US Uncut Minnesota

Goldman gets exposed (again) by Taibbi

2012-01-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/goldmans-latest-boiler-room-stock-america-20120102
Matt Taibbi, of course!

Goldman's Latest Boiler-Room Stock: America

POSTED: January 2, 9:08 AM ET

Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope you all had a great holiday...
Have a column on Iowa coming soon, but first, a quick but absurd note from the world of high finance.
It seems Jim O'Neill, the head of Goldman's Asset Management department, is predicting that the United States stock market may go up "15 to 20 percent." O'Neill apparently believes Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve will resort to another round of money-printing, and finally green-light the long-awaited "Qe3," or third round of "Quantitative Easing."
The QE programs involve the Fed printing hundreds of billions of dollars and pumping them into the marketplace, where they ostensibly stimulate the economy (although recent experience tells us that the money mostly ends up being swallowed by the financial services industry – but that's another subject for another time). Anyway, Bernanke declined to go ahead with a third QE program in late 2011, but O'Neill apparently thinks we'll get it in 2012. From Bloomberg:

"If QE2 doesn’t work, then we’ll get QE3," said O’Neill, who was named chairman of the money manager in September after working as the co-head of global economics research and chief currency economist at New York-based Goldman Sachs Group Inc. since 1995. There’s a "good chance" the S&P 500 will rise 15 percent to 20 percent in the next 12 months, he said.

O'Neill added that he thought a 20 percent bump would be "relatively straightforward" for the U.S. S&P.

Goldman is building an impressive resume of sweepingly bullish predictions that later on, in retrospect, look more like signals to investors that they should run screaming in the opposite direction. A good example might be May of 2008, when Goldman boldly predicted that oil would go to $200 a barrel; oil would go on to peak at $147 less than two months later and crash to the floor soon after.
O'Neill himself famously coined the infamous "BRIC" term (Brazil, Russia, India and China), urging investors to throw their money at those emerging markets, arguing that those markets would eclipse the U.S. and Japan as the world's biggest economies by 2050. Mutual fund investors responded by pouring $70 billion into BRIC over the last decade, but that run looks over now, as $15 billion flowed out of BRIC funds in this past year alone, and some analysts are predicting a $20 percent drop this year.
Even Goldman wrote in a Dec. 7 report that that BRIC has already seen its crest. "We have likely seen the peak in potential growth for the BRICs as a group," Goldman analyst Dominic Wilson wrote in the Dec. 7 report.
I laughed when I read Wilson's quote, wondering exactly how long ago the bank privately came to that conclusion and started shorting BRIC countries. Goldman's Dec. 7 report, incidentally, arrived just before O'Neill released his new book, a Tom Friedmanesque volume of cheerleading nonsense called The Growth Map: Economic Opportunity in the BRICs and Beyond. That book was published on December 8, meaning O'Neill was seen spending 256 pages predicting "rosy prospects" for the BRIC bloc exactly one day after Goldman itself had officially bailed on its own cheesy marketing gimmick.
Anyway, every time I read one of these rah-rah predictions, I get this feeling that I've seen this movie before. When it comes time to do Goldman, Sachs: The Movie!, I'll be bummed beyond belief if Vin Diesel doesn't get to play Jim O'Neill.
The folks at Zero Hedge long ago caught on to Goldman's JT-Marlin pump-and-dump vibe. Here's what they said when Goldman upgraded European bank stocks a few weeks ago:

Goldman has just started selling European bank stocks to its clients, whom it is telling to buy European bank stocks. Said otherwise, the Stolpering of clients gullible enough to do what Goldman says and not does, has recommenced. Our advice, as always, do what Goldman's flow desk is doing as it begins to unload inventory of bank stocks. Translation: run from European bank exposure.

Sure enough, Euro bank stocks plummeted a few days after that ZH post.
I don't know much about the stock market, but when the O'Neills of the world start telling me what a great investment opportunity the American stock market is, I start getting the urge to buy canned food ...

Occupying the Occupy Movement: Robin Morgan (Hurrah!)

2012-01-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Occupying the Occupy Movement

Robin Morgan January 3, 2012 Women’s Media Center

An Occupy movement for 2012 could gain strength and staying-power with strategies suggested by an emerging feminist critique.

Mexico city collective, from Occuprint.org

As women of the Arab Spring are rediscovering, being participants, even leaders, of the uprisings hasn’t led to women’s equality—a depressingly familiar scenario, notoriously reminiscent of the 1960s aftermath of the Algerian revolution. In fact, the phenomenon is historically omnipresent (including the American revolution).

Here in the Global North, for example, women were active early in the Occupy movement. Yet that movement has presented an optic of being predominantly male (and in the United States, white and young)—as well as indifferent to the fact that capitalism simply cannot be transformed without confronting its foundation: patriarchy, itself reliant on controlling and exploiting women. And women, by the way, comprise 51 percent of the 99 percent (and virtually zero of the 1 percent).

Who then is the real constituency in need of economic justice?

The United Nations acknowledges that the world’s poor are 70 percent female. Women’s unpaid labor is worth $11 trillion globally, accounting for 41 percent of the GDP in, for instance, North America. It could well be argued that, given women’s massive amount of unpaid labor—and since women are the means of reproduction who produce the labor force itself—most women exist more under feudalism than under capitalism.

Join Us! Subscribe to WAMMToday from our blog website and “Follow” us. www.wammtoday.wordpress.com.

WAMMToday is now on Facebook! Check the WAMMToday page for posts from this blog and more! “Like” our page today.

Equal pay, reproductive rights, maternity leave, childcare—all are economic as well as human-rights issues. So are sweatshop labor/maquilliadores, sex trafficking/slavery/tourism, and war’s impact on women, who with their children comprise some 80 percent of refugees and displaced peoples. Women are the primary caregivers for the ill, the young, the aged, and the dying—so health costs are “women’s issues.”

The pornography and prostitution industries each run into the hundreds of billions of dollars annually; China spends $27 billion just on Internet pornography. We only have statistics for a few “developed” countries on the staggering cost of domestic violence. We do know that domestic violence costs $5.8 billion a year in the United States alone.

One would think that such “women’s issues” would make unarguable the centrality to economics of female human beings. Wrong. Too often, the Occupy movement has betrayed its own vision by revealing itself as a sexist microcosm of the society it opposes. Harassment and assaults required women to define safe sleeping areas—immediate necessities yet questionable strategically, since these can become “ghettos,” while the problem, a male sense of entitlement, goes unchallenged.

Nor does this happen only in the United States, although North American sites got more press attention. Incidents of sexual assault and rape have been reported not only in New York, Cleveland, Dallas, and Baltimore, but in Glasgow, Montreal, London, and more. In some locations, male site monitors were reluctant to call police for fear that negative attention would be deleterious to the Occupy “message.”

Brooklyn, Occupy Imnop, from Occuprint.org

Now, however, women are protesting that kind of protest. In Bristol, England, feminists called for “Carrying Our Safe Space With Us,” aiming to empower women to speak at Occupy general assemblies. On November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Feminists Occupy London took to the streets denouncing rape; that same day, Italian women marched in Rome, defining economic austerity measures as a form of violence against women, and citing policies that in effect force women to work multiple jobs, paid and unpaid. In Manila, Occupy was taken over by women, becoming Occupy RH (reproductive health), Filipina-led. Women in Slovenia, New Zealand, and Australia publicly decried the lack of safety for women at Occupy sites.

Such international groups as Code Pink, WomenOccupy, RadFem, the Filipina network Af3IRM/GabNet, and others raised women’s profile, thus challenging men’s hegemony. The Feminist Peace Network established the Occupy Patriarchy website, to provide a supportive, global space for feminist analysis, response, organizing, and networking within the global Occupy movement.

Having caught the world’s imagination with an admirable energy, seemingly spontaneous and seemingly grassroots, the Occupy movement is now poised at a crossroads. It has enormous potential—but lasting change will require consciousness that doesn’t ignore the majority of humanity. It needs to break free of being “a guy thing” or risk drowning in its own rhetorical generalities.

It’s not as if certain models aren’t there. The women of England’s Greenham Common “occupied” turf decades before OWS—they endured, and won. Irish women barred doors to keep men from storming out of Northern Ireland peace talks. Women in Liberia sat singing for months in a soccer field to birth a revolution. Market women in Ghana brought down a government. Gandhi acknowledged copying the concept of Satyagraha— nonviolent resistance—from India’s 19th century women’s suffrage movement.

These are different—and long-lasting—techniques of protest, by which at first it seemed the Occupy movement was influenced. (At the risk of offending anarchists, I’ll paraphrase two of the Women’s Media Center slogans: “You have to name it to change it,” and “You have to see it to be it.” As a woman who once agreed “Level everything, then we’ll talk politics,” I recommend examples and clearly articulated demands as pretty good stuff.)

Christy C Road, Brooklyn, from Occuprint.org

It’s not too late. As the Occupy movement in many areas moves away from the tactic of claiming physical space, a change of protest style is in order: more hit-and-run, engage-disengage, morning-long, afternoon-long, or day-long (not open-ended) demonstrations—plus focused, doable demands.

Most women have far too many other responsibilities—including children—to spend months in tents playing drums, even if the tents were safe spaces. The Occupy movement needs women—the numbers, the economic analysis, the different strategic approach—to survive, let alone succeed. Yet women’s engagement with it might well require turning up in numbers massive enough to effect a de facto transformation of leadership and focus;:occupying Occupy in a “women’s style” could make all the difference.

At the minimum, it should be possible to demand that men become the change they claim they want to see. (I mean,really, guys.) If Occupy men can dare be unafraid of that different kind of leadership—can even seek it out and welcome it—everyone wins and the paradigm is transformed.

If not, they will at least have radicalized a whole new generation of feminists.

The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and do not represent WMC. WMC is a 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse candidates.

Record Number Of US Kids Face Hunger and Homelessness

2011-12-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Record Number Of US Kids Face Hunger and Homelessness

A report released by National Center on Family Homelessness finds that one in 45 US children (1.6 million) are homeless, the majority under the age of seven. The Christian Science Monitor reports, “The number of homeless children in 2010 exceeded even the total in 2006, when thousands of families displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita produced a historic spike in homelessness.”

It doesn’t stop there. According to recent figures released by the USDA, 17.2 million American households (14.5 percent) are "food insecure,” one of the highest recorded rates since surveys were first conducted in 1995. As a result, 16.2 million American children – one in five-- face the threat of hunger. According to emergency room doctors in cities around the country, this is leading to a dramatic spike in malnourishment in babies.

Over the summer, the Boston Globe reported on shocking levels of infant malnourishment in Massachusetts. Doctors at the Boston Medical Center (BMC) reported seeing “more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families.” Pediatricians in other large cities, including Baltimore, Little Rock, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia, have also seen a rise in infant and child malnourishment since 2008.

BMC doctors also warn that “rising chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems.”

The Globe likened child malnourishment and hunger among Boston’s poor to levels seen in the "developing world."

The Goal is Not to Occupy it is to End Corporate Rule

2011-12-18T20:07:00.000-08:00

The Goal is Not to Occupy it is to End Corporate Rule

By Kevin Zeese

December 11, 2011 "Information Clearing House" -- With encampments being closed across the country it is important to remember the end goal is not to occupy public space, it is to end corporate rule. We seek to replace the rule of money with the rule of people. Occupying is a tactic but the grand strategy of the Occupy Movement is to weaken the pillars that hold the corporate-government in place by educating, organizing and mobilizing people into an independent political force.

The occupations of public space have already done a great deal to lift the veil of lies. People are now more aware than ever that the wealth divide is caused by a rigged economic system of crony capitalism and that we can create a fair economy that works for all Americans. We are also aware that many of our fellow citizens are ready to take action – extreme action of sleeping outside in the cold in a public park. And, we also now know that we have the power to shift the debate and force the economic and political elites to listen to us. In just a few months we have made a difference.

Occupying public space involves a lot of resources and energy that could be spent educating, organizing and mobilizing people in much greater numbers. There is a lot to do to end corporate rule and the challenges of occupying public space can divert our attention and resources from other responsibilities we have as a movement.

When we were organizing the Occupation of Washington, DC – before the occupation of Wall Street began – we were in conversation with movements around the world. The Spanish Indignados told us that an occupation should last no more than two weeks. After that it becomes a diversion from the political objectives. The occupation begins to spend its time dealing with poverty, homelessness, inadequately treated mental illness and addiction – this has been experienced by occupies across the country.

Occupying for a short time accomplishes many of the objectives of holding public space – the political dialogue is affected, people are mobilized and all see that fellow citizens can effectively challenge the corporate-state. Staying for a lengthy period continues to deepen these goals but the impacts are more limited and the costs get higher.

