Last week, Rep. Eric Cantor scheduled a visit to the Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania where he planned to speak on income inequality and “how we make sure the people at the top stay there.” He cancelled the speech after he found out that it was open to the public and the 99% would be invited. Protesters descended on Penn’s campus anyway, including members of our partner group Keystone Progress and the Occupy Philadelphia movement.
Now we have an opportunity to stand together as Michiganders, as Rep. Cantor will be speaking in Ann Arbor on Monday. Join the 99% of us who can’t buy access to Congress in protesting Rep. Cantor’s appearance.
Last week, the Congressional Budget Office released a new report detailing changes in the distribution of wealth in the United States since 1979. The far-right extremists who run the Republican Party claim to hate redistribution, but that is exactly what has been happening for 30 years in this country – massive redistribution of wealth from the lower and middle classes to the very richest Americans. The top 1 percent saw their earnings increase by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, even as the bottom 20 percent had their earnings grow by 18 percent.
Rep. Cantor wants to “make sure the people at the top stay there” because the system is rigged, in his favor. The wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations wield a tremendous amount of influence over our political system because of the influence their money has over elections, keeping people like Cantor in positions of power. But the 99% can fight back, by showing up to protest at the few times the Representatives of the 1% appear in public.
I hope you can join us on Monday at noon outside the Michigan League in Ann Arbor.