Public Comment

On Monday, September 14, 5-6pm near the top of Solano the East Bay Tax The Rich Group will be celebrating its fourth year birthday. Four years ago, to protest the extraordinary and unjustified inequality that most Americans experience, we decided to have a one day rally. We were repelled by the unjust practices of big corporations and the federal government, particularly toward racial minorities and low income Americans generally. 

In response to the favorable public reaction we received that day, we agreed to continue our rallies once every week. One of our favorite political posters captures our indignation - "THE RICH HAVE LOOPHOLES. WE GET POTHOLES." 

Still, for good reason we are proud of our achievements. Among our accomplishments is the important role we played persuading the public to vote for Prop. 30, which is a tax law that raises millions of dollars for the -K-12 public schools. 

Collaborating with other organizations, our most recent victory has been persuading the Berkeley City Council to adopt a minimum wage law. But the law is not good enough. So we are now mobilizing the public along with other groups to persuade the Berkeley City Council to pass a much better ordinance. Between campaigns we do what we can to keep the public informed and to involve others in political activity. 

Our Tax the Rich group is an unusual group --it is a musical political movement. We have been successful in attracting talented and well known musicians to perform people's music every week. Among the musicians are Hali Hammer, Bonnie Lockhart, and Nancy Schimmel.  

Not least, we have built a solid social community. We enjoy each other's company and many friendships have been built over the years. In fact, we have proven that political engagement is not only serious and demanding. It can be a hellava lot of fun as well.