In an attempt to stave off GOP criticism of his "Buffett Rule", an "Alternative Minimum Tax" that would ensure that the wealthy would pay the same proportion in taxes as their secretaries, President Obama declared "it's not Class Warfare; it's math".
The problem is exactly that. While we, the un-wealthy 98% of Americans, have suffered casualties and found our lives destroyed time and again by the real and actual Class War that the pro-Corporate, top-2% wealthiest have been waging on us for over 30 years now, to Obama, it's "math".
I get what President Obama is trying to say, that to call his proposal "Class Warfare" is ludicrous, and it IS ludicrous. It’s the same reason that a flat tax makes no sense whatsoever - taking 20% of a millionaire’s annual income, for instance, will barely make any difference to his or her life, whereas taking 20% from someone making $25,000 a year will hurt them far more. So, to say the rich should pay the same rate as their hired help is simply buying into the idea that the rich shouldn't be shouldering far MORE than the working class. They can, and they are socially obligated to, by the fortune that society has bestowed upon them.
So no, President Obama has not declared Class Warfare - if only he’d truly join our side of the one that's been raging. To find people who are fighting for our side in this war the super-rich and mega-corporations continue to press upon the rest of us, you need to look to Wall Street.
But do not look to the Stock Market. No, look to the Street itself - to the thousands of true fighters, who are occupying Wall Street to tell the rapacious banks and options traders that the disaster they are continuing to perpetrate on all of us is unacceptable, and that we won't sit back and take their aggression without standing up to them.
I am saddened that I am the first Presidential candidate in either major party to come out in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement, but the reason is utterly clear: no other Presidential candidate in the Democratic or Republican parties is free of Wall Street's influences. Even Barack Obama owes far too much allegiance to the interests of the banksters.
So, to all the brave and kindred spirits who are even now holding fast on Wall Street, while the Corporate-owned media ignores them entirely, I say to you this: keep fighting. This Class War may not exist in the mind of President Obama, but we know what the reality of the situation is. I'll fight to ensure that everyone does.
America Changes Today
Aldous C. Tyler
http://americachangestoday.com/