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Subscribe to RSSOccupy Wall Street started with fewer than a dozen college students camping out in Zuccotti Park, a plaza near the New York Stock Exchange. The movement has spread out to cities across America and to some around the world. We're interested to get text, photos and videos from the protests, if you have some, share them here.
Sent in from readers around the country on Thursday, Oct. 13:
Niles, Mich.
Submitted by Eugenie Torgerson
Photo of a protester in Niles, Mich. Eugenie Torgerson wrote: "The Occupy movement resonates in Niles, MI, a diminishing city that the Bush/Cheney bus used to regularly visit. The economic pain is real here now, and people are calling for balance, for compassion, for an end to rampant, unregulated greed. They want support for teachers and schools, security for the elderly, and a slice of the pie they bought.
The crowd seemed not to be partisan. When someone called out, 'Who do you support for president?' the shouted answer was 'None of the above.'"
San Francisco, Calif.
Submitted by Hal Muskat
San Francisco Veterans For Peace at march to commemorate 10th anniversary of war. Marchers take the streets to join Occupy SF.
Portland, Ore.
Submitted by Timothy Boers
Timothy Boers wrote: "Even in the midst of these troubling times I have renewed hope. To see our nation finally acting like a nation, young and old alike using the tools of democracy to their best affect. My first rally was in 1970 in Seattle, the "Moratorium Day Parade"; it certainly was not my last. Five years and one presidential disgrace later, it paid off.
My fervent hope is one of persistent, unrelenting non violence and for the patience and wisdom it will take to make our voices heard.......Again!"
Submitted by Timothy Boers
Protesters in Portland.
Sent in from readers around the country on Wednesday, Oct. 12:
New York, NY
Submitted by Patrick Stefano
Sent in from readers around the country on Tuesday, Oct. 11:
Oakland, Calif.
Submitted by Guy Bryant
Guy Bryant wrote: "I took these shots with my IPhone on my way home from my office located in Oakland California. I was impressed at the diversity and size of the crowd for a rainy afternoon. Something real is occurring in America.
If the issues continue to lead and the focus on non-violence continues, the 'we are the 99%' message has a chance to impact the political and social discourse in this country in a major way in my opinion."
Sent in from readers around the country on Friday, Oct. 7:
Indianapolis, Ind.
Submitted by Jeff Kisling
Occupy Indy protesters first gathered on the mall in downtown Indianapolis on Oct. 7 then moved to the Indiana Capitol building.
Houston, Tex.
Submitted by Jose Duran
Occupy Houston on Oct. 6. Protesters marched around downtown Houston.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Submitted by a user in Los Angeles
Protesters occupy Los Angeles Civic Center's red subway line.
Austin, Texas.
Submitted by Joshua Christopher Harvey
Protesters gather in front of Austin City Hall.
Washington, D.C.
Submitted by Greg Richards
OccupyDC participants gather at Freedom Plaza in the nation's capitol.
Sent in from readers around the country on Thursday, Oct. 6:
New York, NY
Submitted by Gabriele Gordon
From Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan, Gabriele Gordon writes: When I arrived at "Liberty Square," I immediately felt an incredible sense of community and solidarity with these young people, who have taken the initiative to start this incredible protest, which has a great potential to turn into something we have never experienced before. While walking around and taking photos, I was impressed how organized and tidy the place was. From a wi-fi zone over a cell phone charging station to a recycling area, the protesters seemingly have put much thought into every aspect of what is required to keep this protest going."
Submitted by Gabriele Gordon
Submitted by Gabriele Gordon
Tampa, Fla.
Submitted by Jon Reeder
More 2,000 people attended the protest at Lykes Gaslight Park in Tampa, Fla.
Occupy Tampa at the city's courthouse
Portland, Ore.
Submitted by Ben Foster
Occupy Portland protestors in the city's Pioneer Square.
Bloomington, Ill.
Submitted by Grace Savina
Protesters at the "Occupy Blono" (Bloomington-Normal) protest on the bridge at Illinois State University.
