Pass the Invest in Our New York Act
Sometimes a popular movement does result in change. Not because someone voted for a candidate who promises new things. Obama, that consummate faker of progressive values, set progressives back a generation and even paved the way for Trump. No, I mean when enough people want something and our media starts to report their demands. When there is enough momentum for an issue, all bets are off.
Taxing the rich has been popular for decades, of course. It is not a new idea. But now it is talked about throughout our society, and not just at an Occupy meeting. The Occupy Movement articulated what most American already knew. So did Burnie's two campaigns. Taxing the rich became an idea that was not crazy or even Socialist. It just came down to basic fairness; half the country was broke and the billionaires lived in palaces counting their money. We the people finally woke up.
Now it is so satisfying to see Governor Cuomo, another charlatan who talks about equality while protecting the filthy rich, have to back down and maybe tax Wall Street titans five cents for each stock trade. There are activists like Rebecca Bailin who have made these changes possible. They have done the organizing and heavy lifting to give the majority of New Yorkers their own voice when it comes to income distribution in a free society.
These changes won't go far enough. We will have to fight this battle another day. But I hope that we remember that popular movements can make change despite the fact that so many of our elected leaders are simply on the take.
