Why don't they use all those donations they get from the big corporations (their "enemies") to pay off the mortgage on these homes. Oh, wait; if they pay off the mortgage then the police don't get involved, and if the police don't get involved they don't get the attention they want, and if they don't get the attention they want they get ignored. Being ignored is their worst nightmare, so they have to stir up some kind of trouble.

If the police would actually bring down the hammer instead of just just turning a blind eye this could all be over.

Have you seen some of the subsidized housing lately? They had a story air here in Minneapolis where some of em had bring screen TVs, computers, cable, all subsidized by the government. It just perpetuates an attitude that they don't have to work and get for free (or low cost) all the luxuries that others pay full price for.

Are you kidding Ruken? Did you miss all the ruckus the liberal media stired up when the officer simply sprayed them with pepper spray? From now on they might as well just drag them off by their hair, they will be vilified no matter what they do! Make it easy on yourselves officers!

Wow, okay, I would like to know how you feel about all that auto signing, and giving people the run around and evicted them, even after their refinancing came through, and even after their mortgages were paid off! Yeah, I bet you guys feel that everyone is loser. What I see are two people that have no idea on what is really going on in this country. There is no reason that companies are saying that they are making "record breaking profits", when they have squeezed their workers into low paying salary jobs, and working 60 or more hours a week. In case your math is as poor as the reporting skills of Fox News, that is less than $9 an hour. But you guys probably think that is awesome, right? Slave states? How about the fact that if this isn't taken care of, and workers' rights are restored, your children, and grandchildren will have it harder than these people. But who cares, right? Not your problem, its always somebody else's, its only some loser who has a BA, and worked his or her butt off, only to be dropped by their employer, unemployment benefits have run out, and have cancer, or their child is sick, or wife, etc., and had no choice but to refinance. But hey, its their problem, right?

Did you know lack of empathy is a sign of psychosis? Yeah, all of you that don't care are one step away from murdering someone with your own hands. The thing that you don't realize, those of you that don't care, already have blood on your hands.

@Tedcrawford: Yea I understand. I just want it over. I'd count myself as moderate->liberal somewhere, but I don't see the big deal in pepper spray someone resisting arrest or trespassing on a property they shouldn't be on. In my opinion they deserve it.

@Stephace: Low paying jobs exist because everyone can do them and the require no skill. If they complain about that, maybe they shouldn't have dropped out of high school?

As for loans, if they can't pay for them they shouldn't have taken them out. Maybe they should think of the consequences before entering into a binding agreement.

I've heard of this one coming for a while. The biggest problems are:

1. Let's say they break into vacant houses and squat. I gather the owner continues to pay on those mortgages, maintain them, and pay the utilities (assuming that the owner is either a property owner whom can't sell/rent the place or a bank that has to manage the property post foreclosure). Is that fair?

2. OWS' track record to date is occupy and use, not occupy and maintain/make better. So, in the case of housing you have to assume that the occupiers will do damage during their stay and when the police drive them out.

3. The additional police/enforcement costs will skyrocket. OWS' biggest impact is likely their wasting municipal money in attempts to react to OWS actions.

4. If the police are needed to drive out OWS occupiers from these homes, will they charge the OWSer's with tresspassing, breaking and entering, etc.??

All of this goes back to envy- like Adam Carola noted in his recent rant. The minority may be saying "do the right thing, help those in need, etc." but the majority are saying "Why do you have better stuff than I do, you must be bad". Not a great starting point or one that they'd agree with if they themselves had bought that empty home as a rental property/vacation home/etc. They got mad that the homeless were eating "their food", just imagine how they'd feel about the homeless or occupiers taking over their home or property. I don't think they'd be pleased.

They're totally welcome to occupy my front door!

I'm one of those facing foreclosure. Throughout my adult life I've always been hard-working and fiscally responsible. But, through a series of unfortunate circumstances (not of my own fault, mind you), I'm now facing the sharp end of the lance. Can't find work (mine was one of many jobs that was exported to other countries), re-education didn't help (I tried to change careers, TWICE no less), and now the same banks that got HUGE bailout $$$ (Fannie/Freddie) are going to auction off my house.

Specifically @ American-lotsanumbers, how can you say "Communism at it's worst" when the uber-rich get handouts from the gov., while little guys like me get the shaft? That's not communism, that's OLIGARCHY!

@Shift Paradigm: Or we can just turn into a state where private property is no more and anyone can just come onto it any time they want because...they think they're entitled to. That sound better?

These jokers better be darn sure the house they're "taking over" is actually bank owned and not just vacated by the homeowner who's still responsible for the mortgage, and therefore any damages. Just because you get foreclosed on doesn't mean your clear of financial responsibility. And what kind of society do these fools think we'd have if not for large banks and corporations? (as they sit and play games on their ipads and use their cell phones to take and post videos - 'scuse me, aren't those the products of large corporations??)

So they'll occupy vacant buildings and trash them and move on to other vacant buildings?! What about trespassing? They should be arrested.

Uh, do you even know what communism is, Am?

Once again the Republican losers trying to take over the government.

Sorry it wont happen, you will lose .You will lose the elections, you will lose the battle,and the Independents and the liberals will win.

One of the greatset Presidents since Rosevelt will get reelected and he will fight the peoples war.

Go ahead and break into the vacant foreclosed homes. The banks that now own them can then call the police and have thesed dead beat occupiers arrested for breaking and entering, vandalism, and trespassing!

You beat me to it Toasty! :)

StephAce, UAW, take a chill pill. It's people like you who become victims of fundamentalist teachings because your all passion and no sense.

How does the attorney general sue the banks for "not doing enough". It's a bank, they technically don't have to DO anything!!! I'm not a fan of the banks, but even I know that!!

You got that right the 1% are more needy than the welfare recipients..

We need to squash the lobbying in Washington like a big cockroach.

That's what lobbyists are anyway: greedy cockroaches infesting our country and economy with a corrupt disease.

Ruken, these SALARY JOBS require college degrees, not high school drop outs. Before you respond, READ!

@uaw

I'm an independent, wouldn't vote for Obama for nothin!!!!!!

I am confused. I thought, for a house to be foreclosed on, you had to fail to pay for it.

Did they foreclose for some other reason than people not paying their bills?

If you didn't pay, you don't keep. Plain and simple.

Now that senate voted to cancel the bill of rights and constitution they can send occupiers to Guantanamo and torture them forever without trial. No one will know they existed. Oh yeah you probably don't know about this since it wasn't reported in mainstream media and only the 10 minutes blurbs on the nightly news are reality. Google 'US battlefield legislation' or similar.

John Doe,

Its time to take off the blinders. I reject extremism and fundamentalism. I look at the cold hard truths, and then I research the various NEWS REPORTS. Maybe if you read more than a handful of articles, here or there, you would see the bigger picture, like the reports that the Republicans are trying to bar students from voting to lower votes for Dems, or how the lies of 47% of people don't pay taxes, when its only 14%, need I go on? How about, how billionaires use creative accounting in such ways, that they get away with only paying 1% in taxes, and how the IRS cannot only spare the manpower to unravel the creative accounting, but how even if they do, the amount negotiated to be paid, is miniscule.

This is not fundamentalism, this is outrage. This is speaking out.

Don't believe me? Search these things out for yourself, instead of waiting for someone to spoon feed it to you.

Helping people keep their homes through legal means is a noble cause. Breaking into properties and trashing them for the sake of being an "occupier" is a crime. One should be lauded, and the other punished.

So now this scum have taken it upon themselves to start squatting on property which doesn't belong to them... Seems like a logical progression. Next stop, occupy the dumpster.

It's now beyond clear that these degenerates are not the voice of the 99%. Co-opting the collective voice of millions of working Americans for their own extended summer vacation is just as reprehensible as trying to stem legitimate free speech.

Get a job or die in the streets. Either one works for me.

What a great idea....the hobos and street people who helped swell the OWS ranks will be 'occupying' the copper pipes and bathroom plumbing in the occupied houses, once they've relieved the protesters of their I-Pads and Kindles.

I wonder if the "1%" will be blamed when one of these houses catches on fire and someone gets killed.

selfmade13 says: Next stop, occupy the dumpster.

If the dumpster is wrecking our economy and ruining people's lives, then I'm all for that.

sharriannie, I'm also an independent. The next presidential election is morphing into a sad, sad choice. Voters have to select the candidate who is best of the worst? Look at the Republican choices thus far. I have this bad feeling............

Mark...

Don't worry yourself...Mr. Obama will always yank in the great majority of "low information, low education" voters, he attracts their votes like a super-magnet.

StephAce - Thanks for enlighteneing us all..lol..How about every greedy person that takes advantage of the system to try and get a little extra for themselves at the expense of others..1%? 99%? 100%? Tell me more lies please, it will make you feel better about yourself.

I find it amusing that these Occupy Wall Streeters scream about rights, and yet routinely violate the law and the rights of others. They shout about free speech and the right to protest, yet care nothing about how their protests violate the rights of others, damage public and private property, cause needless expenditures of public funding on law enforcement, cleanup and other associated costs.

Do I think they have a right to protest? Yes, of course they do. Do I think that gives them the right to block off streets, impede others just trying to go about their daily business and damage public and private property? No way, Jose.

