What my parents are up to (Marnie, speak! Good girl.)

What my parents are up to

Any of you wondering where I get my crazy tree huggin' pinko commie left wing views, need look no further than my parents. Check out this press release from PrioritiesNH, featuring my dear mum and dad. All links added by me

The house I grew up in with a subtle political statement in the driveway.

Giant rolling piggy banks spotlight Congress's mixed-up budget priorities

"Pig Mobile" rolls through Amherst/Milford area to compare U.S. spending on Pentagon vs. education, world hunger and AIDS

An eye-popping pink Pig Mobile is bringing its political message to the Amherst/Milford area this week.

The Pig Mobile, a creation of Ben and Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen, is being driven by Amherst residents Ben and Roseann Day. They'll pilot the Piggies around the Verizon Arena in Manchester Sunday night when Oprah Winfrey campaigns with Sen. Barack Obama.

"The Pig Mobile presents a message important to both conservatives and liberals and does so with great humor," said Roseann Day. "Many Amherst residents are lucky enough to be well educated and have good jobs. I feel increasing their understanding of how our tax dollars are spent will motivate them to elect politicians who will work to spend our tax dollars more wisely."

PrioritiesNH is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating citizens about how the federal budget spends their tax dollars and to helping them demand sensible spending priorities. Its campaign is working to change America's budget priorities to reflect a national commitment to education, health care, energy independence, job training and deficit reduction -- at no additional taxpayer expense -- by shifting funding from obsolete Cold War and nuclear weapons.

The Pig Mobile consists of three oversized piggy banks that illustrate how out of whack America's spending priorities are. The enormous lead pig symbolizes how much we spend on the Pentagon each year ($504 billion), a figure that doesn't even include money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Behind it, a much-smaller pig represents what the federal government spends on K-12 education ($40 billion). And the third, wee little, pig shows America's dedication to fighting AIDS abroad and to lessening world hunger ($10 billion).

"Citizens should be given the facts how the government spends our taxes," says Cohen. "And there's no better way to understand the giant numbers involved than to compare them to spending on stuff we all care about - like schools and world hunger."

Roseann Day would like to see some of that wasteful spending redirected to public education. "I've love to assure that every American has access to a public education system that can make Americans more competitive in the global market," she said.

Ben Day said he'd spend it on "scientific and mathematical education, on health care, and to fund 'green' projects to reduce our nation's carbon footprint."

"Of course, as soon as you stop spending money on things like running our Air Force and Navy, you cut out a huge amount of fuel consumption, most of it a total waste," he added.

The pigs were constructed with pink fiberglass. The lead pig, a Chevy cargo van, pulls the others on a trailer.

For more information - or to arrange a ride in the Pig Mobile - please contact PrioritiesNH at 603-224-3800.

Posted by Marnie on December 6, 2007 4:07 PM | Permalink

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Comments (22)

karen w:

Love. It. Your parents remind me of Dharma's parents from the tv show Dharma and Greg. What a memorable way to get the message out. :)

Posted by karen w | December 10, 2007 8:09 PM

Posted on December 10, 2007 20:09

Debbie:

Oh man, your parents are going to cruise Elm Street in a pig mobile?!! Awesome!

Posted by Debbie | December 10, 2007 8:53 AM

Posted on December 10, 2007 08:53

Kris:

Your folks seem like they're a real hoot!

Posted by Kris | December 10, 2007 7:05 AM

Posted on December 10, 2007 07:05

Donna:

Your parents sound like my kind of people!!! I, however, wound up with one pinko commie daughter (she even gives money to NPR!!!) & one very conservative right wing daughter - a real neocon. Where did I go wrong with her? I have faith that one day she'll see the error of her ways & return to the fold . Poor girl - she has problems at family parties - my whole family is pretty much like me.

Posted by Donna | December 7, 2007 9:23 PM

Posted on December 7, 2007 21:23

Laurie:

Yay! I love it. What a brilliant, illustrative, funny way to make a point.

Posted by Laurie | December 7, 2007 11:26 AM

Posted on December 7, 2007 11:26

Amy in StL:

That's so funny! Somehow it reminds me of the movie "Two Weeks Notice". Good for your parents for driving it to bring attention to a cause they're passionate about!

Posted by Amy in StL | December 7, 2007 10:27 AM

Posted on December 7, 2007 10:27

yogahz:

Please send a big THANK YOU to your parents from me.

Posted by yogahz | December 7, 2007 9:14 AM

Posted on December 7, 2007 09:14

heather:

that's pretty much the coolest thing ever. your parents are awesome.

Posted by heather | December 7, 2007 9:13 AM

Posted on December 7, 2007 09:13

Janice in GA:

That is WONDERFUL. Yay Marnie's parents!