TAX PROTEST STAGED; THIRD PARTIES GATHER AT CAPE POST OFFICE

A handful of anti-tax protesters from the Libertarian, Reform and U.S. Taxpayers parties greeted customers who stopped by the Cape Girardeau post office Wednesday to mail their federal tax returns.

Greg Tlapek, an unabashed local promoter of the Libertarian Party, was among seven protesters who paraded with placards in front of the post office over the lunch hour. The protesters were from the Libertarian and Reform parties.

Members of the U.S. Taxpayers Party joined with the others in an anti-tax protest Wednesday evening in front of the post office. In all, about a half dozen protesters paraded in front of the post office shortly after 5 p.m.

The protesters collected signatures on a petition that calls for lower taxes.

Wednesday was the deadline for filing taxes.

Tlapek, who is running for Cape Girardeau County clerk, wasn't discouraged by the low turnout.

"I love this," the Cape Girardeau man said as he and the other protesters handed out fake, $1 million bills.

Libertarian Party congressional candidate John Hendricks of Jackson said the bills are a reminder that the federal government spends $1 million every five seconds. Hendricks said that adds up to $12 million every minute that federal offices are open or more than $1.7 trillion a year.

Hendricks said Libertarians want to eliminate the federal income tax. The tax system intrudes upon people's private lives, he said.

Hendricks said the federal government should fund only a limited number of operations such as the military.

Libertarians don't want to abolish the federal government. "We're not anarchists," he said.

Hendricks wants to eliminate the current practice of withholding taxes from each paycheck. That way, Americans would see exactly how much they pay to the federal government each April, Hendricks said.

Both Tlapek and Hendricks believe voters should support third-party candidates if they are serious about reducing big government. They said both Republican and Democratic lawmakers perpetuate big government.

Tlapek sported a button on his shirt that proclaimed his philosophy: "Ignore your rights and they'll go away."

Tlapek said the Libertarian Party is growing locally. It counts about 55 members in Cape Girardeau County.

Mary Aldredge of Jackson was the lone Reform Party representative at the tax protest. She is secretary of the Reform Party in Missouri.

"It's hard to get people out," Aldredge said of the low turnout.

She said the Reform Party wants to scrap the current tax system. "We would like a simpler, fairer tax system."

She and other Reform Party members believe various tax plans should be developed. The decision should be left up to the American people, Aldredge said.

Aldredge said customers at the post office weren't surprised at how much money the federal government spends.

Aldredge said federal taxes are too high. Her husband is a self-employed truck driver. Last year the Aldredges paid almost $8,000 in federal taxes.

Aldredge carried a sign Wednesday that summed up her view: "We wouldn't be here if taxes were lower."

Elsewhere around the nation, people who waited to the last minute to file their taxes made no apologies for their procrastination, trudging into post offices as jazz music, back rubs and doughnuts helped ease their pain.

Amrish Majithia, consultant, walked into the post office in Trenton, N.J., saying he always waits until the last minute. "Because I had to pay," he explained. "I didn't want to write the check, and I was lazy to fill out the form. They were more complicated than last year."

Many post offices stayed open late and offered amenities such as curbside pickup of forms, free coffee and tax advice.

The post office in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., had a local choral group and the jazz band Clarinet Marmalade serenading customers. A blues band belted out tunes in Springfield, Mass., where several postmasters planned to perform in a conga line of "Dancing Raisins."

In downtown Denver, postal customers got free back massages and sandwiches. Postal worker Nancy Sitzman said they had things backward.

Not even old age could get people through faster.

"Do they let seniors ahead in line?" Samuel Moss, 67, asked a guard in Baltimore, who shook his head.

Moss conceded he had no excuse for waiting to the deadline.

"I'm retired, sitting at home watching the soap operas," he said. "Each year I say I'm going to do better."

In Idaho, there actually is a place where people can beat the system.

The 500 residents of New Meadows get to file up to 8 a.m. on April 16 because its one daily mail pickup is at 2:45 p.m.

Some people even looked forward to tax day, like Jim Rodrigues in Providence, R.I. "Best business day of the year," said the hot dog seller while camped outside a downtown post office.

In Atlanta, Audrey Grant got into the spirit by placing "monster" stamps on her returns. "Wolf Man may go on the state taxes and Dracula on the federal taxes," she said. "It just seemed the right way to end all this."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.