What to do next? The Occupy Movement needs to bring participatory democracy to communities. Occupiers should develop an aggressive organizing plan for their city. Divide the city and appoint people to be responsible for different areas of the city. Depending on how many people you have make these areas as small as possible. Develop plans for house-to-house campaigns where you knock on doors, provide literature, ask what you can do to make their lives better. Do they need snow removed? Clothes? If so, get the occupy team to fulfill their needs, find used clothes, clean their yard – whatever you can do to help. This shows community and builds relationships.

Plan a march through the different communities in the city. Make it a spectacle. Have a marching band. Don’t have one – reach out to local school bands. Organize them. Create floats, images and signs. Display yourselves and your message. Hand out literature as you march. Let people know what the occupy stands for they should join us in building a better world for them and their families.

Plan public General Assemblies in communities across the city. Teach people the General Assembly process, the hand signals, how to stack speakers, how to listen and reach consensus. Learn the local issues. Solve local problems. Again, build a community that works together to solve problems.

Let people know about the National Occupation of Washington DC (NOW DC), the American Spring beginning on March 30th. Organize people to come, share rides, hire buses, walk, ride a bike – get people to the nation’s capital to show the united force of the people against the rule of money. This will be an opportunity to display our solidarity and demand that the people, not money, rule.

How rapidly a movement makes progress is hard to predict. It is never a constant upswing of growth and progress. We may be in for a sprint, or more likely, a marathon with hurdles. If you are hoping for a sprint, note that the deep corruption of the government and the economy has left both weaker than is publicly acknowledged. It may be a hollowed out shell ready to fall.

But, this may also take years to accomplish. Take the timeline of the Civil Rights movement: 1955 Rosa Parks sits in the front of the bus, not until five years later in 1960, do the lunch counter sit-ins begin. Not until three years later in 1963 does Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lead a march on Washington for the “I have a Dream” speech. No doubt the time between Rosa Parks and the lunch counter sit-ins and Civil Rights Act passing in 1964 seemed slow to those involved. Looking back it was rapid, transformational change. In fact, the movement grew in fits and starts and had roots decades of activity before the 1950s. In those times of seeming lull, work was being done, to educate and organize people that led to the big spurts of progress.

Older movements, when communication was slower, have taken even longer. The women’s suffrage movement held its first convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY. Twenty years later, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. In 1913, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns formed the National Women's Party to work for a constitutional amendment to give women the vote. Finally, in 1919 the federal woman’s suffrage amendment, originally written by Susan B. Anthony and introduced in Congress in 1878, was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, sent to the states for ratification and signed into law one year later.

With mass media, and especially the new democratized media of social networks, the Internet, anonymous leaks and independent media, it is very likely the end of the rule of money will come more quickly. If we focus on our goal, act with intention and use our energy and resources wisely victory will come sooner.

Our challenge to corporate power has roots. The Project on Corporations Law and Democracy was founded in 1995. In 1999 the protests against the World Trade Organization occurred in Seattle. In 2000, long-time crusader against corporate power, Ralph Nader, ran his first full presidential campaign and continues to challenge corporatism. This decade has been called the “Great Turning,” which Joanna Macy has defined as “the shift from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization.”

“America Beyond Capitalism” by Gar Alperovitz, just printed its second edition, five years after the first, documenting the evolution of the developing democratized economy. These are some of the foundations on which the Occupy Movement is building as the unfairness and insecurity of corporate capitalism becomes evident to all. Our roots are deeper than the few months of our existence.

The elites are foolish to think they will stop this movement by closing occupations. The Occupy Movement will evolve in new and unpredictable ways that will make the elites wish for the days of mere public encampments. The 1% should know they will be held accountable. The people have found their voice and will not be silenced. The era of the rule of money is nearing its end.

Kevin Zeese is an organizer of Occupy Washington, DC and co-director of It’s Our Economy.

Occupy Movement, African-American Leaders Form Coalition

2011-12-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/usa/Occupy-Movement-African-American-Leaders-Form-Coalition-135696648.html

December 15, 2011

Occupy Movement, African-American Leaders Form Coalition

Jeff Swicord

The Occupy Wall Street movement is gaining allies. Our reporter tells us who they are
and what they plan to do.

Protesters of the Occupy movement are spreading their wings - joining forces with veterans of the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, and African-American churches.

In Washington, civil rights icon Benjamin Chavis announced the formation of Occupy The Dream.

David Degraw is with Occupy Wall Street in New York.

“This is a very diverse movement as it stands right now," said Degraw. "But obviously we need to do more work to get into the African-American communities and to get into all different ethnic backgrounds, the Latino community as well.”

The African American leaders were drawn in by the issue of income inequality. More than 15 percent of black Americans are unemployed, compared with an overall jobless rate of 8.6 percent.

Occupy The Dream has three immediate demands: an increase in federal grants for university education, a halt to home foreclosures, and a $100 billion fund from Wall Street banks for new jobs and neighborhood investment.

Benjamin Chavis worked with civil rights leader Martin Luther King in the 1960s, and mobilized a million-man march on Washington in the 1990s.

“The traditional civil rights movement was at its strongest point 40 of 50 years ago when it had a strong coalition between African Americans, organized labor, progressive white liberal groups, all working together," said Chavis. "And that is what we have to rebuild.”

Occupy The Dream plans its first action for January 16th, the Martin Luther King holiday, at Federal Reserve Bank locations around the country. Reverend Jamal-Harrison Bryant is a spokesman for Occupy The Dream.

“Every 30 days America is going to see something until we freeze the entire economic system and they realize we are about serious business," said Reverend Bryant.

The response at Occupy camps around the country has been positive, although in the past, Occupy protesters have avoided formal links to other groups. Kevin Zeese is with Occupy in Washington's Freedom Plaza.

“Having the African-American faith community hear that call and respond is a gigantic step forward," said Zeese. "The potential for that is hard to imagine.”

David Degraw says this is only the beginning. They plan to draw in other partners and build a bigger Occupy movement through the spring.

Moinique fights back to SAVE HER HOME

2011-12-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

Help Monique White Save Her Home
November 08, 2011 6 Comments
Monique says:
“It got cold in here one night. The next morning I called the gas company to have them light my furnace. The billing department told me that Century 21 (the real estate agency) had called them and told them they'd be the realtors for the house.” So White called U.S. Bank and found out that as of January 26, 2011 her house was sold. “I didn't find out until October 24,” White said, “I just feel betrayed. I feel like US Bank strung me along until the redemption period ran out and then they stole my house out from under me.”
» More

Help Monique to save her HOME and become a foreclosure SURVIVOR.

Help us win so we can help others do the same. Take the pledge!

http://occupyourhomes.org/stories/

How to defend homes from foreclosure #OCCUPYYOURHOME

2011-12-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

Background

Everyone deserves to have a roof over their head and a place to call home. Millions of Americans have worked hard for years for the opportunity to own their own home; for others, it remains a distant goal. For all of us, having a decent place to live for ourselves and our families is the most fundamental part of the American dream, a source of security and pride.

In 2008, we discovered bankers and speculators had been gambling with our most valuable asset, our homes--betting against us and destroying trillions of dollars of our wealth. Now, because of the foreclosure crisis Wall Street banks created with their lies and greed, millions of Americans have lost their homes, and one in four homeowners are currently underwater on their mortgage.

Not only do we have thousands of people without homes, we have thousands of homes without people. Boarded-up houses are sitting empty--increasing crime, lowering the value of other homes in the neighborhood, erasing the wealth that lifts families into the middle class.

The Occupy Wall Street movement and brave homeowners around the country are coming together to say, "Enough is enough." We, the 99%, are standing up to Wall Street banks and demanding they negotiate with homeowners instead of foreclosing on them.

Occupy Our Homes is a movement that supports Americans who stand up to their banks and fight for their homes. We believe everyone has a right to decent, affordable housing. We stand in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement and with community organizations who help the 99% fight for a place to call home.

Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change is a community organization that has worked with Monique White and other North Minneapolis residents to stop foreclosures, and is campaigning to get the Minneapolis School Board to divest from Wells Fargo bank over its predatory lending practices and their effects on the schools.
Website »

http://occupyourhomes.org/resources/

Ideas for Organizing At-Risk Homeowners

Visual Resources

Use these visual resources to help deliver a powerful message in support of Occupying homes.

Some rights reserved by Brennan Cavanaugh
Click to download these resources:

Our Unrepresentative Representation

2011-12-18T15:24:00.000-08:00

Our Unrepresentative Representation

Sunday, 18 December, 2011 08:28 Written by Dr. Art Kamm

Summary
The Occupy Wall Street movement has reason to protest. Special interest-driven deregulation policy was at the heart of the recent economic collapse. It has been the “99%” that has paid the price for this policy failure with lost employment, devalued housing prices, retirement accounts being cut in half, and increased levels of poverty while the wealthiest in America continued to do well. A valid question is why our elected representatives are not working together to put a stop to failed policy that has been so damaging to the majority of Americans. This article will examine the disproportionate number of the wealthy who hold elected office in Washington and the conflict of interest they face in setting policy versus their own financial interests as well as the special interests that finance their campaigns. And it will explore an incentive that politicians have to stay in office where they can act on non-public information to their own financial benefit. It examines the issue of whether our Congress has become ‘Our Unrepresentative Representation’.
Policy Was at the Heart of the Great Recession
Alan Greenspan, who presided over the Federal Reserve for 18 years before stepping down in 2006, was one of our nation’s leading voices for deregulation. He was considered an economic sage whose words affected market direction and, as noted by Bob Woodward, was celebrated as the “Maestro” (ref). Yet, it was a humbled Alan Greenspan who admitted before Congress in 2008 that his belief in deregulation had been shaken (ref). ”Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief” he relayed to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Henry Waxman, chair of the committee, asked “Do you feel that your ideology pushed you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?” Mr. Greenspan’s responded “Yes, I’ve found a flaw…I’ve been very distressed by that fact”.
When the Fed cut interest rates to near record lows from 2001 until mid-2004, housing prices climbed far faster than inflation or household income giving rise to concerns of a speculative bubble in both home prices and construction that would go bust; concerns that were ignored and calls for tighter regulation on subprime mortgages and other high risk mortgages were resisted. Republican lawmakers tried to blame the mortgage meltdown on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac claiming that Democratic lawmakers blocked measures to reform the companies. Greenspan disagreed placing far more blame on Wall Street companies that bundled subprime mortgages into pools and sold them as mortgage backed securities. He stated that demand for these securities was so high that Wall Street companies pressured lenders to lower their standards and produce more “paper” (note the impact of repealing Glass-Steagall below). Mr. Greenspan stated “The evidence strongly suggests that without the excess demand from securitizers, subprime mortgage originations (undeniably the source of the crisis) would have been far smaller and defaults accordingly far lower”.
A 2008 report published by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) agreed with Mr. Greenspan’s testimony. The report concluded that the financial crisis originated from distortions and incentives created by policy actions and identified 2004 as being critical to causality (ref).
Quoting from that report:
“In 2004 four time specific factors came into play. (1) the Bush Administration ‘American Dream’ zero equity mortgage proposals became operative, helping low-income families to obtain mortgages; (2) the then regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), imposed greater capital requirements and balance sheet controls on those two government- sponsored mortgage securitisation monoliths, opening the way for banks to move in on their “patch” with plenty of low income mortgages coming on stream; (3) the Basel II accord on international bank regulation was published and opened an arbitrage opportunity for banks that caused them to accelerate off-balance-sheet activity; and (4) the SEC agreed to allow investment banks (IB’s) voluntarily to benefit from regulation changes to manage their risk using capital calculations under the ‘consolidated supervised entities program’. (Prior to 2004 broker dealers were supervised by stringent rules allowing a 15:1 debt to net equity ratio. Under the new scheme investment banks could agree voluntarily to SEC consolidated oversight (not just broker dealer activities), but with less stringent rules that allowed them to increase their leverage ratio towards 40:1 in some cases.) The combination of these four changes in 2004 caused the banks to accelerate off-balance sheet mortgage securitisation as a key avenue to drive the revenue and the share price of banks….
“When OFHEO imposed greater capital requirements and balance sheet controls on Fannie and Freddie, banks that had been selling mortgages to them faced revenue gaps and an interruption to their earnings. Their solution was to create their own Fannie and Freddie look-alikes: the structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and collateralised debt obligation (CDOs). The influence of the controls affecting Federal Mortgage Pools and the corresponding response in private label RMBS is shown in Figure 2 [see report]. This new surge of RMBS caused by the Fannie- Freddie regulator was picked up much too late by Bank regulators to take effective action. ”
In the context of the above it is important to note some other deregulation (also, failure to regulate) policy decisions. The banking industry had been seeking repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act since at least the 1980′s and it occurred in 1999 (ref). Glass-Steagall was legislation that was put into place following the Great Depression that, amongst other things, separated commercial from investment banking to remove the conflict of interest inherent to an institution controlling both a commercial bank and an investment bank (note Greenspan’s testimony that investment banks were pressuring commercial lenders to issue more “paper”, i.e. risky mortgages, because of the high demand for mortgage-backed derivatives). Also, there was CFTC’s failed attempt at regulating and bringing transparency to OTC derivatives in the late 1990′s thus allowing the market for those financial instruments to grow unregulated for the next ten years (ref). These instruments, backed by risky assets, were at the heart of such dramatic failures as Bear Sterns and AIG. And there was tax policy that contributed to pushing more income and wealth into a small sliver of our population when our economy is 70% personal consumption.