The problem with protest groups like these is that they are all about emotion, with little rational thinking involved. They are all about anger, with little care given to make sure that anger doesn't harm others who have nothing to do with the issue. Just look at past riots. Was the anger of most of them justified? Yes, to greater or lesser degrees. Did those riots cause damage and injury to people who had nothing to do with it? You better believe it.

Unfortunately, nothing will change. These protests have no effect on the so-called 1%. To bring about real change requires rational thinking that is beyond both sides. The ones protesting need to realize that not all corporations are responsible for everything they are protesting against, and the ones that ARE responsible need to seriously change how they do business.

Which will never, ever happen. If the average human being had a brain, they'd take it out and play with it.

So many of you are so disengaged with folks who live in poverty. I work in an inner city community college, and just today a young woman told me she has been trying to just get a job at Burger King, but they will not hire her because there are more qualified people applying to these jobs. She's intelligent, has people skills, and is a good looking person.

Last week I had a young man who I absolutely adore as a student and he told me he has been struggling lately because he is now homeless. These are people who are trying to make their lives better, but in this economy the stack is even higher against them. There certainly are those who want something for nothing, but the majority of people in poverty want to do better, and if society does not help them out there will be just more and more poor people, because there are no opportunities to get out. So if you like the idea of good people suffering more and more I am sorry. But in my world we need to help the poor because it is the moral thing to do.

Under capitalism, there will always be a pool of the unemployed and wealth inequality.

Jobby,

The fact that they're in the inner city gives some kind of a clue. How many of these people are from single-parent welfare families? How many illigitimate kids do they, themselves, have? The best way to work their way out of poverty is to stop breeding children that they can't afford to raise. That would help the entire country by reducing those on welfare roles.

Mark VanGelder,

Under ANY economic system there will be a pool of unemployed and there will be wealth inequality. There is not a single economic system where that doesn't occur. It's not the fault of the system either.

It's the fault of flawed, imperfect human beings. Get used to it.

We are comparing 99% vs 1%. Take the tax portion for example, if we increase what the 1% pay, and don't change the 99%, haven't we only addressed 1% of the problem?

For anyone that ever deals with running a business, or anything that requires change/improvement, where is the biggest return on a change? It is not attacking that which is 1% of the problem, it is done by looking at the 80/20 rule. In the tax case, 80% of the problem is caused by 20% of the people, don't these number make more sense to use? Ironically, 20% of the people pay 80% of the taxes... but you don't care about that 19% for some reason.

If these Occupy people want to actually put their efforts to good use they should not be making special cases and attacks on individuals or companies, but rather the system in general. Go ahead, "occupy" these forclosed houses, cause these companies to have to pay for the repairs, force these companies to cover these repairs by invoking fees and taking it out on the rest of us. Seriously, grow up and take responsibility <- that extends to those abusing the systems you are attacking.

Wizard of wisom, its a question of balance. Would you really want to be a college graduate in the US right now? The system only works when as many people as possible have the opportunity to participate. Yes, there have always been rich. However, if there are too many poor, then you have chaos. Therein lies the problem. The poor don't matter by definition. But, if you're middle class and find yourself falling out into poor, now we have a system out of balance. Big corporations not hiring for whatever reason (I have my opinion) while getting tax relief concessions is an example That's corporate welfare. There was a famous Queen who ignored to her peril the power of the crowd. Proceed at your own risk. We are not the America of 1776. We are a global economy. The system needs to change. Get used to it.

It has been obvious for decades that the people have no government. Banks, wall street and big corporations run America and they are destroying our country.

Banks, wall street, hedge funds, insurance companies and the commodities market are tied to gather and they have much in common. The produce nothing and they take mountains from our economy. Here is some of what they control: Our government, our money supply, interest rates, housing, education, health care and the price of many essential commodities.

Our big banks with trillions in assets have been getting billions in 0% loans to play the market. The pigs have been driving up the cost of gas and food on our hurting people. They rob us with our own money and nothing is done about it.

All government guaranteed loans should be made directly for a low interest. This would cot house notes by half or more and leave trillions in the hands of our people instead of thieving banks.

Wht should anyone pay a bank 600k or more for a 200k house when the taxpayer backs the loan. It's overdue for us to demand real change. We need a government and a financial system that serves instead of rapes our people.

Also, all public owned corporations should be required to pay our minimum wages wherever they go. This would bring back jobs and show a little respect for workers.

We will force real change or the pigs and their government will have us in depression and chaos. We give special treaties, tax breaks and all possible help to those that outsource for slave labor. We are insaneto allow the destruction of our country by greed.

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 an hour. This is the cold blooded evil that is destroying America. The riches people in the world benefit and the rest suffer.

I hope they throw all these free loaders out of where ever they infest.

There are a lot of really mean people on this board. I don't like to say this, but I really hope something truly horrible happens to each and every one of you privileged fools. I mean life-ruining terrible, like an accident kills your spouse and your children. And then I hope you fall victim to stomach cancer. Hey, it's your fault for having a spouse, children and a stomach, right? Even then you'll be getting off too easy. I hope you lose your job because you're in too much pain to work and your house is destroyed in an earthquake while you're dying slowly in it because you can't pay your medical bills. You make me sick and embarrassed to live in the same country as you. This is not the America I believe in. You are nasty, ignorant a@@wipes who have no feelings of empathy for anyone but yourselves. Hell is full of people just like you and I hope you join them very soon. The world doesn't need you.

OWS is a bad joke. While many people are supporting this "movement," most don't. The people doing the occupying are destroying public property and committing other crimes that only costs tax payers money while doing nothing to affect the target they have picked. Now they want to move into homes they don't own so they can destroy them too. These kids need to grow up. Yes, the bulk are kids and when they are convicted of breaking the law, and they will be, good luck with getting a job with a criminal record. They are biting off their own nose despite their face.

I think you are taking the trailer trash too seriously. Most of the mean-spirited posts show signs of a lack of education by the fox brainwashed writers. I am not in your country but it is easy to see that most of these people are working against their own self-interests. The 1% represent about 400 families and they have all the power.

The Wizard of Wisdom says: It's the fault of flawed, imperfect human beings. Get used to it.

So you are saying humans are imperfect so we should all just accept the crumbs the oligarchs throw at us and roll over and accept the flawed, unbalanced, unfair system.

You are neither wise, smart, or intelligent. You are more like the typical flea bagger: a parasite on the face of humanity. Readily accepting the broken system because greed renders you incapable of envisioning social justice and financial equality.

Who wouldn't want to live in a world where people are treated fairly and paid a living wage for a good days work? Apparently not you. Dumb ass!

Maybe the question you should be asking is why the government took that $8 trillion from the people of the US in the first place. The banks don't have the power to tax you. They don't have the power to force you to take out a mortgage you can't afford. The banks don't want to own your crappy little tract house. Think it through.

What about those whose houses have been illegally foreclosed on? The number is very, very high, and the investigations constantly are turning up more and more homes that were taken in that fashion.

StephAce.... a source for your information please

or is that just what you heard around an OWS tent one day?

XDM, just read the news....

robo-signing, falsified mortgage documents, fraud, misrepresentation, contempt of court.... etc... It has been all over the news...

@stephace i guess you missed the 2nd half of the article "Massachusetts AG sues five banks over foreclosures"... or were you to busy watching news for dumb fux.... more and more of allegations like this surface every week

Some people just stick their head in the sand and refuse to believe their government is screwing them. At the same time they also don't realize they are giving their government a reach-around.

News flash we all know this administration has screwed us royally and is trying to keep it up as fast as they can before the election. Precisely why they are going to be gone.

What anyone owes these obnoxious cry babies is a good swift kick in the pants. They weren't out working thier butts off and paying bills. They were sitting in school on someone else's dime, parents or fed loans, now they are whining because the rest of thier life can't be free. Grow the hell up already.

Here are some instances:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/bank-of-america-illegal-foreclosures_n_1118471.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/foreclosure-fraud-nevada-criminal-case-robo-signing-mortgages_n_1099701.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/business/22lockout.html

http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/11/19/crs-report-details-dangers-of-foreclosure-fraud/

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/23/prweb8987093.DTL

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/political-economy/2010/10/ally_financials_gmac_mortgage.html

Foreclosed homes, empty lots are next 'Occupy' targets

Did I miss something, what was the first?????

"What anyone owes these obnoxious cry babies is a good swift kick in the pants. They weren't out working thier butts off and paying bills"

Which is exactly the same thing Wall Street was doing. But they got bailed out AND paid themselves handsome bonus's with OUR tax dollars. Wall Street crooks should have gotten the swift kick in the pants from the get go. Our government has set a dangerous precedent by bailing out failed companies and refusing to address the problems that got them there in the first place.

xdm9mm....are u a bank lobbyist? if not then u are watching too much fox noise. fox noise viewers were just labeled in a national study from farliegh dickinson university to be the most misinformed of all cable news viewers. u wouldnt know this because fox didnt inform u.

wall street and poiticians go hand in hand.

phillyfan

Why aren't you pissed at Fannie and Freddie?? They have taken 180 Billion in bail out money so far,and gave themselves millions in bonuses. Where is your outrage??? And guess what. They don't have to pay it back like the banks did. OH! I forgot the Banks paid about 5 Billion in interest.

