‘Occupy’ movement’s moment

Posted Nov. 28, 2011, at 5:47 p.m.

The impending winter and diminishing patience of municipal officials from New York and Oakland to Portland and Bangor are conspiring to evict the Occupy Wall Street protesters from public parks as November turns to December.

Whether the protesters are able to successfully assert their First Amendment rights to assemble or whether they are removed forcibly is a struggle that cuts to the core of American constitutional values. But in some ways, it is of less importance than the impact protesters have left on the political landscape.

Join us here at the Maine Debate to sort out the OWS movement beginning at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Making sense of the movement from the linear political spectrum, which most of us fall back on to judge such things, is not useful. The Fox News faithful ridicule the protesters as dirty, scruffy, whiny ne’er-do-wells who are too comfortable with hedonistic gatherings such as Woodstock to have a legitimate gripe about economic injustice. Of course, progressive Mother Jones subscribers were just as dismissive of the tea party movement, deriding its adherents as bigoted, gun-toting government-haters who mistook government action aimed at holding off a depression as a socialistic revolution.

Both the OWS and tea party movements can be understood as apolitical expressions of outrage born of the same state of affairs.

The nation teetered on the brink of another Great Depression, and though the economy did not fall into the chasm, it stumbled and fell close to the edge. Some older Americans, who rely or will soon rely on the stability of Social Security and Medicare, cost of living and taxes, were understandably spooked by the federal government’s bold actions: bailing out banks, bailing out automakers and stimulating the economy, all on borrowed money. And in the midst of it all came an overhaul of the way health care insurance is regulated.

Thus was born the tea party movement, calling for a return to government restraint and frugality.

Some in the younger generation saw the same bailouts and stagnant economy and also were spooked. But it was the lack of accountability for those who caused the near crash that drove their outrage. This group believes government can be a force for good, and now feels betrayed that it did not punish the speculators who caused the recession. And their closer look at government revealed that many policies favor the wealthiest individuals and corporations at the expense of the middle class and those trying to enter it.

Thus was born the OWS movement.

There is precedent for both movements. And there is precedent for movements that are essentially apolitical. The people who risked their lives and endured beatings, harassment and arrests in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s may have voted for candidates who agreed with their views. But their focus was on changing policymakers’ perception about segregation and discrimination. They did.

If the OWS movement has succeeded, it is by inserting the 99-percent, 1-percent economic divide into the national debate about economic policy.

Conservative, supply-side adherents argue the 1 percent should be protected from new taxes because they are job creators and because they pay the largest share of the tax burden. Progressive supporters of government intervention argue public policy should be tilted back toward sustaining and growing the middle class. This an important discussion, for which we should thank OWS.

Join us Tuesday to continue the discussion.

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Anonymous

Here we have the BDN giving legitimacy to 10-20 people that don’t know enough to get out of a raging snowstorm, egged on by aging professional protestors of another era.
Jay Ellingsen

Good observation. One thing is for sure. The BDN continues to prove itself as a very lopsided publication as is the Kennebec Valley Journal. They pick and choose the editorial garbage that makes it into the paper and online. It’s hard to get anything through that might invoke thought that is something other than left leaning.
Anonymous

And what else would you expect from Pravda on the Penobscot?
Anonymous

I might be more inclined to agree with the OWS movement if I didn’t believe that the outcome of my life and its successes and failures weren’t a direct result of my own actions, and motivations.
Anonymous

Some people’s disinterest of economics and history leaves them grasping at
straws trying to figure out what the inequality they have, almost to a
person, experienced means for them, and why OWS has sparked a worldwide
conversation about it.

So many comments about how bad OWS is, so
few that show why the conversation OWS has generated worldwide doesn’t
apply to them. The reason, because inequality DOES apply to even the
most jaded and uninformed commenting here. They just haven’t got a clue
how.

The farmers in the South and mid-west in the late 1800′s
had their lands and livelihoods taken away by industrialists and
corporatists and after being squeezed until there wasn’t anything left,
in disjointed, disorganized actions that rose up in small and large
communities together coalesced into a progressive movement that eventual
earned workers rights that even the most vocal, biased, uninformed of
the commenters here benefit from today. They don’t know this history.
Don’t care to know this history. Don’t seem to care that their lack of
understanding leaves them, well, uninformed and at a distinct
disadvantage. Plenty of opinions, many of them off-base and silly, but
still uninformed. Show them the data of how THEIR incomes have not grown
in tandem with the elite’ and they complain about statistics. Discuss
millions of families facing bankruptcies, and if they don’t apply to
them, they are meaningless, invisible. As a symptom of a diseased
economy, they haven’t a clue how or why. A shrinking middle class, a
burgeoning under-class, a narrowing upper class… all meaningless.
Everything is OK. Keep shopping, everything is OK. (Just beware of the
customer next to you that grabs for the mace when things get a little
too heated around the waffle irons…)

They like the fact that
our political system is bought and paid for by the elites. It doesn’t
serve them, but, hey, who cares…

OWS has generated a national
conversation about inequality, corporate corruption and greed, the
profiteering of commercialized wars, and the commentariat leaving their
insults, misinformed opinions (of which they are entirely entitled to),
ad hominems, and silly tangents avoid what is as plain as the nose on
their faces… in the space of a few short weeks the entire world is
talking about OWS and the issues they raise.

All without funding
by the Koch brothers. All without right wing extremists PACs funneling
millions into rallies and tour buses. All without a primped and coiffed
quitter at the helm, or a bevy of empty shirts parading on stage in
debate after debate fawning to crowds of sycophants with empty arguments
that are as weighty as so much methane floating above a cattle yard.

There
is no telling where this will lead, but those that foolishly think OWS
and the hundreds of occupations around the country and the world are
just a handful of scruffy and not so scruffy malcontents banging on
drums are on the wrong side of history, and obviously haven’t been
paying much attention, if they have been paying attention at all.
Anonymous

A couple of comments.

The only reason the OWS exists at all is become the media has been jealously scouting around for a group to galvanize the left as much as the Tea Party has galvanized conservatives. The fact is all they were left with is young kids and aging protestors and a media campaign. There have been no editorials from the BDN attacking the OWS folks despite violence rape and disregard for the law. There were such attacks from the BDN on the Tea Party when there were none of those things. They even got permits. Media.

