A group of local conservatives joined the national debate about President Obama’s fiscal agenda with a Boston Tea Party-style protest scheduled for April 15 — Tax Day.  The “Tax Day tea party” will protest the stimulus package and Obama’s broader domestic agenda.Organizers went public last Wednesday with a Web site, www.batonrougeteaparty.net, while a simultaneous effort is underway to recruit members on Facebook. The Facebook group has attracted more than 400 members.”We’re hoping for thousands and expecting at least 500,” said Robin Edwards, coordinator for the tax tea party. Organizers are encouraging participants to make signs and bring bags of pork skins — “creating one large pile would emphasize wasteful govt ‘PORK,'” the Facebook group says.  Edwards said the tea party is part of a “grassroots” effort sparked by CNBC anchor Rick Santelli. Santelli became part of a media frenzy after he made derisive remarks during a Feb. 19 broadcast from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade about Obama’s Home Affordability and Stability Plan — an effort to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.  Santelli said the plan will “subsidize the losers’ mortgages,” and by doing so, the government is “promoting bad behavior.” He also said he was going to organize a tax tea party.”We’re thinking of having a Chicago tea party in July.  All you capitalists that want to show up to Lake Michigan — I’m going to start organizing it,” Santelli said.Since the Feb. 19 broadcast, several conservative groups have held tea parties across the country — with many claiming Santelli’s call to action on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade as inspiration. One such tea party — a “tea party and anti-pork rally” — was held in Lafayette on March 7. “Louisiana citizens will hold to account their elected officials, Sen. Mary Landrieu and Rep. Charlie Melancon, who voted for this monstrosity — and their constituents will not be silenced,” the event description said. Edwards said participants will protest Obama’s stimulus package and his broader presidential agenda — including funding for stem cell research — saying, “our heritage is at stake.”She also said the tea party will express gratitude to Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sen. David Vitter “for standing against the stimulus package,” while protesting Louisiana politicians like Landrieu who voted for the stimulus, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Landrieu “is not listening to her constituents and not voting the way people want her to vote,” Edwards said. Scott Jordan, spokesman for the Louisiana Democratic Party, said the timing of the protest is unusual.”I wonder if any of the protestors voiced similar concerns when George Bush was running up the biggest deficit in American history over the last eight years,” he said. He also accused Jindal and Vitter of partisan politics with the stimulus.”Jindal claims he’s against the president’s recovery plan but is taking the bulk of the funds to help address Louisiana’s budget shortfall. David Vitter’s hypocrisy is equally transparent — he sponsored nearly $250 million in earmarks in the omnibus bill, including many he co-sponsored with Sen. Landrieu,” he said.Edwards said no outside groups are currently participating or helping to organize the tea party, but “conservative groups are more than welcome to participate.”    ——Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]