The public is so out of touch with today's politcians.
Or at least that seems to be the response to the Occupy Wall Street movement by Republican Congressional Leadership and by news media elites.
The response is striking. It's a mix of disdain, confusion, and even harsh criticism. What this response really demonstrates though is just how increasingly out of touch so many of our politicians and media elites have become, particularly with the reality of life in 2011 for most Americans. They simply don't understand why people are taking to the streets or why they're protesting Wall Street. In their minds, we're the ones who are out of touch and don't understand what's going on. But this response is exactly why we are seeing the Occupy Wall Street movement in the first place and more importantly, why it continues to grow and expand.
Our government is supposed to be by the people for the people. More recently though, most Americans see a government that is by the people but for the benefit of large corporations and Wall Street. While most Americans, from the most impoverished to even many of our wealthy, continue to take hits and struggle, we see a government that is seemingly oblivious to it. Occupy Wall Street is as much a campaign against Wall Street and corporate excess as it is a campaign to wake up our elected officials and make the government responsive to what the public is going through.
We continue to suffer from high unemployment and high underemployment. We continue to see many Americans struggle with huge personal debt. We still have a massive number who are still suffering from the effects of the housing crisis with underwater mortgages. Economic growth continues to be slow and people are hurting overall.
Yet at the same time, we see major corporate heads taking in higher paychecks. We see Bank of America charging people for spending their own money and laying off over 100,000 people (while its generously paid CEO complains about his right to make a profit.)
We see a push for massive spending cuts because of the size of deficits (a push that nearly shut down our government this year and nearly sent us into default for the first time in our history.....neither event was particularly beneficial for the economy). Why is there such a push for spending cuts? Because long term, large deficits will lead to increased interest rates and that will harm Wall Street activities. Even though deficits are not a problem right now and the cuts are harmful overall, hurting both our economy and individuals who depend on government assistance, the cuts are pushed for in order to satisfy those those on Wall Street.
In this quest to cut spending and help Wall Street, we see the government skimping on infrastructure spending, cancelling Small Business Administration programs like the Community Express Loan program, which was a life-blood of capital for start-up businesses, and proposing to cut Medicare and Social Security spending. While there were massive bailouts for Wall Street, there was no similar bailout for beleaguered homeowners.
Then we see the Obama Administration and DOJ attempting to settle on terms favorable to the big banks and mortgage companies (with the only one seemingly fighting for homeowners is one very strong Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris). Why? Because a bad case outcome and uncertainty could harm the markets.
The government seems largely unconcerned with everyone else. Instead, we're the ones who are out of touch. Just ask one Republican Congressman who opposes tax increases on the wealthiest because after taxes and feeding his family, he ONLY takes in $400,000 a year!
Here's the ironic thing, this movement really isn't about class warfare or a campaign against capitalism or the markets. A lot of top one percenters are being harmed by the current economic policies. It's a dirty little secret that a majority of top one percenters vote Democratic. Looking at politics around the world, the U.S. is unique in how many wealthy leftists we have. I think it often depends on the profession but the politics of the wealthiest Americans is not monolithically right wing as one might expect and as it is around the rest of the world (except maybe in Canada and maybe in Scotland). When Warren Buffett, Google's 54th employee, and other wealthy individuals have called for their taxes to be increased, they're not lone wolfs but instead are reflecting a shared frustration.
In a nation of over 300 million people, the top one percent takes in a massive number of people. This includes big Wall Street investment bankers and major corporate CEOs who are beneffiting right now and being catered to by the government. But it also includes a lot of others who are not so similarly helped by current economic policies.
The wealthiest are suffering the same plights of the poor and the middle class. They're being negatively affected by increases in the cost of living, they're watching their children remain unemployed (or underemployed) after obtaining graduate and professional degrees, they're struggling to make money in their own industries when the public can no longer afford their products and services, they're struggling to obtain loans for their business ventures, and they're dealing with the same lousy infrastructure. Even those who don't have underwater mortgages and have secure personal finances are being dragged down by the mortgage crisis.
No, times aren't as tough or dire as they are for everyone else. But the economic situation is affecting everyone. And what's frustrating is that the government is not listening. Instead, it's everyone else who's out of touch, according to various Congressional leaders. It's not about class warfare but instead a movement to make our government representative of the best interests of all Americans...rich, poor, and middle class alike. Not simply representative of the interests of Wall Street and a very small handful of corporate CEOs.
That's why Occupy Wall Street has arisen. We're not out of touch. No, we're Americans who stand up and speak out when we see things that are not right and we're Americans who will stand up when the government won't listen to us.