Hundreds gather for protest in GP
From our weekly issue dated September 16, 2009
Protesters expressed frustration with federal spending, excessive regulations, state tax hikes and a lack of honest representation. The event also included signature gathering. (Photos by Michelle Binker, Illinois Valley News)
Hundreds of people of varied ages turned out on the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 12 for a “tea party with teeth” protest in front of the Josephine County Courthouse in Downtown Grants Pass.
The event coincided with similar protests in front of the state capitol in Salem, the nation’s capitol in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere throughout the country. More than 1,000 people were estimated to have attended the Salem protest, and tens of thousands appeared in Washington, D.C.
Half an hour prior to the event start, the lawn in front of the Josephine County Courthouse already was filling with people and alive with activity. There was no shortage of signs, as several U.S. flags were flown high, and patriotic anthems blared through a sound system.
Many booths also were present, as volunteers were on hand to gather signatures to repeal a series of tax increases passed by the Oregon Legislature earlier this year.
Jack Swift, coordinator for the county chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), took to the stage to address the crowd.
Swift stated that after the first round of tea party protests, politicians have continued to grow government and spend more money.
“They didn’t get it the first time. We’ve said it twice now,” Swift said. “They are not listening. They are not hearing us.”
Also discussed by Swift were the continuing efforts to repeal tax increases at the state level. He said that the income and corporate tax hikes are on track to be referred to voters in January. However, Swift said that House Bill 2001, the Jobs & Transportation Act, is the “worst of them all.”
That bill includes an increase in the state’s gasoline tax, and Swift said it contains a provision to change land-use zoning to prevent commuting.
“It’s nothing but legislated nongrowth for the state of Oregon,” he said.
Through the initiative process, Swift said, Oregonians have recourse against the tax increases.
“We’re going to close the checkbook,” Swift said. “We can starve this beast.”
Advertisement:
Jack Brown, chairman of the Constitution Party of Oregon, said that Americans are in a “life or death struggle” where somebody else is constantly changing the rules.
Brown stated that if those elected to represent citizens don’t listen, they should be replaced with people who will.
“There’s a tax revolution going on in this country, ladies and gentlemen,” he said.
The temperature rose steadily as the protest continued. Several participants stood on both sides of Sixth Street holding their signs as some passing drivers of some passing cars honked their car horns in support.
AFP member Margaret Goodwin told audience members that for the first 200 years of the nation’s history, it produced more than it consumed. But she added that the United States has consistently produced trade deficits during the past 35 years.
Goodwin said that the country has been importing timber from China and Canada while local people remain unemployed and politicians continue their efforts to designate more monuments and wilderness areas on federal forest land.
“We don’t want handouts from the federal government,” she said. “We want our economy back.”
Efforts to replace those lost jobs with government jobs don’t make up for the overall loss of productivity, Goodwin said.
Jim Frick, Southern Oregon Resource Alliance chairman and a real estate broker, echoed many of those same sentiments. He said that 50,000 timber jobs have been lost during the past five years, and added that local leaders have failed to prevent it from happening.
“What are they doing to replace it? Absolutely nothing,” Frick said.
More than 100,000 jobs were lost in Oregon during the last legislative session, Frick said, but there still was a 6 percent rise in the number of state government jobs.
Advertisement:
