postcards in support of closing what they called tax loopholes for corporations.