EASTON, Md., December 5, 2011 — Since 42 percent of members Congress and 67 percent of Senators are millionaires, it makes sense that Occupy Wall Street has moved its protest to Washington, DC, home of Congress and its buddies, the K Street lobbyists.
What better way for the 99% to confront the millionaires and the near millionaires than in their Congressional offices and demand that something be done about the income gap that is undermining our country’s core values.
The anger that is fueling Occupy Wall Street is not based on resentment of the Haves vs. the Have Nots but on hard data that makes us question what kind of nation we are becoming. Currently, income inequality in this country is at an all time high, “surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression.”
There is an astounding and unprecedented disparity in American incomes and that is not just some sound bite. It’s the sad reality as Middle Class incomes flat-line and one that Congress needs to address if it is ever to bring down the debt and close the deficit. But with so many millionaires in charge of Congress and with so much lobbyist money filling Congressional campaign coffers, they are in no mood to change the status quo, particularly if they are Republicans.
OWS moves from Wall Street to D.C.
Even now with the pay roll tax extension for the American worker about to expire, the Republicans would rather see that happen than impose a 3.25% surtax on an annual incomes exceeding $1 million. Not to extend the payroll tax holiday would mean a family with an income of $50,000 a year would have a tax hike and would pay $1,000 more in taxes.
Whining Millionaires
So while the millionaires in Congress whine about being unduly taxed even as their own incomes rise like yeast bread, the average millionaire actually only pays 32.4% in taxes, according to the Tax Foundation. Yet under President Ronald Reagan, that same millionaire owed 47.7% in taxes. Looking further back in our history to the end of the World War II when all Americans paid their fair share to support the war effort, the tax rate on millionaires was 66.4%.
When were taxes on the rich as low as they are today? You would have to go back to 1929 when the tax rate in 1929 was 13.4%, but during the Great Depression it was raised to 68%, according to the website Patriotic Millionaires.
No wonder the Middle Class will be joining Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Congress. What is happening to the average American in this country cannot continue.
I for one am glad to see OWS move its protest to the seat of power and change in Washington. If Americans cannot move Congress to pass a jobs bill, rebuild this country, and strengthen our schools, we will soon become a second rate country. Our equality disparity already places us low on the Gini Coefficient that is used by the CIA to track incomes and living standards around the world. Our numbers make us comparable to Cameroon, Madagascar, Rwanda, Uganda, and Ecuador. While countries like Canada, most of Europe, Australia, Japan, and Russia do not have the income gap we have.
So it is not some vague, mushy feeling that Americans have that tells them that something is seriously wrong with their country and their leaders. There is.
If you want to do something about it, come to Washington, DC. The larger the numbers in the protest, the more impressive the demand for change is, and not the kind of change that is a slogan but action. Make your Congress members feel your anger, your frustration, your outrage. You can’t march in Washington? Then call their offices or go to one of their town hall meetings when they’re home.
True, one person’s voice can be drowned out but not when 100,000 or more start to act. It happened with Dr. Martin Luther King when he moved the Civil Rights protest to Washington, when the Vietnam protestors thronged the Mall, and when the Women Rights Movement marched down Constitution Avenue just as the Suffragettes did before them.
It can happen again.
Here’s the schedule for this week in D.C. from the organizers, starting today:
Take Back the Capitol poster
Monday, December 5 – Set up the People’s Camp. After checking in, pitching tents, and creating signs and banners, OurDC, a local organization of unemployed and underemployed 99%-ers, will host an orientation, dinner, and entertainment.
Tuesday, December 6 – Take Back the People’s House. From the People’s Action Center, we’ll form groups and fan out to congressional offices, remind members of Congress that the Capitol is the People’s House, and demand that they represent the 99%.
Wednesday, December 7- “Make Wall Street Pay.” We’ll swarm K Street, the lobbying center for the world’s most powerful corporations, and track down those responsible for crashing the economy and causing millions of 99%ers to lose their jobs and homes—while failing to pay their fair share of taxes.
Thursday, December 8 – Demand Justice for the 99%. The day’s events will include multiple speak-outs throughout the Capitol, a national prayer vigil with unemployed folks and faith leaders, a mass march on key congressional leaders, and a lively jubilee action.
Friday, December 9 – Take It Home. We’ll pack it up and head home, where we need to keep the pressure on our representatives in Congress to do right by the 99%.
To contact Catherine Poe, see above. Her work appears in Ad Lib in the Communities at the Washington Times. She can also be heard on the Democrats for America's Future.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
