Letter to the Editor: "Tayo Ang 99%" — We are the 99%

It’s official. The 2010 Census recently reported that the top 1 percent has indeed grown wealthier — doubling their net worth — while the poverty rate has increased among the bottom 99 percent.

In addition, the cost of living is out of control, while all levels of government are cutting treasured institutions like public schools, libraries, public parks, and support services for the more vulnerable among us because they lack the revenue that should be there for the bottom 99 percent.

Home foreclosures, teacher layoffs, school closures, soaring college tuitions, public safety layoffs, and cut backs in programs for the elderly (at a time when the Census also reports the graying of America) makes a joke of the "American Dream."  It is no wonder the 99 percent are so angry — not just in the U.S., but globally.

(FAJ) agrees with the growing belief that corporations, especially financial institutions, and the rich are responsible for the economic crisis and have an obligation to help us recover. It is time that the rich and corporations pay a fair tax so we can restore the quality of life that we call the American Dream.

The anti-tax mantra punishes the 99 percent and makes it possible for the 1 percent to accumulate more wealth, while the right-wing advocates for eliminating all the social and economic gains that have been won over the last century. Right now the tax burden is primarily on the shoulders of working people. We have to change that.

Californians need to reclaim the American Dream and be pro active about what we leave for future generations. We think the Filipino community is ready to do this. FAJ has been surveying Filipino registered voters in Alameda County and over 80 percent, democrats and republicans both, are ready to tax corporations and the wealthy to insure a better life for future generations.

—Lillian Galedo, Executive Director of Filipino Advocates for Justice

FAJ will hold a rally and press conference in Oakland on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 11 a.m. For more information on the rally, .