What do OWS protesters want?

TO SOME IT MAY APPEAR THAT the Occupy Wall Street movement has no message, a lack of direction, and a haphazard way of presenting itself. I can agree that this characterization bears some resemblance to the truth, but the big picture is that there is “real trouble in River City” for most Americans and the intentions of the discontented, who are taking to the streets and public parks across this nation and the globe, are noble and just. They could get their message across better by employing a corporate public relations consultant and a professional group organizer; having in hand a cache of big bucks would also be a welcome boon to their cause. Yet not having these things in many ways proves their legitimacy. These are the people. There is indeed a class struggle in this country, even if the right wing elite refuses to publicly admit it — or seeks to delegitimize it before it gains traction with the “silent majority” of Americans. They may be too late. The following data shows why a major change in our present political system is swiftly needed. • Until 1974, real incomes of working class people kept pace. Between 1974 and 1995, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, real incomes (adjusted for inflation) dropped to $550 per week. At the end of 2007, weekly incomes increased by approximately 10 percent to $612. Meanwhile, from 1979 to 2006, the incomes of the top 5 percent — those making more than $191,000 per year — rose 87 percent, while the incomes of the bottom 40 percent — those making $47,000 or less — rose only 16 percent. As women entered the workforce, family incomes increased a moderate amount but never kept pace with the incomes of the wealthy. • Political influence in Washington has swayed significantly to the benefit of the elite. The number of lobbyists paid by corporate America has increased to more than 35,000. In 2010, political contributions by big business amounted to approximately $1.3 billion, while the contributions from labor unions — the only major political outlet for working people to press their needs, improve workplace safety, and steward the environment —amounted to only $92 million, or 7 percent. • The income tax structure favors the rich far more now than it has in decades. Our present tax structure would make taxes paid by the elite during the Reagan years look like the pejorative “socialism.” According to the IRS, from 1992 to 2007 the top 400 elite households saw their effective tax rates drop from 27 percent to 17 percent. The effective tax rates of those earning more than $1 million dropped from 26 percent to 22 percent. Consider this: The top 400 taxpayers in the 1950s faced a 90 percent federal tax rate. Now it’s barely 16 percent. • The big banks have gotten too big to fail, too politically influential, too diverse in services, and are becoming less competitive to the sacrifice of the consumer. During the bank failures of the Great Depression, the Roosevelt administration and Congress enacted the Glass-Steagall Act to regulate banks and limit their ability to expand horizontally and vertically. Until the 1980s we had a relatively stable financial industry that stayed within limited geographic confines, with banks only lending, S&L’s lending on real estate, insurance companies only insuring, and the securities industry only selling stocks and bonds. Under Reagan and Clinton, Glass-Steagall was first defanged and then repealed — causing the S&L crisis of the late ’80s and the present mega financial industry crisis and meltdown of the real estate and other markets, and requiring hundreds of billions in bailouts. • Unemployment has reached dangerous levels. Is there a faint light of hope on the horizon, with joblessness levels slowly dropping and real private job creation improving? Perhaps. With reasonable regulations that protect the environment and the consumer foremost, capitalism can be an effective financial model for innovation and economic growth. But it is vital that basic needs such as health care, energy, minimal housing, food, and infrastructure be in the public domain. Call it socialism or whatever, but outcomes are what is most important. When taxpayer funds and facilities are used for the benefit of the masses, whatever it’s labeled, it’s a good thing. We bailed out the big Wall Street banks and protected the billionaires from ruin. Now we are being asked to make good on the debts they caused, while the super-rich get even richer — some making more than $2 million an hour! It would take more than 47 years for the average family to make as much as the top 10 hedge fund managers make in one hour. And that’s what OWS is fighting to change.