Voters say Washington is worse than Wall St

[witness23]

That was ONE of the reasons that I did not run when asked to do so.

You were going to run for President, and someone actually asked you to????

 

[layoutshooter]

You were going to run for President, and someone actually asked you to????

No, I was ASKED to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in the district where I lived in South Carolina. The request was made by several towns people after I addressed the "gentleman" who was in that seat at the time. It was NOT a gentle address. I was "fired up" when I spoke that night. I listened and then when the "party dudes" spoke I let them what I thought of THEIR party too.

 

[chefdennis]

ok, so this is simply the "people" that are fed up ...they all have different wants and needs from this and their is no direction to "FIX" anything, they just blame the "System" and figure its wall st that is the heart of the matter.. hmmm..ok so while there "seems" to be no leaders of this action that has no direction or "Fixes to the problem and some say they dont need any, we get this "self proclaimed leader David DeGraw stating that "HE" is the founder of OWS movement..

Now there is said to be a nasty "e-mail dump" that shows mr.degraw as been working with Dylan Ratigan, from MSNBC, and the ratigan as been "helping" with "statements for the group" and editing statements..NOW, we find that mr degraw has set up a "ows department of justice working group to restore the rule of law"....and he as offered the position of heading this group to a man named Bill Black, a lawyer know for being a left wing nut and his prosecuting bankers during the S&L crisis...

So now we have self appointed founder and leader of the ows crowd and his newly picked lawyer and they need to make a statement...where do they go? Well to the "Dylan Ratigan Show" of course...where they lay out the "epidemic of fraud" and the people who need to be held personally responsible for the destruction of our economic system.."Oh and they feel that the RICO statues are how they will get it done...yea they just want "liberty"...lol...

Personally I think in the short term as this movement continues to unravel, you are going to see that this is all and has all been backed from the start by unions, the left, the DNC , move on .org...oh and they certainly have the backing of..the "progressive movement" and now the communist party of america and just maybe (id be willing to bet) the the Fed and ben and timmy and the rest of berrys minions, as printing money has provided a false cushion for people while driving down the dollar and causing inflation that has let them hurt the "underclass" to the point that they are now providing a engine to try and strip the power from the Wall St crowd....in other words, the big money bosses are turning "the people" against those that do their dirty work...its happened before more then a few times....

Yeap, what started out as a bunch of snot nosed kids and old hippies making noise about the bailing out of Wall st and them now wanting their own bailout in the form of free this and that and the forgiveness of their own financial responsibilities was setup from the start by those that felt the need to bring on the class warfare and bit those that don't have against those that do have...you know, re-distribute the wealth...and they did it all with a "little help from their friends....They are nothing more then pawns that were used and set in place and are and will be pushed aside as TPTB take over the movement as they already are doing....Think the "one" that said we need to "fundamentally change" America don't has anything to do with this...lol

 

[chefdennis]

Nope no Agenda...from the original bunch of useful idiots that are being taken over by those with the agenda...the lib statist and wealth redistribution socialist groups...and the unions, and the progressives and.....

The Center for American Progress, a liberal organization run by John D. Podesta, who helped lead Mr. Obama’s 2008 transition, credits the protests with tapping into pent-up anger over a political system that it says rewards the rich over the working class — a populist theme now being emphasized by the White House and the party. The center has encouraged and sought to help coordinate protests in different cities.

Judd Legum, a spokesman for the center, said that its direct contacts with the protests have been limited, but that “we’ve definitely been publicizing it and supporting it.”

He said Democrats are already looking for ways to mobilize protesters in get-out-the-vote drives for 2012. “What attracts an organization like CAP to this movement is the idea that our country’s economic policies have been focused on the very top and not on the bulk of America,” Mr. Legum added. “That’s a message we certainly agree with.”

Democrats Try Wary Embrace of the Protests

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: October 10, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/11/u....html?_r=3&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

WASHINGTON — Leading Democratic figures, including party fund-raisers and a top ally of President Obama, are embracing the spread of the anti-Wall Street protests in a clear sign that members of the Democratic establishment see the movement as a way to align disenchanted Americans with their party.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party’s powerful House fund-raising arm, is circulating a petition seeking 100,000 party supporters to declare that “I stand with the Occupy Wall Street protests.”

