Today at noon, citizens of Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, who are also MoveOn members, gathered in front of the Anderson, Indiana office of Congressman Mike Pence.
There were groups all around the country doing similar protests at their local Congressperson’s office.
I was at today’s 6th District protest, I am the Democratic Candidate for this seat and the rest is below
Click for a look at some great pics of the event.
There were not overwhelming numbers, it was noon on a workday in the middle of the week, but there were enough to draw attention.
Here’s what happened and I am not using names because it would be without permission.
The group gathered outside the office at noon, and a woman began telling everyone including the press, why we were all there.
MoveOn prepared a report that shows the cost to each Congressional District around the country of the Iraq occupation. We were there to take the report in and give it to Congressman Pence. The woman then explained how there were groups all across the country doing the same thing.
She introduced me, and I said I was there to support them and said little else.
I was not there to highjack the event, and I can hijack an event, but I was there simply to confront Congressman Pence face to face with the truth, and begin this campaign the way we ended our last one with the one and only debate, I wanted to watch as those brave MoveOn members handed him an oversized check and the report. I wanted to see it face to face.
Two members of the group took the oversized check and lead the way into the Congressman’s office. Once everyone was inside, including the two members of the press, a man formally presented the oversized check to……a senior and familiar member of the congressman’s staff. Mr. Pence was not available.
I was immediately recognized by a few of the staff members, all of who were gracious and the only COLD moment came when the senior staffer asked if he could sign and cash the big check. A woman said it was already signed in blood, and it had already been cashed and wasted. The silence was apropos.
Pictures will be coming soon, as will traditional printed press coverage and new media coverage.
The amount of the big check? The amount it has cost the 6th District of Indiana? 715 Million Dollars.
The total cost to all of the citizens of Indiana? $6.94 Billion
From the MoveOn 6th District Report
Trade Offs for Indiana’s 6th District
Currently, 47 million Americans lack health insurance, Head Start is underfunded, college tuition is skyrocketing,
our homeland is not secure with only one out of every 20 port containers getting inspected and our bridges and roads
are aging. The $715 million being spent on the unwinnable civil war in Iraq should be put to better use for American
taxpayers where we need it most–in our own backyard, fixing our aging bridges and roads or improving the lives of
our residents.
What Citizens of Indiana’s 6th District Could Have Gotten Instead:
· Health care coverage for 222,983 people–or 356,466 kids, or
· Head Start for 106,156 additional kids, or
· 12,887 new elementary school teachers, or
· 100,631 scholarships to make college more affordable, or
· Renewable electricity for 680,231 homes, or
· 7,493 affordable housing units, or
· 18,333 public safety officers to keep the streets safe
Here is the state by District:
District Cost
1st $808 million
2nd $740 million
3rd $807 million
4th $842 million
5th $968 million
6th $715 million
7th $670 million
8th $673 million
9th $715 million
Total $6.94 billion
Here is how MoveOn came up with the numbers:
Data Sources
Unless otherwise indicated, the figures provided for the cost of the war for each district and specific tradeoffs
from the National Priorities Project, available on the web at http://nationalpriorities.org/
The cost of war is based on an analysis of the legislation in which Congress has allocated money for war
research by the Congressional Research Service which has access to Department of Defense financial
trade-offs are based on average cost per unit information for each state. More detailed information on
the calculations of the averages can be obtained at
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=297&Itemid=7
.
If a similar protest occurred in your congressional district, give it a shout out in the comments.
Thanks for all you do.
Peace
Barry Welsh
Indiana 6th District Democratic Candidate.
