Local Campaign on Federal Budget Priorities

Sign at recent Teaneck Peace Vigil

If ordinary citizens could decide how to spend one million dollars on behalf of the nation, what would they spend the money on?  That was the idea behind handing out copies of $1 million bills to people who stopped by the NJ National Guard Armory in Teaneck last week during the weekly peace vigil at the corner of Teaneck and Liberty roads.

“Jobs Not War,” Veterans For Peace member Tom Urgo, a plumber from Ridgewood who served in the US Army in Vietnam, wrote on the back of one of the bills. “Resurrect the W.P.A. & the C.C.C.,” wrote another North Jersey resident, referring to the federal agencies created by President Roosevelt to provide government-subsidized jobs building schools, roads, state and national parks during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

“Spend our tax dollars for people’s needs, not to kill people. Use this money to create jobs, fund education & medical care, and finance our state & local governments,” wrote Joseph Harris, a labor mediator from Teaneck.  

These and other handwritten budget messages are being sent to New Jersey’s congressional delegation.

Other budget priorities presented by more than two dozen people who took time to write their thoughts include: housing for the homeless, Veterans Affairs, AIDS and drought relief in Africa, the Peace Corps and to establish a Peace Department.

While not drawn from a scientifically random survey of North Jersey residents, the budget priorities expressed by these concerned citizens closely match those of the American public as shown in national polls. “Unemployment and jobs” topped a Bloomberg National Poll in June, while the war in Afghanistan only drew 5 percent support as the nation’s most pressing issue.

A University of Maryland study released in March found similar concerns in its national survey.  "Clearly both the administration and the Republican-led House are out of step with the public's values and priorities in regard to the budget," said University of Maryland School of Public Policy researcher Steven Kull, who directs the Program for Public Consultation, which did the study. "Our respondents would more than double funding for job training and cut deeply on defense."

The $1-million budget priorities campaign was inaugurated during the 6^th anniversary of the weekly peace vigil at the National Guard Armory. The event is sponsored by the Teaneck Peace Vigil, Military Families Speak Out, Bergen County; Veterans For Peace, Chapter 21 NJ; Bergen Greens and New Jersey Peace Action. The peace vigil goals are: The immediate return of all troops and military contractors from Afghanistan and Iraq, proper care for the troops when they return, maintain the NJ National Guard in New Jersey, and use war dollars at home for community benefits.