Tax protesters take to the streets of Bakersfield
| Wednesday, Apr 15 2009 02:04 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Apr 16 2009 04:18 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian A crowd gathers in front of City Hall, Wednesday afternoon during a Tea Party rally and protest downtown.
Casey Christie / The Californian Jennifer Shrader holds a protest sign, Wednesday, along with many others during a Tea Party rally and protest in front of City Hall on Chester Avenue downtown.
Casey Christie / The Californian Protestors hold signs out in front of City Hall at noon on Wednesday during a Tea Party rally, one of three tax protests in Bakersfield.
Casey Christie / The Californian Chance Bradford, left, and Danny Miller, two of many hold up signs, Wednesday afternoon in front of City Hall during a "Tea Party," rally.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Thousands gathered Wednesday afternoon at the Liberty Bell in Bakersfield for the Bakersfield Tea Party to protest what they say is taxation without representation.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Chris Baker, foreground, is one of thousands who showed up Wednesday afternoon for the Bakersfield Tea Party to protest high taxes and the way tax money is used.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Brenda Anderson got into the spirit on the event by hanging tea bags from her hat at the Bakersfield Tea Party event held to protest taxes.
Modern-day protesters on the streets of Bakersfield look nothing like those in the 1960s and 70s who demonstrated against the Vietnam War and in favor of civil rights.
But both groups share something in common: the need to make their voices heard in constitutionally sanctioned public dissent.
Despite the blustery weather on Wednesday — Tax Day — three demonstrations were held in Bakersfield, each one expressing a disdain for taxes, or the way they are levied and spent.
The biggest by far kicked off at about 4:30 p.m. near the Liberty Bell on Truxtun Avenue.
An estimated 2,000 were there, many carrying placards with anti-tax and anti-government slogans.
“My piggy bank is not your pork barrel,” one sign read. Another said, “Stop slavery. Fire Congress.”
Local talk radio host Jaz McKay was on the microphone for a while, but it was hard to hear and virtually impossible to see the speakers over the crowd.
Lots of Republicans were there, but some were angry enough to boo Rep. Kevin McCarthy and state Sen. Roy Ashburn, both Republicans from Bakersfield.
Jim and Charlotte Way drove down from their home in Tehachapi to make their voices heard.
“It’s time to cut back on government,” Mrs. Way said. “A lot of (politicians) are just in it for the paycheck anyway.”
Jim Way said he was a lifelong Republican but has recently registered as Independent because he believes the Republican party has moved away from the conservative ideals he cherishes.
“Bush laid the groundwork for this (current crisis),” he said.
Things got a little dicey at one point when several in attendance confronted a group of counter-protesters, one carrying a sign that read, “Support the troops. Pay your taxes.”
Voices were raised, but the Bakersfield Police Department was out in force, and officers remained close to the verbal wrangling.
Many said they hoped Wednesday’s protest was just the beginning of a larger groundswell of anger and frustration from the electorate.
Earlier on Wednesday, about 150 attended another “Tea Party” event, this one organized by the American Family Association. Attendees expressed anger over government spending, higher state taxes and what they view as government’s shift to the left.
“Let’s fire the 545 and start over,” said a placard held over the head of protester Jess Ring.
If Americans voted out the entire Congress, Ring said, “maybe they would get the message that uncontrolled spending is not in our interest.”
Josiah Vencel, one of the protest organizers, compared the noon event with the Boston Tea Party, a famed protest during America’s colonial era.
“Our federal government has ignored the will of the American people,” he told the cheering crowd.
Vencel cited Alaska’s so-called “bridge to nowhere” and other congressional “pork” as symptoms of a government whose spending has gotten out of control.
“My children and grandchildren will pay for the sins of today,” he said.
When asked, demonstrators acknowledged that they didn’t actively protest during the Bush administration, when the nation produced record deficits under a Republican-controlled Congress.
But some were feeling frustrated, even then.
“This is the first time I’ve been annoyed enough by my government to take it to the street,” said retired Bakersfield resident Richard Young.
A third demonstration was held beginning at 5 p.m. at the post office annex on Pegasus Road.
Planned by gay couples and supporters, about 25 came to express their dissatisfaction with what they consider inequalities in federal tax law.
“Today is a perfect example of the inequalities gay couples face at tax time,” said event spokesman Juan Cerda.
Gay couples living in legal domestic partnerships and state-sanctioned marriages still cannot file joint federal tax returns, he said.
“The state is the only (entity) that recognizes this lifetime commitment between two people,” Cerda said.
