Yesterday saw the first General Strike in the U.K. for more than a generation. Yesterday was also the 12th anniversary of the W.T. O. protests in Seattle that shared many of the same themes of the Occupy Wall Street Movement and established a president of people in the streets changing the actions of the elites and the larger perception of issues.
I've been camped with Occupy Olympia this week. We've been protesting the draconian cuts the Special Session of the State Legislature is contemplating and many observers think will be the inevitable outcome of this special session. Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire has proposed a temporary one half percent rise in the state's sales tax to preserve some of the needed services from the cuts. She wants the legislature to put the temporary sales tax increase up up for a state wide vote. Some observers say even this is unlikely to get past our state's onerous super-majority requirements passed by the anti tax simpletons.
Occupy Olympia's General Assembly with the Capital dome behind them.
We start our march to the Capital.
We joined with a labor rally in a downtown park before marching onto the Capital.
We rallied on the steps of the State Capital, which is modeled after the US capital building.
We the People
Dori Rainey approaches the microphone to speak briefly to the crowd of protesters assembled on the steps of the Capital. She still can't speak for very long due to the lingering affects of the pepper spray.
Inside the Capital.
Some occupiers outside of the Governor's Office inside the Capital who wanted the Governor to come out for a dialogue.
Occupiers who intended to spend the night but were later ejected by force by the State Patrol who arrested four and issued 30 warnings for trespassing. The State Patrol used tazers on several people one of whom told me he was a bystander when he was tazed.
Tuesday.
Occupiers in the gallery with a empty State Senate Chamber blow them
Occupiers came equipped with the latest in computer technology.
Marchers opposed to more cuts come up from downtown Olympia.
Meeting of the Senate Ways and Means Committee as they hear form the Governor's representative outlying the magnitude of the cuts being contemplated. At one point an item draws a boo from the crowd and the Governor's representative said something like he was surprised that the items he previously outlined didn't draw boos as well.
The committee meeting was Mic Checked and a progressive stack was established but after a few minutes the GA's moderators were removed by by the State Patrol.
He was ejected from the hearing, but not arrested. 11 others were arrested on Tuesday
On Wednesday SEIU held a rally against cuts to public safety workers.
Our State elects some progressive politicians but we have probably the most regressive tax system in the country, This temporary increase in the state sales tax would just compound the problem. The Washington State Constitution requires the State Legislature to fund basic education, and more cuts would make the legislature derelict in their explicit duty under the state's constitution, yet that's where they seem to be headed.
Bull Semen, Private Jets, and Other Good Ways to Tax Washington's 1 Percent
By Sarah Huisenga
Both Marilyn Watkins, policy director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, and Eric de Place, a senior researcher at the Sightline Institute, recommend closing as many of the 567 tax loopholes currently afforded by the state to various corporations and industries.
Watkins is particularly opposed to tax breaks for the farm industry. While farmers are hardly the stereotypical Wall Street fat cats, Watkins says the largest beneficiary is industrial agribusiness, not mom-and-pop homesteads.
"We almost completely exempt farms from taxation in our state," Watkins says. "That made sense back in '30s when it was family farmers slammed by the depression and in financial crisis, but there's not a good reason in this day and age to exempt big agribusiness from taxation."
Occupy Olympia is planning another rally against the cuts on Saturday. If you can, come and join us at the State Capital building at noon on Saturday and help send a message to the legislature that more cuts are unacceptable.