'An Economy for the 99%': People's G8 Demands 'Robin Hood Tax'

National Nurses United protest in Chicago in shadow of G8 summit demands: "our voices will be heard."

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Thousands of protesters are in Chicago today for a "People's G8" in a call led by National Nurses United (NNU) to demand an economy for the 99% and heal the "financial traumas faced by real people at the hands of Wall Street."

The NNU had originally planned the protest to coincide with the G8 in Chicago, and kept the plan to rally in Chicago even after the G8 was moved from the city to Camp David.

The NNU derided "the AWOL G8 world leaders, who decided to run off and hide in the woods of rural Maryland [at Camp David] rather than face a disgruntled public in Chicago as originally announced, to determine what they are doing to help average families, not just the banks and Wall Street high rollers, in the midst of a continuing economic gloom."

Hoping to "heal global economies," the NNU is calling for a "Robin Hood Tax." The group states that this is "a small levy of 50 cents or less on $100 of trades of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial instruments that could raise up to $350 billion every year in revenue."

As NNU Co-president Karen Higgins stated, "A better world is possible and now we know how to pay for it."

NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro told Bill Moyers this week: "We're working on the global scene, and the opportunities to actually have one world and one people in a way for the first time that I've seen in my life. The financial transaction tax is seen by all of our allies internationally as a way of addressing the economy of the world. And that's why it's not the financial transaction tax in and of itself, it's the reconceptualization of what we should be as a society of people."

After the noon NNU rally in Daley Plaza, which included a speech and music from activist and singer Tom Morello, groups of anti-NATO protesters headed to the streets in marches, followed closely by a massive police force with riot gear on bikes and horses. As of this writing, several Twitter users have noted possible sightings of the LRAD, also known as a sound cannon, ready to aim at protesters.

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WeAreChange: Live Stream of unfolding events in Chicago

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