The OWS has no staying power and will disappear under any one of four possible scenarios.

1) A good raging winter blizzard.
2) The Unemployment rate dropping 1 maybe 1.5%.
3) The Democrats find them not so useful anymore and a bit of an embarrassment.
4) The 2012 election.

I am always a bit concerned when someone drags out the right side of history argument.
Some of the greatest monsters in history have used that argument that they stood on the right side of “history.” Among leaders that have made that statement are Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao. Each murdered millions of their own citizens.
Anonymous

A recent Wall Street Journal poll shows more support overall for the Occupy movement than for the Tea party. (support for the tea party is dwindling compared to what it was.) I believe the Occupy people will continue on, maybe not so much at encampments, but in other forums and forms . They will not be a detriment whatsoever to the Democrats in the next election either. Wait and see.
Anonymous

Well, if one person continues to carry a sign, then you will be wrong about Occupy disappearing now won’t you? I plan on continuing the protest even if I am the only one. Can’t do it 24/7 but I do not think that is necessary any longer. People will know why I am there. And, why I keep coming back.
Anonymous

Aging… yes, professional… hardly.
Anonymous

OWS protesters have no idea what they are doing in those tents. If one were to ask some of them individually, their story of why and the BDN reasoning would be different. Listening to those interviewed tells us that most have no clue. I recall one in NYC saying he quit his job to join and help handle the finances of the movement. Why would anyone quit gainful employment to hang around in a park? Why not keep the job and seek candidates who would support your position. By now the majority of Americans are tired of this movement as are the businesses who put up with having them come in just to wash up and use the toilet. If they have some unity, then make a statement, begin a new political party, but get out of the parks and back to your jobs or find a job. Asking that they find a job will spur some replies to my post of “there are no jobs”. That is not true—jobs that exist have no one skilled to take them or are menial jobs and they would not want those jobs or require higher math or science as in engineering. The problem is one of jealousy—someone has more than I do and I want it. Sometimes you need to work harder and even when you do, you will not be fortunate enough to fall into a high paying position. But, that was the chance each of us took when we prepared for our careers. And, yes, there are some who by virtue of their birth were born with the golden spoon. Should we be jealous of that? Most of us who work hard have a decent life and a comfortable life. OWS, your 15 minutes of infamy had now dragged on much too long. Get out of the parks and get your lives in order. Stop whining and get educations and get jobs. No one owes you anything. You will get what you earn and should not be waiting to share anyone else’s gains.
Anonymous

You would be much more effective if you carried an American flag instead of a protest sign. If the OWS people were to pick up the cause of buying American made products, they would gain a tidal wave of support. I support the OWS movement and their call for change. I just think they are beating the wrong drum. All taxing the rich does is give the government more money to waste as they see fit and will do nothing to fix our economic problems. We are the masters of our own destiny. One that can be determined at the cash register by buying American products and putting Americans to work, instead of the Chinese and their “American” factory owners. If you truly hate the top 1%, buy American and kick them in the wallet. That will get their attention. Our lust for cheap Chinese products is killing our economy, adding to unemployment, and starving the government of the funds needed to take care of the less fortunate among us. Not the pols or the top 1%. The American consumer can turn things around tomorrow, if we choose to.
Anonymous

Here is your platform OWS.

1) Lobby your “public servants” to make it a class A felony to hire illegals.

2) Buy American made products.

3) Turn “free” trade into fair trade.

4) Require all members of congress that continue to get us into lopsided trade agreements to wear a Chinese flag on their lapels, instead of an American one.

This message would resonate with the masses much more than your current one of “Robin Hood” tactics. I support the OWS and their desire for change. I just don’t support how they are going about it. I think most Americans would agree with me on this one.
Anonymous

You make sense.
kcjonez

A snapshot of our current economic climate from Business Insider…….not a leftist “rag”.

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10?op=1

Now do you understand why people are protesting?
AionNV

How realistic.
Anonymous

Thanks for the link. Very nice. But these things have not been linked by the OWS to themselves in any coherent way.

I really like #30
“So, what have banks been doing since 2007 if not
lending money to American companies? Lending money to America’s
government! By buying risk-free Treasury bonds and other
government-guaranteed securities.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/what-wall-street-protesters-are-so-angry-about-2011-10#so-what-have-banks-been-doing-since-2007-if-not-lending-money-to-american-companies-lending-money-to-americas-government-by-buying-risk-free-treasury-bonds-and-other-government-guaranteed-securities-30#ixzz1f5rztowYIn other words as The American government continues to borrow money there is less incentive for banks to invest it in the private sector.
Anonymous

Because everybody knows that there should always be a singular, sound-bite sized answer to one of the most complex economic problems this country — or any other — has faced.

Your simplistic rhetoric is simply that. Simple.

Unfortunately for us your prescribed methods have not worked for the millions out of work for years.

Who, exactly, are you defending when you say you are against the common man and for the banks, politicians and corporations that have fleeced most of America of everything it once was so proud to stand for??
Anonymous

You were one of the lucky ones. I have a steady well-paying job and have had one for the past 15 years or so, but just because I am successful does not mean that I cannot see the things Wall Street and Washington have done to this country.
Anonymous

You are missing the point about what many of the protestors want from the so-called One Percent; accountability.
Anonymous

The big difference between the two protests movements is that one by far and away has been peaceful and inclusive of all races, while the other has resorted to violence, created public health hazards and posed a pathetic, whiny sense of entitlement. One has been reviled and dismissed by the mainstream media and the other has been glorified and promoted. Gee, I wonder which one is which?
Anonymous

The 1% that everyone hates so bad can only succeed with our help. The accountability and the responsibility lies with those that hold the purse strings, the American consumer. If we choose to buy American products, then America will succeed. If we choose to buy Chinese products, then the Chinese, and their “American” factory owners will succeed, as is evidenced by our obscene debt to a communist regime and the lopsided distribution of wealth that has occurred in the last 20 years, thanks mostly to “free’ trade and the flood of cheap Chinese crap. Buy American, put everyone back to work and idle all those “American” owned factories in China, while there is still one person left in this country with a job. Sound protectionist? Well we are the only country in the world that isn’t. Time for a change.
Anonymous

Just a matter of time…..
Anonymous

So your answer to the bottom end of the “99 percent,” those who have jobs at WalMarts and the like, is for them to buy more expensive, harder to find products?