I am so tired of listening to all this nonsense! If you took out a loan, on a house you couldnt afford, then turned around and took out a another loan on the alleged "equity" of said house, then you deserve everything you get! There is nothing in our constitution stating you have the right to free housing, medical etc. You have the right to enjoy the freedom of EARNING it. nothing more, nothing less.

The people who don't want to pay their school loans or complain that they can't get a job with their degree? WTF? You took out the loan, no one held a gun to your head. If your degree is in say, french literature, well..... you're probably not going to get a job that pays very well. If you have a degree that; or worked in a field that is no longer relevant...well, that's life and you need to figure something else out. I worked in the Logging and then Commercial Fishing industries. Guess what happened to us? Between the eviro nazi's and the over regulations of our wonderful government...those two industries are a hollow shell of what they once were. This country, despite our governments efforts to over regulate small business.. is still the best place in the world to get ahead in life. But you can't do it by crying about your neighbors nice car and wanting a hand out for nothing. Cut your hair, take out your piercings, get those neck tatts removed and get a damn job! There is a reason that millions of people are spending their entire life savings just to come here! People the world over apply for USA visa's by the millions and way too many Mexicans ans Central Americans sneak over our borders on a daily basis just to have a shot at what these ass clowns already have. Occupy this...

MIke,

Will agree with you. I sit here watching these people on TV act like they are entitled to something. No one ever takes and puts a gun to their head to take out a student loan. Really, an ART HISTORY Major--what kind of job prospects do you really have. How many museums are out there looking for young people to show off art.

Here's another area of study for some of the OWS

Parapsychology – various colleges

This degree is perfect for starting a career with Ghostbusters. Oh wait, Ghostbusters are fictional – that’s four years wasted. Nevertheless, this course dedicated to the study of the paranormal (Slimer and haunted houses included) is popping up in universities and colleges worldwide. Coventry, Edinburgh, Northampton and Liverpool in the UK, plus Belford and Flamel in the US all offer the course, which makes you wonder if people are watching too many Most Haunted episodes.

Read more: #ixzz1fQJ5Ez4B

People need to remember that college is a privilege, not a constitutional right. For most of these people, they have been given 12-13 years of free education through our public schools, they have taken out federal loans for their college, and now they want to default on their loans. Maybe they should try working at a JOB, not their "college" career.

I AM pisses at Fannie and Freddie. I am pissed at the whole damn situation. And I don't give a rats ass how much they paid back it should have never been given in the first place! If they needed that money sooooo bad how the F did they pay it back so quickly WITH interest AND gave themselves huge bonus's? ITS BS!!

I agree, the occupy movement is full of nonsense! They claim, the Wall Street meltdown was caused by "bad" decisions that were made by people in the "private sector" and the government failed to rein them in and save us from the housing bubble. Listen, Wall street did not wake up one morning and decide to give out bad loans!

Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act that would enable the government to punish banks for not meeting a particular credit requirement. What was that requirement? The regulation told banks they had to "meet the credit needs" of "low-income, minority, and distressed neighborhoods."

In order to comply, lenders responded by loosening their underwriting standards and making increasingly bad loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were at the forefront of all this, the two firms backed by the US government encouraged "subprime" lending by authorizing ever more "flexible" criteria by which high-risk borrowers could be qualified for home loans, and then buying up the questionable mortgages that ensued. As a result, more minorities, and low-income were able to buy houses like never before. Affirmative-action policies trumped sound business practices. This looked great on the stats and for the government, the banks then got caught up in the housing prices because houses were selling way more than what they were worth. Speculators replaced home builders for homes, meaning new houses were being built but nobody was living in them. This crazy lending practice went on for 12 years!

Did the President ever oppose the Community Reinvestment Act? Did any of the occupy crowd oppose the Community Reinvestment Act? No! Rather , it's the banks fault! Nonsense! The occupy movement is high on they believe in, for who in their right mind would be sitting in someone's else house, foreclosed or not or attempt to close bridges! All the trash that comes from their mouths when in fact it was the very government who started it not the banks! Sure there was some blame in the private sector for what happened but they were following government policies!

So the OWS newest 'tactic' is to break more laws?

This group has lost all credibility. What's next, robbing banks?

Why not? Banks have a liscense to rob people and they do, big time. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and one other big investmet bank have been driving up the price of gas and food by manipulating the commodities market. The have 80% of the options on oil and have been getting billions in 0% loans to play the market.

People pay a bank 600k or more for a 200k house and say thank you even when that loan is guaranteed by their government (or the tax payers). All such loans should be made directl for a small interest. This wouul cut house notes in half and leave trillions in the hands of our people instead of thieving banks.

We will take control of our financial system and their government or we will soon be in depression and chaos.

I have responded many times to comments I find opposing OWS, but I will try one more time.

I am a middle-aged, middle-class home owner from the midwest, and I am so impressed with the nationwide and even world-wide efforts that are being made by people from a wide range of ages and occupations to increase awareness of the worsening downward spiral that our country is in. I have been watching this trend with concern for the last 8-10 years, noticing that the rich were getting much richer while the numbers of people living in poverty has obviously increased. I did not need a left-wing extremist group to call my attention to it.

I have noticed that health care costs are mounting, while more and more people have no insurance. I have watched our city centers turn into ghost towns, our schools lose programs, etc. etc. I notice jobs going to other countries, while American factories are abandoned. I saw in my own town all the simple little homes that were suddenly empty and neglected due to foreclosure. I saw all the foreclosure auctions listed in the newspaper, knowing that another family would have to move in with relatives.

These issues have concerned me, but I had no idea what could be the cause, or what steps could be taken to reverse the trend. When I first heard about Occupy Wall Street through a relative who was involved, I started doing extensive research on the internet to find out more about the issues OWS was talking about: corporate personhood, the Glass-Steagall Act repeal, the increasing income inequality between the top 400 corporations and the rest of the US workers.

I DO NOT see this group as lazy, unmotivated youngsters who believe they are entitled to all sorts of benefits for nothing. I see them as much more motivated and more knowledgeable than the rest of us. They are not just unemployed young people- there are housewives, many fully-employed professionals, and many active college students who are taking on this cause along with their normal busy lives.

I am grateful to these activists, and admire their courage and tenacity for being willing to risk arrest if necessary to get the rest of the country to take our eyes off our NASCAR races and football games long enough to notice what is going on right in front of us.

OWS does not pretend to have all the answers- they just want all Americans to take notice of the increasing control of our government by the huge banks and corporations. They want to get the majority of the country energized to discuss the problems, to talk together about solutions, to find politicians who would be willing to work for the common person, rather than for the big money guys.

Restoration of the Glass-Steagall Act, outlawing corporate personhood, stopping corporate lobbying- these are all steps that could be taken to at least let the fat cats know the middle class means business.

Judging by the sentiments posted on this blog, in this thread and the subsequent ones, the OWS and their supporters have got one thing very wrong...they do NOT represent the 99%...they are getting less than 10% support...and on a very liberal site at that!

I wonder what 8 trillion dollars could have done for the people of the US.

Actually TARP was about 800 billion, or less than $1 trillion.

It never ceases to amaze me how gullible people can be.

Obama has managed to really screw up the economy, and his only hope for reelection is to turn people against each other as a diversion.

It's remarkable how many people are falling for this manufactured chaos.

So these bums are moving into foreclosed houses, like hobos? Walks like a duck, quacks like....

Are they still around. Please news media, keep me informed about this movement. Oh wait, I think I am getting a movement also.

**Waves to BigBear** Have to admit your comment "Will agree with you. I sit here watching these people on TV act like they are entitled to something" is rather stereotypical for someone I presume that has a college degree? In the first place "as you sit there and read" you are forming your opinion which I am sure is correct pertaining to some occupiers and viewing it as fact for the majority if not all of them. Everyone is entitled to their opinion yet if the opinions are not based on fact or made using bad or fabricated intel aka (weapons of mass destruction in Iraq), wouldn't you say they are pretty much worthless?
As for college, I believe if you asked yourself "did my college really make me anymore shore of myself when obtaining my career position"? From my work experience in seeing general managers, presidents, CEO's, so on an so forth that have college degrees start with a company I always found it rather amusing at how little they actually do know about the trade or industry.
Thanks for the laughs.. haaa

Icon, you sound intelligent. Weapons of mass destruction, maybe osama and hussain could be weapons of mass destruction? Oh, my sources: The frickin news. Killed thousands of innocent people.

Thanks for the laughs..haaa

While the Occupy movement is generally bathed by the media in this romantic notion of "David versus Goliath" one of the more telling facts about the "Occupy LA" protest was that the workers, who went in to cleanup the park after it was cleared of "occupiers", all wore Haz Mat suits! The details of this didn't make the front page...or most often any page!

Oh well, it's Hollywood...what else would you expect!

Kenn, the news also wasn't showing the horrendous treatment of those arrested. Being forced to sit in flexcuffs for over 7 hours with no food or water, locked in a bus. If they needed to use the restroom, they had to do it, in cuffs, on the bus Those that were taken in to the jail were left in cuffs and some have suffered nerve damage due to it. Misdemeanors generally carry a release on recognizance, or at most a $500 bail, many of the OWS people were given $5000 bail.

As for your haz-mat claim, don't you think it might be for show. Think about this - three blocks away from where OWS was protesting was a homeless tent city. You mean to tell me it is safer there?

