The wave of anger at banks that has swept the country with the recent "Occupy" movement is coming to California college campuses next week.
A union-backed group calling itself "Refund California" is organizing protests on Wednesday at more than a dozen college campuses, including Sacramento State and UC Davis.
The group argues that banks created the country's economic collapse that decimated state budgets and led to massive tuition hikes in recent years. It is calling on leaders of the public universities to pledge support for higher taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals as a way to restore funding for jobs and education.
The group sent letters today to University of California regents and trustees of the California State University, asking them to sign the following pledge:
To the people of California,
As an education leader, I pledge to do everything in my power to make Wall Street corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share for essential services and affordable, equitable public education from pre-K through post doctoral. I pledge to support:
- Increasing income taxes on California's wealthiest.
- Closing Proposition 13's corporate property tax loophole.
- Implementing a federal sales tax on Wall Street financial transactions.
- Reducing underwater mortgage debt to Wall Street to improve the economy.
- Reversing tuition increases, layoffs, and cuts to public education and essential services - ensuring good jobs that provide healthcare and a dignified retirement.
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