They would have to stop shopping at WalMart then, wouldn’t they?

Fine with me, but you’re going to have to do a lot of convincing to turn the tide, and even if you did get American industry back on its feet, you still have the abhorrent, unbridled crimes going on at investment banks, corporations and in Washington.

How are you going to keep them in check? Buy a (U.S. baked) apple pie?
Anonymous

You’re on to something here. So if a more equitable tax policy (i.e., returning to higher rates for the rich) is a tangential issue, what can the government do to bolster the middle class? Bigger tax breaks for college tuition? Child care? More funding of job training? Grants to retrofit home heating plants to get away from the high cost of oil? What?
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Southern occupations won’t be affected by winter weather as much as Northern ones, for one thing. (OccupyAntartica won’t be affected by winter any more or less than what it is already.)
And, as my personal belief is, the occupation isn’t about winning small spaces of territory in a city park, it is about economic and social justice… Seeming not to understand this, you do me a service by proving the point I made in my comment.

Your second point hasn’t as much to do with the core grievances of OWS has you would like it to. The people that have talked to me, thanking me, are predominantly those that either work or are retired but see the system as broken and unrepresentative of their interests. Many of the things that you argue for have been destructive to our society over the past 30 – 40 years, and these people see their way of life threatened by those things. The level of unemployment is expected to remain high for some time, and given the willful ignorance in the efforts to stem the European debt crisis to date, the eurozone is on a precipice and likely to come apart with potentially devastating consequences for the entire world economy. Things are about to, potentially, get MUCH worse for us all.

OWS is non-partisan, and besides efforts to co-opt it, doesn’t automatically endorse Dems or Repugs. Both parties are responsible for the inequality and erosion of social and economic justice. OWS wants a fair, open, transparent society without the corruption of money in its politics, with a strong middle class, strong social safety nets, fair wages, equal access to opportunity. The two parties are culpable for the erosion of these things, the repugs especially but the dems are not exempt.

The 2012 election is very bad, very expensive political theater. ANYONE paying the least amount of attention to it ought to be able to see that. Candidates getting up week after week and drooling all over themselves with platitudes and ignorance has disgusted a great many people, as has the performance of Congress.

If you mean to say the news cycle is the most important and the only thing directing the national conversation, I can see WHY you would admit that (that IS the point of all the money, (i.e. speech,) in our politics; to move people like you), but believe there is reason to think your prediction is premature. The media tells some people what to think, but as research has repeatedly shown, some media tends to make some people more uninformed than if they didn’t pay any attention at all.

Like I said, there is no telling where this will go, but there is good reason to think this is much bigger than you would like it to be.

Again, changing the national conversation in a few short weeks WITHOUT the infusion of millions and millions and millions of corrupted, ideologically tainted money from those seeking to manipulate the dialog is an indication you ARE on the wrong side of history, whether you like it or not.

Hitler rose out of the ashes of the Great Depression, a crisis brought upon the world through the greed and hubris of the elites, the uber-wealthy, the industrialists, the corporatists. He promised jobs and economic security, and delivered by building up a war machine that convulsed the world. The parallels of such predatory capitalists as the Koch Brothers trading with Iran, our avowed “enemy,” should NOT be ignored when considering what exactly our recent wars have been about and how they have drained the treasures and resources of our once great country for their own benefit. As I have argued many times before here, fascism IS a danger our country faces from the extreme right in this country, just as arch-conservative William F. Buckley recognized and warned about as well. The violence perpetrated by police forces against non-violent, peaceful protesters, as guardians against threats to the corporate state, speaks volumes…
Anonymous

Good point,
People forget that Hitler and his regime was legally voted into office in a democratic society. Once in power they changed the laws (under legal processes) to maintain power.
Sound scarily familier…
Anonymous

Occupy Augusta please don’t blow this. Please remember that this protest is about the
predatory practices of banksters, hedge funds and the lack of oversight from
regulatory agencies and Congress. 1st amendment rights are important; the right
to gather for protest, the rights of free speech are very, very important, but
up here in the north we are having to make the choice of eat or heat. Turn your
righteous anger into a political movement; run your own candidates, organize
and get them elected. Have them pass laws like repealing the Commodities
Modernization Act of 2000 and the Financial Modernization Act of 1999. The oil
and gas that we need to exist up here has been high-jacked by investment banks
and hedge funds. If your movement in Augusta goes down in a bloodbath and violence then
that will be the big story and the fat cats will have won. If that happens then
some of my neighbors and perhaps even me will have silently starved, or froze
or set our house on fire trying to live without oil. Those of us who live in
rural areas don’t have public transportation, so we drive everywhere. Our
standard of living is lower than the rest of the country and jobs are precious.
We watch our scarce money dribbling out of our pockets to pay for gas and oil.
We really need your voices. Don’t get busted, don’t get hurt so you can live to
protest another day, everyday.
Anonymous

Why is your answer bigger and newer social programs that add to peoples dependence on government and enlarging that same government? Is that all that’s in your bag of tricks?
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Again, you falsely hold that the reason business isn’t hiring is not because of poor demand for their goods and services… people don’t want to spend for lack of money or for paying down personal debt… and confuse personal and govt debt…

And once again, your argument is hollow and without substance.

The US govt borrowing money when rates for such borrowing are at historic lows is EXACTLY what should take place as the US govt is the “spender of last resort” in the type of economic crisis we are in. Just such borrowing and spending is what has prevented a worse situation in this country.

Your blind allegiance to your classical, Austrian economic “non-model” is what has perpetuated the crisis for millions. THESE are the destructive policies you have argued for since this crisis started and have been shown over, and over how wrong they are. The Bush tax cuts DID NOT stimulate the economy with an outpouring of jobs. They only increased the deficit while enriching those that got the lion’s share of the benefits.

The predatory capitalism that you think is so good for everyone isn’t. It has generated inequality and is the exact opposite of sound policy based on economic and social justice.
Anonymous

Well, why was it OK for the Bush administration to twice lower tax rates for the rich? This was government action aimed at changing the economic fate of a segment of the population.
Anonymous

This is what the 1% think of you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B_6d3DFayZw
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

I agree with everything but your first point. Hiring “illegals” is a non-issue. It seems to be no different than the prejudices expressed in earlier generations against the Irish, against Blacks, against Greeks, and Italians, and Catholics… Many “illegals” perform the jobs most Americans won’t do, leaving the businesses that use this type of cheap labor without laborers and at a grave disadvantage. Fields full of produce don’t get tended well or harvested, rotting in the fields, for instance.