The Center for American Progress, a liberal organization run by John D. Podesta, who helped lead Mr. Obama’s 2008 transition, credits the protests with tapping into pent-up anger over a political system that it says rewards the rich over the working class — a populist theme now being emphasized by the White House and the party. The center has encouraged and sought to help coordinate protests in different cities.

Judd Legum, a spokesman for the center, said that its direct contacts with the protests have been limited, but that “we’ve definitely been publicizing it and supporting it.”

He said Democrats are already looking for ways to mobilize protesters in get-out-the-vote drives for 2012. “What attracts an organization like CAP to this movement is the idea that our country’s economic policies have been focused on the very top and not on the bulk of America,” Mr. Legum added. “That’s a message we certainly agree with.”

But while some Democrats see the movement as providing a political boost, the party’s alignment with the eclectic mix of protesters makes others nervous. They see the prospect of the protesters’ pushing the party dangerously to the left — just as the Tea Party has often pushed Republicans farther to the right and made for intraparty run-ins.

Mr. Obama has spoken sympathetically of the Wall Street protests, saying they reflect “the frustration” that many struggling Americans are feeling. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader, have sounded similar themes.

The role of groups like the Democratic campaign committee and Mr. Podesta’s group, sometimes working in recent weeks with labor unions, moves support from talking points to the realm of organizational guidance.

It is not at all clear whether the leaders of the amorphous movement actually want the support of the Democratic establishment, given that some of the protesters’ complaints are directed at the Obama administration. Among their grievances, the protesters say they want to see steps taken to ensure that the rich pay a fairer share of their income in taxes, that banks are held accountable for reckless practices and that more attention is paid to finding jobs for the unemployed.

The movement has chosen not to have a spokesman and did not offer official comment on the Democrats’ attentions. But whether sought or not, the blessing of senior Democrats holds the potential to give the movement added heft in the same way that the role of senior Republicans like the former House leader Dick Armey did for the Tea Party as it grew from an offshoot movement to a much more organized and potent force.

The protests also provide yet another bright dividing line between Democrats and Republicans in Washington — one that seems likely to help shape the competing themes of the 2012 presidential election.

Democrats and Republicans were already largely divided over the Dodd-Frank legislation, which set out hundreds of new restrictions governing the way financial institutions operate and are regulated. But while the regulations were dense and difficult for many Americans to understand, much less seen as a rallying point, the widespread images of the sprawling protests have offered both parties a colorful and powerful symbol around which to frame their perspectives.

Leading Republicans have grown increasingly critical of the protests. Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, called the protesters “a growing mob,” and Herman Cain, a Republican presidential candidate, said the protests are the work of “jealous” anti-capitalists.

The Republican National Committee is also eager to use the protests against Mr. Obama.

“The protests began with anger aimed at Wall Street, but the anger is also directed at the failure of leadership in Washington and that starts with the president,” Kristen Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the committee, said Monday.

The protesters “realize that if they want change, the one person most responsible for the status quo and for making change is President Obama,” she said.

While many Democrats have praised the protesters, some officials in the party remain wary of their potential impact — especially if the protests were to turn more disruptive or even violent.

“That’s the danger with something like this — that you go from peaceful protests to throwing trash cans,” said a senior House Democratic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Sure, there’s been some crazy anarchy stuff, but over all, the Democrats like their message about Wall Street and accountability,” the official said. “It overlaps with our own message.”

Matt Bennett, vice president for Third Way, a Democratic policy institute in Washington that favors a more centrist approach, said he believes the angry and sometimes radical tone of the protests may turn off moderate swing voters who will be critical in the 2012 elections, just as many moderates are put off by the rhetoric of the Tea Party on the right.

Embracing the protests may prove a mistake for Democrats, Mr. Bennett said. “There’s not much upside,” he said, “and there’s a lot of downside.”

Robert Reich, the former labor secretary under President Bill Clinton, wrote in a blog posting Friday that the protesters’ demands on taxes dovetail with Democrats’ themes, but he said the protests should still make the party wary — in part because Democrats rely on Wall Street for significant campaign contributions.