Sarasota, Fla.
Submitted by Howard J. White
The young and old came out in support of the protest in Sarasota, Fla. It was quite calm with mixed reviews. Not everyone was in support, with some opponents blaming America's downfall on Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
Protesters in Sarasota, Fla.
Seattle
Submitted by Leah Young
A protester holds up a sign on Oct. 2 at Westlake Center in Seattle, Wash. The local protest was one of dozens across the country in response to weeks-long protests in New York City.
Submitted by Leah Young
A protester displays a sign on Oct. 2 at Westlake Center in Seattle, Wash.
Submitted by Leah Young
A protester displays a sign on Oct. 2 at Westlake Center in Seattle, Wash.
Chicago
Submitted by Deb Jensen
The church ladies -- part of the 99% -- have arrived at Occupy Chicago.
Nashville
Submitted by Molly Poremski
Occupy Nashville in full swing at Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville.
Submitted by Molly Poremski
At the start of Occupy Nashville. Crowd grew to about 500 people.
Are you an occupier in the U.S. or around the world? Share your story, pictures and video here
Leave a Comment:
And I'm one of them. Playing my Hank Jr. cassette now.
At approximately 8:45 a.m. on August 24, federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corporation facilities in Nashville and Memphis, making off with an estimated $1 million worth of Gibson property. Gibson’s alleged crime? Using imported wood from endangered trees. At least that’s what the company assumes the feds have in mind. Gibson hasn’t actually been notified of any charges against the company. In fact, according to a Gibson press release, they still haven’t been told on what charges “more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons” raided their factory and stole their property in November 2009. They’re being forced to sue in federal court to get their property back, and even there the government is stalling, having requested an indefinite stay of the case.
Sounds like typical govt b/s
Here's some background on the Occupy Wall Street movement including the article that helped launch it:
Amped Status report:
A Report from the Frontlines: The Long Road to #OccupyWallStreet and the Origins of the 99% Movement
September 29th, 2011 |
By David DeGraw
How Anonymous, AmpedStatus, the NYC General Assembly, US Day of Rage, Adbusters and Thousands of Individual Actions Led to the Occupation of Liberty Park and the Birth of a Movement
As the occupation of Wall Street moves into its third week, there are many questions about the organizers behind the ongoing protests and the origins of the 99% Movement. As one of the many people who actively supported the effort, and helped launch the 99% Movement, I will give my perspective on the events leading up to the occupation of Liberty Park.
As I understand it, the #OccuppyWallStreet 99% Movement is a decentralized non-violent rebellion against economic tyranny. It is a leaderless movement that has been dependent upon tens of thousands of individuals taking it upon themselves to take action and fight back against their own personal financial hardships, and in defense of their family and friends who are desperately struggling to make ends meets.
The road that led to the successful occupation has been a long, hard and winding one. When you go to Liberty Park, into the heart of the occupation, you will see a very diverse group of people with opinions across the entire political spectrum. It is the very essence of a ground-up grassroots decentralized movement. Everyone there has their own individual story on what brought them to take such a strong and inspiring stand in support this action. I urge members of the press and people interested in the movement to begin a dialogue with any one of the people taking part. There are many fascinating stories to be heard and a deeper understanding of what’s happening is impossible without hearing from a plurality of voices.
To give some background information, the following is a timeline of my 19-month long personal experience within the movement:
The Birth of the 99% Movement
On February 15th, 2010, AmpedStatus.com published the first-part of an extensive six-part series that I wrote detailing the financial destruction of the US economy. The report is entitled, “The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States.” The first sentence reads:
“It’s time for 99% of Americans to mobilize and aggressively move on common sense political reforms.”
The introduction goes on to say:
“It has now become evident to a critical mass that the Republican and Democratic parties, along with all three branches of our government, have been bought off by a well-organized Economic Elite who are tactically destroying our way of life. The harsh truth is that 99% of the US population no longer has political representation. The US economy, government and tax system are now blatantly rigged against us.
