The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

The rich are getting richer. The top 400 earners in this country own about half of America's wealth. The top 20 percent own 84 percent of America's wealth. Meanwhile, the poor are getting poorer. Millions of Americans are out of work with dwindling prospects of being employed again anytime soon. Seventy-five percent of Americans earn less than $42,000, with 40 percent earning less than $20,000. Of industrialized countries, only Singapore and Hong Kong have a more pronounced income gap between the rich and the poor.

Corporate profits are up. CEO's bonuses are up. Middle class wages have stagnated or dropped for years. After being bailed out by the government, big banks are lending less and charging consumers more. No Wall Street crooks have gone to jail. Wall Street protesters, however, are being gratuitously pepper sprayed.

"Class warfare" is a red herring. The wealthy need to pay their fair share. As Elizabeth Warren pointed out, "job creators" don't work in a vacuum. They deliver their goods on highways built and maintained by taxes paid by all. They hire workers educated at public expense. Give them a tax break for building a factory or hiring workers, not for shuffling paper through hedge funds, derivatives and the like.

Tea Party minion Republicans want to gut social security, Medicare and Medicaid at a time when they are most needed. Their slavish, inflexible adherence to Grover Norquist's pledge to never increase taxes imperils responsible governance.

If you, too, are concerned about bringing the message of fairness, reason and flexibility to the nation, find or start a local "Occupy Wall St." and support the 99 percent cause.

Carlan Bradshaw Walla Walla