“If Occupy Wall Street coalesces into something like a real movement, the Democratic Party may have more difficulty digesting it than the G.O.P. has had with the Tea Party,” Mr. Reich wrote.

Some Tea Party leaders are already using the headlines generated by the Wall Street protesters to try to appeal for financial help for a national advertising campaign of their own.

In an e-mail sent over the weekend, Todd Cefaratti, representing TeaParty.net, explained the goal of the first television advertisement would be to introduce the face of the Tea Party movement as a “diverse group of everyday Americans who are only special in that they are patriots who want to put our country back on the right track!” He included a link to the ad that is posted on YouTube and already had more than 37,000 views by Monday night.

Mr. Cefaratti dismissed comparisons that some people have been making about the Tea Party movement and the Occupy Wall Street group.


Jennifer Preston contributed reporting from New York.

 

[cheri1122]

Those who think the protesters are left wing liberals, Commie/Fascist/anarchist agitators, dupes/pawns of someone else's agenda, or 'jealous anticapitalists' need to broaden their horizons, because the MSM is not presenting a truthful picture, but snippets edited to wash the usual brains.
These are not your dirty hippies protesting war - these are the 99% of taxpaying citizens who are mad as hell at what our fearless leaders have done to the very people who voted them into their cushy jobs, and what those elected officials have conspired with the robber barons of today to take from us: the knowledge that the American Dream can come true for anyone who is willing to work hard.
Not anymore.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

These so-called starter groups are forgetting one thing... the Democrats are the status-quo, just like the Republicans. They're not very likely to listen to a sitting president jumping on a bandwagon against something he helped create.

Oh... they're forgetting something else... there are tea partiers at those demonstrations. And they're likely schooling those willing to listen.

Ah... one more thing... they're forgetting that the thirst for liberty is contagious. In effect, they've likely created a beast they won't be able to control.

 

[layoutshooter]

Those who think the protesters are left wing liberals, Commie/Fascist/anarchist agitators, dupes/pawns of someone else's agenda, or 'jealous anticapitalists' need to broaden their horizons, because the MSM is not presenting a truthful picture, but snippets edited to wash the usual brains.
These are not your dirty hippies protesting war - these are the 99% of taxpaying citizens who are mad as hell at what our fearless leaders have done to the very people who voted them into their cushy jobs, and what those elected officials have conspired with the robber barons of today to take from us: the knowledge that the American Dream can come true for anyone who is willing to work hard.
Not anymore.

How do you KNOW that 99% are "normal everyday people"? Have you met 99% of them. How many have you met? Where are you getting your information on those that you have not met?

OK, you hate what we have. What is YOUR solution. I hear LOTS of "gum beating" from those duds, NO substance.

In this country there are TWO things that truly hold back people. Their own decisions and a tax code that punishes success. We are all, for the most part, the sum of our own efforts.

 

[cheri1122]

How do you KNOW that 99% are "normal everyday people"? Have you met 99% of them. How many have you met? Where are you getting your information on those that you have not met?

The answers are in the link provided by RLENT.

OK, you hate what we have.

Stop right there. What is it that I 'hate'? And who is 'we'?

What is YOUR solution. I hear LOTS of "gum beating" from those duds, NO substance.

The job of finding solutions is not the peoples', it's up to our elected representatives - that's what they get paid to do [and the pay & benefits are far beyond what any of us get] courtesy of we, the taxpayers.

In this country there are TWO things that truly hold back people. Their own decisions and a tax code that punishes success. We are all, for the most part, the sum of our own efforts.

A tax code that punishes success? GE [and every other megacorporation that pays NO taxes] says you're 100% wrong.

 

[chefdennis]

God knows that the people seeing whats going on and listening to and watching the videos that are coming out of these "protests" and actually believing what the protestors are saying themselves have been brain washed to believe that the words that are hearing and the signs and videos they are seeing aren't really their....and the DNC and the American Communist Party haven't really said that they are involved in these protest, thats just the "tea Party" tryin to make these fine upstanding people look bad...yea all of the negative stuff is phony...

