Bachmann's requested Tea Partiers hit Capitol - "Palin/Bachmann 2012" shouts from crowd

Thousands of Tea Party activists descended on Washington Thursday to protest the trillion dollar health care bill and government spending, holding signs protesting Barack Obama’s agenda while aiming chants of “you work for us” at the Capitol building.

The gathering was organized by local Tea Party groups around the country, who are arriving in Washington this morning by the busload. Conservative leaders in Congress, led by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), have taken to the airwaves to encourage the activists to show up on the Capitol steps and demand meetings with members of Congress. The crowd grew to about 10,000 by noon – a significant gathering for a weekday but far less than the 9/12 protests earlier this fall. Bachmann has promised to lead some protesters to a press conference inside the Capitol to express their opposition to the health care bill in person to members of Congress.

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), actually invited the thousands of protesters to go into the House buildings to try to meet their member of Congress after the rally.

"I invite you, when the rally's over, to travel in those halls, look at the walls, find your (member) and walk in," she said. "Let them know how you feel about this bill."

Given the security of the Capitol complex, that might create a logistical nightmare, so it’s not clear how many of the protesters may actually enter House office buildings.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) was a surprise guest speaker this afternoon, holding up a copy of the Constitution as he rallied the protesters. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) demanded: “Madam Speaker, throw out this bill,” while some protesters chanted “burn the bill.”

Conservative leaders like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council showed up, along with celebrity conservatives Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger have also joined the protesters.

Voight invoked Rev. Jeremiah Wright in his speech, saying “the lies and deception are blatant... Maybe it was the 20 years of sub-conscious programming by Rev Wright to damn America."

They arrived as early as 8:30 a.m., by bus, car and plane — from Bluffton, S.C., Des Moines and Dorris, Calif. — to rally with conservative lawmakers and possibly roam the halls of Congress. Dozens of Republican lawmakers gathered shortly after noon to offer a prayer, say the Pledge of Allegiance and rally the crowd.

"Can you hear us now!" the protesters chanted from the foot of the Capitol, as they awaited the arrival of their heroine — Bachmann. The crowd also chanted “we want Michele!”

"She's very brave," said Nancy Holmberg of Dorris.

"Palin/Bachmann 2012," came a shout from the crowd. The crowd is also chanting Speaker Nancy Pelosi's name and demanding that she come address them on the steps of the Capitol.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20091105/pl_politico/29183_1