I went to the Ventura County Government Center at lunchtime on April 15, but not to join, or even witness the "Tea Party" taking place there. Nor did I have any business at the courthouse or the hall of administration. I was there to support a different act of protest.
For several years now, every April 15th has been the occasion of a press conference by Citizens for Peaceful Resolutions, an anti-nuclear, anti-war action group.
At tax time CPR calculates what share of the U.S. nuclear weapons budget has been contributed by our county's tax payers. This year it came out to a little more than $160 million. That's about $200 per resident to build and maintain weapons that cannot deter terrorists or capture pirates. A poster-size check was displayed, from "Ventura County Taxpayers", payable to "U.S. Nuclear Weapons Ind."
Dr. Robert Dodge of CPR presents "the check".
Then a number of speakers addressed us: a physician, a County Supervisor, A member of the School Board, and two reps from the local living wage and affordable housing groups. Each told the audience of two-dozen what they would do with $160 million: Feed the hungry, end homelessness, fund mental health programs, cover all the uninsured children, expand mass transit and library hours, hire back laid-off teachers, nurses, and deputy sheriffs... the list was heartbreaking, and came straight from executive leaders who deal with shrinking budgets first-hand.
And all this took place just around the corner from the main plaza, where 300 rejectionists roared their disapproval of "high taxes" in Nuremburg fashion. THAT was truly creepy.
Yet, the CPR speakers all agreed that the opportunity to cut the nuclear weapons budget is greater now than it has been in decades. The mood was upbeat despite the stadium-chant echoing in the distance. I came away feeling motivated to do more for disarmament, despite the ongoing crises of the economy and the oil wars.
The 'baggers got the front page story in the local paper (alongside a report that the County can no longer afford to test bacteria levels at our public beaches). The CPR story got onto the back page of section B. Not great, but it's one page after the editorials. Read it here.
PS. The "organizers" estimated 1500 people at the Bag Party. The local NPR affiliate reported 700. My guess is 300 to 400. It didn't look any larger than the big No on 8 rally we had here last November - and the newspaper reported that at 600. Newspaper account here.