Current statistical societal indicators clearly demonstrate that a strategic attack has been launched and an analysis of current governmental policies prove that conditions for 99% of Americans will continue to deteriorate. The Economic Elite have engineered a financial coup and have brought war to our doorstep… and make no mistake, they have launched a war to eliminate the US middle class.”
http://ampedstatus.org/a-report-from-the-frontlines-the-long-road-to-occupywallstreet-and-the-origins-of-the-99-movement/
What kind of weapons did you expect them to have -- muskets, flintlocks or bolt-action rifles?
You might try learning about what you speak Yella, makes you look more intelligent. The impetus for the Gibson troubles wasn't so much about the vague and ill-defined Lacey Act. It's main focus was on the actions of Gibsons' foreign buyer representative. Particularly inside emails disclosed that indicated this rep was very interested in ways to circumvent the law without being discovered.
A law can be challenged through legislation. But figuring out ways to break an active law without getting caught will always be illegal.
MSNBC is absolutely void of professional journalistic integrity. Why are they giving so much credence to these so called "protesters" who don't want to work?
- Where is the investigative journalism to get to the bottom of "Fast & Furious?
- Where is the investigative journalism to get to the bottom of Solyndra?
This fools gold 24-7 coverage is an attempt to feed their base and distract unsuspecting minds of Obama's disintegrating popularity and failure after apocalyptic failure. The left is becoming very desperate and it's becoming more and more apparent.
Go back to Fox Noise. You will fit in much better there.
Hey Flash, here's some 'investigative journalism' for ya.....
Investment bankers used deceptive sales tactics to rip off America (fact)....Gramm-Leach-Bliley paved the way for massive bank misconduct (fact).....Corporations and multi-millionaires are paying little to no income taxes because of government sanctioned loopholes (fact)....
OWS FTW.......
This story is a fabrication and lie meant to incite corporate hostilities.
Those who seek actual news information go to the center of the park and seek comment from the Americans who are ready prepared to provide the truth as to why Protesters are on the door step of Wall Street.
Not only are they on the World Wide Web giving specific reasons everyday, they also provide a newspaper that will answer in a serious way why so many people have showed up to support them.
For the entertainment news broadcasters with no serious credibility:
Act as if you just woke up, and all of this is news to you and ask “What do they want?”
Repeat this in an endless loop, over and over.
Do not do any research, qualify your ignorance and ask repeatedly “What do they want?”
Take your entertainment news cameras and flounder through the crowds searching for your self fulfilling sound bit by asking the confused, or willing to act the simpleton your ignorant question “What do they want?”
Entertain your entertainment seeking audience, who could care less about truth, or why?
Do these because ignorance is bliss, continually acting ignorant gets you ignored.
Just remember being ignored is not very good for your ratings, and the greedy ratings whores you work for will send you some where else like a bloody car wreck, or some other type of entertainment gore for your over simplified, kick in the crotch entertainment driven … non-news company.
What do they want? Shut up!
well mr. president,
you wanted to make us more like your model Europe.
so we got the stinkin health care plan that nobody wants!
so we got higher taxes!
so we are going bankrupt!
so now we have riots in the streets!
so now we have a dysfunctional government!
so now we appear to be allowing you to act like an imperialistic king!
great job mr. president but maybe over the next few months could you aim a little higher.
WHY DON'T YOU TRY TO MAKE US MORE LIKE THE AMERICA THAT WAS GREAT AND THE ENVY OF ALL OTHER NATIONS AND ALL OTHER PEOPLE.
WHY DON'T YOU TRY TO MAKE US MORE LIKE THE AMERICA THAT HAD PEOPLE FROM OTHER COUNTRIES LINED UP TRYING TO GET IN.
MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA.
THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE.
I love it Keep it up!! Thank you all.
I hate it. stop it.
Senator Raymond Clark: All you've got to know is this: right now the government of the United States is sitting on top of the Washington Monument, right on the very point, tilting right and left and ready to fall off and break up on the pavement. There are just a handful of men that can prevent it. And you're one of them.
