Occupy Wall Street

[oladub]

with all that money donated, there has not been one significant piece of pro-labor legislation passed in the 1989-2010 time frame and tons of anti-labor items have. There in lies the difference.

Worse yet, unions have been completely unable and sometimes seemingly uninterested in stemming the flow of jobs and industries to Asia. However, they have occasional small successes such as preventing Boeing from building a plant in S. Carolina and friends in the White House misappropriating hundreds of million$ in Solyndra and other overpriced 'stimulus' jobs.

I hope the unions will wake up and realize that unions grow and are empowered when there is a demand for US labor. Hanging around waiting for handouts on the federal plantation hasn't been very successful. Unions trying to take control of the Wall Street demonstrations probably won't do much more long range good for the Wall Street protesters than the Republican Party had trying to harness the tea party movement. I wonder if it has occurred to anyone that these demonstrations might be channeled into the left version of tea parties. There must be efforts under way to harness the energy of Wall Street protesters.

History repeating itself?

[Jimaz]

Yes, this is exactly what corporate executive and shareholders would lead people to believe. But at what point do ethics come into play?

So then is it a matter of making as much money as possible within the confines of a set of moral standards, or is it a matter of making as much money as possible by any means necessary? I think it's become the latter, and that's why people are taking to the streets....

Thank you.

May I recommend TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation. It covers much of the history that led to this state of affairs. Corporations were not always this reckless.

[Detroitnerd]

I don't think ineptitude of the unions at this game is the issue. Buying access and influence is the problem. Just because labor got very little ROI doesn't make it OK to ignore the fact labor does exactly what Wall Street does -- try to buy influence.

The main difference, I think, is that labor tries to buy influence.

Wall Street actually BUYS the influence.

[oldredfordette]

For what it's worth, I am well on the record asking for all monies paid to the Democrats in my name back. In cash if possible.

Ravine, I don't think you get what I'm saying. I don't care what the protesters are wearing, I don't care what they look like and I don't care what type of cell phone they are using. They have gotten off their butts and into the street and I am eternally grateful and supportive of them. I am not interested in irrelevancies, I am looking for change. Not electoral change, look what that got us.

[Ravine]

For what it's worth, I am well on the record asking for all monies paid to the Democrats in my name back. In cash if possible.

Ravine, I don't think you get what I'm saying. I don't care what the protesters are wearing, I don't care what they look like and I don't care what type of cell phone they are using. They have gotten off their butts and into the street and I am eternally grateful and supportive of them. I am not interested in irrelevancies, I am looking for change. Not electoral change, look what that got us.

OK, now that you put it that way, I can hear you and I get it.
Still, an important-- and unfortunate-- fact of life: as long as the protesters came be marginalized & written off as a bunch of mouthy rabble, their impact will be minimal.
On the other hand, that only applies if their number is not great, so if this movement really does catch fire, make a lot of noise & get in the way, and thereby begin to get media attention on a regular basis, well, we may just be about to see something, here.
I hope so.

[oldredfordette]

Don't count on the media to help. They're the ones sending out the photos of the funny colorful hipsters.

Thank you. I don't like arguing with you when there is so much as stake. This movement is coming to a city near you [[and me) and I really don't like demonstrating in high heels.

[oldredfordette]

Timing is everything. I just got this, a good read.

http://my.firedoglake.com/luckymw/20...-by-its-cover/

[oldredfordette]

One last thing, this has been going on for 18 days. That's commitment.

[oladub]

"JPMorgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple. The money will pay for 1,000 new patrol car laptops, as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD's main data center.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly sent CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon a note expressing "profound gratitude" for the company's donation.

"These officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe," Dimon said. "We're incredibly proud to help them build this program and let them know how much we value their hard work.""

http://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Home/article/ny-13.htm

JP Morgan also donated $808,799 to the candidacy of president Obama; his fifth largest contributor. In the 2010-2011 campaign cycle, Romney was JP Morgan's third largest recipient [[$44,000) and Stabenow was JP Morgan's's fifth largest beneficiary [[$27,100).
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/co...?cid=N00009638

[Downtown Lady]

An Occupy Wall Street march today reportedly drew 15, 000 participants. Additionally, the first 2012 presidential candidate has spoken up in support of the protest and it is actually a Republican, former governor of Louisiana Buddy Roemer:

As I continue touring college campuses throughout New Hampshire, I am reminded of all the young Americans currently taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Please know that I stand by you.