Reference for above figure (ref)
In both instances where 1% of our population held up to 24% of this nation’s income (prior to the Great Depression and Great Recession) our country experienced a severe economic downturn (ref).
Above figure from Krugman (ref).
And who paid the price for these failed policies? It was those in what has been called the “99%” by the Occupy Wall Street movement. Their purchasing power not keep pace with the growth of the economy.

Their homes losing value (most often the middle class’s key investment). Their retirement accounts being cut in half. And jobs disappearing as corporations cut back on expense to maintain profitability. And this pain is being experienced while the richest of Americans quintupled their income during the heart of the Great Recession (ref) and millionaire households (the “1%”) hold a sum of wealth equivalent to almost three times the size of our national economy that is anticipated to double within the next decade as money makes money at historically low tax rates (ref). And income from that wealth (dividends and capital gains) is not subject to payroll tax that supports programs that the rest of America depends on during their senior years (Social Security and Medicare).
And yet the drumbeat of deregulation and tax policy largely benefitting the wealthiest continues. We continue to hear that it is not smart to tax our ‘job creators’; yet job creation in large part was anemic during 4 year periods where ‘trickle down’ policy was in place (ref).

* Total Non-Farm Payroll expressed in millions
The money we borrowed to support the tax benefit to the wealthiest (the debt being assumed by America’s taxpayers and future generations) went to support both ‘Wall Street’ and high growth business interests abroad (ref). We continue to hear that regulation is stifling business, and yet it was deregulation of the financial industry that was at the heart of the financial crisis as noted by both Mr. Greenspan’s testimony as well as the OECD report (see above). We continue to hear about privatizing Social Security; this after we have witnessed the level corporate risk taking that lead to the financial crisis Mr. Greenspan said left him in ‘shocked disbelief’. And with an estimated 45,000 Americans dying each year (ref) (including over 2000 military veterans) due to a lack of access to essential care, those who are denied coverage are required to pay tax to support the healthcare benefits of our elected officials, the same officials who are accepting large sums of money from special interests opposed to universal coverage.
And there is question about the emotion underlying the Occupy Wall Street movement?
With these failed policies having caused so much pain for much of America, a fair question is why our elected representatives are not working together in putting a stop to this. They are after all our elected representation. It is difficult to dismiss that many our elected officials face a conflict of interest regarding their charge to represent ‘the people’ versus their own financial self-interests as well as the special interests that carry them to office. This article will examine the disproportionate number of the wealthy who hold elected office in Washington and the conflict of interest they face in setting policy versus their own financial interests as well as the special interests that finance their campaigns. And it will explore an incentive the wealthy have had for staying in office where they can act on non-public information to their own financial benefit. It will explore whether our Congress has become our ‘unrepresentative representation’.

Unrepresentative Representation

Disproportionate Wealth
The Senate has been called a millionaires club (ref) with about half of its members holding that status. In 2009 244 members of Congress were millionaires – 138 Republicans and 106 Democrats (ref). However, a picture is worth a thousand words. The following graphics were sent to me by one of my readers:

A significant imbalance exists (around 40- to 50-fold) regarding the number of millionaires holding elected office in Washington versus the general public. The median American family had a net worth of $96,000 in 2009 per the Federal Reserve Board while the median net worth for members of the US House of Representatives and Senate was $725,000 and $2.4 million, respectively (ref). The reference provides a list of the 20 wealthiest members of Congress based on 2009 reports, 10 Republican and 10 Democrats, with Representative Darrell Issa (R-California) holding the top spot with an average net worth of over $300 million dollars.

Special Interest Contributions
There is a high correlation between candidate spending and winning elected office (ref). In the 2010, candidate spending correlated to success in 85% of House races and 83% of Senate races. And historically the correlation has even been greater; in 2004; 98% of House seats and 88% of Senate seats went to the candidates who spent the most. Why does this correlation exist? Because candidate exposure is expensive. Elections are won by the expensive tactic of manipulating high probability voters through repeated messaging over TV during prime time hours (information obtained from a political consulting group during my exploration of a Senate run). The average cost of winning a Senate seat was $8.28 million in 2010 and $1.09 million for a House seat (ref).
Most self-financing candidates faltered in the 2010 cycle and significant investments from outside groups helped to elect more than 200 federal candidates. ”In two-thirds of races where outside groups spent at least some money on advertisements and other political communications, the dollars spent supporting the winner, coupled with amounts spent opposing the loser, exceeded dollars spent supporting the loser or attacking the winner..” (ref).
As a candidate can not raise near enough within their own district to support an election effort, the vast majority of campaign contributions come from outside sources. What follows for Representative Issa’s campaign contributions (Jan 2005 – Dec 2007) holds true for most elected officials. Only 5% of his contributions came from within his district; 54% ($674,370) came from outside his state and 94% ($1,173,693) came from outside his district (ref). The largest sum of out-of-state contributions came from the Washington DC area where special interest lobbying groups operate.

Conflicting Interests
Personal Wealth vs Tax Policy
Regarding the disproportionate number of the wealthy holding elected office, consider tax policy, especially capital gains and dividends. Capital gains in the 1970′s were taxed at 35% (ref) and have since been lowered to the current 15% rate (ref). Capital gains and dividends comprise a disproportionate amount of the income for the wealthy and, as Warren Buffet has noted, is responsible for the lower net income tax paid by the wealthiest (ref). Additionally, this income is not subject to payroll tax that supports Social Security and Medicare, programs that much of America depends on in their later years. The president’s plan to raise taxes may include a change in how capital gains are taxed (ref). Consider that the richest 0.1% of Americans pay 44 percent of all capital gains taxes and the richest 1% pay 68% of that tax. The bottom 80% of Americans account for less than 3% of all capital gains taxes paid. About 40% of members of the US House of Representatives and nearly half of all US senators reported capital gains in 2009 (ref). Many of the GOP presidential candidates have suggested eliminating the capital gains tax all together (ref). Increasing the tax rate on capital gains, which largely affects the wealthiest and which would help reduce the federal deficit, would directly affect 176 members of the House and 48 US senators (ref). I submit that many in our Congress face a conflict of interest between their own financial self-interests versus policy that could help reduce our federal deficits to the benefit of our future generations.
Campaign Financing vs Representation
The conflict that exists for politicians whose campaigns are financed largely by money raised outside their districts is apparent and expressed in their behavior. A few examples are provided below.
During the healthcare reform debate it was found that more that a dozen lawmakers placed comments into the Congressional record that were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by lobbyists working for Genentech (ref). This was caught because the remarks made by multiple lawmakers lined up word for word. Genentech’s PAC had made financial contributions to many House members including some who filed statements into the Congressional Record. Although the head of Genentech’s Washington office claimed that “there was no connection between the contributions and the statements”, company employees had been among the hosts at fund-raisers for some of those lawmakers. Additionally there is the example of senator Joe Lieberman’s behavior during that debate. Consider his position of opposing a public option after he had reportedly accepted $427,644 from insurance companies since 2005 including at the time a recently received sum of $65,200 from Aetna and its employees (ref), this after tax payer money supports his own healthcare benefits.
Consider the attempts to raise taxes on the wealthiest of Americans to help reduce deficits. A recent poll (ref) showed nearly three-quarters of Americans (including two-thirds of Republicans) favoring such a measure as well as the evidence that when such policy was in place in the 1990′s our country had a strong economy and was paying down its debt. So a reasonable question is how does 100% of the Republican elected representation in the senate oppose a tax increase when up to two-thirds of their party constituents agree with an increase. Consider that behavior in light of a substantial level of funding for Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS reportedly coming from a small circle of extremely wealthy Wall Street hedge fund and private equity moguls “bitterly opposed to a proposal by congressional Democrats – and endorsed by the Obama administration – to increase the tax rates on compensation that hedge funds pay their partners” (ref). These hedge fund moguls and other wealthy donors contributed tens of millions of dollars (to protect their interests) that helped to secure big GOP victories in the 2010 midterm elections.
Consider CFTC’s Brooksley Born’s failed attempt to regulate and bring transparency to OTC derivatives in the late 1990′s (ref). These are the financial instruments that were at the heart of dramatic corporate and fund failures that sparked the market collapse at the start of the Great Recession. In 1998, ten years before the economic crisis, a hedge fund (Long Term Capital Management, LTCM) was near collapse and had used these instruments to leverage $5 billion into more than $1 Trillion while doing business with 15 of Wall Streets largest financial institutions. At that time the President’s working group was informed that the entire American economy hung in the balance and the Fed intervened to avert the crisis. Although the attempt to regulate was portrayed as a battle of ideologies between Born (Keynesian) and Greenspan/Rubin (Austrian and neoconservative laissez faire), Wall Street lobbying efforts proved to be powerful. ”Under heavy pressure from the financial lobby, legislation prohibiting regulation of derivatives by Born’s agency was passed by the Congress”. This paved the way for ten years of unregulated growth of a market that was highly profitable to Wall Street and ultimately harmful to much of America.

Incentives (Insider Trading)
As reported by 60 Minutes (ref) “members of Congress and their aides have regular access to powerful political intelligence, and many have made well-timed stock market trades in the very industries they regulate”. Essentially, there is no law prohibiting Congress from ‘Insider Trading’, something that is a criminal offense for corporate insiders. Consider, for example, the closed door meetings between Congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke where lawmakers were being warned that a global financial meltdown could occur within a few days. These meetings were so secretive that cell phones and Blackberries were confiscated beforehand to prevent leaks. Literally the day following one such meeting, Alabama representative Spencer Bachus (who was at the time the ranking Republican member on the House Financial Services Committee and now its Chairman), bought option funds that would go up in value if the market went down. So although publicly he took the position of trying to keep the economy from cratering, he was privately betting that it would. Consider that it was Congress that enacted financial deregulation policy, and a ranking committee member who supported such policy could act on insider information to profit from its failure while much of America suffered the consequences of its failure.
Before retiring, Congressman Brian Baird (Washington) spent six unsuccessful years trying to get his colleagues to to prohibit insider trading in Congress and establish rules governing conflicts of interests. Despite outcries from the offices of Democratic Congresswoman Pelosi and Republican Speaker Boehner following the airing of the 60 Minutes report (both were questioned publicly by Steve Kroft about their involvement in the practice), at least 93 members of Congress have signed on as cosponsors of the Stock Act and for the first time the bill has been introduced in the Senate.

Discussion
Republic, Lost
Harvard law professor, Lawrence Lessig, is author of “Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress – And a Plan to Stop It”. A point he made in interview (ref) is that the OWS movement has it wrong when it refers to the 99%. Lessig points out that only 0.05% of America max out Congressional campaign contributions, and only 0.26% give more than $200. As money provides access to government, it is not OWS’s 99%, but rather the 99.95% that is denied access. He points out that as 30 – 70% of a politician’s time is spent in fundraising, they become dependent on the funders rather than the people (and it is only worse now as the Citizen’s United ruling gives corporations the rights of a person). Politicians are therefore responding to a small sliver of our society. And he notes that politicians also extort business for financial gain by demanding corporate participation in campaign fundraising to get what it wants.
In a separate interview (ref) Dr. Lessig makes the point that in 1980 98% of financial assets traded in our economy were subject to the normal rules of transparency, anti-fraud requirements, and basic exchange-based rules of the New Deal. By 2008, 90% of traded assets were traded invisibly because they were not subject to such obligations. But what concerns him is what happened after 2008. After “every independent analyst had said there was a link between the structure of deregulation and the collapse (and he mentions Greenspan’s Congressional testimony),…Wall Street was able to blackmail the Democrats and the Republicans into handing them essentially a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card and effect no fundamental change in the architecture of our financial system”.