Share this quote
Senator Raymond Clark: You stay put right here... I'm going to phone the White House. Tell you what, friend: when this is over you can take off your girdle and have yourself a real good cry. Say, uh, you got a dime to stop a revolution with?
Well gosh, am I the first? I wish I had some energy and good health, because I'd be out there. I'm proud of the ones who are. Keep up the good work. Thank you!
these activists really need to go after the real problem, politicians that constantly vote in favor of bailouts and subsidies. it wont end until you go to the root problem. remember, these loopholes that people speak about are actually written code of law, so you need new members of the government to change the law. re-electing the same politicians and expecting different results is crazy.
You are right, and the biggie is the need to deal with campaign money, which has gotten out of hand. Our president's fund last time could keep some small nations in the black. It is obscene, the amount of money going into campaigns, and it hurts us all, because whoever gets elected, they owe their contributors. It won't ever get much better until we deal with that. Poor old white haired John McCain went after it, until he ran, and they shut him up! $200,000,000 could have put a lot of people to work! That's what our pres raised the last time.
@Brenden4, Actually its a much shorter process this way. The people on Wall Street are the thugs that pay for the services of the politicians, in turn the politicians make great use of that money wouldn't you say? I say that for now, if the money can be choked off its a good start, but a serious uphill battle will have to be won.
I do hope that the 99% across the Planet will wake up!
I'm telling you people, Hank Jr. is a scapegoat.
9:19 p.m. EDT, September 28, 2011
North Carolina governor Beverly Perdue has to answer some questions because of a controversial suggestion she made when someone at a rotary club asked her how lawmakers could fix the economy.
Perdue said there's too much bickering in congress because lawmakers are worried about re-elections.
“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them--whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” said Perdue.
That suggestion made headlines all over the nation.
The movement is growing and I pray it continues to grow. In the meantime people need to start working in their communities to do something positive for everyone willing to participate. Goverment land that is suitable for farming should be made available for community farms so that we can avert the coming food shortages. This land should be plotted for anyone willing to farm it for food for themselves. One plot per person. Using land close to suburbs cities makes the most sense and since the top soil on corporate farms has essentially become depleted and spongy with all the toxins that have been put on this soil it has become essentially a petrol based tinder boxes.
If you really want to make a point that will not only hurt, but stick like glue, organize a nationwide walk out. Get everybody rich, poor, black, white, professional, medical, legal, criminal, and anyone else who has the balls to say "take this job and shove it!" Can you imagine the amount of money that wall street as well as our own government would lose in less than a week? I guarantee there are not enough guest workers and illegals to fill that gap. Do you really think that Wall Street or the Federal Government gives a @!$%# about protesters? Wall Street is probobly laughing at the protesters, and police officers with itchy trigger fingers are just waiting for the opportunity to shoot someone who gets out of line, and the National guard is most likely on ready alert to squash any potential uprisings or riots. Get a clue people, hit them where it will hurt the most, their wallets!
Show the videos of police brutality.
Or don't, they're all over Youtube, G+, Facebook, etc.
We'll see them whether you cover it or not.
We Are 99%
We Are Legion
We Do Not Forget
We Do Not Forgive
Move to Greece. You are 99% insane.
John - what exactly is it that you hate?
We hate paying a bank 600k or more for a 200k house when the tax payer guarantees the loan. All such loans should be made directly for a low interest. That would reduce house notes by half or more and and leave trillions in the hands of our people instead of thieving banks.
When the CEo of Disney made 600 million in salary and God knows what in bonuses he had children in Haiti working for 12 cents and hour. We hate the cold blooded rvil that is destroying America. We need a bill to force our public owned corporations to pay our minimum wages where ever they go.
Is there anything happening you don't like?
Disney's CEO didn't make a $600 million salary and you already get record low interest rates, so just what exactly is it that you hate?