I have picked tomatoes and oranges in Florida, or apples in Washington State as part of these labor crews… The days were long, the wages low and sometimes stolen by the farmers I worked for. The sleeping conditions were bare, the bosses sometimes cruel. Once when a water cooler fell off the back of the farmer’s truck (with his claiming it was the worker’s fault) he refused to replace it or the water… all day under the hot Florida sun without water is no picnic…

There are much bigger, systemic issues with labor than with “illegals” taking American jobs.
Anonymous

I am not saying that there isn’t corruption, and gaming of the system. But many of these people dislike all of those who are well off, as if in order for one person to be well off, then another person must suffer. If there is corruption, and illegal activity then that needs to be dealt with. But just because Bill Gates has a total net worth of ~$50 Billion has absolutely no bearing on my income in a negative way. And in fact, because he has been so successful there is actually an increased chance that I will have a higher paying job. If not with Microsoft, then by any firms that may exist as a result of Microsoft.

But I guess my overall point here is, what is stopping anybody from being successful? Everybody is capable of acquiring a desired and marketable skillset in which they are capable of making a decent living.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Your use of the word “dependence” is slippery, at best. When a crisis strikes that is too big for me as an individual to respond to myself, of course I rely on my government to act… Reliance is a much better word than Dependence. Even you would rely on your government if a tsunami devastated, say, the City of Bath, or Bangor for that matter.

Unless of course you chose anarchy in such a crisis. Post-Katrina New Orleans might serve as an example of the failure of government to be strong enough to effectively address societal needs and prevent anarchy from causing further damage after the main crisis.
Anonymous

Again, you’re missing the point. It isn’t about jealousy but about accountability.

At least Gates actually made something. Much of the anger that is directed towards the One Percent (which is the one and only slogan or unifying catch-all phrase the movement shares, and is probably a little misleading) is directed towards many bankers, lawmakers and others who bent the rules (or asked to allow them to be broken) and quite literally stole their millions and billions — just because they figured out how to do it without going to jail.

I really don’t see what is so hard to understand about this.

Finally some good news yesterday:

“Judge Blocks Citigroup Settlement With S.E.C.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/business/judge-rejects-sec-accord-with-citi.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share

… this story, quite notably, was nowhere to be seen on the Drudge site.
Anonymous

Truth is the truth, all that is necessary is to ask the question of self: what is the Moral thing to do? Morality supersedes politics and religion!
Anonymous

It seems that those who yell the longest and loudest about the size of government are the very same ones who , after being elected to office, increase the size of government. Under both the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations we saw a dramatic increase in the size of the federal government. Here in Maine we have recently seen the dismantling of an agency with 10 employees only to see it replaced with the addition of 13 employees doing basically the same function only in a different department.
Anonymous

On target. But, unfortunately if people get hurt, it creates martyrs and garners more support… It can move the story to World Headlines aka: witness the civil rights movement.
Anonymous

Nice dodge of the question…. :)

The Bush administration lowered taxes for everyone and took millions of low income people off the tax roles. The first tax rate bill was as a response to the slowing economy toward the end of the Clinton administration that followed through into the first few months of the Bush Admin. It was working too until Sept 11th 2001. The second tax reduction was as a reaction to the September 11th attacks that nearly killed our economy. Again millions more low income people were given tax breaks and others relieved of any tax liability at all. That is the reason that nearly 50% of low/middle income people have no tax liability now. The tax cuts gained wide bipartisan support. At least more bipartisan support than say than Obamas healthcare law.

But that does not address my question…. Why is your answer to everything more government programs?
Anonymous

I use the word “dependence” because people have a tendency to feel like something has been taken from them if it no longer exists. Government by its nature incorporates these new “programs” and they become forever part of the entitlement mentality for people.
A strong government reaction to a crisis is a somewhat different animal. If Bangor floods a quick response is what government is for but as the flood recedes so should DC involvement at the local level.
Anonymous

Banks lend their credit to people and expect to be repaid with lawful money which is earned through hard labor by ordinary people. Banks lend their credit which is not an asset but a liability, they risk nothing but they foreclose on a home when they are not paid in lawful money, which is extortion. Credit loan is not lawful money. The ‘hocus pocus you can’t focus’ are words of a magician to trick you. The banks deceive you with an illusion and then steal your wealth. Maine is being foreclosed upon piece by piece. More children are homeless than ever thanks to bankers greed. More people are in jail than ever thanks to bankers greed. The country is in freefall thanks to bankers greed. This is why people are occupying Bangor and Wall street and places all over the world. The chicanerous thievery must come to an end and the crimes of the bankers, who stole all the 401k and other retirements of so many people I know, must be prosecuted. This is why I stand with the Occupy Bangor Expeditionary Force. I am a monetary realist.
Anonymous

Stephen. I am addressing a point from Kcj’s link. I assume you want private capital in the marketplace, investing in private business. Am I wrong? If I am we really have no common ground here.. Let me know.
This link shows that banks are not lending money because they can get a better return with less risk investing in the government debt. According to this data you can’t have it both ways.
There is no better evidence for the failure of government pseudo-Keynsian involvement than a 9% UI rate you seem intent on maintaining.
The “spender of last resort”….. may well be the last spender at all at this rate.

