The 99% greet the “President of the 1%."

by Nate Jackson

Outside of the Meydenbauer Center in downtown Bellevue, more than a dozen of us laid down on the cement as a red carpet was rolled over us. We formed a human red carpet, inviting the 1% gathered for Mitt Romney's big fundraiser to literally walk all over us. After all they’ve been gaming the system buying tax cuts for the rich, shipping jobs overseas and cutting budgets of public services, for so long that we thought it would be nice if they had to do it face to face for once.

Just then a black, stretch limousine pulled up to the curb and three men in business suits stepped out and were taken aback that the 99% had shown up to the exclusive event. They rushed inside.

We had gathered outside of Bellevue City Hall on a blustery winter afternoon to protest the 1% flashing their cash for another 1%er. The “President of the 1%” Mitt Romney wants to lower taxes for the rich, cut down corporate tax rates and put more money back into the pockets of the folks who are doing just fine. The rich and the big corporations don’t need any more tax cuts. They need to pay their fair share.

Hundreds strong accompanied by a trombone, flute and buzzing vuvuzelas, we marched through downtown Bellevue carrying a blown up version of the Constitution covered in corporate logos. We pointed out some of the big corporations that over the past three years had paid nearly nothing in federal income taxes.

We then marched the circle at the exclusive “Shops at The Bravern,” which feature such 1% stores as Neiman Marcus and Louis Vuitton, to let them know that if you can afford to shop here then at the very least you can pay your fair share.

The suits walking into the Meydenbauer Center were there to attend a $2500 fundraiser for Mitt “1%” Romney. They wanted to wave their money around and try to buy themselves a president, but they had to work their way through a throng of the 99%.  Inside the venue Romney was asking for money for the privilege of getting a photo with him. We offered a picture with our own version of Mitt Romney, a cardboard cutout holding a “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%” sign, for free—they declined.

We came out to the 1% fundraiser because we will no longer put up with the short-sighted economic plans of the 1% and big corporations. The economy shouldn’t be aimed solely at enriching the super rich and heaping more and more profits on big corporations at the expense of the 99%. The economy needs to work for the rest of us. We need good jobs that treat us fairly and a government that isn’t bought and sold by the 1%, but works for us.