photo: Power to the Peaceful banner
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July 4, 2007, St. Anthony Park Parade

A Walking Bar Chart: the costs of the war compared to other costs of government

    Neighbors for Peace has marched in the St. Anthony Park 4th of July parade for more than 20 years. Recently we've been the biggest group, receiving loud cheers, peace signs, and applause all along the way. This year we decided to try to show how much the war costs, at the expense of other government services.
photo: defense & debt red signs

We were a walking bar chart, comparing Interest on Debt (mostly war debt) and Defense (both in red)
to other departments, like State and Veterans (in blue). The streamers were the bars of the chart.
photo: blue signs 1      photo: blue signs 2

Compare the dollar amounts and the short streamers on these signs to the red signs and streamers above.
photo: parade start

The parade began. The two red streamers were so long they needed several people to hold them up.
(See more photos below the chart description.)

2008 FEDERAL BUDGET PROPOSAL

The walking chart was developed from the 2008 Federal Budget Proposal. $2 billion = 1 inch.

    War Cost$ – streamer (inches) – Department
  • $583 billion – 292" – Defense Department
  • $456 billion – 228" – Interest on Debt (mostly war-related)


    • Other Cost$ – streamer (inches) – Department
  • $  83 billion –   42" –  Veterans Affairs Department
  • $  35 billion –   18" –  State Dept. (2" foreign military assistance)
  • $   89 billion –   44" – Agriculture Department
  • $   59 billion –   30" – Education Department
  • $   44 billion –   22" – Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
  • $   52 billion –   26" – Labor Department
  • $   67 billion –   33" – Transportation Department
  • $315 billion – 158" – Dept. of Health & Human Services (includes Medicaid)
  • $   61 billion –   30" – Treasury Department
  • $   43 billion –   22" – Dept. of Homeland Security
  • $   22 billion –   11" – Energy Department (8" nuclear weapons)


    • Compared to the cost$ of saving civilization
  • $   68 billion – Meet world's basic social needs
  • $   93 billion – Restore the earth


    • Reference: The cost of saving civilization vs. the 2008 Federal Budget Proposal (PDF)
Photo: beginning of parade with banner

The familiar banner led the way.

Photo: parade    Photo: Parade

Anyone is welcome to march in the parade. The Defense Dept. banner couldn't even fit in two photos.

Photo: car in parade with NFP sign    Photo: jazz band with NFP sign

Neighbors for Peace yard signs appeared elsewhere in the parade as well. The jazz band played peace music.

photo: marchers at Langford Park

The parade ended at Langford Park, where we took our traditional group photo. Join us next year!
Photos on this page by Karen Lilley
See also:   More 2007 photos, by Paul Bloom   July 4, 2003   July 4, 2004