Just a point of fact. Nowhere did I say…” you falsely hold that the reason business isn’t hiring is not because of poor demand for their goods and services”
Please don’t make my arguments for me.
Anonymous

I thank the BDN for the fair coverage they have given to the movement. So much of our media is owned by the top 1% that we get pictures of conflict, disorganization and spoiled folk rather than what’s behind the movement – a demand for a more transparent government so we know who is making the decisions in Washington and a demand for a return to tax rates that ensure that the most wealthy support the infrastructure for the next generation to also realize the American dream.
Anonymous

Amen!
Anonymous

Let’s hope a Katrina situation never happens again. The response to it was horrendous. The fact that many low income people in that area did not own a car was something out of the reality and comprehension level of some leaders.
Anonymous

Even though things are less expensive (and “cheaper” including quality) at a Wal-Mart we have not been bringing our business there in some time. It is the principle of the thing sometimes…it feels like the right thing to do.
Anonymous

What is truth?
Is truth unchanging law?
We both have truths,
Are mine the same as yours?
Anonymous

You made a lot of sense (and in touch with the realities…) ….again!…
Anonymous

Some people are very rigid in their thinking and will not budge regardless of proof to the contrary……that might prove their original thinking wrong…..and of course, we can’t have that…
Anonymous

The trend in a lot of this country is people moving closer to or into cities…..a lot of strip malls on the outskirts and in the suburbs are boarded up. More and better public transportation is going to be needed in the future. The whole nature of communities and where people live will show great changes as time goes on. The automobile “culture” will not be what it once was.
Anonymous

Most people in large cities do not own cars.
Anonymous

Just because they sold services doesn’t mean they didn’t sell something. And please explain to me how they “stole” their millions and billions? And again, I am not talking about those who game the system or engage in actual illegal activities.

If you’re talking about AIG executives voting themselves massive bonuses on tax dollars, then fine. I am right there with you. But to punish all of those who are well off based on the stupidity and greed of a few is not right. Also, amongst the OWS’ers there is a lot of anti-capitalist sentiment, which is exactly what I am talking about, they believe that all wealthy are wealthy because the system is rigged and that everyone else is helpless thus we need a big powerful government to take care of everyone.
Anonymous

I was thinking Stephen has that problem just like you were saying. Its ok though, he is far more civil than SOME on this board who never bother to address people directly. .
Anonymous

It was more predominant in the poorer sections of that city…..the lack of car ownership. Many could not get out.
Anonymous

To the contrary. I address many (most) posters directly. Yes, I just posted something directly on another thread to new Bangor councilman Ben Sprague and had a timely response. So once again, you are off. There are a few that I would not bother with, (for very good and verifiable reasons)regardless of views. There is nothing further to go into about this.
Anonymous

Did you read the link I sent you? The surprising ruling that finally puts some of these bankers’ feet to the fire is just one example of a very common practice that helped to tank the economy.

Here is the gist of what Citibank (among many others) did:

“According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Citigroup stuffed a
$1 billion mortgage fund that it sold to investors in 2007 with
securities that it believed would fail so that it could bet against its
customers and profit when values declined. The fraud, the agency said,
was in Citigroup’s falsely telling investors that an independent party
was choosing the portfolio’s investments. Citigroup made $160 million
from the deal and investors lost $700 million. ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/business/judge-rejects-sec-accord-with-citi.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share
Anonymous

This is just one more topic that the BDN has chosen to “showcase” for their Maine Opinion section. They have chosen a wide variety of topics for this. It seems that the Occupy movement has elicited a lot of response from posters, both positive and negative….so of course it would be considered for this section. To insinuate or claim that that somehow gives “legitimacy” to the Occupy movement is so ludicrous and inaccurate.
Anonymous

It is well documented that banks’ practice of betting against its own customers is and was a common practice that officially goes unnoticed, due to loopholes in financial laws devised by bankers’ lawyers and Washington lawmakers.

We’ll see if this ruling in the above NYT article is eventually overturned by the corporate-friendly Supreme Court.
Anonymous

Three years ago most investment banks were on the brink of extinction. Lehman Bros, Bear Stearns and 427 other banks went belly up. Banks that did survive received bailout and Tarp money from the federal government. The banks took our taxpayer money and invested in commodities and in the currency market. By January the oil market had hit bottom; oil was selling for $34 a barrel. So the banks and hedge funds invested in oil, betting that it would go up. After all, they had been previously successful in driving
up the price to $140 dollars a barrel. They began hoarding oil, storing it in tank farms and on supertankers.
Then the bankers hired an army of oil traders to bid the price of oil up. Even though world consumption was down, they were successful at pumping oil up again with the resurrection of the big lie of
“peak oil” and a few geopolitical crises’.
Drilling will do nothing to the price of oil. Opening the reserves will do nothing to the price of oil. The present price of oil has nothing to do with supply and demand (there is a glut of oil and no place to
store it.) Instead of the price of oil being determined by supply and demand, the oil and currency traders now control the price of oil. These American and international bankers didn’t believe that the Obama administration would be successful combating the crisis that these very banks created. As the deficit
grew and the treasury printed more money to bail out the banks, their traders
and analysts declared the Obama administration dead on arrival when it came to
the economy. They bet that the US dollar would lose its value. The US dollar
has lost between 25-30% in the last four years. They bid it down and they made
lots! Their cynical efforts to make a buck impoverished all of us by devaluing
our currency. When your currency becomes devalued, the cost of everything goes
up, especially oil and other commodities.

The banks scored twice; first by betting that oil
would go up, then shorting the greenback, insuring that oil would go up. Don’t
forget, we loaned the banks the money to do this, and for years those banks
have made record profits.

Two years ago there was still a lot of idle money
around that was frightened of the stock market, and the insolvency of banks.
That money was put into the commodity markets and fueled the rise of the price
of commodities world wide. It’s been a good couple of years for Goldman Sachs,
J P Morgan, and their commodity and currency trading subsidiaries. A bright guy
who ran an oil trading subsidiary for Citi Bank made 100 million as
compensation. Their hoarding practices have started to be emulated by other
countries; we now see China, The US, and others building vast oil storage
facilities to take advantage of climbing oil prices. OPEC, big oil and the
bank’s speculative efforts have and will cost American consumers billions.

Then there is the continued greed of oil
producers. With the price so high, think of the money to be made! Problem is,
there is no place to store it anymore and everyone continues to pump it out of
the ground. And world consumption continues to be low.

Those of us who heat our homes, drive our cars,
and use oil products in a myriad of ways, are paying way more than we should.
And we have been for some time. Bernie Madoff ripped off his clients to the
tune of 50 billion dollars, a monumental theft. So what do you call this oil
market that has taken 50 times that amount? We have paid $2.5 trillion dollars
more than we should! The irony of all of this is that we the taxpayers provided
the seed money for this, the greatest rip off in history.

All of this hoarding and manipulation needs to
end. Why aren’t the Justice Department and state Attorney Generals applying the
RICO act against these criminals? Why
haven’t we repealed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and The
Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999?
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Yes, private investment is not a bad thing. But a level playing field isn’t either. The current playing field is anything but level.

