Two organizers behind the Occupy Coeur d'Alene protest say they do not condone or accept the craziness that has gripped many of the anti-Wall Street protests nationwide.
Maren Elizabeth Grace, a 17-year-old student at North Idaho College and Joshua Grise, a 27-year-old call center worker, also said they "flat out" reject the Marxist dogma that has been heard at many of the other protests. Both said they support the seven core demands of the Occupy Wall Street movement that calls for - among other things - repealing the Patriot Act, ending the "imperialist wars" in Afghanistan and Iraq, and limiting the size, scope and power of banks.
They characterized as "crazy" a list of proposed demands that had been posted on the Occupy Wall Street website in early October. Among those demands: Open borders, a $20 per hour minimum wage and a guaranteed living wage regardless of employment status.
What do the organizers hope to accomplish?
"I want to create a sense of unity within the community," Grace said, adding that she heard about the protests in the news and saw the movement as something she could "get behind."
Why protest? Why not have a giant party at the lake?
Grace said she wants to "create a spark of something that actually matters," and hopes to see more people involved in politics to create change.
Grise, who started the Occupy Coeur d'Alene Facebook page, said Americans "need to change the way we think about things."
"The time has come for transformation of consciousness," he said.
The end-game for Grise is a recognition by people in power that "things are not good," and that the middle class is being destroyed.
Both organizers say the group has no affiliation with any political party or union.
At one point in the 78-minute-long interview, Grace sounded more like a Tea Party activist, calling for smaller government and recognizing that confiscatory taxes will not solve the nation's debt problem.
"We can take every dollar in circulation, pool it together and still be $2 trillion in debt," she said.
But at other times, she sounded like a full-throated revolutionary, describing America as a "hell hole" that needs a revolution.
Unemployment - stuck at 9.1 percent - is nearly twice that of Mexico, and long-term unemployment is worse now than it was during the Great Depression. Granted, things are not good economically, but is it fair to call the U.S. a "hell hole"?
"America is awful right now," Grace said, although she hopes the "Occupy" movement will help make things better.
Grace told the Coeur d'Alene Press the top 1 percent needs to pay "their fair share," a common refrain among "Occupy" activists.
But what, exactly, constitutes "fair"?
Initially, the business major was unsure, but eventually decided that a 20 - 30 percent top marginal rate sounded good. That would be good news to wealthy earners, who currently face a top marginal rate of 35 percent.
Michael Boskin wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
The current top federal rate of 35% is scheduled to rise to 39.6% in 2013 (plus one-to-two points from the phase-out of itemized deductions for singles making above $200,000 and couples earning above $250,000). The payroll tax is 12.4% for Social Security (capped at $106,000), and 2.9% for Medicare (no income cap). While the payroll tax is theoretically split between employers and employees, the employers' share is ultimately shifted to workers in the form of lower wages.
But there are also state income taxes that need to be kept in mind. They contribute to the burden. The top state personal rate in California, for example, is now about 10.5%. Thus the marginal tax rate paid on wages combining all these taxes is 44.1%. (This is a net figure because state income taxes paid are deducted from federal income.)
So, for a family in high-cost California taxed at the top federal rate, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts in 2013, the 0.9% increase in payroll taxes to fund ObamaCare, and the president's proposal to eventually uncap Social Security payroll taxes would lift its combined marginal tax rate to a stunning 58.4%.
The group plans to protest somewhere in Coeur d'Alene on Saturday. Initially, they had planned to gather at the Hagadone Corporation facility, but had to move due to that being private property.
Grace said they plan to protest either in Independence Point or at a U.S. Bank facility in downtown Coeur d'Alene. Grace said they want to obey the law regarding protests in the city.
According to Coeur d'Alene Deputy City Clerk Kathy Lewis, a permit is required if more than 25 people are involved, as that will impede pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The group would also need a permit to gather in the park. As of 4 pm Tuesday, no request for permits had been filed, but Grace said that would be taken care of Wednesday.
If nothing else, Grace said, the activists will protest in small groups with rotating shifts to ensure compliance with the law.
Both organizers said protesters should respect the public space and decried the actions taken by protesters in cities like New York.
Photos have emerged showing a protester defecating on a police cruiser, while another photo shows a man doing the same to a burning American flag. Protesters in a number of events nationwide have been arrested, and calls for violent, socialist revolution are not uncommon.
Drug addicts and fugitives from the law have come to New York's Zuccotti Park - an area so full of garbage and waste it has been nicknamed "Poopstock" by some conservative bloggers.
But Grace and Grise say they reject all that, and promise Saturday's protest - wherever it is - will be peaceful.
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