Thousands gathered near the front steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol building Wednesday to protest “out of control” taxes, the federal stimulus package and “irresponsible” spending by state and federal lawmakers.

The goal of the Oklahoma City Tea Party was to have lawmakers hear the voices of the people, said Emmalee Mattern, Oklahoma Christian University student and Tea Party volunteer.

“We are sick of fiscal irresponsibility,” she said. “We want to protect the Constitution and we want our government back.”

Tea parties like Wednesday’s have been taking place around the country but the event at the Capitol was the largest in the state, Mattern said.

Norman also saw a tea party Wednesday at the Santa Fe Train Depot and OU College Republicans hosted a tea party Monday in the Oklahoma Memorial Union courtyard.

State Rep. Scott Martin, R-Norman, spoke at the OU Tea Party and said he supports the protesters because they embody fundamental American ideals.

“I think it’s a great display of democracy in action,” he said.

He said he planned to attend the tea party at the Capitol as a citizen, not as a state legislator.

“I’m just going out there as a concerned citizen with my fellow Oklahomans,” he said.

Martin said he’s concerned because he thinks the federal government is spending too much money, which could be detrimental to America’s economy in the future.

“I have a 2 year old at home and I want his future to be as bright as the future I had when I was his age,” he said.

Bob Cleveland, a Norman resident, attended the Oklahoma Capitol and OU tea parties and took his participation farther than most.

He, like many attendees, carried signs, but unlike most, Cleveland dressed in colonial garb, like the original participants in the Boston Tea Party.

He said he thinks America’s founding fathers also would be holding tea parties if they were alive today but would have taken it to a higher level.

“The only difference is they would have their muskets, and I have a sign,” Cleveland said.

But State Rep. Wallace Collins, D-Norman, said cutting taxes is one reason the state has a large budget hole.

“It’s easy to say, ‘I don’t want to pay any more taxes,’” he said. “None of us want to. But I would venture a guess that none of them want to cut any government services either.”

Collins said Oklahoma has cut taxes by more than a billion dollars over the past four years, and the loss of revenue is a contributor to the estimated $900 million deficit in the state budget.

He said less money available to fund state agencies, like education, leads to underfunding, which can hurt Oklahomans even more.

OU and Oklahoma State University receive about 18 to 20 percent of their funding from the state, which forces school administrators to raise tuition, Collins said.

Tea party attendees weren’t just protesting taxes, though. Exercising their rights as Americans was at their message’s core.

Ending the tea party, Alan Webb, tea party organizer and Edmond resident, read a list of guaranteed rights protestors would exercise if officials didn’t act on the people’s wishes. The right to organize events like Wednesday’s was at the top.

“We can take the initiative to come together as Americans to have our voices heard,” Webb said.