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Occupy Ocean Beach: Residents lay down in protest for lower taxes

On Saturday, hundreds laid down in the sand at Ocean Beach to spell out “TAX THE 1%” to support the current wave of “We are the 99%” protests taking place across the country.

The event was organized by Bay Area taxi driver Brad Newsham. “I work hard every day,” said Newsham. “It isn’t right that I pay higher taxes than billionaires like Warren Buffet. And actually, Mr. Buffet agrees with me on this.”

Newsham hired a helicopter and photographer to fly overhead and take pictures. He also organized the “Slash Oil” protest at Ocean Beach in June of last year.

RichmondSFBlog reader Jean B. was on the scene, where she spotted Richmond District Supervisor Eric Mar and Supervisor (and mayoral candidate) John Avalos.

Sarah B.


Supervisors Eric Mar (L) and John Avalos | Photo by Steve Rhodes


Photo by Steve Rhodes

8 Comments

  1. The privileged, untouchable 1% (especially Michael Moore) are already shaking in fear, knowing their days are numbered.

  2. This is an ideal way to protest. And not to mention, that is such a beautiful photo of the SF/Marin coast.

  3. Great pics. But the headline is misleading– the protesters are for higher taxes on the rich.

  4. Great pics . What happens if they won’t part with the money? I want to know what other ways can we protest that will make more of an impact.
    Right now I think it’s not really real to the 1%.

  5. This protest is SO ILL INFORMED.
    “This year, Congress will spend $3.7 trillion dollars. That turns out to be about $10 billion per day. Can we prey upon the rich to cough up the money? According to IRS statistics, roughly 2 percent of U.S. households have an income of $250,000 and above. By the way, $250,000 per year hardly qualifies one as being rich. It’s not even yacht and Learjet money. All told, households earning $250,000 and above account for 25 percent, or $1.97 trillion, of the nearly $8 trillion of total household income. If Congress imposed a 100 percent tax, taking all earnings above $250,000 per year, it would yield the princely sum of $1.4 trillion. That would keep the government running for 141 days, but there’s a problem because there are 224 more days left in the year.” Courtesy of Professor of Economics, Walter Williams.

  6. @Boots – I’m pretty sure most people involved in these protests are not so naive as to expect we’ll tax *only* the top 1% (or top 2%). The argument that Warren Buffet and many others have been making is that in a civilized society it’s fair to tax the richest people at least as much and probably a fair bit more than those at the bottom of the income scale. And that includes not taxing dividend and capital gains income lower than earned income. Will that fix government finances on its own? Probably not. But it will reverse the disinvestment in society by the wealthiest that’s been happening in many western countries for a while.

    @Dan – Yes, that headline is clearly off the mark.

  7. Rupert,
    In a Marxist society we have income redistribution, which is what you propose with your definition of “civilized society”. Warren Buffet is wrong. He IS taxed more than his secretary on HIS income (if any). His dividend income gets different treatment because that is money already taxed once, the proceeds of which he used to purchase stocks yielding income. If you want the recession to deepen, keep promoting Marxism. Under Marxism, everyone loses. And when that happens, society gets REALLY uncivilized.

  8. Marxist???? This is sooooo far from Marxist. Marxism is such a passe and confused concept in these issues. Do not confuse Marxism with social fairness and responsible or just management, compassion, respect for human dignity, and a well functioning government and country. These issues were around long before Marx.

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