The Real Cost of Poverty: Lost American Lives
But the real cost of this special interest-driven policy failure is in the staggering number of American lives it has claimed. The latest census shows that 1 in 2 Americans have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income (ref). ”The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families”. However, what is not discussed is that one of the consequences of poverty is that it claims lives.
As I wrote in a previous article on income/wealth inequality as a moral crisis for this country (ref), a study conducted by Columbia University’s School of Public Health estimated that in 2000 875,000 deaths could be attributed to a cluster of social factors bound up with poverty and income inequality (ref). The Great Recession has caused an increase in poverty and applying the 2000 mortality rate in the Columbia University report to the number of Americans currently living in poverty an estimated 1,228,169 Americans died in 2009 from the effects of poverty and income inequality (ref).

This estimated annual increase of more than 350,000 lost American lives due to poverty since 2000 (of which failed policy has contributed) dwarfs the total 4484 US military fatalities incurred over the entire course of the Iraq War (ref). This staggering loss of American lives due to the consequences of poverty is never part of the political dialog and our news sanitizes the picture of poverty in our country.

Consider that Congress just reached a deal that would prevent yet another threatened government shutdown by including a cut of $3.5 billion for low-income heating and utility subsidies (a cut of about 25%) while maintaining the Bush era tax cuts largely favoring the wealthiest. In striking such a deal, our Congress has placed a higher value on special interest-driven policy than the lives of American citizens – and that does represent a moral crisis for our country.

Beware this Boy
A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite seasonal stories.

In writing the above this holiday season I was reminded of Scrooge saying that if the poor are to die then “they had better do it and decrease the surplus population”. I could hear the voice of the Marley’s ghost screaming at Scrooge that “Mankind was my business”. I could see the Ghost of Christmas Present revealing the two wretched children to Scrooge, the girl being ‘Want’, the boy being ‘Ignorance’ and saying to Scrooge: “Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”

Really not a bad time of year to reflect on what has happened to our Congress. We must erase the writing on the brow of ignorance. We must not allow our Congress to remain Our Unrepresentative Representation.

http://www.artonissues.com/2011/12/our-unrepresentative-representation/

CBO: TARP to cost US double initial estimates

2011-12-18T15:19:00.000-08:00

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/216421.html

estimates

Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:32PM GMT

The government's bailout of banks may cost U.S. taxpayers nearly two times more than originally estimated, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The Troubled Asset Released Program, better known as TARP, will cost the federal government $34 billion, the CBO reported on its director's blog. That's $15 billion higher than the agency's previous estimate in March. The increase in the estimate is mostly due to a drop in the market value of the government's investments in American International Group and General Motors.

In addition to the TARP loan, the Federal Reserve provided financial institutions with loans totaling more than $1 trillion in December 2008, at the height of the credit crisis, according to Bloomberg.

Federal officials engineered TARP in October 2008, arguing that giving banks billions of dollars would help them withstand the credit crunch and stymie financial disaster. Critics allege that the money, which was supposed to spur lending to American businesses, never made it to Main Street. More recently, the contrast between the government bailouts bankers received and ordinary Americans' lingering jobs and housing woes has become a rallying cry for Occupy Wall Street.

In fact, many of the banks went back to making the same high-risk bets that got them into trouble in the first place, according to a September study from the University of Michigan. Banks treated the money and the limited guidelines that came with it as an implicit reassurance that the government would help them in the event of future disaster.

Though Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a watchdog panel in June 2010 that the banks had repaid 75 percent of the bailout money they received, there's still billions outstanding. Financial institutions owe the government $18 billion, while AIG still needs to repay $50 billion, according to a CBO infografic.

While the CBO boosted its estimate, it's guess is still lower than that of other agencies. The Office Of Management and Budget estimates that the bailout will cost the federal government $53 billion, according to the CBO blog. Huffington Post

FACTS & FIGURES

Beyond the $700 billion bailout known as TARP, which has been used to prop up American banks and car companies, the U.S. government has created an array of other programs to provide support to the struggling financial system. Through April 30, 2011, the government has made commitments of about $12.2 trillion and spent $2.5 trillion - but also has collected more than $10 billion in dividends and fees. NY Times

The first-ever Congressional audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve reveals that the central bank, between 2007 and 2010, gave $16 trillion in loans at zero percent to corporations and national banks throughout the world. The loans have not been paid back. United Liberty

While Fed officials say that almost all of the loans were repaid and there have been no losses, details suggest taxpayers paid a price beyond dollars as the secret funding helped preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger. Bloomberg

The Fed didn't tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn't mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy. Bloomberg

U.S. banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed's below-market rates. Bloomberg

2011-12-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

Operation Shield for Occupation safety - more to follow

2011-12-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

Operation SHIELD for Occupation Safety

The following is from the Operation SHIELD website:

We have ALL sat back for weeks and watched a good amount of police brutality occur. We have all sat back furious and frustrated, and with no outlet for our frustration. OcPo would like to introduce you to Operation SHIELD. Occupy Police has thought long and hard for week on our next move, and we’ve finally solidified our resolve to combat police brutality directly with Operation SHIELD. Police should expect SHIELD members to appear when police are on site, SHIELD members will act honorably, if you are an officer, you can expect, not to be attacked, cursed or yelled at, spit on, or harmed by a SHIELD member, there will be a contact number if this occurs. You can also expect SHIELD members to be interlocked together creating a barrier which separates protestors from police.

What is Operation SHIELD

Operation SHIELD is a non-violent 2 phase defensive operation aimed at combating police brutality on a national level
Operation SHIELD Phase 1 is Operation ARMORUP
Operation SHIELD Phase 2 is Operation SHIELD (Active) and is briefly layed forth below
OP SHIELD (Active) if implemented at your occupation will be a (Warrior Class) 1-2 person barrier which surrounds protestors when a large police force is on site. Should protestors go on a march or should an encampment be raided, SHIELD members will implement OP SHIELD (Active) immediately to protect protestors.
Operation SHIELD will be layed out and further explained for your GA’s approval; further down on this page
Operation SHIELD participation and membership is open to both civilians and ex/retired police & military. Membership requirements and the SHIELD oath are layed forth further down on this page

What is Operation ARMORUP

Operation ARMORUP is the organizational phase of Operation SHIELD
Operation ARMORUP consists of the 5 Parts listed (In Order) below
Part 1.) Member sign up / Oath taking / Member ID # Issued
Part 2.) Individual GA Approval of Operation SHIELD (Active)
Part 3.) Members are issued shirts which define them as SHIELD members
Part 4.) SHIELD Members will link up at their local occupations and coordinate OP SHIELD drills as defined below (COMING)
Part 5.) Operation ARMORUP concludes and becomes: Operation SHIELD (Active)
Part 6.) See more on Phase 2: OP SHIELD (Active) below (COMING)

GA Approval Document & Requirements For Hosting a SHIELD Team

Link to Document Describing Operation SHEILD To Be Read For GA Approval COMING
Requirements for hosting a SHIELD Team at your Occupation listed below
1.) I can provide an address for the delivery of ARMORUP/SHIELD Shirts for members
2.) I will inform Occupiers at our GA that they may become SHIELD members, should they agree with the “Membership Requirements”
3.) I will integrate at least 3 ARMORUP drills into our schedule, and inform both my occupation and the OcPo Secretary of the times as outlined in the “OP SHIELD Drills” section of the GA Approval Document
4.)I will inform OcPo of any member that does not meet or has broken the SHIELD Membership Requirements Agreement
5.)I will not interfere with SHIELD Procedures, outside of drill coordination and communication with SHIELD coordinators
6.)I have familiarized myself with and made available to my Occupation the “SHIELD Member Handbook”

Membership Requirements

Below are a list of requirements which must be agreed with before you sign up
As a SHIELD Member, I am willing to be arrested for protecting protestors
As a SHIELD Member, I understand I may be assaulted by police while protecting protestors, and I am ok with that
As a SHIELD Member, I will not assault an active police officer, however I will not allow police to break the SHIELD formation
As a SHIELD Member, I realize that I may be called upon in the early hours of the morning, or late in the evening to participate in SHIELD and protect protestors at my Occupation, I am ok with that
As a SHIELD Member, I agree to participate in national OP SHIELD discussions
I am not an (Active) member of the United States Armed Forces
I am not a threat to national security
I will not bear arms or weapons of any kind at an “Occupy” Protest, I feel my hand to hand combat skills and/or physical strength are/is sufficient
I do not have a criminal record of assault and battery or any type of violent felony
I will remain sober during any SHIELD Operation/Procedure, and will wear my SHIELD shirt over any clothing/coat/jacket during any SHIELD Operation/Procedure
I am 18 years of age or older
I have/will familiarize myself with the “SHIELD Handbook” before participating in SHIELD
I speak fluent English
I am a citizen of the United States of America
I am in good physical health and am able to maintain the integrity of the SHIELD formation
I am willing to be recognized both Privately & Publicly as a SHIELD Member
I will take the SHIELD oath and register as a member

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/17/2551149_p2/mannings-sexual-orientation-is.html

2011-12-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/17/2551149_p2/mannings-sexual-orientation-is.html

Manning's sexual orientation is raised at hearing

Protestors supporting Pfc. Bradley Manning gather outside Ft. Meade, Md., Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011, where military prosecutors are presenting their case against him as the source for the WikiLeaks website's collection of U.S. military and diplomatic secrets. Manning, 24-year-old today, is blamed for the largest leak of classified material in American history. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Manning to trial. Jose Luis Magana / AP Photo

Fullsize

previous | next

Image 1 of 19

This County Needs a few Good Communists by Chris Hedges

2011-12-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

Posted on May 31, 2010 by dandelionsalad

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
May 31, 2010

Image by Sterneck via Flickr

The witch hunts against communists in the United States were used to silence socialists, anarchists, pacifists and all those who defied the abuses of capitalism. Those “anti-Red” actions were devastating blows to the political health of the country. The communists spoke the language of class war. They understood that Wall Street, along with corporations such as British Petroleum, is the enemy. They offered a broad social vision which allowed even the non-communist left to employ a vocabulary that made sense of the destructive impulses of capitalism. But once the Communist Party, along with other radical movements, was eradicated as a social and political force, once the liberal class took government-imposed loyalty oaths and collaborated in the witch hunts for phantom communist agents, we were robbed of the ability to make sense of our struggle. We became fearful, timid and ineffectual. We lost our voice and became part of the corporate structure we should have been dismantling.

Hope in this age of bankrupt capitalism will come with the return of the language of class conflict. It does not mean we have to agree with Karl Marx, who advocated violence and whose worship of the state as a utopian mechanism led to another form of enslavement of the working class, but we have to speak in the vocabulary Marx employed. We have to grasp, as Marx did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill and lie to make money. They throw poor families out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars to make profits, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, loot the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship only money and power. And, as Marx knew, unfettered capitalism is a revolutionary force that consumes greater and greater numbers of human lives until it finally consumes itself. The nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico is the perfect metaphor for the corporate state. It is the same nightmare seen in postindustrial pockets from the old mill towns in New England to the abandoned steel mills in Ohio. It is a nightmare that Iraqis, Pakistanis and Afghans, mourning their dead, live each day.

Capitalism was once viewed in America as a system that had to be fought. But capitalism is no longer challenged. And so, even as Wall Street steals billions of taxpayer dollars and the Gulf of Mexico is turned into a toxic swamp, we do not know what to do or say. We decry the excesses of capitalism without demanding a dismantling of the corporate state. The liberal class has a misguided loyalty, illustrated by environmental groups that have refused to excoriate the Obama White House over the ecological catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Liberals bow before a Democratic Party that ignores them and does the bidding of corporations. The reflexive deference to the Democrats by the liberal class is the result of cowardice and fear. It is also the result of an infantile understanding of the mechanisms of power. The divide is not between Republican and Democrat. It is a divide between the corporate state and the citizen. It is a divide between capitalists and workers. And, for all the failings of the communists, they got it.

Unions, organizations formerly steeped in the doctrine of class warfare and filled with those who sought broad social and political rights for the working class, have been transformed into domesticated partners of the capitalist class. They have been reduced to simple bartering tools. The social demands of unions early in the 20th century that gave the working class weekends off, the right to strike, the eight-hour day and Social Security have been abandoned. Universities, especially in political science and economics departments, parrot the discredited ideology of unregulated capitalism and have no new ideas. Artistic expression, along with most religious worship, is largely self-absorbed narcissism. The Democratic Party and the press have become corporate servants. The loss of radicals within the labor movement, the Democratic Party, the arts, the church and the universities has obliterated one of the most important counterweights to the corporate state. And the purging of those radicals has left us unable to make sense of what is happening to us.

