Wall Street Protests

[SamIam]

At least one politician is responding to OWS and the continued erosion of the middle class. She is Elizabeth Warren (D) running for senator for the state of Massachusetts. Her speech concerning "class warfare" and tax breaks for the rich has gone viral on YouTube. In just 6 weeks her campaign has raised over 3.15 million dollars, and just 1 in 20 contributions were for more than 100 dollars. If the OWS movement is looking for a leader, they have found one in Ms. Warren. Elizabeth Warren's appeal:

Ms. Warren talks about the nation’s growing income inequality in a way that channels the force of the Occupy Wall Street movement but makes it palatable and understandable to a far wider swath of voters. She is provocative and assertive in her critique of corporate power and the well-paid lobbyists who protect it in Washington, and eloquent in her defense of an eroding middle class.

Her larger appeal, though, comes from her ability to shred Republican arguments that rebalancing the tax burden constitutes class warfare. In a living-room speech that went viral on YouTube last month, she pointed out that people in this country don’t get rich entirely by themselves — everyone benefits from roads, public safety agencies and an education system paid for by taxes. And those who have benefited the most, she says, need to give back more.

“You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea — God bless!” she said. “Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”

What a concept - the social contract which is the glue that binds together the members of all civilized societies. The Republicans want a repeal of the social contract so that the big corporations and the wealthy can grow ever richer at the expense of the middle and working class. If the conservatives had their way, the US would become little better than a third world country with the rich in their gated communities and the poor literally dying on the streets.

Warren is also correct in stating that business owners could not have made it without help from the rest of society. The Republicans would have us think that the working class are little better than scum - especially compared to the millionaire "producers." So, tell me. Who built the Hoover Dam? Who is rebuilding the WTC? Who works on what few assembly lines and production lines that the "Job Creators" haven't got around to out-sourcing yet?

American workers, that's who. Without their strong work ethic and dedication no business would ever get off the ground. A nation's, a corporation's, a community's most valuable resource is their people. WE are the 99%!