By Nathan Jackson
You can’t keep a good annoying, incorrigible, out of work icon down; at least not for long.
Over 100 community members came to University Village to tell the Starbucks and Microsoft CEOs that they need to drop their support of the corporate front group “Fix the Debt.” This group 
of wealthy CEOs wants to lower tax rates on the wealthy, create more corporate loopholes, and slash budgets for vital social services like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
We came to tell them we wouldn’t stand for it. Leading the way was a disgruntled former Microsoft employee—an oversized Clippy the annoying pop up paperclip.
Clippy popped up outside the Microsoft Store and told it like it is: "It looks like the CEO of Microsoft wants try and push for more budget cuts to get a big tax break."
It was part of protest by community members who rallied outside — and inside — some local outlets of companies whose CEOs have been backing the "Fix the Debt" corporate front group.
These trickle-down advocates may call themselves "Fix the Debt," but what really needs fixing is their greed. After all, if these CEOs were really concerned about “fixing the debt,” they could start by paying their fair share. Instead, they've been pushing for a plan that doles out more corporate tax breaks like the one that would save Microsoft $19 BILLION dollars.
That's enough to pop Clippy out of retirement.
It was also enough to motivate dozens of activists to pop up inside the Starbucks and Microsoft stores and speak the truth, chanting “Hey you millionaires! Pay your Fair Share!” and “Fix the Greed! Fix the Greed!”
It was a way to get our message to the corporate honchos, and they heard it loud and clear. One manager quickly dialed up corporate desperate for advice saying, “There are people yelling in the store! They're not leaving. They say they’re mad about the budget cuts!”
You’re damn right we’re mad.
It is not right for 1% CEOs to expect working folks to have to make do with less so the CEOs can get more tax breaks. Everybody knows that we need good jobs, not more cuts. We’ve been there done that and austerity just doesn’t work.
Even Clippy has caught on to that message.
And so did people like Bill Neas, a community supporter who spoke at the rally. Sporting a full shock of white hair, he grabbed the microphone, pushed up his thick glasses and spoke to the crowd.
“I don’t get it. I’ve worked my whole life, did the right thing and paid my taxes and now these local corporations think they can just skip away from their taxes?” he said. “Just who do they think they are?”
That's a good question, and we're still waiting for an answer.
And the CEOs should keep this in mind: Clippy is hard to get rid of and so are we.
