The Occupy Wall Street movement has finally made it to Lancaster and all I can say is, "it's about time."

It's invigorating to see the middle and working classes, who have rolled over and played dead since the Nixon era ended in 1974, latch on to social injustices such as huge job losses and shifting of wealth into the hands of just a few people, and then go about trying to change them.

A way to tell that a movement like Occupy Wall Street is a good one is when conservative politicians denounce it. Presidential nominee Mitt Romney harshly criticized the movement initially, then softened his tone the next day, when he remembered those people vote and that he may've set his own pants on fire.

Rep. Peter King (R-Pluto), speaking on a talk radio show, called the protesters a "ragtag mob" and "anarchists." He said they had "no sense of purpose" and were "basically anti-American."

He did not say that about the Tea Party ralliers. Maybe because some of them carried guns.

Presidential hopeful and wealthy pizza guy Herman Cain said, "I don't have facts to back this up, but I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration."

Well, I don't have facts to back this up, but I think Cain is a lunatic. The movement is not about Obama. It is about what's fair and just.

Florida's Allen West (R-The Magical Kingdom) scoffs at the movement and doubts its earnestness, saying it is not a grassroots effort and that if "you peel the onion back, you find out who's behind it and who's financing it."

Oh, you mean like the Tea Party and the Koch Brothers?

Some politicians call Occupy Wall Street "class warfare," which it is because it threatens their voter base — by which I mean the big corporations and wealthy people who fund their re-election campaigns. I find it sadly amusing that when the rich and powerful are raking it in at record levels, it's called "capitalism." But when low-life people like the rest of us ask that top percentile to pay their fair share of taxes, it becomes class warfare.

That's what the Occupy Wall Street movement is all about. And despite what House Speaker John Boehner says about Americans not wanting tax hikes, an Oct. 5 Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that 75 percent of Americans favor raising taxes on individuals earning more than $1 million a year. This includes 89 percent of Democrats, 75 percent of independents, 57 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Tea Party supporters.

Think about it. Salaries for CEOs of large corporations are, on average, $9.6 million a year, while the average family of four, if they're lucky, makes $50,000. The average income of the top 1 percent of Americans has increased 300 percent since 1980, while for you and me, the increase is barely visible with the naked eye.

Coming back to Occupy Lancaster, one of my colleagues received an email from a reader, critical of the effort, saying we should not give them any coverage. As Herman Cain might say, "I have no facts to back this up, but I'll bet the reader wouldn't say that about the Tea Party."

So welcome, Occupy Lancaster.

lalexander@lnpnews.com