The fear of communism, like the fear of Islamic terrorism, has resulted in the steady suspension of civil liberties, including freedom of speech, habeas corpus and the right to organize, values the liberal class claims to support. It was the orchestration of fear that permitted the capitalist class to ram through the Taft-Hartley Act in 1948 in the name of anti-communism, the most destructive legislative blow to the working class until the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It was fear that created the Patriot Act, extraordinary rendition, offshore penal colonies where we torture and the endless wars in the Middle East. And it was fear that was used to see us fleeced by Wall Street. If we do not stop being afraid and name our enemy we will continue toward a state of neofeudalism.

The robber barons of the late 19th century used goons and thugs to beat up workers and retain control. The corporations, employing the science of public relations, have use actors, artists, writers, scholars and filmmakers to manipulate and shape public opinion. Corporations employ the college-educated, liberal elite to saturate the culture with lies. The liberal class should have defied the emasculation of radical organizations, including the Communist Party. Instead, it was lured into the corporate embrace. It became a class of collaborators. National cohesion, because our intellectual life has become so impoverished, revolves around the empty pursuits of mass culture, brands, consumption, status and the bland uniformity of opinions disseminated by corporate-friendly courtiers. We speak and think in the empty slogans and clichés we are given. And they are given to us by the liberal class.

The “idea of the intellectual vocation,” as Irving Howe pointed out in his essay “The Age of Conformity,” “the idea of a life dedicated to values that cannot possibly be realized by a commercial civilization—has gradually lost its allure. And, it is this, rather than the abandonment of a particular program, which constitutes our rout.” The belief that capitalism is the unassailable engine of human progress, Howe added, “is trumpeted through every medium of communication: official propaganda, institutional advertising and scholarly writings of people who, until a few years ago, were its major opponents.”

“The truly powerless people are those intellectuals—the new realists—who attach themselves to the seats of power, where they surrender their freedom of expression without gaining any significance as political figures,”

Howe wrote.

“For it is crucial to the history of the American intellectuals in the past few decades—as well as to the relationship between ‘wealth’ and ‘intellect’—that whenever they become absorbed into the accredited institutions of society they not only lose their traditional rebelliousness but to one extent or another they cease to function as intellectuals. The institutional world needs intellectuals because they are intellectuals but it does not want them as intellectuals. It beckons to them because of what they are but it will not allow them, at least within its sphere of articulation, either to remain or entirely cease being what they are. It needs them for their knowledge, their talent, their inclinations and passions; it insists that they retain a measure of these endowments, which it means to employ for its own ends, and without which the intellectuals would be of no use to it whatever. A simplified but useful equation suggests itself: the relation of the institutional world to the intellectuals is as the relation of middlebrow culture to serious culture, the one battens on the other, absorbs and raids it with increasing frequency and skill, subsidizes and encourages it enough to make further raids possible—at times the parasite will support its victim. Surely this relationship must be one reason for the high incidence of neurosis that is supposed to prevail among intellectuals. A total estrangement from the sources of power and prestige, even a blind unreasoning rejection of every aspect of our culture, would be far healthier if only because it would permit a free discharge of aggression.”

The liberal class prefers comfort to confrontation. It will not challenge the decaying structures of the corporate state. It is intolerant within its ranks of those who do. It clings pathetically to the carcass of the Obama presidency. It has been exposed as a dead force in American politics. We must find our way back to the old radicals, to the discredited Marxists, socialists and anarchists, including Dwight Macdonald and Dorothy Day. Language is our first step toward salvation. We cannot fight what we cannot describe.

Copyright © 2010 Truthdig

Chris Hedges spent two decades as a foreign reporter covering wars in Latin America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He has written nine books, including Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (2009) and War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (2003).
see
Michel Chossudovsky: The Homeland Security State and the Economical Crisis
The Greeks Get It by Chris Hedges
Theology and Neoliberal Economics by Prof. Michael Hudson
John Bellamy Foster: The Crisis of Capital: Economy, Ecology and Empire (must-see)
The Economy Sucks and or Collapse 2

50 Economic Numbers From 2011 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

2011-12-17T23:06:00.000-08:00

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/50-economic-numbers-from-2011-that-are-almost-too-crazy-to-believe

Even though most Americans have become very frustrated with this economy, the reality is that the vast majority of them still have no idea just how bad our economic decline has been or how much trouble we are going to be in if we don't make dramatic changes immediately. If we do not educate the American people about how deathly ill the U.S. economy has become, then they will just keep falling for the same old lies that our politicians keep telling them. Just "tweaking" things here and there is not going to fix this economy. We truly do need a fundamental change in direction. America is consuming far more wealth than it is producing and our debt is absolutely exploding. If we stay on this current path, an economic collapse is inevitable. Hopefully the crazy economic numbers from 2011 that I have included in this article will be shocking enough to wake some people up.
At this time of the year, a lot of families get together, and in most homes the conversation usually gets around to politics at some point. Hopefully many of you will use the list below as a tool to help you share the reality of the U.S. economic crisis with your family and friends. If we all work together, hopefully we can get millions of people to wake up and realize that "business as usual" will result in a national economic apocalypse.

The following are 50 economic numbers from 2011 that are almost too crazy to believe....

#1 A staggering 48 percent of all Americans are either considered to be "low income" or are living in poverty.
#2 Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes that are either considered to be "low income" or impoverished.
#3 If the number of Americans that "wanted jobs" was the same today as it was back in 2007, the "official" unemployment rate put out by the U.S. government would be up to 11 percent.
#4 The average amount of time that a worker stays unemployed in the United States is now over 40 weeks.
#5 One recent survey found that 77 percent of all U.S. small businesses do not plan to hire any more workers.
#6 There are fewer payroll jobs in the United States today than there were back in 2000 even though we have added 30 million extra people to the population since then.
#7 Since December 2007, median household income in the United States has declined by a total of 6.8% once you account for inflation.
#8 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 16.6 million Americans were self-employed back in December 2006. Today, that number has shrunk to 14.5 million.
#9 A Gallup poll from earlier this year found that approximately one out of every five Americans that do have a job consider themselves to be underemployed.
#10 According to author Paul Osterman, about 20 percent of all U.S. adults are currently working jobs that pay poverty-level wages.
#11 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.
#12 Back in 1969, 95 percent of all men between the ages of 25 and 54 had a job. In July, only 81.2 percent of men in that age group had a job.
#13 One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.
#14 The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of U.S. households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.
#15 According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.
#16 As the economy has slowed down, so has the number of marriages. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.
#17 The U.S. Postal Service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past year.
#18 In Stockton, California home prices have declined 64 percent from where they were at when the housing market peaked.
#19 Nevada has had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation for 59 months in a row.
#20 If you can believe it, the median price of a home in Detroit is now just $6000.
#21 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 18 percent of all homes in the state of Florida are sitting vacant. That figure is 63 percent larger than it was just ten years ago.
#22 New home construction in the United States is on pace to set a brand new all-time record low in 2011.
#23 As I have written about previously, 19 percent of all American men between the ages of 25 and 34 are now living with their parents.
#24 Electricity bills in the United States have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.
#25 According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%.
#26 One study found that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.
#27 If you can believe it, one out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.
#28 The United States spends about 4 dollars on goods and services from China for every one dollar that China spends on goods and services from the United States.
#29 It is being projected that the U.S. trade deficit for 2011 will be 558.2 billion dollars.
#30 The retirement crisis in the United States just continues to get worse. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 46 percent of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, and 29 percent of all American workers have less than $1,000 saved for retirement.
#31 Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below the federal poverty line.
#32 According to a study that was just released, CEO pay at America's biggest companies rose by 36.5% in just one recent 12 month period.
#33 Today, the "too big to fail" banks are larger than ever. The total assets of the six largest U.S. banks increased by 39 percent between September 30, 2006 and September 30, 2011.
#34 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have a net worth that is roughly equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans combined.
#35 According to an analysis of Census Bureau data done by the Pew Research Center, the median net worth for households led by someone 65 years of age or older is 47 times greater than the median net worth for households led by someone under the age of 35.
#36 If you can believe it, 37 percent of all U.S. households that are led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero or less than zero.
#37 A higher percentage of Americans is living in extreme poverty (6.7%) than has ever been measured before.
#38 Child homelessness in the United States is now 33 percent higher than it was back in 2007.
#39 Since 2007, the number of children living in poverty in the state of California has increased by 30 percent.
#40 Sadly, child poverty is absolutely exploding all over America. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4% of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in poverty, 40.1% of all children that live in Atlanta are living in poverty, 52.6% of all children that live in Cleveland are living in poverty and 53.6% of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.
#41 Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps.
#42 In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for more than 18 percent of all income.
#43 A staggering 48.5% of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.
#44 Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.
#45 For fiscal year 2011, the U.S. federal government had a budget deficit of nearly 1.3 trillion dollars. That was the third year in a row that our budget deficit has topped one trillion dollars.
#46 If Bill Gates gave every single penny of his fortune to the U.S. government, it would only cover the U.S. budget deficit for about 15 days.
#47 Amazingly, the U.S. government has now accumulated a total debt of 15 trillion dollars. When Barack Obama first took office the national debt was just 10.6 trillion dollars.
#48 If the federal government began right at this moment to repay the U.S. national debt at a rate of one dollar per second, it would take over 440,000 years to pay off the national debt.
#49 The U.S. national debt has been increasing by an average of more than 4 billion dollars per day since the beginning of the Obama administration.
#50 During the Obama administration, the U.S. government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.

Of course the heart of our economic problems is the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a perpetual debt machine, it has almost completely destroyed the value of the U.S. dollar and it has an absolutely nightmarish track record of incompetence. If the Federal Reserve system had never been created, the U.S. economy would be in far better shape. The federal government needs to shut down the Federal Reserve and start issuing currency that is not debt-based. That would be a very significant step toward restoring prosperity to America.

During 2011 we made a lot of progress in educating the American people about our economic problems, but we still have a long way to go.

Hopefully next year more Americans than ever will wake up, because 2012 is going to represent a huge turning point for this country.

1% vs. 99%: Occupy Homes Begins ~ Foreclosure Crisis in Americ...

2011-12-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

1% vs. 99%: Occupy Homes Begins ~ Foreclosure Crisis in Americ...:

Occupy Homes Begins ~ Foreclosure Crisis in America
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

OFF TO DC! to help Monique White fight foreclosure and help us get JOBS!

2011-12-04T12:53:00.001-08:00

Yes, the SEIU bus leaves tonight at 7 pm and I'll be on it!

I hope to make contacts that will help us defeat US Bank in their foreclosing Monique's property.

#Occupy has a great future ahead of it if we can show the banksters they can be defeated!

To offer help, please contact us at USuncutMN@gmail.com as we put together a sucessful campaign that all can use!

Tomgram: Peter Van Buren, Thought Crime in Washington

2011-11-28T15:17:00.001-08:00

Tomgram: Peter Van Buren, Thought Crime in Washington

November 27, 2011 Tom Dispatch

When I arrived at Zuccotti Prison one afternoon last week, the “park” was in its now-usual lockdown mode. No more tents. No library. No kitchen. No medical area. Just about 30 leftover protesters and perhaps 100 of New York’s finest as well as private-security types in neon-green vests in or around a dead space enclosed by more movable police fencing than you can imagine. To the once open plaza, there were now only two small entrances in the fencing on the side streets, and to pass through either you had to run a gauntlet of police and private security types.

The park itself was bare of anything whatsoever and, that day, parts of it had been cordoned off, theoretically for yet more cleaning, with the kind of yellow police tape that would normally surround a crime scene, which was exactly how it seemed. In fact, as I walked in, a young protestor was being arrested, evidently for the crime of lying down on a bench. (No sleeping, or even prospective sleeping, allowed — except in jail!)

Thanks to Mayor Bloomberg’s police assault on the park, OWS has largely decamped for spaces unknown and for the future. Left behind was a grim tableau of our distinctly up-armored, post-9/11 American world. To take an obvious example, the “police” who so notoriously pepper-sprayed non-violent, seated students at UC Davis were just campus cops, who in my college years, the 1960s, still generally wore civvies, carried no weapons, and were tasked with seeing whether students had broken curfew or locked themselves out of their rooms.

Now, around the country, they are armed with chemical weapons, Tasers, tear gas, side arms, you name it. Meanwhile, some police departments, militarizing at a rapid rate, have tank-like vehicles, and the first police surveillance drones are taking to the air in field tests and capable of being weaponized.

And keep in mind, when it comes to that pepper-spraying incident, we’re talking about sleepy Davis, California, and a campus once renowned for its agronomy school. Al-Qaeda? I don’t think so.

Still, terror is what now makes our American world work, the trains run more or less on time, and the money flow in. So why should we be surprised that, having ripped Zuccotti Park apart, destroyed books, gotten a rep for pepper-spraying and roughing up protesters (and reporters, too), the NYPD should propitiously announce the arrest of yet another “lone wolf” terrorist.