The fact that many people here miss is that OWS is more than what the papers tell you. We are neither left nor right. We are also aware that the government is afraid of what we may become. Don't believe it? 18 mayors gathered in an unprecedented call with the Dept. of Homeland Security to discuss ways of ending the "occupations." Tactics have included open violations of departmental guidelines (launching a teargas canister at an unarmed, non-confrontational opponents head is a no-no, spraying tear gas from 5 feet on non-resistant people is a clear no-no), an LRAD was used on people committed to non-violence, the media has been blocked from reporting on events, and when they try, are harassed, intimidated, arrested or beaten. The Senate just tried to (may have succeeded) in passing a bill that would allow indefinite detention of US citizens, even those found not guilty of a crime.

Even if you don't believe in OWS, realize that your government will still treat you as if you do support them. You are not rich, and therefore you are small cogs in the machine that can be made to disappear at will.

Jordan: No I don't think the use of the Haz Mat suits was for show. While not reported widely the conditions in the park were "unsanitary" and the refuse left behind surely had "all" types of contaminants. Not everyone in that park was there solely to support the ideals of the OWS.

As far as the treatment you are describing, this is a replay of another incident in Los Angeles some 22 years ago! Look up the newspaper articles describing the March, 1989 arrest of some 700 abortion protestors (50 of whom were women) in Los Angeles on a Saturday just before Easter. While some of the things you describe (tear gas, pepper spray) were not an issue, they were treated just as badly, and their friends (including those who did not support their abortion views) have not forgotten it! But bottom line, when the police ask you to disperse...you should disperse...certainly at least in Los Angeles!

Many of those who are critical of OWS may agree with some of your premise, but disagree with your approach, and when that happens you lose your most valuable claim...that your represent the 99%!

I hope the occupy movement keeps this up! This really makes the Democrats look back for the up coming elections. Let's vote all these socialist rat bastards out.

I have been out of work a few times in my life and I always made my own job. There are countless opportunities now with the internet. If you don't have a computer there are still lots of ways that you can access the internet. Build a website, get a paypal account find companies that drop ship and start selling. There are lots of other things that you can do to work for yourself. In this country we are not guaranteed equality of income, we are guaranteed equal opportunity. I grew up poor, in a house with no running water in the mountains of east TN. I dropped out of school in the 10th grade and went to work in a sawmill. Later I got my GED and then went to college. Now I own a business exporting logs and lumber all over world among other things. I create jobs and bring money into the local economy. You have to be a self starter and a risk taker to have a small business. Most people are to lazy to do the hundreds of hours of work with no pay for weeks or months to start their own business. Many people do not even have what it takes to work for someone else. I know, I fire slackers all of the time. If you have what it takes you can go as far as you want and attain whatever goal that you reach for in this country. If you are lazy and a slacker and not a self starter you will never get anywhere. Children who are slackers make bad grades and fail in school while go getters and self starters make strait As and excel in school. That is the way the world works, if you don't like your position in life then change it. If you want to whine and talk about your bad luck than you are a slacker. Don't waste your energy whining about the 1% go to work and be the 1%. Free market Capitalism is the best system for hard workers and self starters. Communism and socialism is the best system for slackers and freeloaders. You get to choose what you are.

There isn't anything large-scale about it except the media's end.

Exactly out of the "Wall Street Day of Rage" (now called Occupy Wall Street) by SEIU Lerner.

Now what was it Lerner called for ? Oh yeah:

The use of the term "Day of Rage" recalls the "Days of Rage" organized in the 1960s by the Weather Underground domestic terrorist organization co-founded by Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, close associates for years of President Obama.

Numerous radicals, many with direct ties to Obama, are linked to planned protests and other activism scheduled for the coming months.

In March, ACORN founder Wade Rathke announced what he called "days of rage in ten cities around JP Morgan Chase." Rathke was president of an SEIU local in New Orleans.

The planned Sept. 17 protest seems to be the culmination of Rathke's efforts.

Those efforts are being organized by Stephen Lerner, an SEIU board member who reportedly visited the Obama White House at least four times.

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=334433

Exactly what this administration wants! Martial Law, with the suspention of Elections!

You right wingers are entertaining in every way....

at least now they are dealing with something real and taking an action that will cause a reaction.at least there will be a good or bad outcome to talk about.

Now that senate voted to cancel the bill of rights and constitution they can send occupiers to Guantanamo and torture them forever without trial. No one will know they existed. Oh yeah you probably don't know about this since it wasn't reported in mainstream media and only the 10 minutes blurbs on the nightly news are reality. Google 'US battlefield legislation' or similar.

Now we know what these clowns are really after. THey want to be squatters and get the forclosed houses for free. What a bunch of useless wastes of oxygen.

Saxon,

This is all orchestrated by the unions and this administration is approving by turning a blind eye. The cops can handle this bunch they will just have to take the kid gloves off. Lots of volunteers if they need the help.

This is right out of the ACORN/Obama playbook.

Saxon, I agree with you. The only question left is, what side will you be on?

Mack,

It's funny that you bring that up. I did a search for "US battlefield legislation" and the top two hits were on this bill. One was a liberal website and the other was a conservative website. BOTH of them were against this bill.

Imagine that. Something liberals and conservatives can both agree on. Progress at last.

Shaking my head,

"What a bunch of useless wastes of oxygen."

No, if you want to see a bunch of useless wastes of oxygen, look at Congress. At least these protesters are doing something, whatever you may think of it. That's more than I can say for this Congress.

The military does not take a position, it obeys the orders of the civilian leadership elected or appointed to head the military departments and the Department of Defense. If civil unrest exceeds the resources of local law enforcement, it is appropriate for a governor to declare an emergency and call out the National Guard. One of the purposes for the US Constitution, stated in the Preamble, is to ensure domestic tranquility, so it would not be unconstitutional for our government to employ the appropriate forces to control or end generalized civil unrest and or lawlessness.

There is a fine balancing act between liberty, justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, and all the other aims of the Constitution. We are a nation of laws, with specific processes for addressing grievances. We, as a nation, have become so fat, lazy, and spoiled, that we have lost touch with the notion that this nation is ours, and that we are responsible for keeping our democratic republic functioning. For decades we have left governance to our elected functionaries and have enjoyed our rich lives. Like spoiled children that must suddenly face adulthood and don't know how, we have awakened to realize that we don't like the situation in which we find ourselves. The government did not create this situation alone, they did it with our apathetic assistance.

are you all that naive? it's trespassing and there is no need for military action. they can have their free spot in jail and pay their fines and if they cant pay their fines work it off in jail. illegal foreclosure or not (not my discussion) you cannot just walk onto private property i.e. a bank's property and stay when told to leave. and regardless of what you new age hippies post with pretty pictures of cops just beating and pepper spraying people with your little captions or assumptions about some trigger happy military person mowing people down with their rifles on full auto, grow up. i bet you thought the matrix was real too before this movement and sat around trying to break free from the computer induced delusion you lived under. this is not going to be a civil war and the occupy protestor has no leg to stand on legally. they will simply be arrested. good game drink water. stop believing what mainstream media and the action movies feed you.

Main stream media is almost all big money and cotporate controled. They tried to ignore or discredit this wide scale protest.

Our middle class is declining, poverty is growing and the top few take more and more. Both parties are owned and if we don't put millions in the treets to force real change, we will shortly be in depression and chaos.

I have watched videos of many of the occupation groups. The occupiers are so peaceful that it confuses the police who are sent in to break up the group. The police expect a fight, but the protesters just sit or stand calmly, refusing to be stirred into violence. In nearly every case of clashes with the police, the officers acted as if they were heading into combat, but were met with calm, organized groups of activists. The campus police officer who pepper sprayed the college students in California stepped right over a row of students who were sitting on the ground, turned around, and sprayed commercial grade pepper spray right in their faces at close range. The entire group of hundreds of students, rather than rioting or attacking the officers, continued to sit or stand in place, repeating "Shame!, Shame! Shame!" and "You do not have to do this." Several of the students were then grabbed by the officers and hauled away, still without fighting the police. Various occupy groups from all over the country and even in Europe, Australia, Egypt, etc. continually remind each other via facebook and Twitter of the absolute necessity of non-violence, no matter what. So I don't believe the idea that the police forces will be overwhelmed with a protest of this magnitude. Certainly they should be standing on the sidelines, available if problems arise that need police intervention, but I seriously doubt that the OWS groups I have observed will ever resort to anything that will require military intervention. Don't be afraid of the occupiers, they are not violent, just determined to raise awareness and start change.

This is something that most small local police forces can easily handle. They have already shown tremendous restraint. If it does become violent, certain communities may take advantage of the chaos to riot and loot. Perhaps, then other police will be called in for mutual support. It would take a lot for the Governor to call out the National Guard. Regardless, all of the OWS "leaders" and "spokesmen" who made provactive speeches calling for violence will be phoning their lawyer fathers and deleting their facebook accounts, because they will be held responsible. They do know that every dumba$$ interview that the do and every claim that they make as "accountant" or "leader" finds its way into a database, don't they? If your kid poops in a foreclosed building or throws rocks at the police, karma will find him somewhere down the line.

Bingo on that one Frank!

Occupy Orlando peaked at about 20 in October. They are so serene, they are nearly invisiblely occupying a small park, eating PB&J's and drumming quietly. Occupy away kids.

I think Frank and Gloria are the same person. How else could they agree?

