Tea Party in Concord

The son of former Gov. Meldrim Thompson speaks to a crowd of hundreds outside the State House in Concord on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier today, hundreds of protesters turned out to protest high taxes, high debt, the Federal Reserve, and out of control government spending. Estimates were as high as 500, according to press reports. Many more turned out to the Manchester rally later in the day.

I was one of the people invited to speak, giving a more "liberal-tarian" view of the situation. Here is the framework of my remarks although I did alter them slightly during delivery:

My name is Anthony Schinella and I’m the co-chairman of the Concord Taxpayers Association. I’ve been joking all week with friends and online that I’m probably the token liberal here today. Despite the demonization of these rallies in much of the press, I’m proud to stand here with you today.

Conservatives and liberals have common ground to till:

We all support open, honest government;
We all want the end to waste, fraud, subsidies, abuse, and corporate welfare in the halls of Congress and in boardrooms;
We need to decimate the demons of debt, derivatives, and deception in our economic system and work towards localism not globalism;
We all want a sane tax policy;
And lastly, we need to close the oppressive and bankrupt Federal Reserve system and return our monetary system back to the Congress where it belongs.

At the Concord Taxpayers Association, which is co-chaired by former judge and Rep. Chuck Douglas, we are concerned about issues at the local level. Concord is facing a multimillion dollar budget deficit. One of the main reasons is that 25 percent of the city is tax exempt, including this hallowed hall behind us. So 75 percent of the physical city foots the bill for all.

Even though there is a deficit, our leaders say there isn’t much waste in the budget. But if you look deep inside, you can find some things:

There are employees scattered around a number of departments, like parking and finance, that could be job-sharing or performing multiple tasks;
There are two assistant city managers when there used to be one;
The cable media access center burns through a quarter of million dollars a year and buys themselves all kinds of goodies like trips and benefits, and has wasted tens of thousands of dollars in supposed “development expenses”;
And despite an economic meltdown and millions in deficits, in December, the city put out an RFP to buy two new SUVs and a cruiser for the police department – even while public safety employees could be put on the chopping block. I don’t know if the SUVs are hybrids or not, but I doubt it.

A few months back, the city passed a pay as you throw trash program. Or, as we like to call it, the bag tax. Shockingly, or not so, while approving the bag tax, the city decided not to charge for leaf pickup because a few people whined about it. So, the necessity – trash pickup – gets taxed, but an extravagance – picking up leaves – does not.

In Concord, city officials often bite off more than they can chew while wasting millions. There is the boondoggle $15 million parking garage that was badly designed so few people use it. There are the millions spent on the tannery project that collapsed in Penacook.

Over on the school side, there is more mismanagement.

A couple of years ago the administration secretly purchased a number of houses around Kimball School, paying more than the assessed values at the height of the market, wasting millions. Had they waited, they could probably get those houses for a song and maybe we wouldn’t have to lay off teachers.

Then, there is the issue of the bond for Concord High School which was paid off years ago. That tax money should have been returned to the people but instead, the school administration is hoarding it for future use.

That future use is a plan to spend more than $100 million to consolidate our elementary schools. Who cares if they are warehousing our children into massive schools so long as the new buildings are “green.” Hey, I recycle. There is nothing wrong with being green. But smart people know that small schools are better, and that renovating buildings is cheaper and greener than constructing new ones.

No matter what anyone says, being critical of such fiscal nonsense is what responsible citizens are supposed to do. Commonsense positions are the only hope through decadent, dark times ... if only we can shut off American Idol long enough to educate ourselves.

On a personal note, I’m incensed by the recklessness of what is going on at the national level. I have two young boys, under the age of 5, and in the last two years, the federal government has accrued so much debt in their names that they will never be able to pay it off. Think about it this way: Our government is borrowing billions from the Chinese to educate our children, the same children who will never be able to pay off the billions owed to the Chinese. At the same time, our fraudulent free trade system will put my boys in competition with Chinese workers who will earn pennies. What kind of madness is that?

We have spent trillions bailing out bandit bankers and crooks that brought our nation to the brink. And yet, they aren’t in jail – they get bonuses! Does everyone remember the three strikes and you're out law a few years back and the guy in California who stole a slice of pizza and, because it was his third strike, he went to jail for life? Well, that guy is still in jail but these people aren't. They are allowed to foreclose homes of people who bailed them out. There are families living in tents on the Merrimack River for no fault of their own but the crooks remain in their homes. I read somewhere recently that our government supposedly owns 38% of Citibank and yet, they can still charge taxpayers 19% interest – or more - on their credit cards. This is not change we can believe in – this is insanity!

In closing, let me say, as a progressive Democrat, that it is clearly time for us to cast aside our differences and come together to create real hope for the future. It is time for us to fight for economic justice, sane fiscal policies, and create true prosperity for all Americans. Thank you, God bless.