Me? I dont like folks walking around in thier corporate made clothing. Drinking thier corporate brewed coffee, Talking on their corporate made cell phones. Holding up signs on their corporate made poster board, writen in their corporate made made markers. Posting to their blogs on thier Corporate made Laptops, on their Corporate provided 4g network, useing their corporate made web cams.
talking about how 'Evil' corporations are.. But hey maybe thats just me.
I love the patriotism shown by the Occupy Wall Streets protesters and those elsewhere around the nation. Here in Washington, DC protesters gathered at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza. I think it would have been more effective if they had done "Occupy K Street" just outside Grover Norquist's office. Lots of corruption there.
Lets be realistic, if there are no jobs, why are the illegal immigrants flooding the US? There are plenty of jobs, but there aren't a lot of high paying jobs that college graduates believed having a college degree meant they would get. The only high paying jobs now are government jobs [local, state, federal level as well as teachers] and being part of government unions. But even now, all those well paying union government jobs with their pension plans are bankrupting those very goverments. Government jobs and their retirement pensions are paid by taxes. As workers get yearly raises, as workers retire with full pensions and full medical whos costs increase yearly, taxes must go up to pay for it.
All these protesters, these college graduates are in debt upwards of $80k to $150k. The jobs available in the private sector aren't going to pay them enough to pay off their college debt off in any reasonable time [some or all will be paying that college debt 20 years from now], allow them to buy their own home when their in the early 30s, [their still paying off that college degree debt] raise a family, [still paying off that college debt] buy all the latest and greatest gadgets, so on and so forth. What some call Tthe American Dream".
The world is heading for a Great Depression which will lower the standard of living, lower wages and salaries, lower costs so that American manufacturing can be competitive with the rest of the world.
If you don't like corporations start your own business. Oh, the gov't regulations governing business are to difficult to deal with, change the regulations (maybe these are the same regulations you demanded}. Why are you so beholden to "corporate america", create your own industry, and quit whining about a master you don't want to serve.
A Job Fair should be held where the protesters are. They would clear out in less than an hour.
It's good to see the Tea party supporting these protests!!! er....wait...are they?
We are not sure what they are protesting for. If it is protesting against corruption, then we are all for it. If they are protesting against the opportunity for people to work hard and get rich, then we are against it.
Our big banks with trillions in assets have been getting billions in 0% loans to play the market. These lowlife pigs have been driving up the price of gas and food by manipulating the commodities market.
If we don't put millions in the streets and demand real change, we will soon be in depression and chaos. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and others have done more damage to America Than all terrorist combined.
Of course they have trillions in assets. That is what backs the loans. They were too over-leveraged and that is what caused the financial meltdown, so now they are holding on to the assets to prevent another Lehman Brothers.
GAS PRICES?! Oil companies make about seven cents on a gallon of gas after all their investment and work. The government gets around forty-five cents per gallon (depending where you live) simply by demanding it. So the question is this; who are you angry with over gas prices?
Occupiers? You mean squatting, camera seeking, wannabes. You all ought to be ashamed. You are acting like Greek Socialists.
If you want to occupy something, go occupy a school and learn something. Better yet, occupy your chosen political candidates staff ranks and remove the people in Washington responsible for the economy.
STOP BEING GREECE.
Have eyes to see and see not.
Then this:
If you don't know history you will repeat the mistakes of the past.
And now this: The republic Buster now in the Oval Office Barack Hussein Obama Junior (if that is his name) has successfully implemented the Leninist plot, the Sol Alinsky procedure and the Carter malaise in just about three years.
That has to make him one of the most powerful, successful and irresponsible men ever to occupy any executive office in any nation in the world. He has done what the Carter, Brzezinski, Kissinger trio couldn't do. He has undone what Reagan, Nixon, Bush did in 16 plus years in less than 3 years.
Now folks THAT IS CHANGE. But is it the change you were expecting ?
But wait... you have not seen the best part. Go on line and read the Alinsky 'manifest', or read that 'pants suit woman', Hillary Rodham Clinton's thesis. It is a trash piece, mostly rewritten from Lenin and Alinsky writings but by far and away easier to read that that piece of junk literature pushed out by Michelle (of course it's big but Barry likes it ) Obama as her thesis. Michelle apparently rephrased most of what she plagiarized so as to not get caught.