Not sure what you mean by 9%UI. If you mean unemployment, of course, high unemployment is not a good thing, and neo-keynesian policies – targeted tax cuts and stimulatory fiscal and monetary policy – have ALREADY been shown to positively address the issues in our economy.

The efforts in this direction were hampered by intransigent republicans, were shown to help prevent job loses among teachers, police, and firefighters, but were not enough to stimulate demand in the consumer sector, which makes up the majority of consumer demand. On the other hand, tax cuts to corporations already sitting on trillions in cash reserves but NOT hiring (from lack of demand for their goods and services) only served to help them consolidate their positions by buying up smaller competitors, and making some investment in software and technology (both things, consolidation and investments such as they are working to lay off more people in many cases).

The economic policies you have been advocating for months now… don’t deny it… have not worked. The confidence fairies you think are hindering job creation are no where to be found. The inflation folks like you hand-wring about is non-existant. Austerity shuts down economic growth, not stimulate it…

You have been making the argument that demand is not the problem for lack of jobs, and your statement today hinted at that again.
Anonymous

There are plenty of examples where the right and left have committed atrocities throughout history. And, yes we can have our own “truths.” My point about individual truths should be interpreted only in how the individual influences our society and consequently, our government. By stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, the idea of ”individual morality impacting societal morality,” with regard to how elected government treats its citizens…regardless of party. Humans (including me) are plagued with selfishness. My job is to try to be fair and err on the side helping in a way that leads to a more cohesive society. Because societies are “fluid” we cannot keep the pendulum in the center… Our economic capitalist system, which up to now has worked well, appears to be preventing that. Our job is to keep government as close to center as much as possible, so as to regulate the wild economic swings that can foster economic injustice. If government becomes part of the broken economy, citizens will become outraged and try to force change. See history. Broken economies and broken governments lead to what?
luvGSD

Contrary to popular belief, you can teach an old dog new tricks, it just takes longer.
luvGSD

Many people have miscellaneous, utilitarian items that need replacing when they break or wear out. For example, my glass Mr. Coffee pot broke and the only place I could think of to buy a replacement was WalMart. Instead I went to the Good-Will store and easily found a replacement for a dollar. Buying used stuff is cheap and green.
Anonymous

Sorry about the UI. I just made my quarterly payment. Was on my mind I guess.

I have never said that demand was not needed it of course is. I have tried repeatedly t to make the point that the confidence to invest comes from where the initial demand comes from. Our psuedo Keynsians seem to thank that all you need do is extend unemployment benefits and voila…… demand occurs. My point is that unemployment, while needed, allows you to maintain, bumping down the economic trail but creates not one new job. Business will not/does not invest based upon unemployment extension cash. Real growth happens when one business buys a product from another business. That creates a job at the second business and that person spends money into the economy. This bottom up unemployment stuff the the nuveau keynsian advocate cannot work. There is no confidence that it will be there tomorrow.
My evidence. The failure of the stimulus plan. In 2010 40% of every dollar spent came from the federal state and local governments. Do you think if they spent 45% of every dollar that would do it? What not enough? 50% then? The fact is the way government spends money is more aimed at maintenance not growth. It doesn’t know how.
Anonymous

So your saying a car is the only way to exit a city… right…… So your saying people are not responsible for their choices…. right…..
Anonymous

I find it interesting that the title mentions “conspiring” to infer that there is a nationwide “conspiracy” to evict occupiers. Interestingly enough the writer even included the “weather”; I’m sure that weather doesn’t have the mental capacity to conspire; so I soon expect that we will hear of bedbugs and straw splinters “conspiring” against these individuals in their “camps”- nice use of inflammatory language by the writer to incite people by the way and a utter lack of responsible journalism.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

I’m sorry, but it seems you are talking right past the issue. Neo-Keynesians believe that the spender of last resort should borrow and spend, or use monetary policy to increase the money supply, both of which are intended to get money into the hands of those in the economy most likely to spend it so they will spend, increasing demand. Tax cuts to the wealthiest is the poorest way to do that. They already have plenty of discretionary cash and don’t provide the spending kick that the consumer sector does. Unemployment benefits do that. Large infrastructure projects do that. The government buying products or services directly do that.

The red herrring that stimulus doesn’t “create jobs” is a false argument. Businesses create jobs as a direct result of demand for the goods and services. Government can support that by buying goods and services itself, or by enabling consumers to buy goods and services when the economy itself is in a crisis that prevents that spending from taking place on its own. So many of the right’s arguments are just that, talking right past the issue and only talking about what is important to further the right’s fixations.

Your fixation with small (i.e.: crippled) government does not stimulate economic growth. It slows economic growth, especially in a liquidity trap and a deleveraging crisis. Your fixation with “markets” working on their own and the idea they can police their own malfeasance is a fantasy because markets fail for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is gaming the system. Deregulation lets this gaming go on invisibly.

When customers come through the door with cash in hand and demand goods and services, businesses are NOT going to turn them away out of fear they won’t be back tomorrow. They address the demand for their products by supplying more products. With sufficient stimulus, customers (whether private consumers or the government) keep coming back until the economy is moving along again on its own… i.e. jobs are created to meet new demand, wager earners have cash to buy goods and services, businesses hire and invest to meet this added growth in demand… the stimulus phases out and the economy grows itself out of the short term deficits with increased tax revenues.

Your model offers nothing like that. Lowering taxes, and de-regulation has led to rampant, abusive capitalism, redistribution of wealth upwards, and no accountability when the abuses take place. You are looking for a justification for your crippled government/ predatory capitalist theory and there simply isn’t one that doesn’t beggar a large and growing segment of our population.
Anonymous

He was talking about you.
Anonymous

“When customers come through the door with cash in hand and demand goods
and services, businesses are NOT going to turn them away out of fear
they won’t be back tomorrow.”

And this is the crux of our disagreement. …

Of course they are not going to turn away the business. But they are not going to purchase new equipment and hire new people based on it either. Your model is all about maintaining current demand…..there is no new demand…. and it is why the government spending 40% of every dollar spent in 2010 did not touch the unemployment rate.