It is Main Street that creates the majority of jobs in America; it is Main Street that sends our brave young men and women to war; it is Main Street that hurts when another manufacturing plant closes only to be re-opened in China; it is Main Street that is being foreclosed on; and it is Main Street that is suffering while the greed of Wall Street continues to hurt our middle-class.

Too-big-to-fail banks have only gotten bigger thanks to government bailouts, and as president, I will end the corporate tax loopholes that un-American corporations take advantage of only to ship our jobs overseas. Fair trade not Free trade.

Money in politics has created institutional corruption. Both parties are guilty of taking the big check and are bought by Wall Street. My campaign is the only one that speaks out against this and I look forward to the day lobbyists are not allowed to donate to campaigns.

Wall Street grew to be a source of capital for growing companies. It has become something else: A facilitator for greed and for the selling of American jobs. Enough already.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/1....html#liveblog

[Downtown Lady]

Related to something that Buddy Roemer mentioned [[above), the petition to get money out of politics has reached 116,000 signatures and Dylan Ratigan [[who started the petition) has asked each person that has signed it to reach out to at least one other person and ask them to sign it.

sign the petition here: http://www.getmoneyout.com/

update from Dylan Ratigan: http://www.dylanratigan.com/2011/10/...e-wave-surges/

[Jimaz]

Thom Hartmann with Dylan Ratigan - Get The Money Out!

Essentially he points out that the root problem is that our democracy has been reduced to a mere auction.

He is seriously passionate about this. You can hear it in his voice.

[gazhekwe]

The Occupy Wall Street movement has taken root across the nation. Organizers say protestors are drawing attention to the 1% of the population who have destroyed the country and its values through greed.
While many people in Indian Country can sympathize with the protestors’ claims, there is also some growing criticism for the idea behind its name, which overlooks the first occupants of the Wall Street area. This has given rise to the response from Native bloggers and activists to not Occupy Wall Street but Decolonize Wall Street.

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...paign=fb-posts

[Jimaz]

A report from the front:

Thom Hartmann with J.A Myerson - Occupy Wall Street

[maxx]

The protesters should be occupying Washington demanding that their Congress people pass campaign finance reform and stop pandering to big money.

[Jimaz]

Occupy DC has been protesting there since October 1st.

[Papasito]

It's amazing how the Occupy Wall Street movement is getting positive press, but those dirty rotten evil domestic terrorist scoundrels in the Tea Party have received negative press since day 1.

It's also amazing how Obama is trying to twist this movement to support his policies,
when Obama and Bush's policies created the bailouts!

These people should be protesting Washington, not Wall Street.
After all, it's Washington's tax codes that allow these Corporations to do what they do!!

And it probably won't change anytime soon, because companies like GE, Apple, Exxon, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs who pay nothing or next to it [[in taxes) throw a boatload of cash to political campaigns!!

Occupy Washington.
Please.

[Detroit Stylin]

Ok SO I just signed it. its not too late is it? I believe in a republic for the people, by the people instead of for the corporation by the corporation...

[Jimaz]

Naomi Klein speaks out about the occupations.

• Naomi Klein

Stop the parasitic saboteurs in power from their repeated attempts to destroy the United States of America from within.

[Goose]

It's amazing how the Occupy Wall Street movement is getting positive press, but those dirty rotten evil domestic terrorist scoundrels in the Tea Party have received negative press since day 1.

It's also amazing how Obama is trying to twist this movement to support his policies,
when Obama and Bush's policies created the bailouts!

These people should be protesting Washington, not Wall Street.
After all, it's Washington's tax codes that allow these Corporations to do what they do!!

And it probably won't change anytime soon, because companies like GE, Apple, Exxon, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs who pay nothing or next to it [[in taxes) throw a boatload of cash to political campaigns!!

Occupy Washington.
Please.

