Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/45361
Tax Fairness Guiding Principles An initiative for tax fairness should: Be based on a progressive tax in order to bring stability to our funding issues. Address funding for education and other essential public services. Generate $8 billion to $10 billion. Have a broad coalition of support. Be well researched and crafted to have the greatest chance of success. 100 75 50 25 0 Rebecca Hensler (right), a school counselor at Denman Middle School and a member of UESF, at an Occupy Wall Street march through the financial district of San Francisco. Photo by Allan Brill of UESF. tration of corporate power and executive wealth undermine the foundations of our democracy. It's not about Democrats or Republicans; it's about doing what's right for everybody." Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich points out in a Christian Science Monitor article that it is not a partisan protest; in fact, President Obama's unwill- ingness to place conditions on the bailout of Wall Street contributed to what Reich describes as the "new populist revolt." LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS SHOW THEIR SUPPORT As the Occupy Wall Street movement spreads, local associations are joining forces with protesters and speaking out publicly. Members of United Educators of San Francisco joined forces with the Occupy movement earlier this month outside a San Francisco hotel to protest an educa- tion conference sponsored by those in the conservative education reform movement. The conference was sponsored by the so- called Foundation for Excellence in Educa- tion, a group headed by Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida. Media baron Rupert Murdoch was a keynote speaker at the event. UESF President Dennis Kelly and about 100 members picketed with Occupy move- ment citizens to protest "the selling of public education," said Kelly in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. UESF members car- ried signs reading "Teachers are the 99 per- cent" and "The 1 percent ruined our economy: Why should we trust them with our schools?" An Occupy Los Angeles protest at City Hall was well attended by members of United Teachers Los Angeles, who stood shoulder to shoulder with other union members, city employees and citizens who are dissatisfied with the status quo. "A lot of Los Angeles area teachers are very excited about this movement because many of the students and communities being starved of resources are here in L.A.," says Warren Fletcher, UTLA president. Other protests have been reported in Sacramento and in Redding, Shasta County. By Sherry Posnick-Goodwin MORE INFO To find an Occupy Wall Street protest near you and download placards and post- ers, visit CTA's webpage at www.cta.org/ occupywallstreet. For more information about the Wall Street protests across the nation, visit www.occupytogether.org. BOTTOM 20% A person with annual income of $10,000 pays 11% taxes or $1,100 TOP 1% A person with annual income of $1,000,000 pays 7.8% or $78,000 October 2011 / www.cta.org 29 percentile