And can anyone be shocked that we’re talking about a disturbed, moneyless individual — he couldn’t even pay his cell phone bill, no less rent a place to live — under surveillance for two years, and palling around with an NYPD “informant” who smoked marijuana with him and may have given him not only a place to build a bomb but encouragement in doing so.

It was a police-developed terror case that evidently so reeked of coaching even the FBI refused to get involved. And yet this was Mayor Bloomberg’s shining moment of last week, as the NYPD declared his home a “frozen” zone, the equivalent of declaring martial law around his house.

And who was endangering him? An OWS “drum circle.” In the United States, increasingly, those in power no longer observe the law. Instead, they make it up to suit their needs. In the process, the streets where you demonstrate, as (New York’s mayor keeps telling us) is our “right,” are regularly transformed into yet more fenced-in, heavily surveilled Zuccotti Prisons.

This may not be a traditional police state (yet), but it is an increasingly militarized policed state in which the blue coats, armed to the teeth, act with remarkable impunity — and all in the name of our safety from a bunch of doofuses or unhinged individuals that its “informants” often seem to fund, put through basic terror courses, and encourage in every way until they are arrested as “terrorists.” This is essentially a scam on the basis of which rights are regularly abridged or tossed out the window.

In twenty-first-century America, “rights” are increasingly meant for those who behave themselves and don’t exercise them. And if you happen to be part of a government in which no criminal act of state — torture, kidnapping, the assassination of U.S. citizens abroad, the launching of wars of aggression — will ever bring a miscreant to court, only two crimes evidently exist:blowing a whistle or expressing your opinion.

State Department official Peter Van Buren, whose new book about a disastrous year he spent in Iraq, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, is a must read, learned that the hard way. So did Morris Davis. So may we all. Tom

MF Global Looted Customer Accounts

2011-11-28T15:07:00.001-08:00

MF Global Looted Customer Accounts

November 25th, 2011

By Stephen Lendman

Wall Street's business model is grand theft. Jon Corzine was MF Global's CEO. Earlier he headed Goldman Sachs, America's premiere racketeering organization.

He also was one of legions of corrupt politicians as US senator and New Jersey governor. His extreme, longstanding criminality warrants putting him in prison for life. No restitution can reverse his harm. It's true also for many others like him.

Before its collapse, MF Global (MFG) faced a run on its holdings. On October 31, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

On November 19, Reuters said the firm "moved hundreds of millions of dollars in customer money from its US brokerage unit to Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in August, just months before filing for bankruptcy...."

In other words, MFG lawlessly looted customer accounts. It used client money for its own purposes to speculate, as well as cover debt obligations and losses. At issue is grand theft.

In fact, it's one of the most brazen acts in memory in a business notorious for outrageous criminality. What ever's gotten away with incentivizes Wall Street crooks to steal more. Why not! At most, they're slap on the wrist punishments mock rule of law justice.

On November 19 on the Kaiser Report, Barry Ritholtz commented on the big lie, hyper-leveraged banks, the MFG scandal, and congressional political whores, saying:

People responsible for creating these problems shift blame to others. Facts say otherwise. Wall Street speculators take big risks. They use hyper-leverage that's only effective when it works.

"Their models were wildly optimistic. Banking is supposed to be very boring." Decisions are supposed to be made about who's credit worthy and who isn't. Instead, reckless speculation replaced investing and sound lending policies.

Wall Street's ideology is bankrupt, "and it's causing global damage to the economy. For investment banks, the five biggest houses got waivers on leverage rules."

SEC collaborators rigged the system for them. These banks also "happen to be the five biggest donors to Congress," or among the largest. Over time, successful lobbying removed everything affecting profits, no matter the risk. The SEC, Fed, FDIC and CME rigged the system for them.

Brazen fraud became standard practice. Criminals deserving prison keep stealing. The dirty game involves grabbing "whatever the hell you want and run for the hills. No one will prosecute you."

"MF Global is another order of magnitude. If anyone is going to jail over this whole period, it has to be" their top officials. Don't bet on it, especially a power broker like Corzine.

He's directly responsible for stealing $1.2 billion in client funds. He looted them brazenly. According to Bloomberg:

"Examiners from CME Group Inc., the world's largest futures exchange, found unexplained wire transfers" and $1.2 billion missing "during the weekend the failing broker was talking with possible buyers, a person briefed on the matter said."

Multiple investigations began, including by Justice Department lawyers. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) were responsible for overseeing MFG. They knew what went on but did nothing.

Huffington Post writer Daniel Dicker said the Koch Brothers were tipped off in time to get out safely. Others weren't as lucky.

MFG is America's eighth largest bankruptcy, the first major one the Eurozone crisis caused. Expect more ahead.

Practices cratering economies in 2008 continue. Nations teeter on bankruptcy. Corzine bet heavily that Spanish and Italian debt wouldn't collapse.

Using 40 to 1 leverage, he bet massively the wrong way. His second quarter $190 million loss drove investors away. Those remaining lost everything. Corzine and top executives pocketed millions.

In 1999, he was worth an estimated $400 million when he left Goldman Sachs. Perhaps its double that now, including funds looted from MFG. We may know more later on.

From 1994 - 1994, Corzine headed Goldman Sachs during the time banking became deregulated. Carter began it late in his tenure. Reagan did much more. Clinton completed unfinished business. James Petras calls the 1990s "the golden age of pillage," the decade of anything goes.

It persists in the new millennium because political Washington and regulators look the other way, profiting handsomely by doing it. Everyone feathers nests belonging to others. Self-sustaining corruption continues. Only little people and unknowing investors get scammed. Power brokers make out like bandits.

After losing his 2009 gubernatorial reelection bid, government regulators welcomed Corzine back on Wall Street. New York Fed president William Dudley (a fellow Goldman alumnus) made MFG a "primary dealer." Despite its size and a former trading scandal $10 million fine, it became one of a handful of firms marketing US Treasuries.

At the behest of Corzine and other power brokers, CFTC head Gary Gensler suspended implementation of new rules imposing limits on broker-dealer use of client funds, especially for foreign sovereign debt. In other words, they were freed to commit grand theft. MFG took full advantage.

Wall Street Journal Money & Investing editor Francesco Guerrera wrote about "Three Lessons From the Collapse." He quoted University of San Diego Professor Frank Partnoy, saying:

MFG's "failure illustrates how much financial markets are about trust and confidence. Once you lose those, you are done."

Guerrera's three lessons include:

* closing accounting loopholes and strengthening oversight;
* establishing lead regulators for nonbank financial firms; and
* writing new rules for "nonsystemic" firms as well as "too big to fail" ones.

Dodd-Frank financial reform left a broken system in place. The entire law needs rewriting. Better still, scrap it and start over. Stiff regulations with teeth are needed, including mandatory prosecution of crooks, especially those highest up to let others know invulnerability days are over.

When culpable CEO heads roll, it'll be a good start. However, game-changer differences won't happen until all high level Wall Street swindlers wear numbered striped suits.

Trends forecaster Gerald Celente lost $100,000 in an MF Global gold futures account. He told Russia

Today:

"I really got burned. I got a call," saying "I needed to have a margin call. (W)hat are you talking about," he asked? "I've got a ton of money in my account. They responded, oh no you don't. That money's with a trustee now."

His advice for everyone holding gold ETFs is cash out because "they are going to steal all our money." Angry about MF Global's theft, he called Corzine a "cheap SOB." He's that and much more.

"How come he's not in Jail," railed Celente. It's "because he's one of the white shoe boys from the Goldman Sachs crowd." He added that "the merger of state and corporate power" brought "fascism" to America.

The entire system's too corrupted to fix. Only tearing it down and starting over can work. It's high time the process started. Hopefully, OWS protests began it.

Rumor has it that JPMorgan Chase and perhaps other Wall Street banks are involved. Judge Martin Glenn is handling MFG's bankruptcy. HL Camp, Proprietor of HL Camp Futures, wrote him as follows:

"Our firm is a registered introducing broker with the CFTC. I have written to you previously on behalf of our customers."

"Here is a comment this morning from one of our former customers in Europe," saying:
"I will never do business in the United States of America again."

According to Camp, "(t)he system is to protect futures accounts is broken. And the whole world knows it."

"What started as a failure of one FCM (Futures Commission Merchant) that quickly gave a black eye to the CFTC and especially the CME has now made our United States of America a very bad joke to commodity futures traders all over the world."

"The problem this morning is not just excess margin equity."

"The problem this morning is the reputation of the United States of America."

"Thank you very much for your time and for listening."

Forbes staff writer Robert Lenzner said traders and clients didn't know about MFG's unscrupulousness.

He said a CFTC loophole lets firms speculate with segregated client accounts. Few know it without carefully reading contract fine print or getting sound legal advice.

Lenzner's lesson one is CFTC Rule 1.29 must be scraped. It lets futures commission merchants gamble with client funds.

Lesson two is knowing personal funds aren't safe in futures metals, energy, precious metals, or agricultural futures accounts.

Lesson three is resolving which regulator oversees firms like MFG - the CFTC or CME. One should have primary responsibility and be held accountable for fraud.

Lenzner added that Justice Department attorneys are determining whether federal crimes occurred. He expects a lengthy process because MFG's books "are in a state of chaos," deliberately no doubt.

Whether anyone ends up indicted isn't sure. At most perhaps, expect lower level patsies hung out to dry to let crime bosses like Corzine stay free to steal more. It's how it always works.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/

2011-11-16T14:15:00.001-08:00

This Is The Report That Caused Banks To Tank today

2011-11-16T13:52:00.001-08:00

Bank stocks plummeted after Fitch Ratings released a statement about U.S. bank exposure to Europe.
Goldman sachs fell fell $4.21, or 4.16%, to close at $95.60 a share.
JPMorgan dropped 3.76%.
Bank of America fell 3.75%,.
Morgan Stanely tumbled $1.27, or 7.97%.
Here's the key part of the report:

U.S. banks have manageable direct exposures to the stressed European markets (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain), but further contagion poses a serious risk, according to a Fitch Ratings report.

Fitch believes that unless the Eurozone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner, the broad credit outlook for the U.S. banking industry could worsen. Fitch’s current outlook for the industry is stable, reflecting improved fundamentals at most banks combined with ratings lower than at pre-crisis levels. However, risks of a negative shock are rising and could alter this outlook.

U.S. banks have reduced direct exposure to stressed European markets considerably over the past year in Fitch’s view. Direct exposures appear manageable in the context of banks’ capital positions and diverse earnings streams. Public disclosure of direct exposures has generally improved recently but varies from bank to bank

2011-11-16T13:47:00.001-08:00

http://www.americanindependent.com/204647/what-women-want-from-the-super-committee

By Sofia ResnickTuesday, November 15, 2011 at 5:23 pm

The subject of a recent episode of the NBC comedy series “The Office” was about a doomsday device created by devious employee Dwight K. Schrute (played by Rainn Wilson). If his fellow co-workers committed five errors in a single workday, the device was wired to send an email to their CEO with information likely to result in the staff’s firing.
In the case of today’s long-term deficit-reduction negotiations in Congress –- currently being deliberated by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, or “super committee” –- Congress is Dwight, Nov. 23 is Dwight’s 5 p.m. (the sequester deadline, i.e., the trigger mechanism that would make $1.2 trillion across-the-board cuts), and both scenarios can be nipped in the bud by their respective creators.
Time is running out for the super committee, appointed to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit over the next decade, and if — as many news outlets are predicting — they fail to come up with a solid plan within the next nine days, Congress will plan to slash $600 billion from defense spending and $600 billion from domestic programs excluding Social Security and Medicaid, including cuts to Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers, come the 2013 budget.
The American Independent recently reported on how certain GOP presidential candidates’ proposed tax-policy plans would disproportionately affect women, who tend to earn lower wages and depend more on entitlement programs than men. This week, TAI takes a look at how the super committee’s proposal could disproportionately impact women.
What’s on the table?
Reporting that has emerged from the closed-door super committee meetings reveals the six Democrats on the panel are generally insistent on raising revenues from tax increases; wish to end the Bush-era tax cuts; and preserve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The six Republicans, meanwhile, have slowly begun to discuss revenues but are opposed to achieving them through tax cuts; want to make permanent the Bush-era tax cuts; and are pushing to restructure how Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are paid for in the future.
Roll Call details the latest in negotiations: Last week panel member Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) proposed a $1.2 trillion plan comprising $700 billion in cuts and $500 billion in revenues (half of the revenues would come from $250 billion in “tax code reform’). The most recent Democratic offer is a $2.3 trillion reduction plan over 10 years involving $1 trillion in revenues (including tax hikes) and $400 billion in “entitlement reform.”

