Monday, November 21, 2011

Occupy All

To the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators and others across the U.S. who would protest the economic disparity everyone faces, this blogger would give a hearty salute and words of encouragement to the occupiers to continue demonstrating and expose the reality of the disproportionate wealth gap we, as a nation, see as a result of Bush era tax policies and deregulation still in place.
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As many of the occupy demonstrators continue to point out, it is about wealth displacement, not "redistributing the wealth" as Republicans want you to believe. Most news outlets, except Fox News (a.k.a. Fixed Noise), continue to show how the wealthy in America have fared with a 400% increase in their wealth while the middle-class and poor wage earners pay has barely risen by 15% in the course of 30 years. In noting the growing gap between the rich and poor, more middle-class workers are slowly becoming poor. Obviously, the Bush tax cuts only benefits the very wealthy.
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As Republicans continue to defend deregulation and tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, also referred to as "job creators", many Americans, concerned rich and poor alike, continue to point out from actual experience that only 1% of Americans truly benefitted from such tax cuts just as more millionaires contend the need to pay more in taxes to equally balance out the tax burden evenly as true patriotic and supportive Americans.
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What a uniquely positive worded euphemism:"job creators". A term that Republicans use to defend those people and organizations that were allowed to leave the shores of the United States and "create jobs" on foreign soil under the deregulation policies of the Bush administration. According to the Congressional Budgeting Office (CBO) and the Department of Labor, from 2000 to 2010, over 50,000 companies moved jobs and operations overseas. Only now are the Republicans concerned about jobs. How ironic! Based on their actions and how they voted (Republicans), they are not job creators, only job destroyers out to completely dismantle the middle-class and usher in a rich and poor only society.
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It seems that the Republicans under Grover Norquist and the Tea Party are nothing more than hypocrites and liars, and proud of it. Based on their own philosophy, if Reagan was alive, he would be labeled a turn coat liberal for raising taxes 7 times and raising the debt ceiling numerous times despite the circumstances during his administration.
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For Tea Party supporters and members, it is a hard pill to swallow in knowing that the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party movement have a lot in common, which includes both being true grassroots movements.
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The Tea Party began as a grassroots movement to stop wasteful spending, smaller government, and excess pork in state projects (like the bridge to nowhere) until it was taken over by ultra ultra right wing-nuts who added more Republican ideology to it. In 2010, ultra conservatives on Capitol Hill cheered them on in support. Among them were Eric Cantor, Michelle Bachmann, and other members that were originally responsible for the very thing the Tea Party was against.
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The Occupy Wall Street movement, also a grassroots movement, are simply protesting the wealth gap between the middle-class and poor, and the rich, as well as protesting Wall Street bankers and CEO's who are responsible for the financial crisis we are now in. This protest also includes how such criminals in high seats of power have been rewarded for their crimes instead of being punished and how bought and paid for politicians continue to make new laws to protect them. They are not asking for a hand out or wanting to "spread the wealth" as Republican politicians and presidential hopefuls claim, yet they do not venture out to assert their claims.
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The Occupy movement itself has manifested throughout the country and abroad. It is now bigger and alot more meaningful than the Tea Party ever was. The Occupy movement now consists of true Americans from all walks of life from concerned rich, poor, and middle-class, employed, under and unemployed, public and private sector workers, veterans, and anyone else who feels that the current tax code is unfairly balanced to favor the rich and corporations. There are no leaders within the movement, nor are they supported or sponsored by any politician, PACs (Political Action Committees), or billionaire brothers. Simply put: they are all of us regardless of our political beliefs.
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As a veteran, this blogger is thankful and grateful for the support and encouragement given by the American people during my deployment to Iraq. Now I am supportive and grateful to the Occupiers who are now defending America from corporate greed and corruption.
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Support the Occupy movement! Support the Occupy Dallas and Fort Worth!

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