Nah, Mr. Obama "laughed" about his FAILED shovel ready jobs Stimulus bill which cost $ 862,000,000,000 (plus interest) and Mr. Biden even announced it was a FAILURE:

• Mr. Obama Jokes about Shovel Ready jobs: http://exposethemedia.com/2011/06/13/video-obama-jokes-about-shovel-ready-projects/
• Mr. Biden says Stimulus was a failure: http://scaredmonkeys.com/2009/06/14/vp-biden-admits-obama-stimulus-plan-a-failure-on-meet-the-press-everyone-guessed-wrong-on-the-impact-of-the-stimulus-not-everyone-joe/

However, the Liberals will say this created or saved 3,000,000 jobs and saved us from a GREAT DEPRESSION.

The banks don't have the power to tax you. Yes they do they bought off the congress and judges and got their bail out. You know the one McCain suspended his campaign to do.

Richard: Obama also voted for TARP.

Great point...except the shovel ready jobs aren't growing our economy because those jobs were going to happen regardless of the ARRA act. If the job was "shovel ready" then the project was necessary and funding was already being secured. I audit multiple governmental units and many got this ARRA money for projects they were going to do anyway. It was just a bonus for them that they received additional grant funding. Besides these jobs take skills most of these people don't have!

Obama is stalling on the real shovel ready job creator, the XL Pipeline, he doesnt want to piss off his environmentalists buddies before they write him those big checks.

obama bailed out the auto industry. bush bailed out the banks. auto industry paid their debt back w interest. banks just keep screwing people. u rightwingers have amnesia. that is from the agenda that fox noise promotes. they lie to u about dems so u will forget the truth about the gop. wake up, righties!!! the real truth is in ur post votes. steve and shakin my head are cellar dwellers for a reason.

doug,

Ummmm, the vast majority of the banks have paid back their debts too, with interest. Does that mean you have amnesia too...or just a case of lack of research and too much political ideology to bother verifying the things you say?

You're real good about telling republicans/conservatives that their media lies to them. Guess you forgot that your media lies to you too. Something to keep in mind. You might also want to save the holier-than-thou bs for your fellow liberals.

Only idealogues go out of their way to try to make it sound like it's only the other side that's screwed up...when the real truth is that both sides are a colossal joke.

i agree that both sides are a joke, but the banks have not paid back all the money. and the holier than thou comment was uncalled for. check the new farliegh dickinson university study about who lies the most in the media. by the way im not a dem or repub. but how can the gop block all of obamas policies to keep the economy struggling, have no answers themselves, then tell ows to get a job ? u can figure all that out by watching congress debate on c-span.

Go USA So they both Suck.

The XL pipeline will create 100,000 jobs and allow the country to be energy independent, which is why Obama doesn't want it. Obama hates America.

Max-943899 - There are many things that are happening that are not "okay" the least of these what the OWS people are doing. The banks created a problem, took $$ for the Making HOme Affordable Program and then screwed all the people that tried in good faith to get back on track with their mortgages. Many of the people who lost their homes were hardworking people who lost their jobs, their health insurance and then their homes not because of being lazy but because of circumstances none of us can sometimes control. Any one of us can get sick.....even YOU!!! The "let them eat cake" attitude in this countgry by the Congress, the banks and Wall Street is what sparked the OWS. And if these non-violent protests aren't respected and listened to we might well have an armed revolution. The government has become corrupt and does not work for the people any longer. If you think that corporations should profit from the hardship of Americans then you are part of the problem.

Couldn't have said it better Max!

I'd consider myself a moderate democrat and I hate the OWS movement :(

Kathy,

I think we all agree the government is more corrupt than we would like it to be (there will always be corruption - the issue is how much is tolerable). The problem with this OWS approach is, it will ultimately hurt the poor and middle class the most. If we further destabilize the banking industry, the end result will be less credit for everyone - most notably "main street". What OWS doesn't seem to understand is, when the economy is doing well, everyone benefits. Yes, the people that are the best at the financial game will get the most, but that's the way it has always worked (just like, the best athletes get the most rewards in their field).

If OWS really wants to help the poor and middle class, they need to be in DC lobbying for things like ending insider trading by congress, and enacting campaign finance reform. I agree there are significant changes needed, but unfortunately, I see OWS's actions doing more harm than good to the average citizen.

Sorry Ruken, I apologize!

Kathy, sorry but you are misinformed. The banks only get HAMP incentive money once the loan is modified, the short sale is closed, or the Deed-In-Lieu is executed. So, please tell me how the banks took this money and didn't help out the homeowners. The HAMP progam is a dismal failure in that a majority of loans modified under the program fell into default again and still ended up in foreclosure. When this happens, its is because the homeowner decided to purposefully default again and pay other bills and expect to get another modificaiton, even though they are told at the outset, under HAMP, the homeowner gets 1 modification, which set the monthly mortgage payment to no more than 31% of the borrowers gross monthly income and lowers the rate to as low as 2% for five years. I work for a small community bank and time and again we modify mortgage loans, only to have th borrower call us 6 months later when they miss a payment expecting another modificaiton. Most of the time they miss this payment because they say the chose to pay other bills and though the bank would remodify the loan. I have even had borrowers apply for a modification because they blew their last few paychecks at the Casino and tried to hide that fact by not providing their bankstatments that show ATM withdrawals being made at the casino, then want to whine about being denied for a modificaiton because they caused their own financial hardship. I have also seen modification applications where borrowers claim they cannot afford to pay their mortgage but have gone out and financed a $40k or $50k auto in the last 6 months rather than buying somethine within their means. The big banks did participate in some pretty bad lending but there are far more homeowners that over spend on other items an continue to refuse to adjust their lifestyles and expect the bank to take the full loss.

Mrs Kramer, We need to cut back on the high priced technical gear being sold to our SOSOM guys and bring them home to focus on these squatters and use the big bad grill. LOL

Ron, you don't have to be in DC to "lobby" for campaign finance reform. We all know that Congress is NEVER going to pass any such bill, only to have it overturned by their buddies in the SCOTUS. That is how we got the Citizens United ruling. The ONLY way to accomplish any kind of reform is from the grassroots (which is what OWS et al is all about) and you can get involved in the grassroots through the Popular Amendment Movement at www.faircampaignreform.us. Download the two constitutional amendment petitions, sign them and then circulate them among your family and friends, and from there help start a local community grassroots group to further circulate the petitions. Get others throughout your state to do the same. That takes the power out of the hands of those idiots the voters keep electing/re-electing and puts it back into the hands of the actual citizenry.

Kathy, if you stop making payments for the stuff you bought on time, you don't get to keep the stuff. Are the banks simply supposed to give the houses away? The money they are using is on deposit from people like you and me, that's what they're lending. Are you willing to make house payments for some of these people? That's what you're asking the banks to do.

yeah why should a home buyer, who just wants to own a house like all of his or her friends and co-workers, trust the motgage lender to be honest with them about what the house is really worth or that they placed a bet that the buyer would default so they could collect the insurance on the failed loan. that is common knowledge when buying a house isnt it??? u radical righties make me sick!!! the banks and the congressmen who protect them are criminals, period! they have taken advatage long enough! i have no problem paying my mortgage but is it really fair for me to pay the bank 437000 dollars over 30 yrs for a 200000 dollar home? is that really an honest profit?? they speculated what it would be worth 30 years from the loan date and made sure that they will get that much. just like they speculate commodities on the stock exchange. its all rigged in the banks favor. anyone who sides with them is part of the problem.

continuing from my earlier post; if i sell my house when its paid for, the return on my investment is 0. but the bank made 237000 off of my investment. highway robbery. if i defaulted on my loan after 25 yrs should the bank bail me out?? the banks dont play by the same rules as everyone else has to.

Banks through the federal reserve printed money and paid us back eith our own money.

Also, they never took a bad loan they didn't want. They thought housing would continue up and they would steal half the world. The government made it easy for them. If one note was paid they made money. There is nothing our corrupt corporate and financial systems want do. They are a disgrace to America and the human race. The derivatives scam they set up should have put many in prison. Instead the got billions in bonuses.

Anyone living in this country and defending our banking system is missing something. By the way most all our media is big money and corporate controled. Unfortunatel they have have control of the minds of too many.

Doug, just start your own bank. Banks are started every day. Just get 10 friends willing to put up $1 million each and charter a bank. Oh wait...you are probably not wealthy, just a jealous wealth hater....never mind.

My biggest gripe about banks foreclosing on a house and kicking the occupants out of it is this: the house then sits empty and abandoned. The yard grows up in weeds, the windows get broken out, rats move in, and eventually, if the house doesn't get torched first, the roof leaks, ruining the floors. Then the bank ends up owning a house that is beyond worthless- it is a detriment to the whole neighborhood, and probably filled with toxic black mold.

This happened to a beautiful, large home in my neighborhood- the owners went bankrupt and left the state, the house was then owned by a bank in another part of the country; the pipes were not drained before winter, so they froze and broke, flooding the lower level, ruining the carpet and drywall. The house eventually sold, but for a fraction of what the bank could have sold it for if it had been occupied and maintained.

I have seen whole neighborhoods of abandoned 100-year-old small family homes in the suburbs of Detroit. Every few days another one is set on fire- either by squatters' camp fires or meth lab explosions. The few responsible home owners left in the community try to keep an eye on all the empty hulks, hoping to prevent a fire that burns the entire block, but it's not an easy task.

