Zuccotti Park

I had the opportunity to visit Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan last Thursday.  No, I didn’t see Jackson Brown play for the Occupy Wall Street protestors and on-lookers. 

But I did meet Jesse La Greca who has become a media voice for the movement. 

This marks my fourth visit to an Occupy site including ours in Columbia, the opening day of Occupy DC and Occupy Seattle. 

Why am I still a big supporter of the non-violent Occupy movement? 

Last week the U.S. Senate couldn’t get enough votes to levy a 3.25% surtax on about 350,000 people with taxable incomes of OVER $1 million so that 160 million mostly middle-class taxpayers won’t see their payroll taxes increase up to $1500 per household.   The consequences of such an economic hit to working Americans would be a disaster for our small businesses.

While the millionaire-defenders  in Congress were obstructing, the New York Times reported on the state of millions of our children.  “Millions of American schoolchildren are receiving free or low-cost meals for the first time as their parents, many once solidly middle class, have lost jobs or homes during the economic crisis, qualifying their families for the decades-old safety-net program. “

So yes, I’m supporting the Occupy movement for the voice it has given to the 99% who have suffered in this economy due to the corporate greed on Wall Street and the stranglehold big corporate money has on Congress.  The public understands that our economic focus should be on growing small businesses on Main Street not growing the profits of multinational corporations.