Taxed enough already?

That’s the reason (and the acronym) for the TEA Parties happening across the country this tax day.

In at least 800 cities across America, this grassroots movement breaks out into public squares today with a message for government: you are promoting bad behavior with your spending spree.

As many Americans rush to file their W2s on national tax day, cheering crowds across the country are heaving huge coolers with “Tea” painted on the side into bodies of water, harkening back to the pre-Revolutionary War protests in Boston, Massachusetts. In those 1773 protests, colonists dumped tea into the harbor in a show of defiance against British rule and the British Parliament’s attempt to levy taxes on the American colonies without allowing them representation in the body.

Protesters on Wednesday said like their colonial forebears, they felt that their voices were not being heard by their government.

But they’re pretty jazzed now, with an organized movement that is growing exponentially over all the means of electronic communication, websites, email, text messages, Facebook, Twitter…..and though it’s called a conservative movement, it’s attracting people of all stripes.

Their commonality: they’re fed up with politics and government spending. Here’s one:

“I went to college and got my degree and a good job. I am hip deep in debt from my college loans, which I am paying back. I live within my means and keep track of my budget so I can be responsible and pay all my bills on time. Why should I have to pay for someone else’s complete and total lack of responsibility???”

There’s an interesting battle going on in some media to define this movement and its meaning (or lack thereof), and to refute the claim that it’s non-partisan and lay it at the feet of GOP leaders. But most of them are staying away today. Probably because they can’t control this thing.

As some commentors note, this is a protest against both parties. (And as one of them says, some commentors need to switch to decaf.)