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One-man protest calls to commuters

The sign says “USUncut.org, Pro business, anti-corporate tax dodgers,” calling passers-by to action and awareness of tax politics. Jared Lampman / The Clarion Call

Clarion, Pa. – With snow still melting off the sidewalks of downtown Clarion, Michael Maholtz was showing commuters that someone is still fired-up about recent corporate and government spending.

He calmly explained his position to anyone who asked, and handed fliers through car windows of interested travelers waiting at the red light.

Alone at the corner of Main Street and Fifth Avenue, Maholtz said his support was “out there, even if it isn’t right here.”

Maholtz said he considered himself, without a doubt, pro- small business.

“Corporations, at least two-thirds of the largest,” Maholtz said, “don’t pay any income tax.”

Maholtz said protest was only half of his message, the other being support for President Obama’s call to lower corporate tax rates and close tax loopholes during his State of the
Union Address on Jan. 25.

Maholtz offered investment giant AIG as an example of unfair practice.

“We, the taxpayers, bailed them out to the tune of over $40 billion,” Maholtz said, “and when they made a profit after that, we just paid them more, another $2.3 billion.”

“It’s the big businesses that can afford the lobbyists to tip the tax system in their favor,” Maholtz said, “and that only hurts small businesses. They end up with the burden.”

Maholtz asked people to visit USUncut.org, the protest organizer.

According to USuncut.org, Maholtz’s demonstration was part of a nationwide protest in more than 50 cities, including Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles.

“I’m getting the word out,” Maholtz said, “so people will realize corporations are taking advantage.”