It’s not Boston circa 1773, but the Taxed Enough Already movement celebrates a TEA party of its own in Santa Maria on Tax Day, April 15.
The city is one of 1,500 nationwide to host a rally for tax and regulatory relief, an event that local radio talk-show host Andy Caldwell has dubbed “The Plunger Rebellion.”
“We’ve got a mess all over the place,” Caldwell said. “Things are backed up, and it’s really messy. We’ve got to re-create the old form of tax and revenue that comes from new development, new business enterprise, and the creation of new jobs.”
Caldwell, who took up the TEA party cause after receiving numerous calls to his show asking him to help organize and promote the event, said the California State Legislature is to blame for creating a regulatory climate that will make it impossible for the state to recover from the economic recession.
“These guys are destroying our economy, and then they’re turning around and saying we’ve got to raise your taxes because we can’t pay for our own wages and pensions,” Caldwell said. “This is affecting us all.”
Like-minded individuals of all political persuasions are invited to bring their signs and plungers to the parking lot on the corner of Broadway and Cook Street at 5:30 p.m., between what Caldwell calls the “twin towers of economic collapse”: Mervyns and Gottschalks. Caldwell, who is also executive director of Santa Barbara County’s Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business, will speak at the event.
Diesel-truck and tractor owners, who won’t be able to use their engines in California due to new environmental requirements, are encouraged to bring their obsolete equipment to the rally. Organizers hope the event will get citizens involved in the political process and raise public awareness of the national debt, government-controlled health care, illegal immigration, and the carbon tax.
“I think it’s an expression that people have had enough,” said local TEA party organizer David Hamel.
This article appears in Apr 9-16, 2009.