These days in our country, people are mad as hell. And I don't blame them: They are frustrated that millionaires and billionaires in our country are not paying their fair share. They are upset that we bailed out the banks yet have failed them. They are angry that they can no longer pay for their housing, healthcare, education, and have to live with constant fear. Today nearly 14 million Americans are unemployed yet we're unable to take action to help them because some in Congress are more concerned with cutting vital programs than creating jobs and hopes for the American people. This is morally wrong and cannot continue.
I am very glad I visited Liberty Plaza this past Saturday to lend my moral support to the Occupy Wall Street protesters and witness firsthand the growing movement by the people in America who are "getting kicked out of [their] homes," "forced to choose between groceries and rent," and are "denied quality medical care," "suffering from environmental pollution," "working long hours for little pay and no rights," and are "getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything." In sum, I met the 99 percent of Americans who are bearing the brunt of the recession caused by tax breaks and loopholes for millionaires and corporations, two unfunded wars, and the financial meltdown due to Republican deregulation.
I am very proud to see that they have started to mobilize and speak up because often in our history, people's protests have pushed America to become greater. I have lived through the Civil Rights movement, marched from Selma to Washington, and know the power of the people. Together, we can take back our country from a handful of people who are holding us hostage.
Republicans have now spent 272 days in the House Majority without passing any legislation to create jobs. Instead, they have merely threatened to shut down the government, gambled the good faith in credit of the United States, and attacked healthcare reform, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, attempted to repeal environmental and labor regulations. Now they are opposing the American Jobs Act that will put people back to work, puts more money in workers' pockets and is fully paid for. They have made it clear that they are more focused on defeating President Barack Obama than to help America get back on track.
Now is not the time for cuts that leave Americans without a home or job. The Occupy Wall Street protests are a sign the American people have had enough. They demand their government's help.
"We're angry, we feel helpless, we're confused, and we're desperate" -- this is what people are saying. What they are ultimately angry about is the empty hope for their future. The percentage of Americans living below the poverty line last year, 15.1 percent, was the highest level since 1993. The mental toll of extended unemployment looms large: About 9 percent of Americans were defined as clinically depressed in data released last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a serious problem. Many are confused; they know they're out of a job, yet they see no help in sight.
When you see the hope for the middle class just dropping, squeezing and pushing people into poverty, we have a responsibility to take action. So yesterday morning I spoke on the House floor to encourage my colleagues in Congress and the spiritual community to join the Occupy Wall Street protesters to lend our moral support, amplify their message, and help them.
I am glad to see that the union groups, my good friends including Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John B. Larson, and fellow Members in the Congressional Progressive Caucus have formally applauded the Occupy movement, which I hope would deafen the Tea Party and instead help America progress forward, not backward.
At this critical time in our nation when there are so many people suffering, we need more people to speak out. We need the spiritual leaders from the mosques, churches, and temples to join them. We have a moral obligation to help the poor, the aged, the sick, and those who are hurting and completely helpless.
The American people have made their voices heard. They want jobs. They need assistance. They yearn to reclaim the American Dream. I urge my Republican Colleagues to join us to work together in working to improve the economy, put America back to work, and pump hope back into the hearts of the people who are clamoring for our help.
Follow Rep. Charles Rangel on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cbrangel
Christopher Emdin: 5 Reasons Why Public School Teachers are Occupying Wall Street
For far, far too long the rent seeking thievery of an already bloated government has clawed at the lives and incomes of too many Americans under the cloying and duplicitous rubric of “caringâ€, when all that it ever cared about was securing ever more power, greed, and corruption in government with ever more of OTHER PEOPLE’s Money.
The Tea Part Revolution is America’s last, best hope for restoration of the freedom upon which this nation was founded.
Join your fellow Americans in dismantling the social democratic state and restoring freedom for us all.
Should the TP implement all of their proposals to shrink government, it will fail miserably. It will essentially create an Oligarchy. Ushering in an era that is more reminiscent of Russia today or 1934 Germany than anything in America's history, WORSE than the Gilded Age given the absolute lack of social conscience displayed by the TP and Republicans.
Please consider the following ...
1. the TP is proposing POLITCAL solutions to MACROECONOMIC problems. The issue is we have macroeconomic problems because the corporate purchased government of the last 30+ years has created it. They have continually destroyed the economic power and political voice of the middle class. The Macroeconomic problem must be solved first, the political problem second. Disagree? Prove me wrong.
2. Without adding some miraculous new component to the GDP and/or GNP the TP proposals simply do not work mathematically. Disagree? Prove me wrong.
3. While the TP aim of reducing government spending and returning to the basics of the constitution are laudable, NOW is not the time. The Wall Street Protests are focused on EXACTLY the source of the problem, the politicians are nothing but purchased mouthpieces for the " 1%". Shrinking Government will allow these same people to finalize the corporate economic Coup that has been underway since Reagan. Disagree? Show me another scenario.
Thank you.
:-)
And rightly so, religion has no place in politics, EVER!
What we have is a whiny elitist entitlement oriented bunch of children in the bodies of grown ups - addicted to govt. everything and many addicted to family and school debt. Who put a gun to their heads to take out these college loans that many smoked away.
You're going to get Change and soon. But it's not coming from those smelly hooligans and misfits behind OWS.
How many senators are in the top 1%? I'm pretty sure all of them are millionaires...
The others just need more time.