Long Week

So I got to thinking about stuff today - it was too nice to be inside at work so the mind tended to wander all over the place. Fortunately when it does that it does find its way back home... eventually.

One of the things I was thinking about was the whole Occupy Wall Street brouhaha. Now granted I haven't been paying too much attention I admit it (which is SO not like me) but I have had other things on my mind - work's been busy, the Humane Society event I am trying to put together for next week is in the panic phase, kitties are nuts and two of the five now have ear issues (one has mites, the other an infection).

Anyway, lack of attention to the Occupy Wall Street and the 99% thing. From what I gather this appears to be the left side of the fence's version of the Tea Party "uprising" of a couple of years ago. They got all fired up about taxes, etc. and the so-called left pretty much sat back and thought they were nuts. Now of course Congress is nearly being held hostage by the Tea Party members and it seems to have dawned on the left leaning folk that making some noise might actually accomplish something. 

There is no set list of demands - this is not an entirely unified outburst. There is a pseudo list on a web site http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-for-occupy-wall-st-moveme/ and most of it has popped up on at least a sign or two the participants are waving about in front of the cameras. 

Then there is a "manifesto" the Washington Times claims the group has posted: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2011/oct/3/picket-occupy-wall-street-protesters-post-manifest/

The interesting thing I heard chanted on the news this morning by the participants: The Banks Got Bailed Out (pause) We Got Sold Out.. kind of have to agree with that one. Part of the bail out was to free up funds for the banks to start lending. They aren't lending. Ask anyone who has been through hell trying to get a mortgage so matter how pristine their credit; or someone trying to start or expand a small business.

Then there is the 99% movement which is actually part of Occupy Wall Street but some in the media don't seem to get that bit. 

"They protest corporate greed and income inequality. They've highlighted so often how the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans have so much political influence that their rallying cry, written on signboards, has become "We are the 99%." - Christian Science Monitor

Again I kind of think they have a point. The gulf between the have and have-nots; the "rich" and the poor keeps widening. It is getting to the point that before too much longer you will have to be quite wealthy to be able to afford to go to college. It is harder to get loans, a lot of the grants are gone or will soon be and the overall costs keep going up. Ordinary people are finding it harder to buy a home or a car. Medical costs keep rising. Utilities are going through the roof - as are gasoline prices. And yet public transportation is all but nonexistent in cities with populations under 100,000. Before too much longer if something doesn't give it'll be the late 1800's - early 1900's all over again. And the really scary thing? No one in Congress seems to give a rat's ass.

And why should they? They have guaranteed cheap health insurance and a pension - FOR LIFE and all they have to do is serve one term in office. We change jobs and the rules change - the health insurance changes, the 401k has to get moved, the pension freezes if it exists at all. We have to wait to be vested. They have to serve one term. Four years in Congress or six in the Senate. Takes the rest of us longer to be vested in our jobs. Many of them are quite wealthy too - they have to be in order to afford to run for office. So there are loopholes etc. of such that the tax rate they pay is a lot lower than the a person making, say $40,000 a year. Is that right? Never mind fair... is it right? No it isn't . Yes they (most of them) built up businesses and earned that money but they should have to pay taxes on those earnings just like the rest of us. 

So what do I think about the 99% and the Occupy Wall Street people? I don't yet. I don't know enough about it yet. Need to do the research. Which is what everyone should do before making an INFORMED decision.

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