If I was running a bank I would think it would be to my benefit to keep the occupants in the house, paying even $100/month on the mortgage, and maintaining the structure, rather than getting NOTHING for the house, which I would later have to pay to have demolished.

Mama...I deal with these banks and their distressed real estate every day. They are a mess, all screwed up, bleeding millions. That house got foreclosed because they were screwed up to begin with. The banks were woefully mismanaged and still are. Bank of America was bailed out with $50 billion and their stock has declined 60% this year. They might still go broke.

If the banks were well-run that house wouldn't have been foreclosed to start with. The deal was mismanaged from the day the loan papers were signed and still is.

Kathy...armed revoluton? Time to change the bong water sweetie. The first knucklehead OWS creep to pull a gun out will be dead.

typical response from some one who probably craps on his employees. where would your evil business be if you had no roads to drive on? or, if u had no tax funded educated employees? hyow greedy could u be then? where did you get your education? you and your kind are the real problem!

Doug: "I like money.....I want money.......you have money......give me your money."

Madison,

they believe in taking from other people to give to themselves just like Obama.

Yes, spreading somebody else's wealth.

I'm hoping these OWS kooks can somehow, someway stay in the news until next November. I doubt they will, but I can hope.

Like Obama who supports them the Occupy Wall Street crowd believes in spreading the wealth

Um, so? I'm pretty sure everyone believes in spreading wealth. Not sure what point you are making here.

Um, so? I'm pretty sure everyone believes in spreading wealth. Not sure what point you are making here.

That is really a lame statement, Anon. Lets start now, you can write me a check for half of your savings, and income. I think it's only fair we start right now, right here.

Very well. Simply tell me your mailing address to send the check to.

Yes, let's just throw all political activists in prison. Meet the New American Way, same as the Old Nazi Way

You twits that approve of this OWS bunch should have been around in the 60s. Just a repeat of BS. Where is old Mayor Daley when you need him. He knew how to handle thugs like this, he just kicked butt and took names.

Except those in the Capitol took notice as the movement grew. Just bs? Hardly. This is the start of something bigger than a bunch of hippies causing trouble. The American people are not happy with the state of their country and as long as things stay the same or get worse more average, hard-working Americans will take up this cause. When they do will you still deride it as bs? Probably, ignorance is bliss

This is what happens when you raise a generation to believe that everyone who plays the game should get a trophy and no scores are kept.

Skeet Surfer,

In your dreams!

You do not have the authority to say "The American people are not happy..." I am an American person and have no use for the OWS gangs.

We have a group in our town that have taken over the Veterans Memorial Park and made it look like a refugee camp. It now has a portapottie; two shabby tents, one with a wood stove in it; and cardboard boxes and signs everywhere. They are apparently protesting that people that WORK are more successful then they are. It's just plain disrespectful to turn our Veterans Memorial Park into an eyesore.

I didn't know you could buy food and pay rent if your parents gave you enough love. I don't agree w/all the actions of the OWS crowd but I recognize and acknowledge they have practical issues to address.

An economy has 2 main parts: producing commodities and producing wealth (aka the ability to acquire commodities). Globally these are totally out of balance as we have excess commodities produced, lots of people who desperately need those commodities, but because wealth is concentrating in the top 1% of wage earners many folks who want to work have no way to acquire the commodities they need; either they can't find jobs or the jobs they find don't pay enough to acquire basic food, clothing, and shelter.

I was around in the 1960s and if many had not faced hatred and ignorance to protest the war,God only knows how many we would have lost and slaughtered. All this in a war without reason except banking and big money interest. Vietnam was no threat to us in any way.

It is obvious that many of these posters have never stood up for anything and never will. But, they will go along with corrupt corporate and financial pigs that own our government and are destroying our country.

And a Bingo Again Frank!

If these OWS fools had taken American History while they were charging their degrees to student loan accounts, they would know that the left wing protests of the 1960's elected five GOP presidents in the next six elections.

Ruken,

Maybe some of the occupiers didn't get enough love from their parents, but that has very little to do with the reason they are trying to get attention. They are finding a multitude of ingenious ways to get the attention of the whole country - those people in the middle class who have their heads in the sand, the President, the Congress, the big banks, the super rich corporations, etc. They want to get attention so that we will take notice of the disaster our country is in, and take action to stop it before it is too late. I agree with Skeet Surfer- this is something much bigger than a bunch of hippies causing trouble. And they are NOT asking for a hand-out.

These precious snowflakes are the first grown-ups in the "everybody is a winner" generation, who believed all the lies mom told them about being special and being whatever they wanted to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAOrT0OcHh0&feature=player_embedded

"You do not have the authority to say "The American people are not happy..." I am an American person and have no use for the OWS gangs."

Those two sentences don't connect. Does disapproving of the OWS "gangs" played up in the media mean you are content with your country? That makes no sense. If you are content with the state of your country you need to wake up! Your elected Senators just voted down the very principle of freedom America was founded on 93 - 7. Things are not good and seem to be getting worse every day

Many people are mad because of all the welfare programs and government handouts that just tell people it's okay to sit on their ass. With 40-45% of people not paying any federal income tax, it's literally one half of the nation supporting it all.

The total immaturity and laziness of the protesters aside, that's why I am we are mad.

Ruken, you do realize that the bottom 20% of the country only controls less than .01% of the money, right? Then those just above that, control less than 10%. You want to talk about welfare? Try corporate welfare. Billions of dollars in profits, little to no tax paid, and billions of dollars in returns to them.

I agree with that, but the phase "everyone pay their fair share" should apply to everyone.

Just because I chose to drop out of high school to take a min. wage job and punch out a few babies when I was drunk doesn't give me the right to go onto the government gravy train for life. They aren't entitled to anything as far as I am concerned.

You have to be especially ignorant to blame the disproportionate distribution of wealth and economy on the people that have no money... Its not ok to receive help when you need it... but its ok for corporations to make billions in profit and receive a tax refund.... revive entitlements for the government... designed failures in way that enable you to get bailed out by the government... Receive tax breaks to send out jobs over seas... participate in market share control..... tax the rich and corporations proportionally less than the other classes.... yes the only thing wrong with our country is poor people making bad decisions, and removing one man in the white house will magically fix everything... conservatives have the stupidest political logic to ever come into existence....

Its not ignorance, its just honesty. Ruken is 100% correct, everyone needs to pay their fair share, rich, middle, and poor. No tax breaks for anything at all. 95% of the poor people are perfect examples of "the high school dropout, working minimum wage, with 3 kids at home". They are the ones that are ignorant, they were never taught how to make good choices, and their multiple kids will follow in their footsteps. The wealthy and corporations on the other hand, didn't get to be wealthy and successful by dropping out of high school and settling for a minimum wage lifelong career at McDonalds. And yes I know that not all poor people fit that mold, but the vast majority are. The only way to solve this is to derail the gravy train and get these people's kids some better influences. The people in this country are given every chance in the f--king world to live the American dream yet they continue to be lazy worthless piles. Thats the reason we have so many foreigners coming to this country, there are so many opportunities in the country for the people willing to work their asses off for an honest dollar. Hispanics, Indians, Asians, E.Europeans etc. are going to run this country some day.

Over 70% of the people that protest have jobs. And if there were jobs, they wouldn't be protesting. For every 4 unemployed people, there is one job opening. Half of those job openings pay around $9 an hour. Maybe if companies decided to make jobs, and pay decently, instead of paying off politicians to continue to dismantle workers' rights, people wouldn't have to protest.

That means they'd have to work fast food, even they think they're above doing that.

@Steph, you know that the kind of jobs that only pay $9 an hour are? Ones that don't require an education.

StephAce, so are you saying 70% of the OWS protestors should not be protesting?

The banks can hire me to go and clean them out. No restrictions and i could care less if the video makes YouTube. Protection of private property. See, these morons actually did create jobs.

"I am not proud of these people stealing other peoples property and handing it over to deadbeats."

Kind of like the bailouts, eh?

@jpeg, I believe Steph was trying to say that they are protesting the job shortage, and not that only jobless people have a reason to protest. They are backing up those around them that they see suffering, and choosing to think of someone other themselves. This may be rarer than we would like, but seeing a community come together to join those who are struggling instead of concentrating only on themselves seems admirable to me.

LOL you are all so very wrong ! My DiL with a bachelors degree in business is making 10 dollars an hour .

She has worked at the same attorneys office managing the office for 8 yrs . Please dont tell me about how a fast food worker is the only job that pays that low , That is the adverage pay now for a office worker of just about any kind here in Florida.

Oh yes she has looked for other employment , they all pay the same , they also do not provide paid insurance . Oh ya the high paying jobs are just all over the place , right ! What bs.

Genny Billington- Well said!!! That is exactly how I perceive the OWS movement and why I believe in it- they are seeing the problems others around them are suffering and care enough about the plight of others to take action. They are to be admired for working together to try to improve the future of our country. That is very rare in our country nowadays, I agree, and that must by why it is so difficult for a lot of people to grasp what OWS is about. I too admire the occupiers. They are going out on a limb to make a positive change for the whole country.

Lmao, I'm sorry but I just had the mental image and it was priceless.

