This Anti-Tax Party Rages Year Round

Tax Day had come and with it the annual traffic jam outside the Van Nuys Post Office. By midafternoon, the gridlock had clogged the exits of the San Diego Freeway. But as dusk approached, city traffic officers had improved the flow and postal workers were collecting the final-day filings at curbside.

The mood seemed oddly festive. A radio station had placed its colorful trailer next to a post office parking lot to provide entertainment. Near the front steps, Playboy Playmates provided shoulder rubs to ease the stress. Tax protesters took positions along Sherman Way. “Honk if you hate taxes!” read the sign held by Michelle Macris. The horns had a happy sound, the drivers smiling as they met an obligation said to be as inevitable as death.

“This is my first time,” said a smiling Macris. She didn’t seem mad as hell at all. “I’ve even had the police honk at me. It’s kind of fun.”

Macris, her husband, Bill, and “future son-in-law” Juan Ros were there as foot soldiers of the Libertarian Party. Across the nation, Libertarians descended on the big postal centers to spread their gospel.

“Pro-Choice on Everything,” said the button on Ros’ shirt. His sign touted the Libertarian Party and declared “I.R.S.=Theft, Stop Them.” He was explaining the party line when a man in a passing car gave a shout:

“Republicans rule!”

*

The man was only half right, of course. But with so many Americans professing disgust with both Democrats and Republicans, Ros has a hard time understanding why the two-party system has proven so resilient. Why, he wonders, can’t Libertarians get any traction? That was why he was out there Tuesday evening with his picket sign and pamphlets.

The son of Cuban immigrants who fled Castro, Ros is a 29-year-old Studio City resident and a student at Cal State Los Angeles. He is also a political seeker. He went from the Democrats to the Republicans to Ross Perot’s Reform Party. He’d become disenchanted with Perot when Bill Macris told him about Libertarian Party candidate Harry Browne, author of “Why Government Doesn’t Work.”

“When I read his book,” Ros said, “a lightbulb went on in my head.”

He was attracted by an ideology that combines a profound faith in free enterprise and individual liberties with an extreme distrust of official authority. “Anything that has to do with government,” Ros explains, “we’re pretty much against.”

Leading up to November’s election, some pundits and consultants talked about the fight for the “radical center”--voters who seemed to turn to Perot. What did radical centrists have against Libertarianism?

Consider the party’s platform on immigration. On the one hand, Libertarians advocate open borders, something that would seem to appall voters who feel America is overburdened by immigration, legal and otherwise. On the other hand, Libertarians would also privatize education and abolish welfare, which anti-immigrant activists say lures foreigners who aren’t willing to work.

Libertarians would end the war on drugs by legalizing the manufacture and sale of narcotics. Given the violent, often deadly ways of the illegal drug trade, this is one idea that is attracting more mainstream attention. “When you get prisons releasing rapists to make room for drug users, that’s crazy,” Ros said.

Patience is advisable. Libertarians want drastic change but live in an incremental world. They were disappointed when a $2.4-billion school bond measure drew 71% of the vote. They were happy when Californians voted to allow the medicinal use of marijuana.

Yet Libertarians still struggle to be taken seriously. Harry Browne received more than 470,000 votes as a presidential candidate in November, good enough for fifth place. Perot was third and the Green Party’s Ralph Nader finished fourth. Nationwide, one of every 200 voters cast a ballot for the Libertarian candidate.

“Harry Browne,” Ros said, “talks about the hurdle of irrelevancy.” By that Browne means the task of persuading sympathizers to invest their vote in the Libertarian cause. The phrase could also apply to the party itself.

*

The Playmates had departed but the mood still seemed cheerful. One protester’s sign grimly declared “I.R.S. Does Not Spell God,” but the person holding it was smiling. Celeste Burgess of Northridge explained that this was her 12th year at that spot. No, she said, she isn’t a Libertarian. As a member of the John Birch Society, she wants everyone to know that the income tax is unconstitutional.

Nearby, Juan Ros and a fellow Libertarian were musing about the party’s future. One problem, perhaps, is that so many self-professed “libertarians” resist the capital-L label. In a recent interview, Ros said, Clint Eastwood described himself as a libertarian.

“I understand the party’s contacted him,” Ros added. “But he hasn’t responded.”

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com Please include a phone number.

‘Pro-Choice on Everything,’ said the button. His sign touted the Libertarian Party and declared “I.R.S.=Theft.