“Uncut” the budget and tax the rich
ON SATURDAY, February 26, a number of us met at the Capital building in Frankfort, Ky., as part of the U.S. Uncut day of action.
We met because of misdirection.
Not misdirection on the part of the organizers. It was perfectly clear why they were there. The misdirection was perpetrated by the people inside the building. And we were there because we were tired of it.
Our leaders tell us that we need to worry about gay marriage and abortion. But they don't want to talk to us about corporate tax dodging. In their opinion, it's not the place of government to tell companies what to do with their profits, but it is the place of government to tell women what they can do with their uteruses.
Our leaders tell us that we don't have enough money to pay for public education, public health, public media, or public welfare. We do, however, have enough money to pay for the continuation of the Patriot Act. We have money for roving cell phone surveillance and plenty of resources to take naked pictures of our wives and daughters in the x-ray booths at the airport.
Our leaders tell us that we don't want public heath care because we don't want a government bureaucrat standing between us and our doctor. Perhaps they worry that the government bureaucrat would take the place of the insurance company bureaucrat already standing there.
Can the average person go to any doctor they want to? No, they have to choose from within a network. Can they visit a specialist when they need to? No, they have to get permission first. Can they take whatever medicine their doctor wants them to have? No, they have to try the generic brands because they are cheaper for the insurance company. Is this the "freedom" of personal care that our leaders don't want us to lose?
For whose benefit do our leaders perform these acts of misdirection? Why, for their corporate paymasters, of course, for the people who give them money and power.
In exchange for these things, their job is to stand in a public pulpit and scream, "Muslims, queers, and greedy pensioners are coming to get you!" And while we watch them, their masters are busy picking our pockets.
On February 26, we stood with representatives of the teacher's union, United Auto Workers, social workers, and carpenters, electricians, and plumbers' union members, among others, in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Madison.
We said, "We will accept no more misdirection. We have built the wealth of this nation with our own hands. We want our share of it. We will accept no more excuses."
It's time our leaders heard it.
Brian Conrad, from the Internet