But, after you have read these inarticulate pieces you will see what is in store for you in the next 16 months. This upcoming stampede of executive orders, cancellation of many rights because of the 'rioters' in the street, because of the union thugs seizing police stations and beating citizens silly because they happened to catch the next bus and were swept up in the government provoked and sponsored violence.
Come on people how may fools are at Wall Street ? The police don't have assets to control , arrest and charge these fools ? Really? These so called do gooders represent no one but the government panic machine. The percentage of so called protestors is what ? .000000000009 percent of the population? And we the people should allow this minority, this front for Soros, SEIU, Obamas Reelection Campaign to stampede us into some foolishness beyond the fact that these yahoos, these idiots, these useful idiots to quote Lenin have wrought?
Fire hose them. Stun grenade them. Pepper spray them. If that doesn't send them home to momma's apron then mace them. If that doesn't do it shoot the rowdy ones and club those who reject an official order. That will end this bogus insurrection being orchestrated by Obama, Soros Brzezinski and the other henchmen of the people who want the US of A to fail.
Re read this and then get mad and call, not e mail call your Congressman or woman, call your Senator and tell them enough is enough they need to get rid of this plague, this epidemic of foolishness that has infested the Oval Office and they need to do it TODAY.
Any duly elected Sheriff in has the authority to arrest the president and drag (frog march him) to the House where he will be questioned under oath and when his answers are found to be lies and he is found to be incompetent to serve he will be jailed. Assuming Boehner gets some balls between now and then of course.
Now despite what Obama and Holder say this is the law of the land. Any Sheriff can arrest the President. Not a police officer, not a State Trooper, not the FBI, not any of the alphabet police agencies. Only a Sherriff has the authority. Look it up. Prove me wrong if you can. Which you cannot.
Despite the crap Holder and Obama (if that is his name) are now claiming, it is a Sheriff who will sooner or later arrest the phony in the Oval Office.
Bye, bye phony in the Oval office. Don't forget to take your frogging mother in law also.
Globalization as currently implemented is a failure. The US had made terrible trade agreements ("free" trade) that have opened our labor markets up to direct competition with Chinese sweatshops. If we continue this relationship, we will be a third world country.
There's nothing in the street
Looks any different to me
And the slogans are replaced, by-the-bye
And the parting on the left
Is now the parting on the right
And the beards have all grown longer overnight
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Help us Ron Paul . . . you're our only hope
Thye stole your and my money. They robbed our pension plans, our 401K and 457 plans. Now, they're sitting back in their ivory towers funding T party bigots and fat cats; driving around in their fine cars and living in their mansions with boat loads of money while you suffer. You are without a job, desperate, hungry. You had to drop out of school, give up your home and you know who caused all of this: Wall Street did. And they should suffer your wrath. March, march, march and bring heat on those T party funding thieves. Use your energy to rid our nation of the T party and impose a tax on Wall Street and the hoards of thieves who robbed you and me of our future. Sad thing is that these dishonest thieves actually believe they earned what they robbed and stole from us. May they all suffer incurable and painful anus cancer.
From the polls (and still increasing), it looks like the Republicans & Democrats (middle class that is) are finally agreeing on something, TAXING THE SUPER RICH. The middle class from both parties have been paying for the tax breaks of the super rich (even though the super rich have 90% of the money) and the middle class is slowly heading to the poorhouse because of this. There is power in numbers, if the poor are about 15% and the super rich about 15% that leaves about 70% for the middle class, as the largest class and they can help direct the economy in the right direction. TAX THE SUPER RICH / MORE LIVING WAGE LAWS / VOTE FOR A POLITICIAN THAT WILL PROTECT THE MIDDLE CLASS AND THE FORMER MIDDLE CLASS, THE POOR
Thanks to our illustrious Supreme Court, the wealthy can now give any amount of money to the political candidates. They own us, we are but slaves. And this concentration of power was the kind of thing the founding fathers hated. If anything else, they hated concentrations of power.