I read a good little article today in the "Pro Trucker" Magazine...it had nothing to do with any of this stuff, just life in general, but it certainly fits today and whats going on...

It is a slow upload, but worth waiting for...

"Everything's Going To Be OK"....

Pro Trucker - October 2011

And for those that will say Dan's list doesn't work anymore...keep thinkin that way, you are part of the problem...

 

[layoutshooter]

How do you KNOW that 99% are "normal everyday people"? Have you met 99% of them. How many have you met? Where are you getting your information on those that you have not met?

The answers are in the link provided by RLENT.

OK, you hate what we have.

Stop right there. What is it that I 'hate'? And who is 'we'?

What is YOUR solution. I hear LOTS of "gum beating" from those duds, NO substance.

The job of finding solutions is not the peoples', it's up to our elected representatives - that's what they get paid to do [and the pay & benefits are far beyond what any of us get] courtesy of we, the taxpayers.

In this country there are TWO things that truly hold back people. Their own decisions and a tax code that punishes success. We are all, for the most part, the sum of our own efforts.

A tax code that punishes success? GE [and every other megacorporation that pays NO taxes] says you're 100% wrong.

The Feds took 50% of my additional profits last year. They gave it to those who did NOT earn it. THAT is punishment. My solution, earn less, keep more. Support ONLY those that are MY responsibility. It will be a cold day in Miami when I work hard to make more and have it taken away. I learned that a LONG time ago.

Show me where in the Constitution that it is the job of the congress to provide jobs. How can they provide jobs? What do they produce? How will they fund it? MORE taxes?

What is YOUR source for the 99% figure? Again, I am NOT interested in others links, the news media or 4th hand information.

I hear "catch phrases" like, "greed" "too much profit" "robber barons" etc. Who decides what is "Too much profit"? Based on what? How do you define "profit"?

It you want to know why GE paid no taxes, ask Al Gore and Obama. They are all in bed with GE.

I have yet to meet the person that is not where they are almost solely due to they own devices. EVERYONE makes choices. We are all the sum of those choices.

 

[chefdennis]

We are not suppose to believe this happened, its just the MSM brain washing the people:

Occupy L.A. Speaker: Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals

The PJ Tatler » Occupy L.A. Speaker: Violence will be Necessary to Achieve Our Goals

The link above is real, but the topic might be fake...the guy in the video might not really be saying the words you are hearing and he might not even be there...because the people protesting are just 99% of Americans that are fed up and even though they ar PO'd, they never advocate for violence or socialism...and the crown cheering the words , they aren't really cheering, this probably as been edited to make these avg Americans look bad and to brain wash everyone...

The link above as the article and part of the transcript of the speech. Below is that ranscript and the Video of it...just remember, this might not be real and the guy saying these words might not even have been there:

Oh, if you are easily brain washed, then you m ight not want to watch this:

Ultimately violence will be necessary, says Occupy L.A. speaker - Pt2 10/01/2011 - YouTube

Occupy L.A. Speaker: “One of the speakers said the solution is nonviolent movement. No, my friend. I’ll give you two examples: French Revolution, and Indian so-called Revolution.

Gandhi, Gandhi today is, with respect to all of you, Gandhi today is a tumor that the ruling class is using constantly to mislead us. French Revolution made fundamental transformation. But it was bloody.
India, the result of Gandhi, is 600 million people living in maximum poverty.

So, ultimately, the bourgeoisie won’t go without violent means. Revolution! Yes, revolution that is led by the working class.
Long live revolution! Long live socialism!”

Crowd: [Cheers.]

Just remember that this is not real, it has been worked over to brain wash the people...

 

[Tennesseahawk]

I know, Chef. Everybody is following that one tool... just like no one veered from the path of the constitutionalist tea partiers.

One bad apple... that's all it takes for people like you to throw the whole crop away. Sad. Keep looking for the bad apples, while you ignore the message of the good ones. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for. The sewers are full of them.

 

[chefdennis]

Yeap and they aren't hard to find, there are all kinds of them..even the MSM themselves are making mention that they feel it is needed...