Thats the problem with the world. Some have all the sympathy. And those of us who don't sympathize with people losing their homes or not having the job that they would want, we must be evil. I just don't know why the government gets to decide who I support! I have my own family to support!

Evil

You could pitch a small tent in a van and crap on the dealership floor, OWS style.

Judy, that common sense you speak of seems to be lacking in your response.

Why don't you loan me $10,000 and then when your payment comes due to you I'll pay you $300 because .... well that's all I want to pay! Come on think about it, I doubt that anyone forced them to sign the loan papers!

Judy.. as tedcrawford notes, if you think it so bad on the banks part, to demand that they get paid WHAT WAS AGREED TO

Would YOU loan me $5,000? I'll repay you $500. (I'm not as greedy as tedcrawford)

What does it solve to evict people from their homes and then sell the very same home way below what the original buyers paid for it. Why not simply reduce the mortgage payments down to what they would sell the house for these days.

Okay Judy, how about this. The banks will agree to reduce the mortgage balance on the property to what it will sell for today, but with a stipulation, when property values increase, the banks can then raise the balance on the loan to what the property will sell for at that time. If the property value increases by $50k, then the loan balance will increase by $50k. Or, if the bank writes the balance down and then 5 years late the homeowner has built up equity in the property again and goes to sell it, do the bank must recive the equity first until the full balance of the note that was reduced is repaid plus interst. You want the banks to take all the risk in lending but let the homeowner reap all the profits.

@XDm9mm, Yes if like the banks I was guaranteed by the government to get back the money I lent you, plus interest, plus the property you used the money on.... To the people that think the bank has no fault... you are damn ignorant if you think that the banks don't know if you can afford that house.... the fact of the matter is they don't care... they have no risk and it is more profitable to the bank to foreclose on people than it is to have them finish paying off everything.... that is why the designed loans in a way that if your a day late on one single payment... they don't have to work with you if they don't want and rather take your house than that payment, everything that you payed before... pure profit now.... yes people ignorantly signed these things... but that does not excuse the banks wreck-less lending behavior and unwillingness to work with people that have missed one payment because of hard times.... It is not peoples fault it is so easy for banks to kick people out of the home they spent years investing in... The banks should not have a risk free lending environment and share some of the responsibility of this crisis.

Judy Judy Judy: you must live in an alternate universe or at least on another planet where there is no oxygen/ atmosphere...I feel so genuinely sorry for you...your comments betray your excessive ignorance on the subject of the housing market. I advise you to do some serious reading up on the subject...don't depend on TV news, research the subject for yourself...

banks are not willing to work with anyone

i had a good friend who was one of the first homes in NH to be foreclosed on, he only had 6 months left until his mortgage was paid off when his employer downsized and reduced employees work hours in half. The bank refused to work with him and refinance not because he had poor credit or was behind on his payments but because the amount that he still owed on his mortgage was too small of an amount to refinance on, they wanted him to take out another loan and merge the 2 loans to make it worth their while. He told them he didn't need a loan, he just needed to renegotiate the current loan to make the payments smaller for 12 months instead of the larger payments for 6 months .... They REFUSED!

Judy can I borrow $150,000 please? I'm upside down on my house and want to move for a new job. I'll pay it back, I promise.

Most home loans are government guaranteed. That is too say, the tax payer takes all rhe risk. So, why should a person pay a bank 600k or more for a 200k house when when the people back the loan.

We have socialism for the big rich in this country and we can't really afford it. If all government guaranteed loans were made directly for a small interest, house notes would be cut by half or more and trillions would be left with our people instead of thieving banks.

Our big public owned corporations are helped with special treaties tax breaks and all possible ways to outsource for slave labor. If we had a government they would force all public corporations to pay our minimum wages wherever they go. This would bring back jobs and show a little respect for workers.

When the CEO of Disney made 600 million in salary and God knows what in bonuses, he had children working in Haiti for 12 cents and hour. If this is not cold blooded evil then what is?

Our corrupt corporate and financial system are a disgrace to America and the human race. They will do anything, They own our government and they are destroying our country.

We will put millions in the streets and demand real change or we will soon be in depression and chaos. Our middle class is declining, poverty is growing and the top few take more and more. This is a certain formula for disaster.

madcitizen.... I don't think anyone called YOUR father a deadbeat or freeloader.

Personally I've never used the terms but I know many have. But look at it from another perspective. Your father got caught up in events beyond his control. He is in NO WAY comparable to the clerk, interviewed on Lou Dobbs while he was still with CNN, who earned less than $25,000 who had the audacity to complain the bank was taking her home away from her. A house by the way that cost almost $500,000 to purchase. In reality, she couldn't afford the TAXES on the house, much less the interest, principal or insurance.

Good luck to your dad. Hell, him and I might even know each other from our stay over the pond.

Youir dad may not be a deadbeat but he iis obliged to pay his debts. Alot of us are Viet Nam vets, which means nothing. You did exactly the right thing when you helped your father and should continue to do so until he can get back on his feet. Stop whining!

Hey madcitizen.....

If the house was purchased '79, it would have been paid off in 2009. Nice try.

Jpeg... do a little math.... even saying 79 (late 70's) 27 years later is 2006

Maybe a refresher course is needed??

XDm9mm....

79 + 30 years = 2009 when the house would have been paid off...a little reading comprehension maybe?

jpeg

a little reading comprehension on your part would be a very good idea indeed.

the foreclosure proceedings apparently started BEFORE 2009... more like 2006

madcitizen, I didn't see anybody call your father or mother anything. he was likely a few rice paddies down river from some of us. I have stayed engaged as a contract operator through the years with JSOC & SOCOM and I hope to keep my bills paid. There are a myriad of military organizations that will help your father all the way to the American Legion and his branch specific organizations. Who has he contacted ? It is a pretty nice fraternity.

when banks do what they did to ur dad they are wrong. But for people to move into vacant or foreclosed homes is wrong. Or for people to not pay banks anything and not allow foreclosure that isnt fair either. I lost home due to divorce I didn't blame bank, it was our fault.

mad: Your parents should be very proud of you...and themselves...for having raised you with the sense of responsibility that they instillied in you. Good for you! Hope your folks come through OK.

Penaten

And you can bet if these OWSrs do to the houses what they did to the parks, the value will be 0 by the time they get the stinky little kids out of there.

madcitizen.....Please capitalize "God" when you write his name when you thank Him.

Tim, and I quote; "That's why they have become so ignorant and closed minded."

Maybe you should look in the mirror and examine all of YOUR unbiased sources of information also.

Tim> And you who seem to get your information from M$NBC are not closed minded? Not very opinionated are you?

So you are saying FOX is unbiased I guess...LMAO. You totally prove my point... you are one of the Foxies...

Personally, I do much of my own research. I look to Fox, CNN, and NBC for entertainment.

There's a world of information out there for you.

Oh yes, may I ask what YOUR source of information is? You appear to have such disdain for others why not share YOUR unbiased sources.

Fox is no more biased than MSNBC. just the different side. there is no news that doesn't have a slant. But the god for Fox news because without it the dems could get away with whatever they wanted without being exposed.

Tim-1912664....

Why is it that when people like yourself are asked questions or presented with facts, you;

1. Totally ignore the question

2. Make inane remarks

3. Obfuscate with meandering missives

4. Resort to infantile prepubescent name calling?

Is it impossible for you to have adult discourse or to at least refrain from adolescent behavior?

Tim - I don't watch Fox and I don't watch the liberal biased stations either, I would be very watchful of you though because you live in a fantasy world and studies show that psycho's can be dangerous to the general public..I think I saw this on CNN.

Fox News: Wealthy People paying Rich People to tell Middle-Class People to blame Poor People.

Tim

If you have a house, you need to get out so I can come occupy it, and according the OWS I have a perfectly legal right to do so.

Fear not. Occupy died November 15.

Steve, it's not as simply black and white as that. There are as many variations on the theme as there are mortgages. One constant is unscrupulous activity by banks, such as robo-signing foreclosures. Many homeowners go into a home purchase financially viable and fully capable of paying off their mortgages, until an unexpected job crisis causes millions to be out of work for extended periods of time and the savings run dry ... or perhaps an unplanned illness or death in the family that drains a life savings.

When people are otherwise responsible and banks and corporations are eager to pounce on such misfortunes, and we have a government that is complicit in its indifference, then there is a core social problem that must be addresses. If not, it lays the groundwork for violence and bloodshed.

shift... I understand what you say, but there are additional factors that need to be considered from the banks perspective also, and I'm NOT defending either side in the issue.

Yes many home buyers faced extenuating circumstances, often out of their control.

On the other hand, the banks were unprepared for the onslaught of the forclosures. But remember, the banks also have legal FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY to make all attempts possible at recouping ALL funds loaned and the appropriate interest. Were there improprietaries? I'm sure there were. Some were probably as bad as the Liar Loans they made.

However, remember this when you harangue the banks.... Bank stocks also make up good portions of the invested pension funds invested by municipalities across the country, and in many 401k's of people without pensions. When the banks get hammered so do the pensions. And when municipal pension funds go dry, who do you think will be REQUIRED to make up the difference? If you don't know the answer to that, just look in the mirror.

It's a bad situation for EVERYONE. Blaming one or the other will not solve anything.

The homeowners bought grosslly overpriced pieces of property and the banks foolishly agreed to let them borrow the money.