Still they remain at an impasse.

But as Politico recently reported, despite having the power to dismantle the doomsday device, the president won’t take it. According to a White House statement, on Friday Obama called super committee co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Jeb. Hensarling (R-Texas) to tell them he will refuse attempts to override the automatic cuts if the panel can’t complete the task. (In the “Office” episode, Dwight makes the same promise after the staff does fail, but he caves at the 11th hour.)
“The sequester was agreed to by both parties to ensure there was a meaningful enforcement mechanism to force a result from the Committee,” Obama said in the statement. “Congress must not shirk its responsibilities.”
Lobbying ladies
One prediction if the super committee fails is that industries and special-interest groups will spend a year before the trigger takes effect lobbying Congress to reconsider cuts to specific programs. The Hill forecasts heavy lobbying from the Pentagon, defense contractors, liberal activists and labor unions.
Women’s advocacy groups have already begun voicing suggestions as to how to trim spending without devastating the neediest Americans, many of whom happen to be single women with children.
Early this month, National Organization for Women (NOW) President Terry O’Neill blasted the super committee’s “irresponsible proposals,” referring to assumptions the Republican members on the committee are pushing for Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan-style changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security while, at the same time, opposing tax increases on corporations and millionaires. O’Neill similarly censured proposals she had heard from the Democratic side:

[I]t’s beyond distressing to see some Democrats knuckling under and now embracing plans that would cause great hardship on retirees — mainly women, particularly women of color, as well as people with severe disabilities and our oldest seniors. The Democrats’ proposal would change the [Social Security Cost-of-Living adjustment] (COLA) so that monthly benefits are dramatically reduced, further impoverishing the millions of seniors who depend exclusively on their Social Security check. Medicare would be cut by $400 billion (on top of the $500 billion savings adopted in the Affordable Care Act), and Medicaid would be cut by $75 billion. … There’s not much worse than taking from the most vulnerable in society to pay for a deficit caused by a failure to tax millionaires and billionaires and waging two unfunded wars.

So what does NOW want the super committee to do?

Preserve COLA and minimize cuts to programs that disproportionately serve and employ women, among them Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly referred to as food stamps; college-tuition-assistance programs, child care; and family planning programs.
End Bush-era tax cuts.
Eliminate the payroll tax cap, which would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), a think thank that focuses on women’s domestic issues, has ideas of how to improve women’s economic standing in this country — ideas that likely contradict proposals the super committee members have been tossing around. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, although men have regained nearly 30 percent of the jobs they lost during the recession, women have regained only 10 percent of the jobs they lost. In July, men earned 136,000 jobs; women lost 19,000.
Among IWPR proposals, as laid out in a September 2011 report titled “Recommendations for Improving Women’s Employment in the Recovery”:

Make federal transfers available to state and local governments to replace lost revenues and allow them to hire back the teachers, case workers, nurses and others they have laid off.
Expand the length of the school day and school year.
Create an “Urban Conservation Corps” — programs partnering labor unions with inner-city youth with the goal of bring skills and employment opportunities to young women and men.
Fund child care.
Adopt tax incentives for businesses that offer their employees “work-life balance.”
Expand unemployment insurance benefits for workers with reduced working hours.
Expand employment for women in male-dominated fields, such as construction, transportation and green energy
Increase funding for jobs that provide direct care to children, disabled adults and the elderly. (According to the Economic Policy Institute (PDF), investments in physical infrastructure and human capital, such as early childhood development, education, health care, job training, would create jobs for women and men and contribute to long-term economic growth.)

Over at the National Women’s Law Center, the general position on the super committee proceedings is that the panel should promote job growth and strengthen the economy while simultaneously protecting programs that women and their families depend on now and in old age — women in general depend on Medicare and Medicaid at higher rates than men, and two-thirds of SNAP recipients are female, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (PDF).
Specifically the NWLC wants:

Reduced tax breaks for oil and gas industries and corporations that move jobs and profits overseas.
New tax brackets for annual income starting above $1 million and taxing income from capital gains and dividends at the same rate as income from work for taxpayers with income above $1 million.
A small tax on financial transactions such as stock trades — to raise revenue but also to discourage short-term speculation. According to the Economic Policy Institute and the Century Foundation, a 0.5 percent tax on stock transactions would raise about $77 billion per year; a 0.5 percent tax on all financial transactions (options, futures, swap transactions) would raise approximately $150 billion per year.
An extension on federal emergency unemployment benefits.

But for now, what women want — what all Americans want, and they all want different things — is in the hands of 12 under-pressure representatives and senators. And the clock is ticking.
Photo: Flickr/AMagill

Eviction @ #Occupy Wall Street, LRAD used Journalists kicked out as police beat sitting protestors

2011-11-16T13:42:00.001-08:00

http://www.twitter.com/LukeRudkowski

Senate announces Vikings stadium hearings

2011-11-16T13:22:00.001-08:00

There may not be a special legislative session for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium, but there will be public hearings.

Sen. Julianne Ortman, R-Chanhassen, who heads the influential Senate Taxes Committee, announced Wednesday she would hold two informational hearings on the Vikings stadium on Nov. 29 and Dec. 6.

“We are holding these hearings to invite the public and interested parties to come and testify and offer their views. It is an issue that people are very passionate about,” Ortman said.

“Based on information provided to these committees, we will determine if there is a consensus for further action,” she added in a statement.

Details related to the hearings, according to Ortman, would be released at a later time.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the lead Senate author of stadium legislation, hailed the announcement. "Senate Republican leadership has taken a bold and necessary step," she said. But Rosen added that "it is obvious that this issue will not have a simple solution or an easy consensus."

Gov. Mark Dayton also said he welcomed the hearings, calling them a "very positive step forward." Speaking to reporters after meeting with Arden Hills city officials Wednesday -- the Vikings want to build the stadium in Ramsey County's Arden Hills -- the governor said that "hopefully those hearings will present a clear picture, to at least the senators, as to what the options are and where to go from here."

House Republicans -- the party also holds a majority in the House -- have not announced any stadium hearings.

The Nov. 29 hearing would be a joint meeting of the Senate Taxes Committee and the Senate Local Government & Elections Committee. The Dec. 6 hearing would be a joint meeting of the Senate Taxes Committee and the Senate State Government Innovation & Veterans Committee.

The announcement comes as Dayton, who has pushed to resolve the Vikings stadium issue, acknowledged that a special legislative session to address the topic was now unlikely. The Legislature is scheduled to meet in regular session beginning Jan. 24.

The Vikings, who have played in the downtown Minneapolis Metrodome since 1982, want to build a $1.1 billion stadium in Arden Hills. The project would be funded by $407 million from the team, with the remainder coming from undetermined public subsidies.

Next Move to Amend organizing meeting, Nov. 21

2011-11-16T13:17:00.001-08:00

What: Move to Amend organizing meeting regarding volunteer strategy, action, and other volunteer opportunities.

Where: Rice Street Library. 1011 Rice St., Saint Paul, MN.

When: Monday, November 21^st 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Additional Information: Free. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP / Register in advance. To register, just respond to this email with a commitment to attend. The meeting room holds 35 people, so we want folks who are dedicated to contributing to Move to Amend on a volunteer / action basis. Participation with Move to Amend is democratic. As a group we will decide what actions are taken and how to best reach our goal through individual roles.

SuperCommittee! Listen to us "- no dirty energy!"

2011-11-16T13:04:00.001-08:00

The deficit reduction supercommittee has a November 23 deadline to finish its work. One of the first places lawmakers should look for cuts is the dirty energy sector.

From 2008 through 2010, Big Energy industries were among the top recipients of government handouts, second only to the financial industry.

Big Oil alone racks up $4 billion a year, while the corporations that make up the Big Oil industry post obscene profits quarter after quarter. In the first quarter of 2011, the world’s six largest oil companies reported combined profits of $38.1 billion - up 42 percent from the same period in 2010.

Tell the supercommittee to eliminate subsidies for dirty energy industries.

Eliminating these subsidies would shave $122 billion off our deficit over the next 10 years – and would improve the environment and public health.

It’s a no-brainer. The vast majority of Americans of every party want these subsidies to end. Yet Congress is loath to push dirty energy away from the government trough.

Big Energy influence over our democracy certainly has played a role in previous attempts to eliminate these subsidies. This time, the 12 members that have the authority to make the cuts have received at least $4.2 million in campaign contributions from dirty energy interests.

Remind lawmakers on the supercommittee that their constituents’ voices should trump campaign contributions.

Beyond helping reduce our deficit, eliminating dirt energy subsidies is crucial to shifting us toward a clean energy future.

If we continue to prop up this old dirty energy economy, we can’t invest in something better. To learn how shifting government spending toward investments in clean, green solutions—renewable energy, safer chemicals and materials, zero waste and more—can deliver jobs AND a healthier environment, watch The Story of Broke, by Public Citizen board member, Annie Leonard. After you watch the short program, don’t forget to sign the petition to the supercommittee.

Thank you for all you do,

Allison Fisher
Outreach Director
Public Citizen's Climate and Energy Program

DO IT NOW ! Recall Bloomberg!!

2011-11-16T12:57:00.001-08:00

Ronald Pires
Mayor Bloomberg's "sensible compromise" is to spend $50 million to deny the movement its symbol in the midst of the financial district. This is an absurd amount of money for the mayor to spend to "clean" a single city block when the social services the city provides are being bled dry as the same man cries poverty to the voters.

But there is always money for what the rich want, isn't there? And t he rich want the veneer restored that says everything they do to be rich is OK, and Mayor Bloomberg, after all, works for and is one of them. But what will he do when the people come back renewed and prepared to force a different outcome when he sends his goon squads in to silence them?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable.” -- Karl Marx

Bloomberg Editorial: Occupy Wall Street’s Next Step Is to Set a Reform Agenda
www.bloomberg.com
Let’s get the complicated part out of the way: This subject (Occupy Wall Street) for this editorial section (Bloomberg View, part of Bloomberg LP, majority-owned by Michael R. Bloomberg, mayor of New York) has “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” written all over it.

Read it and weep! So distorted! SO distorted!

All NYC Residents: RECALL MAYOR BLOOMBERG NOW

http://www.change.org/petitions/all-nyc-residents-recall-mayor-bloomberg-now
Why This Is Important
He is turning NYC into an armed police camp and has repeatedly ordered acts of extreme violence and theft (i.e., coordinated confiscation of personal belongings) against people engaged in peaceful protest. HE BROKE THE LAW IN ORDER TO "SERVE" THIS THIRD TERM AND SHOULD NOT BE IN CONTROL OF THIS CITY IN THE FIRST PLACE. HE MUST BE REMOVED NOW.

DO IT NOW! Join the 99% at Capitol, 2 pm, Thursday

2011-11-16T12:45:00.001-08:00

We Are The 99% event

Capitol Building Rotunda,75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (Map)

St. Paul, MN 55155

Thursday, November 17th, 2:00 PM

Let's keep the momentum going! Please sign up for this gathering right away!

http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=124552

Message from your host, Henry C.:Join Occupy St. Paul & US Uncut in bridging the gap between Supercommittee politicians and the needs of the 99%
http://occupysaintpaul.org/2011/11/14/usuncutmn-bridge-the-gap-march-rally/

Show Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-16T12:42:00.001-08:00

Show Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

Thursday, November 17, 2011, 2:00 PM

Selected By: MoveOn Henry

Capitol Building Rotunda

75 Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard., St Paul, MN 55155 (map)

Selected by: MoveOn Henry

Join Occupy St. Paul in bridging the gap between Supercommittee politicians and the needs of the 99% http://occupysaintpaul.org/2011/11/14/usuncutmn-bridge-th...
Rally in Rotunda from 2-3pm, and maybe the media area and the Governor's office, then head over to the U of M to occupy the 10th Ave bridge that runs parallel to the I-35 bridge. Occupy Minneapolis, Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, and student groups will join together there at 4pm, then march back to the People's Plaza for a rally in solidarity with #OccupyWallStreet.
Additional Web resources:
http://www.OccupyMinneapolis.mn
http://www.mnfaireconomy.org/2011/11/06/bridge-the-gap-ma...
http://www.moveon.org/event/events/attendees/index.html?e...

How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule

2011-11-16T12:39:00.001-08:00

erica from Wall Street Rule

by New Economy Working Group
Type: Report
Published July, 2011
visit website

NEWGroup Launches Report on U.S. Money System Restructure

How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule is a report of the New Economy Working Group produced in collaboration with the New Economy Network; it is an outcome of a series of conversations focused on building a policy agenda for transforming our money system. David Korten is the lead author; participating organizations include Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, Capital Institute, Democracy Collaborative, Green America, Institute for Policy Studies, Living Economies Forum, New Economy Network, New Rules Project, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Public Banking Institute, RSF Social Finance, and YES! Magazine.

