Wall Street, where the big bankers, shareholders, and CEO’s play with America’s money, is again in the news for no good reason . For years now, Americans, largely the middle class and almost non-existent working class, have been fighting hard for workers’ rights and economic equality. Since economic inequality, greed, and the influence of Political lobbyists in Washington have stemmed from Wall Street, regular Americans are taking action in forms of protest. Their goal: to expose the wrongdoings of the corporations and bring justice to them.

The large banks of America, most notably Bank of America, received millions of dollars during the bank bailouts in 2008, and gave none of it back to the citizens who held trust in the banks. In the ongoing late-2000s recession, corporations have laid off countless numbers of workers while the CEO’s continue to gain unreasonably high profits. Horrible regulation of the Banks and corporations was the direct cause to the recession and the middle class getting cheated out of their money.

Fed up with the power and influence of the corporations, thousands of hard-working New Yorkers headed down to Wall Street on September 17 to protest. Since its inception, the protest has become a sanctuary for angry citizens looking to expose the inequality and greed of the big businesses.  The movement has influenced a number of “Occupy” protests around America. These too brought thousands of middle and working class Americans to the streets to protest for the same reasons the Wall Street protest started.

The protests have become a beautiful stand instigated by the “99 percent” of Americans. The 99 percent represents the millions of Americans that feel the corporations and big businesses have too much influence in Washington and are not paying their fair share of taxes. Because of Wall Street’s anti-union stance, thousands of labor union leaders and workers have joined the protests. To further heighten the morale of the protesters, several key political figures have expressed support for the movement. To name a few, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have all expressed strong support for the protest. What they all realize is that the middle class has been bullied for too long by corporations and banks and that the wealth of America should not rest in the hands of the top 1 percent.

However, the protest has not gone without its share of criticism, most notably from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney claims that Occupy Wall Street is “Class Warfare”, which typically means a conflict between classes. Herman Cain, another Republican presidential candidate, and House Majority leader Eric Cantor blame the “failed policies” of Obama as a cause of the protest. Cain told the Wall Street Journal, speaking towards the protesters, to “blame themselves for not being rich or having a job”. What Cain, Romney, Cantor, and others opposed to the protest fail to realize is that the movement is for a good cause, to take away the power of the banks, the top 1 percent, and the corporations. However, because much of the current Republican Party is extremely out of touch with mainstream America and the middle class, it is hard for them (the Republican Party) to realize that what is good for the corporations, the top 1 percent, and banks is not always good for regular Americans. Example: Herman Cain’s “9-9-9” tax plan would increase taxes on the middle and lower class, and cut the wealthiest earners’ taxes. The middle and lower class would pay 18 percent instead of 9 percent, and the wealthiest earners would see their taxes fall from 24 to 11 percent. Mitt Romney supported the Bank Bailouts of 2008, which gave capital gains to banks that were on the verge of failing.

The Occupy Wall Street protest, as well as the numerous ones around the country, is a key step in rebuilding the middle and working class of America. A country cannot stand on its legs without a vibrant middle class. Middle class Americans are the ones that buy the houses, build the bridges, and pay a great share of taxes to boost an economy. Without an efficient middle class, a country’s economy would slump. As for the Wall Street protesters, they are doing the exact thing to rejuvenate the hard working middle class, a class that the rich seemed to have forgotten about.

As for students, the importance of these protests should spread to them. Going down to Washington D.C.  to witness the protests may change a student’s view of how America’s banks and corporations should be handled. Getting out and protesting shows that students, while not affected nearly as much by the banks and corporations as their parents, realize that the banks and corporations must be regulated much greater than what they currently are. Students need to realize if the government continues to weakly regulate, the top 1 percent will continue to gain and wealth will be divided even further.