As for the message of the good ones, what message is that? They have only thrown 9000 wants against the wall...or is it that they are tired of those that can play golf at a private club and the they can't a real issue? I mean we seen the protesters at the golf course the other day...or is it that the "self appointed" founder of the movement now has a lawyer on his side and they are going to sue the wall st investment brokers ot those they feel are responsible for what they feel is unfair....

And while they want to complain, they offer no solutions other then get rid of the corporations...and this, its not the people responsiblity to offer soulutions is bs..they dont like what is happening, they don't like the wall st crowd and corporations and politicians...so what is there alternative? whats their fix? I mean without this, the same people they want gone are still there and the things they want changed , ain't goin no where....LOL, yeap change what they don't want, but leave the same people there to change it...that works...lol..

And as a group they care sooo much about each other that they are now stealing from each other...computers, cash, and the donated supplies are being stolen by those in the group....

And this 99% crap...just how do they figure that they represent every one that isn't part of what they feel is the 1% power and wealthy elite...They certainly don't represent me....and it is obvisous that they don't represent a whole lot of people in this country.....

When does "personal responsibility take place?? Like Dan Baker said in the Pro Trucking Article I linked above, "no one is going to do the heavy lifting for you..its up to you....."

 

[cheri1122]

Here Are Four Charts That Explain What The Protesters Are Angry About... - Business Insider

It's the very last sentence that explains why it matters.

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Here Are Four Charts That Explain What The Protesters Are Angry About... - Business Insider

It's the very last sentence that explains why it matters.

I think the reply of this guy hits the nail harder, tho:

"Henry, you seem to think that OWS is just about individual economic circumstances. I think you're seriously wrong. At the heart of most of the complaints I've heard/read articulated is the cancer of pay-to-play politics. People aren't just unhappy about their personal bank accounts, they are completely fed up with political corruption, partisan politics and the complete suspension of the rule of law for elites in this country. I saw a quote in the NYT this morning -- some hedge fund big shot being interviewed about OWS, complaining that "his" Senators weren't being vocal enough in criticizing the 99%. He says Schumer and Gillibrand "need to understand who their constituency is" -- only high-earners in New York State have a right to representation!!! The OWS movement is no where near as simplistic as you apparently believe. Congratulations, you're another pundit that doesn't get it."

 

[RLENT]

Here Are Four Charts That Explain What The Protesters Are Angry About... - Business Insider

It's the very last sentence that explains why it matters.

Nice find - thanks !

 

[clcooper]

""they are completely fed up with political corruption, partisan politics and the complete suspension of the rule of law for elites in this country""

if you dont believe this then

just keep sitting around *****ing and dont do anything to help fix the problems. .

just keep judgeing those that are willing to fight . just like the few did when they had tea parties with the British . while their fathers and brothers were out fighting and diying for their freedoms and the freedoms we are to have today.

John Gotti for 2012

 

[chefdennis]

1. Unemployment is at the highest level since the Great Depression (with the exception of a brief blip in the early 1980s).

People complain that jobs have been shipped offshore and pverseas...ok, do you realize that if all of those jobs were brother back, you might increase new jobs by a 1/3 of the jobs lost to begin with..technlogy would replace most of the returning jobs...its the advancements that make the world go around as much as corporate profits that eliminate jobs for people....lose your job, find another, or even better, do like most here, start your own business....

2. At the same time, corporate profits are at an all-time high, both in absolute dollars and as a share of the economy

And they can make as much more as they can, as the shareholders that invest in corporations people expect a return on their investment..and yes their is an expectation of a return as large as they can get...just because others can't afford to invest or don't have a clue on how to manage their money so they can invest doesn't mean those that can should not make a **** good profit on their investments...and yes if the same profit can be realized by eliminating jobs, you bet....providing jobs is not way a company goes into business...

3. Wages as a percent of the economy are at an all-time low. In other words, corporate profits are at an all-time high, in part, because corporations are paying less of their revenue to employees than they ever have. There are lots of reasons for this, many of which are not the fault of the corporations. (It's a global economy now, and 2-3 billion new low-cost employees in China, India, et al, have recently entered the global workforce. This is putting pressure on wages the world over.)

Oh my God, the evil greedy corporations aren't totally at fault for lower wages!?!? How can that be!?!?

