And today, here come the radicals of all radicals, nurses, setting out to occupy the Treasury in Washington, D.C. They’re demanding a tax on financial transactions, in the name of social justice. Members of National Nurses United are coming from all over for today’s occupation. From the Boston Globe:
“We’re seeing the fallout from the economy every day, watching people who need life-saving tests and treatments who aren’t having them done because they don’t have insurance or can’t pay the co-pays because they’ve lost their jobs,” said Karen Higgins, an ICU nurse at the Boston Medical Center who is co-president of National Nurses United. “A tax on the high rollers on Wall Street could help people get back on their feet instead of cutting services that are keeping people’s heads above water.”
Given that Wall Street raked in profits while created the mess that ate our economy, asking for a small tax on Wall Street’s trading comes with a certain moral force. Last night on the show, White House chronicler Ron Suskind said President Obama need to be less Hamlet and “more Titus Andronicus” when it comes to Wall Street. Would public pressure make that happen? This week, with Oakland’s general strike and now Occupy the Treasury, we’ll get closer to answer.
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