Hundreds of people turned out Wednesday on the Old Courthouse Square for what organizers called a tea party.

The party was actually a rally on tax day to protest taxes, spending and the federal bailouts.

And folks brought along signs to express their feelings, many of them hand-drawn and many clearly aimed at President Barack Obama. Some read, "I'll keep my freedom, you keep the change;" "Give me liberty, not debt;" "I'm not your ATM;" and "Obama, president and thief," and one said, "After tea, we'll break out the bullets. Wake up sheep."

While the event was billed as non-partisan, the crowd leaned strongly conservative.

One of the speakers at the event was U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. 10th District, who told the crowd, "This is not about one man or one woman. This is about the forgotten man."

He said the forgotten man is the neighbor trying to make ends meet, working more than one job and driving a 10-year-old truck.

McHenry said it's time to let lawmakers in Washington, D.C., know who is in charge and that they need to cut spending and balance the budget.

McHenry told the crowd, some of whom wore tea bags, that he looks forward to getting all of the tea bags mailed to his Washington office from protesters across the 10th District. He will let other lawmakers know his constituents are fed up, he said.

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