Demonstrators supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement march during a rally at the state Capitol in Albany on Thursday. / Hans Pennink/The Associated Press

Occupy Albany protesters rally in Capitol

ALBANY — About 100 “Occupy Albany” protesters rallied at the state Capitol on Thursday, calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to retain higher income taxes on the wealthy.
They chanted, “We are the 99 percent. He is the Governor 1 Percent”.
the hallway from the governor’s office to make speeches and declare their displeasure for the Democratic governor, who has vowed to let the tax expire at year’s end.
Implemented in 2009, higher income tax brackets on those earning more than $200,000 raises about $4 billion a year in revenue for the state.

“The right-wingers in this country are selling us a bill of goods, and I include Governor Cuomo in that description,” said Susan Weber, an organizer for Moveon.org, a political advocacy group.
Dan Vollweiler, 30, of New Paltz said he’s a substitute teacher in Poughkeepsie and in neighboring districts, and cuts in state aid to schools have hindered education. The governor and lawmakers this year cut about $1.3 billion in aid to schools.
“Governor Cuomo says these cuts aren’t going to hurt schools, but they clearly do. These kids, we should be giving them every opportunity we can,” Vollweiler said.
Despite protests and polls that show broad support for higher taxes on the wealthy, Cuomo has said that keeping the tax would hurt the state’s economy. He was not at the Capitol on Thursday and was in New York City.
“Increasing taxes on individuals and businesses is not good for the economic health of the state,” Cuomo said Wednesday on public radio.

Cuomo has said that he supports higher taxes on the wealthy on the federal level, which is being proposed by President Obama. On the state level, higher income taxes could hurt New York’s competitiveness with neighboring states, he said.
Republicans who control the state Senate have also pledged to let the tax expire. The Democratic-led Assembly has wanted to retain the tax for millionaires.
A Quinnipiac University poll Thursday found that New York voters agreed 58 percent to 28 percent with the views of the Occupy Wall Street protests. Voters also supported by a margin of 66 percent to 26 percent extending the higher income taxes on the wealthy.
Voters making more than $100,000 a year also backed the tax, 66 percent to 28 percent, Quinnipiac said.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said Thursday keeping the tax on millionaires would help preserve state services and help close a roughly $2 billion deficit in the 2012-13 fiscal year, which starts April 1.
“Let’s be clear: We are talking about a tax cut for people who are making more than $1 million. And what we are saying is now is not the time to do that,” Silver told reporters.
Some protesters have camped outside the Capitol for the past week in a nearby park to support the Occupy Wall Street movement. Cuomo has vowed to impose an 11 p.m. curfew on the state-owned piece of the park, so the protesters have stayed in the city-owned portion, where city officials have agreed to not enforce a curfew.
People at Thursday’s rally included members of unions, college students and local workers of various ages.

Real estate agent Elise Van Allen, 46, of Albany, said letting the tax expire will only help the rich. She said banks have benefited from taxpayer-funded bailouts while homeowners and fellow real estate agents are struggling. “I see that effect day in, day out — on sellers and buyers and my colleagues,” she said.
The protesters were barred from entering the Hall of Governors that stretches in front of Cuomo’s office. There were no arrests. Protesters left the Capitol peacefully, chanting, “We’ll be back.”
Jackie Hayes, 29, a Binghamton native and a doctoral student at the state University of New York at Albany, said public colleges have had to cut classes and programs because of the state’s fiscal troubles.
Cuomo’s “defense of cutting taxes for millionaires is not a sound economic plan,” she said in a speech in front of the protesters. “It’s a political platform that only protects your own ambition.”
JSPECTOR http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111028/NEWS01/110280335/Occupy-Albany-protesters-rally-Capitol