Steve is right on the money and it IS that simple. People were drunk on free money that they now find themselves unable to pay back. The free money credit created a huge amount of demand, especially in the housing market. That demand (based on credit) created lots of jobs - especially in the housing related industries. The problem is all that demand that created all those jobs was based on borrowed money. When the credit came due for payment and people couldn't pay, the whole house of cards crumbled. People lost their jobs (based on credit spending) and people lost their house that they could no longer afford to pay for. The bubble was created by the CONSUMER and credit spending. Banks created the products. All the CONSUMER needed to do is SAY "NO" to those products, but the lure of leveraging money they didn't have to get something that they couldn't pay for made them say "YES". Just like all you need to do is say "NO" to the Big Mac that will give you a heart attack and add 25 pounds, but it tastes so good. As a result, people who have always tried to do the right thing got caught up in the mess - that I guess is life. I have no doubt those people will get back on their feet by doing the right thing again - it is just sad that this is what happens. Fraud, whether committed by banks or individuals, should be prosecuted. You can't legistlate away stupidity and greed. Shift Paradigm: Normal life events such as job loss, illness, death didn't cause this problem. GREED did and not it is showing its ugly face again as ENVY =>"I don't have much now so the people who do are going to pay" Quite pitiful.

Xdm9mm: "The homeowners bought grosslly overpriced pieces of property and the banks foolishly agreed to let them borrow the money."

Well put in one sentence. There was also alot of credit being floated around outside of the housing market. I doubt banks or anyone for that matter makes these "bad" loans if they are not guaranteed by the government - an unfortunate lesson learned.

Once again, I have to be the voice of reason and say that EVERYONE in the foreclosure mess is to blame.

I'm talking about the so-called homeowners who purchase a 300K home when their job only pays 25K annually--before taxes. Clearly, these people have no concept of financial responsibility and let themselves get in over their head.

I'm also talking about those who walk away from their houses after the collapse of the market ensured the value was far below what they owed. Perhaps an understandable choice, but one that is not helping matters.

But I'm also talking to the banking industry who forced the hybrid mortgages that allowed them to get the loans in the first place, when the adjustable rate gets jacked up far beyond what they can pay. And if the loan is a problem, then they simply sell it off again and again until nobody owns the mortgage.

I'm also talking about the pressure that banks put the lenders under to close the deal. To what extend did this lead to high-pressure sales taxes and reassurances that everything would be all right?

I'm also talking about the extreme rigid "foreclose and be damned" mentality in the banks, that perhaps don't make any effort to find a way to keep people in their homes, even if it means a modification of the loan. It seems as if banks don't care about people's lives--they just want their money, and if they have to throw someone on the street because they missed a payment (or even if they didn't and a payment is not properly credited), then so be it.

And I'm also talking about the government, which put pressure on the banks to get more people into homes, in the name of boosting the so-called middle class. Clearly this pressure had an impact.

So the housing market collapses under its own weight, but it seems that the only people who end up paying for it are the homeowners, regardless of whether they are truly at fault or not. The banks get bailed out, the executives continue to keep their inflated bonuses and the little guy ends up with nothing but a tremendous amount of debt.

It is the same story again and again. The rich get richer and the poor get screwed. No wonder there is a rising tide of anger in the American public. And no wonder the OWS protests are looking for a new cause. Let's hope they are smart enough to choose legitimate foreclosure causes--those in which the family cannot pay due to a medical mishap, or those in which the foreclosure is due to a lack of proper procedure. If they simply occupy the house of a family too lazy to pay their bills, this WILL come to bite them on the behind.

"Michael L: I'm also talking about the extreme rigid "foreclose and be damned" mentality in the banks, that perhaps don't make any effort to find a way to keep people in their homes, even if it means a modification of the loan."

Moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not take the full consequences and responsibilities of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions.

Modifying loan agreements, guaranteeing loans, and bailing out banks fall into this category. We need to learn that taking our medicine is the best way to recover from illness - not pretending we are not sick.

Moral hazard arises because an individual or institution does not take the full consequences and responsibilities of its actions, and therefore has a tendency to act less carefully than it otherwise would, leaving another party to hold some responsibility for the consequences of those actions.

Modifying loan agreements, guaranteeing loans, and bailing out banks fall into this category. We need to learn that taking our medicine is the best way to recover from illness - not pretending we are not sick.

7126: I'm not talking about the people who are habitual credit abusers, or those who buy a home who have no intention of paying the loan off. I'm talking largely about those who got into the loan with all intentions (and ability) to pay off the loan at the outset, but who face a severe crimp in their finances due to no fault of their own. Perhaps they get hit with a MASSIVE medical bill, or the main breadwinner gets laid off or is forced to take less hours, and thus cannot pay the full payment every month. Shouldn't banks have an obligation to show some flexibility in those situations, if only to work with the borrower, rather than foreclose first and ask questions later--and this doesn't even take into account those who are up to date, but get foreclosed upon because of the bank's screwups. In those cases, it often seems to be that the customer is always assumed to be wrong, and has to spend hours and hours and hours to prove that he is right.

Our big banks have been receiving billions in 0% loans to play the market. The lowlife pigs have been driving up the price of gas and food on our hurting people by manipulating the commodities market. We are crazy to allow this.

They do blame Obama and the Democrats. They are not happy with anyone in politics. This is about fixing a broken system, in which only millionaires and lobbyists have any influence in politics. It has nothing to do with one party or another.

It's also time to give up on the Solyndra thing. The Fox News efforts to spin it into some kind of conspiracy are not working, especially since they applied for the money under George W. Bush.

http://www.politifact.com/virginia/article/2011/nov/22/fact-checking-solyndra/

Of course it was George Bush..Everything is.. Point is 550 million was pissed away that maybe could have been used to help people who were losing their homes.

Oh, and the fox news thing is getting pretty old also.

Clotho

They do blame Obama and the Democrats. They are not happy with anyone in politics. This is about fixing a broken system, in which only millionaires and lobbyists have any influence in politics. It has nothing to do with one party or another.

It's also time to give up on the Solyndra thing. The Fox News efforts to spin it into some kind of conspiracy are not working, especially since they applied for the money under George W. Bush.

================================================================

The Bush administration refused to give the loan, the obama administration rushed into it in order to have a photo-op. This is not the first "photo-op" stimulus rescue to fail, there are others, just none that cost the taxpayers so much money.

Yep! That's exactly what the criminals want - just lock these people up and get them out of my sight so we can continue the financial rape of the American people.

Protesters are not rounded up and thrown in jail. People who break the law are thrown in jail. Just like police officers who abuse their authority and pepper spray people for no reason. See the difference.

If you want to squat in a property owned by someone else, you have the freedom to do so. You also have the freedom to accept the consequence of that action.

It appears that accpeting the consequences for one's own decision making is a difficult concept to understand.

It also appears that banks feel that they are above the law when it comes to evicting people especially in cases where they don't have correct chain of title to start foreclosure proceedings. It further appears they believe they have the right to take advantage of the average citizen who might not understand the law and how it works in their favor in such circumstances. They wanted 'Occupy' to find a purpose, well here it is: Showing David how to legally stand up to Goliath! Sounds like more than any other group of concerned Americans who want nothng in return have done for this country.

If someone has the evidence that shows the banks broke the law (which I am sure some did), they will be held accountable and should be (which some have been). Saying that because someone else broke the law, I am going to break the law is an immature response and solves nothing.

That's not what anyone is saying LOL! The bank can't unilaterally evict someone without proper proceedings. Nobody is breaking any laws by staying in a dwelling until the bank properly evicts through the court system. And if it takes the bank 8 months to properly evict someone then they can stay there for 8 months - legally! Once the bank has a court order to evict, then and only then would someone be breaking the law if they refused to leave.

The fuel for this growing fire was 40 years of self-esteem BS, in which we told kids that they were the best at everything (even if they weren't), the most important person in the world (even though they aren't), the most beautiful person in the worl ( even though they aren't), and that they are entitled to everything their heart desires (with no strings attached).

If you don't like what the government is doing vote them out, starting with your own incumbents.

Mike- per the article:

'Occupy London' protesters already have seized an empty office block owned by Swiss banking giant UBS"

"We’re really looking right now to take a vacant space that … we could use for an occupation"

I understand what you are saying. Looks like the protesters would like to occupy any vacant building they can get their hands on. I don't think UBS gave them permission to "occupy" a privately owned building. If they move in with a family in the foreclosure process, fine. If they break the law by trying to squat in a privately owned property without permission, expect a consequence.

jr-30791You are SO RIGHT. You summed it up beautifully.

A good Sandusky scrubbing will work miracles

I am really getting tired of this "they need to take a shower" business. Have you really ever gotten close enough to an occupier to do a sniff test? I am sure some of them aren't able to take daily showers while staying in their encampments, but so what? Oh, I know, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", but it's only NEXT to Godliness. There are some things more important in life at times than being squeaky clean every day. I think Godliness is more important than cleanliness myself, and I personally see someone who cares enough about the struggles of other people around them to spend weeks out in the cold and rain protesting as a rather Godly person in a real, down-to-earth sense. It is so much easier to write off the OWS group as dirty hippies than it is to care enough to learn what they are trying to accomplish- calling attention to the buyout of our government by big banks and corporations.

I would have thought their next target should be the unemployment office or job search companies.