You just made a whole new lists of assumptions about what I said but I don’t have time to chat with you anymore today about those. I have some government water to tread…. later.
Anonymous

Merriam-Webster, second definition: work in harmony. I meant conspire in the sense of “working together.”
Anonymous

The government can bolster the middle class by enacting legislation that encourages American businesses to hire, not the “American” businesses that stole away to China like thieves in the night, but the ones that had the guts and patriotism to stay here. The consumer can also help by not running to Walmart for more cheap Chinese crap every day and start paying attention to where all that stuff that they just can’t live without is made. College tuition is an easy fix too. If you can’t afford to pay for an education at an Ivy league school, you had better consider a state university. My ex and I put our daughter through UMO and her degree was bought and paid for the day she received it. She wanted to go and was excepted to Wellsley. I told her to look at her old man’s shoes. Did she loafers or work boots? She saw boots. I told her that children of people who actually work for a living attend state universities. Do not try and educate yourself beyond your means. Pretty simple concept. Child care should be undertaken by the towns. They could train, certify, and pay the day care workers through an assessment on property taxes. If everyone chipped in an extra hundred or so a year, you would never have to worry about where your kid was while you were working or how you were going to pay for it. This would go a long way towards helping single mothers get off of the dole and back into the work force too. We also could assess a tax on all the dead beat dads in the state who helped create the problem in the first place. We all know a few of those pillars of the community. The oil thing is my favorite. Why in God’s name are we not heating every school, court house, and public building with wood boilers? We could create hundreds of good paying jobs splitting wood and feeding boilers with what we send off to Saudi Arabia every winter. We are hog tied to a gas pump at the moment, but we DO NOT have to buy oil to stay warm in a state full of trees for crying out loud. As far as training workers goes, let private business train their own workers, they are the ones that need them, not you and I, the tax payers.
Anonymous

Unless you are one of the richest people in the country, he was talking about you and me and (almost) all of us.
Anonymous

No it doesn’t. What it sounds like is that you’re tuned into the bizarro world of Glenn Beck.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TWPACSVHFZJV5BWDLOSTKDNKFQ John Perry

How about getting rid of the “community re-investment act”, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Let the free market work. As the Iron Lady once said: “The problem with socialism is you soon run out of other people’s money.”
Anonymous

Just so we’re clear, I am agreeing with you. I am simply applying my logic to those who do not fall into the corrupt category. But blaming the wealthy for peoples ailments is not a new concept. It is something that has existed throughout mankind. It shouldn’t be too surprising since in basic form humans do not naturally form capitalistic societies. So instinctively to correct this “unnatural” behavior we have a tendency to turn to re-distributive societal models. And since modern society is far more complex than simply living with a tribe of people in nature where resources are scarce we instead have abundant resources, and under re-distributive society it collapses every single time. How many times has Greece collapsed for this very reason? Yet they continue down this same path, time and time again. Take from the productive, and give to the unproductive. Besides it is an invasion of our personal liberties to simply have the government come in and confiscate large portions of our income.
Anonymous

The Occupy movement has moved beyond occupying a space and has inserted itself into the political consciousness of this country. Brilliantly by using older forms of expression such as occupying space and getting evicted by the establishment, marching, acts of civil disobedience and then circumventing the mainstream medias lack of coverage, dishonesty and negativity by using internet technology to spread the word. I am not sure that this is an apolitical movement as I understand the word, but is an evolving movement that recognizes that party politics in this country has led us to a very dark place in our history. A few things I can say as one who is a participant; it is not politics as usual and it is damned exhilarating.
Anonymous

I was not in the least offended by that conversation.
Anonymous

Glenn Beck is one of the people I am afraid of!
Anonymous

You should tune into the news once in a while, the Senate is getting ready to pass a bill allowing the US Military to take any US citizen at home or abroad into custody indefinately without a trial. You might want to ponder the ramifications of that.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

I haven’t the faintest idea what you are talking about. Glenn Beck is a dangerous, deeply deluded fool. Nothing I’ve said above comes out of his perverse, insane playbook.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Well, you may not be around, but…. They most certainly will purchase new equipment if customers keep coming back… Why wouldn’t they.

The only way I can see your formulation being correct is if stimulus spending IS too small, and businesses see that it is temporary or short term. If stimulus was as large as some neo-keynesians proposed, up to $4 Trillion, it would have lasted long enough to revive confidence, boost demand, and it is likely we wouldn’t be stuck in the rut we are now in. If only it had been large enough. It wasn’t, it has passed by, we are still stuck. And the measures the right calls for: austerity and tax cuts is the surest way to SLOW the economy further.
Anonymous

Well I didnt just pick this name outta a hat you know….
Anonymous

40% of GDP is government spending and that is too small?
Anonymous

There is truth with a capital “T” which is divinely ordained, and then there is morality based on human definitions. The only trouble is is that one has to actually be quiet in order to hear the Truth.
Anonymous

So your charitable donations do not create dependence?
Anonymous

Or, buy Fair Trade/Labor products. Do both and the whole world benefits.
Anonymous

No one is talking about punishing. In fact, Patriotic Millionaires are petitioning Congress to increase their taxes. They see what is wrong with the way things are. It is about being a responsible citizen. You are. I am. They need to be too. All of them.
Anonymous

No one is saying take from. From the get-go it needs to be equitable. Living wages for a start. Public assistance wages is what made Walmart what it is today. All at the taxpayers expense. We have subsidized Walmart, we the taxpayers. Enough!
Anonymous

Beautifully stated. Thank you.
Anonymous

HE was sneering but when the camera isn’t rolling they’re laughing at the 99% …….we’re just a joke to them ….
Anonymous

It’s a global movement and won’t be snowing in the south this winter or Cali.
Anonymous

I know the definition, you still used it in an inflammatory manner by making the implication.
Anonymous

There are other reasons as well. Take a look. The protestors were protected by the Democratic Party in NYC. That didn’t last forever. The same in LA last night. The writing is on the wall.
Anonymous

good idea about the child care ….. a localized solution ….. repeatable everywhere
Anonymous

But many are not so fortunate and others live only a sick child, divorce, job loss or car accident away from economic catastrophe…. count your blessings.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7T3YNF6MG3FPEAVTFIJC44VQUI Dlbrt

Me thinks Cheesecake is a 1 % wanna be, never will be.

