洛杉磯抗議者抨擊美國貧富差距

Protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement are continuing in the financial district of New York and other American cities. Community leaders say the anger reflects the gap between rich and poor in the United States.

佔領華爾街運動的抗議者持續佔領紐約的金融區和美國其他城市。洛杉磯的社區領袖說，他們的憤怒反映了美國的貧富差距問題。

Oakland erupted over the past week as police fired tear gas at protesters downtown, and 3,000 demonstrators forced the temporary closure of the city's port.

加州的奧克蘭在上星期爆發了衝突，警方向市中心的抗議者發射催淚瓦斯，而三千示威人潮迫使奧克蘭港暫時關閉。

Hundreds of protesters are camped outside Los Angeles city hall, complaining that the top one percent of the population is getting the income gains and the other 99 percent has been left out.

數百名抗議者在洛杉磯市府外紮營，抱怨財富集中在頂端1%的美國人，其餘99%美國人被排除在外。

A husband and wife, both lawyers, joined the protesters this week. Jerry Manpearl said the income gap is too great.

一對律師夫妻這星期加入了抗議行列。傑瑞.曼普爾說，貧富差距太大了。

“[If] you destroy the middle class, you destroy the working class, you destroy this county,” he said.

曼普爾說：“如果你摧毀中產階級，你是在摧毀工作階級，摧毀這個國家。”

His wife, Jan Goodman, said the rich are not spending enough money to boost the economy.

曼普爾的妻子珍.古德曼說，富人消費太少不足以刺激經濟。

“There's not enough boats and yachts and houses to buy. They save it,” she said.

她說：“沒有足夠的船、遊艇和房子可買。”

Los Angeles religious leaders complain that the banks aren't lending either. A number of leaders from various faiths rallied outside the Bank of America regional headquarters on Tuesday, complaining that the bank has foreclosed on the homes of too many families with delinquent mortgages, and has done too little to invest in the inner city.

洛杉磯的宗教領袖抱怨，銀行的借貸也不夠。一羣不同宗教的領袖星期二在美國銀行的地區總部外頭抗議，他們批評銀行沒收拖欠貸款家庭的房屋，也不在城裏進行投資。

Shakeel Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California sees a widening gap between rich and poor.

南加州伊斯蘭會議顧問的沙基爾.席德認爲貧富差距在擴大。

“When we visit certain neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles, you will see every second house being foreclosed, and the homes that are not foreclosed, the families are unable to meet the very basic needs," said Syed. "And then you cross town, and you see Ferraris and Corvettes and Lamborghinis parked in the driveways. There seems to be a major ethical disparity in this scenario.”

席德說：“我們走在洛杉磯各區，每秒鐘你都會看到房屋止贖，那些房屋沒被止贖的家庭根本無法滿足最基本生活需求。你穿過市區卻看到法拉利、克爾維特、藍博基尼停在車道上。族裔不平等看起來十分的嚴重。”

Protesters are urging Los Angeles officials to take the city's investments out of the major banks. Some religious congregations are already doing that.

抗議者敦促洛杉磯官員停止投資大銀行。一些教會已經這麼作了。And others notified Bank of America of their plans to divest this week.

有些人這星期通知美國銀行他們要關閉在該銀行的帳戶。

Bank of America dropped a plan to impose fees on automated teller machines after customers protested the idea. The bank says it is working to help homeowners keep their houses, has made billions of dollars in new loans to small businesses, and is investing in low-income communities.

美國銀行原來計劃收取自動取款機使用費，但在顧客抗議後放棄了這個計劃。美國銀行說，他們正努力幫助屋主保住房子，已經投下數十億美元提供小型企業新的貸款，現在也正在低收入社區進行投資。

Catholic priest George Wanser isn't convinced. He works in an immigrant parish in San Jose, California, where struggling families live near high tech millionaires. He said families live together several to a house to pay the mortgage.

天主教神父喬治.萬瑟並不相信。他在加州聖何塞一個移民教區服務，區內這些努力生存的家庭就住在高科技業百萬富翁附近。他說，幾個家人住在一起掙錢償還貸款。

“In my area, there are four, five, sometimes six adults bringing home a salary to help pay for their mortgages. They're good people, they're hardworking, they're immigrants and they're responsible. It's a shame, what's happened,” said Wanser.

萬瑟說：“在我的教區，四、五個人，有時候是六個人一起掙錢來償還貸款。他們是好人、努力工作，他們是移民、他們很負責任。美國現在這種情況很丟臉。”

These protesters say they are part of a movement that is growing.

這些抗議者說，他們參與的是一個日漸壯大的運動。