Brandishing signs admonishing Wall Street leaders for accepting bailout money, a small group of protesters stood outside Santa Barbara’s downtown post office Friday to decry President Obama’s plans to solve the country’s financial crisis. Three blocks away, organizers of a tea party tax revolt were putting the finishing touches on their Saturday rally.
Gathering under the guise of “bailing out people, not banks,” one of Friday’s protest organizers, Lane Anderson, said he felt Obama was being “held hostage” by Wall Street. An activist with Veterans for Peace and a City Council candidate, Anderson said his group — with individuals representing several organizations, many of whom worked to get Obama elected — was trying to give the president the cover he needs to break ranks with Wall Street.
“Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when he was president, people came to him with great ideas, impressive ideas, radical ideas even,” Anderson said. “And he said ‘I like the idea, now make me do it.’ And that’s why we’re out here.”
Anderson said he’d like to see the money being used for bailouts go toward jobs programs, national health care and education.
“We could put everybody to work with the money we’ve given to Goldman Sachs,” he said.
Friday’s protest will not be the only sign of voter discontent this weekend. At noon Saturday, the People’s Coalition will be holding a similar demonstration outside the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 1415 State St.
A tax revolt of a different sort will take place at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, 1100 Anacapa St., where the “Big, Cool Tea Party” will pay homage to the 1773 mantra of “no taxation without representation.”
Sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Tea Party and its Ventura County affiliate, the demonstration will be protesting what organizers call out-of-control spending at all levels of government. Heather Bryden, one of the organizers, said at least 1,500 people are expected, some from as far away as San Diego.
KABC radio talk-show host Tammy Bruce will emcee Saturday’s proceedings. Among the day’s speakers will be Joe Armendariz, past president of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association; COLAB executive director Andy Caldwell; Lompoc Mayor Richard De Wees; Erin Graffy de Garcia; Hollywood screenwriter Andrew Klavan; Gabriella Murillo; and state Sen. George Runner, R-Antelope Valley. The rally’s headliner is singer-songwriter Lloyd Marcus, who will perform his latest hit, “The American Tea Party Anthem.”
Santa Barbara’s Tea Party will be the first of its kind on the Central Coast. Across the country, more than 1,000 similar tea parties are expected to be held by April 15, Tax Day.
As if to underscore the point on government spending, Congress late this week passed Obama’s $3.5 trillion budget blueprint on party-line votes. The House approved its budget resolution Thursday night on a 233-196 vote, with no Republican support and 20 Democrats opposing it. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, voted for the plan. The Senate approved its resolution on a 55-43 vote, with no Republican support and two Democrats — Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska — opposing it.
Despite billions of dollars spent on bailouts and stimulus packages in an attempt to jump-start the economy, labor figures announced Friday revealed that unemployment had ballooned to 8.5 percent in March, the highest in a quarter-century. Employers shed 663,000 jobs last month, increasing the ranks of the unemployed to more than 13 million. Some forecasters projected a 10 percent jobless rate by year’s end.
While many on the Tea Party side are calling for lower taxes and less government as the best ways to achieve economic opportunity, those on the other side see things differently.
Matthew Margulies, who’s with the People’s Coalition, was among those demonstrating Friday at the post office. A retired doctor, he said he lost money with Enron in the early 2000s and that regulation was increasingly important.
“I was fooled,” he said. “And I took a hit.”
Margulies said he hoped that as people become aware of the issues, they will be motivated to action.
“Particularly in these hard times, people are preoccupied with basic survival, and taking a political stand is an extravagance of time, particularly if they don’t understand the importance of their participation,” he said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.