4. Income and wealth inequality in the US economy is near an all-time high: The owners of the country's assets (capital) are winning, everyone else (labor) is losing.

The top earners are capturing a higher share of the national income than they have anytime since the 1920s:

CEO pay and corporate profits have skyrocketed in the past 20 years, "production worker" pay has risen 4%.

Yeap, just whining about the "He has and I don't..."

Importantly, the inequality that has developed in the economy over the past couple of decades is not just a moral issue. It's a practical one. It is, as sociologists might say, "de-stabilizing." It leads directly to the sort of social unrest that we're seeing right now.

Moral my butt...business has no human morals...no business is in business to employ anyone, they are there to make a profit and nothing else...employees are part of the equation just as the product and or service are..wages are paid to pay for services rendered at a rate that allows the company to make whatever profit they feel they need and it is no one s business other then their shareholds as to how much that profit should be....people are hired to do their job and a wage they agree to up front or a union bargains for....you want more, find a way to get it on your own...as i said before from the article in the Pro Tracker magazine, "No one os going to do the heavy lifting for you, you have to do it yourself"..its your responsibility...

How did Rocky put it to Paulie, NO ONE OWES...you earn....

Based on that last sentence if there isn't wealth redistribution then the natural react is social unrest...so they people are simply looking for a "socialist country".....take from those that have and give to the less fortunate...

Look for mein my life I been poor, made a few bucks and lost it all...been in more trouble in business and personally then the average person and had to start over again more then 1 time..made good money and lost some again...each time I had to recover and step up, no one offered me part of their income, i didn't take gov assistance, it was on me...in the last 10 yrs i have made more money each yr then the previous yr...if i can do it, anyone can do it...i ain't nothin special at all...,i am not complaining or bragging I was just taught that you have to take care of yourself and yours...thats how my family has been from my great grand dad to my boys...you screw up, you lost a job for whatever reason be it of your own doing or not, its on you to do what you have to do to provide for you and yours...If its needed family helps, but you exhaust everything before that and you do whatever it takes....

Look whats goin on in Greece right now...for too many yrs the people lived off the government and the government controls now the country is broke, ready to completely fail, no money, the rest of the EU has bailed them out how many times already... but yet the people are roiting in the streets because the government sayes no more, we can't continue as we have....and people here want to limit the corporations and have controls to give to the people instead of the businesses working in the (so-called free market , but name a better way) to do business and make their profits and pay the wages that they pay...

As for CEO pay verses, labor...take Joe Line worker at GE and compare his education to Jeffs, and compare his knowleadge of business bith domestic and international and you will see why Jeff is worth whatever he can get....and i am no fan of Jeff immelts either, his name just jumped out...

Life isn't fair, but it is what you make it....good or bad...

PS: I am not begrudging them a thing at all, more power to them for making the kind of money they have and are making...but you might want to check out the people behind Business Insider...they seem to be one of those nasty "big money" money making corporations....and as i said, more power to them....

PSS: through all of those charts and statements of what they see as wrong, no where did i see a "fix"..no where did i see what they propose to do to make the changes they feel they need and want...no where...and yes, if you what it changed, offer up what needs to be done...

If its the politicians, we have the vote..

If its the coroprations, they have boards, they have shareholders, buy stock, go to corporate meetings, boycott their product..after all they are for the most part made in china...oh wait, people want those cheap prices thats right...

if its the banks, take your business else where....

or whine....

 

[chefdennis]

They just want Liberty...i guess but i guess the Unions think they are i need of Liberty too...

https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4001/signup_page/occupyyourcity

I Am Not Your ATM

But wait, the unions are talking about "wealth redistribution" amd more government control over businesses...kinda a "statist" position...and some union leaders are for straight up socialism...

I wonder what they have in common with the "Occupy" crowd???

Oh and "working American, a quick search will show that they are a arm of the alfcio....which also paid for the 1st ad site....

LOL, yeap, they people are making great head way with the "independent voters"...you know the ones that both political parties say control the elections....and they try to sway to their side...

 

[Tennesseahawk]

Chef, do us a favor and go back to cut n paste. You're just not getting it.