The Obama administration, a.k.a. the Goldman Sachs administration, bailed out the banks. The Federal Reserve, created by the liberal's championed progressive hero, Woodrow Wilson, bailed out Wall St. It was called quantitative easing.
You see, the banks and Wall St. are bestowed their powers by the Federal Reserve, who is technically a "government entity," though not subject to congressional audit, as they are really controlled by bankers. Their goal is to enslave us in debt through manipulation of our currency and interest rates.
The housing bubble, which patrons of this site attribute to bush administration policies, actually has roots much deeper. Before the housing crisis, when the mantra of the day is that evil banks are making "preditory loans," liberals protested that banks had "discriminatory practices." Imagine banks used to give loans on the merit of credit and the ability to afford a home!
However, Carter signed a bill to "fix" this problem. The Community Reinvestment Act, was a piece of "civil rights" legislation, which sought to force banks to loan to those of lower socio-economic status. Of course, it was not considered "preditory" then.
The Clinton administration took this to the next level. Janet Reno threatened banks using their FDIC status as collateral. But this was not enough. Clinton signed the Graham, Leech, Bliley Act, which repealed the Davis Bacon Act, a bill that had prohibited financial institutions from being both a bank, who originates loans, and an insurance company, who bundles & sells mortgage backed securities.
Then HUD Secretary, Andrew Cuomo, used the tax-payer funded Fannie and Freddie to popularize low-income securitization. Now, you have the official recipe for success! Just as Liberals planned to sabotage capitalism to live out their socialist dreams!
They obliterated lending standards and made it possible for them to make money by originating bad loans, bundling them, and selling them to, wait for it, FANNIE AND FREDDIE. The banks could now rely on our tax dollars to do exactly what liberal politicians wanted them to do - give homes to people who could not afford them!
This drove up home prices due to the rising demand. Then came the record defaults, leaving banks, insurance companies, fannie, and freddie with trillions in toxic assets. Then, the federal reserve chose which banks to prop up and which ones to let fail!
While the Bush administration used the bubble to delay an inevitable recession, which it inherited from the NASDAQ bubble, started during the Clinton years, notice that the architects were all Democrats. Now, Obama practices the most blatant crony capitalism. Look up what's happening with Solyndra, people. In a nutshell, billions of tax payer dollars go to a profitless solar company, riddled with Obama doners!
Occupy Wall St. is a Media created distraction put in place to divert voters attention during campaign time. High unemployment due to over-regulation and confiscatory taxation is what plagues us. Obamacare is causing small business and corporations across the country not to hire. The Fast and Furious and Solyndra scandels needs to be overshadowed by a media/hollywood backed, tea-party inspired, group of marxist morons, who want to be more like Europe, now that Europe is bankrupt due to these policies.
That's the point with this "Great Recession" and the coming worldwide Depression. Businesses have left the US to make products where labor is cheaper. All that is left for private businesses in the US is service related businesses that pay low wages. The only high paying jobs left are in the government as government union workers.
There's only so many government jobs, so those who can't get a government job, and don't want to work in the private sector for low wages, because their cost of living is so high, are left jobless.
There are jobs, lots of them. Just not high paying jobs that college grads believe their entitled to, to pay back those $80k student loans, buy a house, buy all those gadgets, all before 40.
It's not Wall Street that caused high paying jobs to disappear. It's the high cost of doing business in the US.
I don't see the US as really being high cost. Labor is value.
can you hear that? sounds like Republicans shaking in their boots- and they'll say or do anything to make these people sound like a bunch of libbies who "don't want to work" (as if 14 million of the unemployed simply dont want to work). i say get real cause this is as real as it gets. look out corporate apologists, you may have bought the tea party- but these people will not be bought! your days in congress are numbered
Spike dream on. We are exposing the leftists for who they are and the Tea Party will rise again, and I'm gonna do wehat I can to make it happen.