He would have to re mortgage his home to buy that guys suit!
Anonymous

The best solutions usually are local. We have a lot more control over our fate than most people realize. People need to turn off the TV and the talking heads, pull their heads out of the sand, and take a good look around in their own back yard. Waiting for Washington, the top 1%, and big corporate America to solve our problems is just plain dim and unaware. We have Yankee ingenuity on our side that served our ancestors well. Why can’t we use it? Think local, act locally. Burn wood instead of foreign oil to stay warm, quit sending all your hard earned money to China, buy American, and take responsibility for ourselves. Instead of waiting for Washington and Wall Street to do the right thing. That is never going to happen.
Anonymous

I like what you wrote, but question what is “real T-truth.” So an atheist is also ordained with Truth, but didn’t listed? and Machiavellian truth is moral? and quiet as in meditation?
Anonymous

Me thinks Dlbrt is at heart a looser who lacks the ambition and initiative in order to be successful, is jealous of what others have, believes that others are out to cut him/her out of the party and has to blame others for his/her lot in life.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

This is what OWS is protesting, this is what the corruption in the private mortgage industry has come to and the major banks are up to their eyebrows in it:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/11/woman-facing-sentencing-for-foreclosure-fraud-admitted-to-preparing-tens-of-thousands-of-fraudulent-documents-for-lps-found-dead.html

“Las Vegas police say it could be weeks before investigators know how 43-year-old Tracy Lawrence died.”

“Lawrence would have faced up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine earlier Monday for her guilty plea Nov. 17 to one criminal charge of notarizing the signature of a person not in her presence.”

“Lawrence had earlier admitted to notarizing “tens of thousands of fraudulent documents” as part of a wider foreclosure fraud scheme involving employees of Lender Processing Services (LPS).”

“Lawrence came forward earlier this month and blew the whistle on the operation, in which title officers Gary Trafford, 49, of Irvine, Calif., and Geraldine Sheppard, 62, of Santa Ana, Calif. — who worked for a Florida processing company used by most major banks to process repossessions — allegedly forged signatures on tens of thousands of default notices from 2005 to 2008.
Trafford and Sheppard were charged two weeks ago with 606 counts of offering false instruments for recording, false certification on certain instruments and notarization of the signature of a person not in the presence of a notary public.”
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

The CRA didn’t have much to do with the housing bubble. It operated risk free for nearly 30 years. Europe experienced a housing bubble that had nothing to do with the CRA, indicating CRA didn’t have much to do with the real causes of our housing bubble. Commercial real estate also experienced a bubble, again, the CRA had nothing to do with that bubble.

Fox News facts are faux facts.

You shouldn’t speak disparagingly of things if you are not informed about those things. You shouldn’t talk about a “free market” when no such thing exists, especially when it comes to mortgage originators and foreclosure mills. See my above comment of the death of Tracy Lawrence. Free market, my arse…
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

Depends on where that spending is going. And is the economy flourishing? You can’t condemn stimulus spending as a failure when it was hardly even tried. That’s a weak argument.
http://profiles.google.com/sdemetri Stephen Demetriou

What that says is we are a non-partisan movement… The writing is on the wall… though, likely not what you think it is… fascist-like, violent crackdowns against peaceful, non-violent protestors speak volumes…
Anonymous

Professional protestors? Can I get paid to protest? Please tell me how.
By the way, the only people who aren’t aging are those who are already dead.
Anonymous

So you have no clue at all …… right ….
Anonymous

Missed your post before. There is a great deal of difference between individual charity to private concerns and governments.
Anonymous

When lawful Police orders are ignored and people wish to become arrested is when confrontations happen. I see few reports of injuries even then. No guns fire, No deaths. The only injuries happened when rocks bottles and other items were thrown police.
This is not Tahrir Square as another poster said it was.
This is a group of wannabes that can’t cut it…..
Anonymous

Hardly even tried???? You must be joking. All the stimulus did is provide a safe place for banks to put their money (government debt) even as they were raising their reserve percentages leaving little money to flow to the private sector for investment. Why risk anything???

If we had done what you suggest we would now look like Greece. As if looking like France isn’t bad enough.
Anonymous

How about long time experienced protestors? Yes there is an unregulated industry built up around protesting. They even have offices and paid staff.
Anonymous

Ha, they were first ignored for 2 weeks then the media believed the silly nionsense from FOX news that the protestors were just a bunch of pot smoking, drum beating hippies with no message. they repeated this case of mistaken identity so often that even they came to believe it.

This of course was a mistake and gave the occupy movement enough time to put down roots and spread rapidly around the US and the globe. Had the lazy clowns at Fox and elsewhere taken time to look beyond their own shallow first impressions they would have discoved the truth about the intellectual heft and electronic savvy behind this movement and the fact that it has a message that resonates wilh millions if not billions of people.

The New Yorker had a great article about Adbusters Magazine and the roots of the movement two issues ago. There is an entire generation of 20 and 30 somethings that have been waiting for a longtime for a cause to galvanize around and now it’s happened. This is the most important political time since 1965-66 when the anti-war movement began. If you think the 99% are going away, do so at your own risk, they are not…… they’ve felt their oats …. THANKS FOX NEWS !
Anonymous

They are on their way out.
Anonymous

An athiest makes a conscious decision not to believe that there is a God. That doesn’t mean that God gave up believing in that person, or stops all communication, it’s just that the athiest choses to ignore reality or is somehow dulled to the true inner voice. Religion can often guide the way and offer parameters, but never gets specific to the person or situation. Prayer and meditation is essential to receiving God’s will. However, when God is not speaking, it is often because we already know what to do, but are simply resistant and afraid. We humans love to believe that we are different and have our own individual truth’s. This is pure vanity.
Anonymous

Thank the occupy patriots? You got to be kidding!
Most of this rabble were led by their nose by the likes
of Van Jones and other radical anarchists. Their leader,
Obama, has done nothing but do his best to set up this
class warfare scenario. He did it with Obamacare, he did
it with bailing out GM, he did it supporting Tarp. He has been
nothing but a community organizer instead of a President.
This occupy movement is all about dividing and getting
our community organizer re-elected. Good old Barney Frank
should take Obama with him when he leaves.
Anonymous

Ah, offices and paid staff. You must mean the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Hoover Institution, ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and the Family Research Council. Are they the professional protestors you are complaining about?

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