Gibson writes: "With Cantor at the helm, Republicans in the House refused to end $20 billion in wasteful subsidies to tax-dodging oil companies, stalled on closing corporate tax loopholes that bleed out $100 billion annually, and even refused to close a tax loophole for corporate jet owners. Republicans got everything they wanted thanks to Cantor - cuts to public services, no new revenues and a 'supercommittee' tasked with making even more harmful cuts. So on November 10 in Houston, a handful of brave Rice University grad students interrupted the House majority leader with a 'mic check' protest live on C-SPAN, despite an overwhelming security presence (and my own arrest)."
Michele Bachmann appears stunned as Occupy Charleston protesters using the human microphone technique interrupt her speech aboard the USS Yorktown in South Carolina, 11/11/11. (photo: Getty Images)
The 99% "Mic Checks" the 1%
21 November 11
Reader Supported News | Perspective
�
�
s the lead Republican negotiator during the manufactured debt crisis, Eric Cantor had the podium all summer long. He walked out of the early debt talks, insisting on a cuts-only solution. The House Majority Leader readily dismissed sensible proposals like ending billions in wasteful tax giveaways for corporations and the super-rich. Cantor's callousness is legendary - he even withheld FEMA assistance to his own and other hurricane-ravaged districts until disaster-relief spending was offset by cuts.
With Cantor at the helm, Republicans in the House refused to end $20 billion in wasteful subsidies to tax-dodging oil companies, stalled on closing corporate tax loopholes that bleed out $100 billion annually, and even refused to close a tax loophole for corporate jet owners. Republicans got everything they wanted thanks to Cantor - cuts to public services, no new revenues and a "supercommittee" tasked with making even more harmful cuts.
So on November 10 in Houston, a handful of brave Rice University grad students interrupted the House majority leader with a "mic check" protest live on C-SPAN, despite an overwhelming security presence (and my own arrest). All Cantor could do was smile sheepishly and be quiet while law-abiding, taxpaying Americans directly confronted him and spoke loudly, in unison, against his cruel policies. With Occupations in hundreds of cities across all 50 states, and past mic checks of the likes of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Michele Bachmann, Karl Rove and Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, the goons of the corporatocracy will now always have to be wary of a mic check wherever they go.
The mic check can disrupt the most powerful people in the world and demand the attention of every person and every camera. It evades all metal detectors, x-rays and pat-downs. All it requires is a handful of people with loud voices and determination. The mic check has recently become the Occupy movement's preferred method of speaking directly to the corporate executives and government officials who actively work against the interests of the 99 percent. And when it starts, those within earshot have no choice but to be quiet and listen, even over attempted shout-downs and police intervention.
Critics of mic check protests accuse Occupiers of denying these politicians and CEOs their right to free speech by interrupting their speeches. This is equivalent to telling a kid he was wrong for shouting a pithy insult at the bully who just bloodied his nose and stole his bike. Of course, such accusations are nonsense - these are powerful people who own cable-news networks, newspaper conglomerates, radio airwaves and gerrymandered Congressional districts. They can call press conferences and have swarms of reporters record every word at a moment's notice. And for all the ceaseless attacks on public-sector jobs, Medicare/Medicaid, food stamp assistance, and pensions by Cantor, Walker and their ilk, they rightly deserve some verbal pushback from their victims. Just like with the Tea Party's 2009 town hall shout-downs over universal healthcare, free speech is still free speech, even when it disrupts the 1 percent.
As the supercommittee nears its deadline of proposing massive cuts to the services the 99 percent pay for and depend upon, Washington should take note of the Occupiers at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza. They should be ready for a surge of Occupiers in the coming weeks as Occupy Wall Street activists march toward Capitol Hill on foot. And Congress should be prepared for thousands more to bring the fight right to their doorstep next month in defiance of unforgiving December weather.
If they can't hear our voices in our own cities, we'll raise them loudly right under their noses. The mic check might even find its way inside the House and Senate galleries.
Carl Gibson, 24, of Lexington, Kentucky, is a spokesman and organizer for US Uncut, a nonviolent, creative direct-action movement to stop budget cuts by getting corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. He graduated from Morehead State University in 2009 with a B.A. in Journalism before starting the first US Uncut group in Jackson, Mississippi, in February of 2011. Since then, over 20,000 US Uncut activists have carried out more than 300 actions in over 100 cities nationwide. You may contact Carl at carl@rsnorg.org.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
The same person is a state charging 3% state income tax pays his federal taxes on $98,000. A possible higher bracket. The citizen in the low tax state pays considerably more in Federal taxes.
Why should state taxes be deductible for Federal Income taxes? I think to be fair, everyone should pay the some Federal income tax rate, and every state should receive back from the Federal government the same percentage of their contributions.
Rick Perry=back asswards.
The Red states can have the current Supremes --- especially Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and we can decide on the others.
That is the only way I can see to save Democracy! This article is just one more reason why we, the people, who are not part of the Religious Right, gun-toting whatever, will lose what we believe is a Democratic Society (I think we're actually supposed to be a Republic) - but you get the idea -- can have the Freedom/Democra cy/etc we know CAN work without corporations running the government (thanks to the 2010 Supremes' decision to allow personhood give us "the best government money can buy"
HOW DO WE Accomplish this divide. We are going no place (except to hell) under the red/blue divide in the present United States government.
Vote 2012 -- if you're in a GOP/TP states - register ASAP and get mail-in ballots -- your governor has warned you that Dem districts will be screwed up (and from the past elections only blue ballots have been found in boxes, trunks, etc. NOT COUNTED)
Even he doesn't agree with that. Mr. Buffett understands that the rich should pay more because they can afford to, and has publicly called for increasing tax rates on the wealthy, including himself.
In the conservative glory days of the 1950s, the top tax rate on income was 91%. It's just over a third of that now.
People should also be taxed a progressively larger percentage from their income, the more they make. To make it as fair as possible, it should be on a sliding scale, rather than in incremental "brackets".
ALL income should be taxable, not just income that was earned from working. There shouldn't be a cap on how much of any source of income is taxable either.
Remember, this is all about hatred and national division. That's what's fueling their movement.
Put simply, they want to cripple our nation.
BTW, the repubs HAVE noticed how weird it is? they made it that way! obstructionist misers that want all the $$ because that means power. no it doesn't, all it means is you have all the money and likely got it through thievery.
is perry going to part the red sea too? talk to a burning bush? (i get to set the bush on fire!)
oh and the real problem IS forbes and his ilk. you people that read headlines and think you know what your talking about really are annoying.
texans revere stupidity. they love it and they breed it.
Wait until until 2012 you will be surprised what will happen.
Division as a Nation is not a good idea. Why allow history to repeat itself? Countless loss of lives, families devestated, etc. when North and South fought against one another.
United we stand because we are the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Do not be deceived citizens of this nation.