+1 +1 +1

its useless.......

[Gistok]

It's amazing how the Occupy Wall Street movement is getting positive press, but those dirty rotten evil domestic terrorist scoundrels in the Tea Party have received negative press since day 1.

It's also amazing how Obama is trying to twist this movement to support his policies,
when Obama and Bush's policies created the bailouts!

These people should be protesting Washington, not Wall Street.
After all, it's Washington's tax codes that allow these Corporations to do what they do!!

And it probably won't change anytime soon, because companies like GE, Apple, Exxon, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs who pay nothing or next to it [[in taxes) throw a boatload of cash to political campaigns!!

Occupy Washington.
Please.

Perhaps you need to look at it from outside of the box... protesting the CORRUPTORSand the CORRUPTEES.

[oldredfordette]

*sigh*. Do I have to say it? Naaah. Right over his head.

[oladub]

[/LIST]Stop the parasitic saboteurs in power from their repeated attempts to destroy the United States of America from within.[/QUOTE]

[[?) I thought you supported President Obama.

A good place to start would be to remove from office anyone who voted for the Wall Street bailout.

Here are two accounts of the Occupy Chicago protest emphasizing the diversity of supporters and perceived public support. from http://www.dailypaul.com/181894/occu...ur-troops-home

"Update from Occupy Chicago.
Submitted by Armyfree on Fri, 10/07/2011
Just got back from Occupy Chicago. Couple hundred people in front of the Chicago Fed. Cars driving by were constantly beeping and waving as they drove by. Many different groups there. Saw some Ron Paul folks, Vets against the wars, Obama supporters, some folks handing out a newspaper with a Karl Marx quote on front. I politely declined The focus was on greed and corruption. We need more Paul supporters and educational materials. On a very positive note, the police were very kind and even asked my eight year old son if he was going to lead the protest one day. The officers stopped traffic for our march and I heard from one of the Ron Paul guys that the police understand what is going on and most support the movement. Construction workers on a building the march passed, stopped and cheered. The police also appreciated the fact that this movement seems to be policing itself, meaning trouble-makers are being confronted by activists before police need to step in.
*Here is something troubling, on the ride home a news story came on the radio about the march. They reported the march was a protest for more "jobs" and was in support of Obama's federal jobs program. This is a lie. I was in the march and it was focused on corporate greed. Obama's federal jobs program was NEVER mentioned. The corporate media IS trying to label this movement for obvious reasons. So far Chicago is going well and growing. PLEASE get to your local events. This is critical.

—
Went down by the protests as well today
Submitted by hisgirlfriday
I'm not much of a protest person and I was on my way home from work so I didn't bring any signs or join in the march, but I just kind of hung out and observed and enjoyed what I saw was happening.

I would guess there are more progressives than libertarians in the crowd, but there were definitely both there, at least in the time I was there.

What I most enjoyed about being there more than seeing the people protesting, was the reaction of the people to the protesters. Lots of folks walking by, and lots of people honked their cars or buses or trucks as they passed by, some tourists took pictures from the frequent double decker buses that pass by [[Sears Tower is just down the street), but even the ones who didn't honk or smile were forced to give the protesters attention and think about them whether it was thoughts of agreement or disagreement with them.

[maxx]

papsito:This protest is class warfare at it's finest.
What we need now is the Soviets to come in and show us how everyone should have the same amount of money, the same amount of food, and the same standard of living, so the Government can control all the wealth and disburse it as they see fit.

The USSR used to criticize the US for having elections that were bought by the persons with the most money. How about saying that every candidate who gets a certain number of petition signatures gets the same amount of money for campaigning? As it is the electorate is inundated with information and misinformation for months and the election is almost anti-climactic. With limited funds for campaigning, people might rely more on televised debates and the elctronic version of white papers. Scarcity of an item increases its value.

papsito: Occupy Washington. Please.

Is that a please as in take my wife, please or as in please give me a break?

[Jimaz]

Alan Grayson Gets Standing Ovation While Bill Maher Panel Mocks Occupy Wall Street ‘Hippies’.

O’Rourke blindly continues to attempt to make his point while being drowned out by the audience in this video.