Rally for Social Services at Capitol Ends 365-Mile March From Bakersfield
housands of people from across California gathered at the Capitol to express their anger over continuing cuts to social services in the state Wednesday afternoon.
The rally came on the last day of a 48-day, 365-mile march that started in Bakersfield in early March. While there were six main marchers, many other people joined them for certain days or sections of the march. The audience hoped that the march and rally would send a message of discontent with declining funds for social programs including schools, universities and homecare providers.
"This isn't the end of a march, this is the beginning of a movement," said Doug Moore, executive director of the United Domestic Workers of American Homecare Providers. "If we join together, we can restore the American Dream."
"We won't let Wall Street or the auto companies fail, but we are letting our schools fail by forcing them to make Draconian cuts in their budgets," said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. "Fixing the problem will take hard work."
Weingarten said there are three steps that can be taken to fix that problem, the first being to increase taxes on the rich.
"It's time that in the richest state of California, the rich pay their fair share of taxes," she said, getting a loud cheer from the audience. She also suggested closing tax loopholes and allowing the budget to be passed with