The report calls for building a money/banking/finance system of local financial institutions that are transparent, accountable, rooted in community and dedicated to funding activities that build community wealth and meet community needs. The proposed system will look quite similar to the one that existed in the United States before the wave of financial deregulation that began in the 1960s. The How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule report briefly traces that history, outlines its devastating consequences, and presents an agenda for corrective action to change the system rules, structure, and culture.

To read the report online, click HERE; to download the high-resolution version for printing (9MB file), click HERE. It may be freely shared, reproduced, posted, and distributed in whole by any means without specific permission so long as it is presented in its entirety and is not altered or used for commercial purposes. (We encourage sharing via websites, newsletters, and social networking media. Follow #moneyreport and #neweconomy on Twitter for the latest news.)

Resources: The implementation of the "liberate America" policy agenda depends on effective broad-based citizen action from outside the establishment to build public consciousness and engage public participation. Please visit our Resource page for an abundance of references and links to campaigns and public initiatives converging in the movement to build a New Economy through financial system restructure.

@UFE Fair Economy

2011-11-16T12:35:00.001-08:00

#Occupy always on our staff mtg agenda. #Solidarity w/ #ows #seattle #oakland #denver #portland. pic.twitter.com/auhKMRGf

NEW Economy link!

2011-11-16T12:29:00.001-08:00

What Is the New Economy?

The New Economy is an emerging system of values, practices, institutions, policies and laws that support an economy designed to maximize current well being and social justice without sacrficing the natural world or the resources available to future generations.

Although there is no blueprint for the new economy, if you want to explore key ideas of visionary thinkers and organizations, please read: Neva Goodwin, Allen White and Richard Rosen, eds., Core Principles for a New Economy , Gus Speth, Toward a New Economy and a New Politics, David Korten, Seven Steps for Action toward a New Economy, The Tellus Institute, The Great Transition, and from the new economics foundation, another version of the The Great Transition. We also encourage you to explore NEN’s Resource pages and the websites of our member organizations.

News from the New Economy Movement

Our Mission

The mission of the New Economy Network (NEN) is to support a transition to a new economy where the priority is to sustain people and the planet, social justice and cohesion are prized, and peace, communities, democracy and nature all flourish.

The New Economy Network newsletter is intended to inform NEN members about new developments in the field of just and sustaining economics. Newsletter content is organized into the five main fields of work linked under NEN’s mission: Sustainable Community Development; Economic Policy; Environment and Energy; Social Justice and Civil Rights; and Democracy and Corporate Accountability. In keeping with our charter, we will try to lead each category with a success story each month.
NEN is a collaborative enterprise and your input is important. We want to share news and stories that you care about. We want to help you reach new audiences. Please forward reports about your own work or links to good research, articles, video, events, campaigns and announcements to coordinator@neweconomynetwork.org. We can’t promise to publish everything we receive, but we will read it all. We welcome creative content and fresh communication strategies. NEN is especially interested in the following topics:

Market transformation
The corporation, new business models
Social justice and equity
Economic growth
Beyond GDP, indicators
Consumerism, materialism
Sustainable communities, local living economies
Change in values, culture shift
Strong democracy, political reform
U.S. and the world. Peace economy.

Occupy Oakland's new target - foreclosed buildings

2011-11-16T12:25:00.001-08:00

Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Now that their general strike is over, Occupy Oakland activists are looking for a new initiative to keep the momentum rolling - and their gaze is turning toward taking over foreclosed or abandoned buildings.
The subject came up in earnest in group meetings over the past couple of days, and conversations have narrowed down not to whether Occupy activists should take over empty buildings, but when and how.
"It's a very important front for the Occupy movement all over this country, and if any one city can set a precedent for taking over foreclosed buildings, the idea will then quickly spread," said Adrian Dyer, an Occupy organizer. "The key is to improve what we occupy, to do it right, to set a good example."

'It will not be tolerated'

City officials are predictably unenthusiastic. The one takeover so far of an empty building left a bad taste.
That takeover came late Wednesday after tens of thousands of people had staged a largely peaceful general strike, shutting down the Port of Oakland. As many as 100 black-clad protesters took over a vacant building at 16th Street and Broadway, and when police moved in, the activists heaved rocks and other missiles. Police responded with tear gas, and more than 100 people were arrested.
Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana had a blunt statement about the proposed occupation of buildings: "It will not be tolerated."
Business groups were confounded that campers would sanction such an activity.
"It's lawlessness," said Joe Haraburda, president of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. "How about if you were a building owner and somebody took over your property? What gives them the right to do that?"
Occupy activists largely disavowed the violence of Wednesday's takeover, saying it undercut the movement's central message of denouncing corporate greed and economic inequity. They also disavowed a riot that broke out the week before but said it was largely a result of police overreaction.

Attracting support

The challenge in seizing foreclosed buildings is how to do it in a way that attracts support, many in the 165-tent Occupy Oakland camp at Frank Ogawa Plaza agreed in meetings and interviews Monday. That means appealing to everyone from the homeless Occupy campers to the soccer moms who show up for marches.
"One idea is to contact the people who were foreclosed upon and enlist them in the effort," said Kevin Seal, an Occupy organizer. "We want to have a plan before we do anything."
Oakland has been one of the hardest-hit California cities in the foreclosure crisis of recent years. Several real estate websites list hundreds of foreclosed properties for sale in the city.
There are plenty of examples portraying the success or failure of seizing buildings to be found in other movements.

Previous actions

In the 1980s and early '90s, a campaign to take over foreclosed houses in Oakland resulted in confrontations between police and homeless activists who chained themselves inside homes, but arrests were made peacefully. Since 1992 in San Francisco, the group Homes Not Jails has taken over more than 100 vacant buildings, usually quietly, to use as squatters' shelters.
Paul Boden, organizing director for the Western Regional Advocacy Project poverty relief group and a veteran of building takeovers, said he is willing to help Occupy activists if they want it. But he thinks they've already got a good deliberation process in place.
"One of the great things about Occupy is they are creating things as they go along, and I would not want to advise them on what to do," Boden said. "The talking heads and politicians can't stand it because they can't control it."
Chronicle staff writer Matthai Kuruvila contributed to this report.

E-mail Kevin Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com.

DO IT NOW: Kucinich petition re #OWS to mayors

2011-11-16T12:21:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

At 1:00 AM Tuesday night, after two months of peaceful protest against the people and institutions that wrecked our economy, police officers under direct orders from the Mayor of New York City raided Occupy Wall Street and evicted protestors from Zuccotti Park.

The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees all of us - including these protestors - the right to peacefully assemble and express our views. But over the past week, similar nighttime raids executed by mayors in Oakland, Portland and Atlanta have cast a dangerous shadow over our liberties.

Today, I am asking you to join me in standing with Occupy protests everywhere and demanding that the Mayors of America respect the First Amendment and the rights of our citizens to assemble and express themselves. Click here to sign the petition and demand that the mayors of America respect the Constitution and the rights of Occupy Wall Street to exist.

Right now, corporations are spending unlimited amounts of money to influence our election system under the guise of free speech. Yet when people like you and me gather in parks across America to protest this broken system, we are deemed a threat by local mayors.

Stand with me, Occupy Wall Street and all Americans who wish to defend our disappearing liberties in demanding that America's mayors respect the Constitution and rights guaranteed to all Americans in the First Amendment. Sign the petition today.

With respect,

Dennis

P.S. We need to get the word out. Please forward this email to your friends and family, and share it on Facebook and Twitter. We need to stand strong for the Constitution tod

I/We stand with Occupy Wall Street and all Americans who wish to defend our disappearing liberties in demanding that the Mayors of America respect the First Amendment and the rights of our citizens to assemble and express themselves.

DOWNLOADS

	download & print petition (PDF)
	download & print leaflet (PDF)

GREAT LINKS via 12160!

2011-11-16T12:19:00.001-08:00

A message to all members of 12160

Outcry as 84-year-old hit with pepper spray

Pregnant teen, elderly woman among pepper sprayed

http://12160.info/xn/detail/2649739:BlogPost:708118

NSFW :) Marine Sgt Thomas had a run-in with non-uniformed NYPD officer at Zuccotti Park Nov 15 ning.it/uVXYEq

Police crackdowns at Occupy sites stir debate | Seattle Times Newspaper ning.it/rXg7YV

Michael Moore Says Obama's DOJ & DHS Are Coordinating The Destruction The Occupy Movement ning.it/u31uQp

The Police State Makes Its Move: Retaining One's Humanity in the Face of Tyranny ning.it/tDMyFX

Occupy Wall Street - Free speech - Hate speech - Martial Law ow.ly/1fFTFV

One Veteran’s Rough Path from Killing and Torturing to Peace ning.it/sMrjgJ

> videos< #OccupyCal #OccupySeattle #ows #wearethe99percent #OWS #occuppywallstreet >

youtube.com/user/12160info <

PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet - Tell Congress not to censor the internet NOW! - ow.ly/1fGsnH

SEAL Team 6 Assassinated, Dead men tell no tales ning.it/u9wWgt

Non-profit group linked to Homeland Security promotes absurd fear of non-existent threat of terrorism -End the Lie ning.it/sEgErN

Animal Farm - MP3 Audio- pdf ning.it/tSeelf

US Bill Creating the Great Firewall of America ning.it/uCpzjp

Police crackdowns at Occupy sites stir debate | Seattle Times Newspaper ow.ly/1fG1bv

The Police State Makes Its Move: Retaining One's Humanity in the Face of Tyranny ow.ly/1fFYGU

Attacks on Occupy: “Revenge of the 1%” - WASHINGTON - November 15 - The New York Daily News is reporting: “Hours aft... ow.ly/1fFYGT

Movement Moves On After Police Occupy the OWS Park: Danny Schecter

2011-11-16T12:05:00.001-08:00

Movement Moves On After Police Occupy the OWS Park

By Danny Schechter (about the author)

What now after the Police Trash the OWS Camp? Danny Schechter dissects

::::::::

The Police May Have Seized The Park But The Movement Moves On
By Danny Schechter, author of The Crime Of Our Time

It was strange, after all these weeks, to be on the outside looking in at a new set of occupiers that were there because they have the guns and we don't.
When Mao said that "power grows out of the barrel of a gun" he most assuredly did not have anything like Occupy Wall Street on his mind, but somehow the insight applies.
The recent attacks on Occupy encampments may have their origins in decisions by federal agencies. It has been reported that the Mayor of Oakland admitted that 16 cities consulted or coordinated with the Department of Homeland Security. Many of the cities deny it. Activist Van Jones asked on MSNBC why they don't coordinate on creating programs to satisfy needs expressed by Occupy Wall Street.
Liberty Square/Zuccotti Park had now been power cleaned and was pristine when activists were allowed to reenter without tents or sleeping bags, More than 200 had been arrested in the takeover that included teargas and selective physical violence against resisters.
The Police operated under the cover the darkness. Press was not allowed despite press cards that permit journalists to operate behind police lines. Even helicopters were banned from the air space over the Park.
Soon, all the tents were trashed and gone: Medical, Media, The Kitchen and The Library, as well as all the work group locations that I showed in a film I made a week earlier. To defend the property rights of the owner, the property of protesters was thrown into the garbage.
Now there were cops in command, barricades on the outside and contractors employed by Brookfield Properties, the Park's owner, on the inside, looking all corporate and regimented,
Activists with badges calling themselves the "99%" were soon watching the triumph of authority with pains in their hearts from behind the barricades while a dozen TV trucks set up their antennas to broadcast live on this latest confrontation. They were finally allowed back in through checkpoints set up by representatives of the realty company enforcing rules that did not exist when they moved into the part in mid September.
The tabloid media were gloating earlier in the day, "BEAT IT" was the headline in the Daily News, Rupert; Murdoch's NY Post had been tipped in advance and covered the expulsion like a cheerleader.

Earlier in the day, a liberal judge had temporarily ordered the Police to allow the protesters to return to the Park with their stuff, but the case went back to State Court The cops ignored the ruling and by late afternoon had a new one that exonerated their eviction.
CBS reported, "A New York judge has upheld the city's dismantling of the Occupy Wall Street encampment, saying that the protesters' first amendment rights don't entitle them to camp out indefinitely in the plaza.
State judge Michael Stallman (A liberal who had worked for a liberal City Council member) on Tuesday denied a motion by the demonstrators seeking to be allowed back into the park with their tents and sleeping bags.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen reports that the key paragraph in the judge's ruling is as follows: "Here, movements have not demonstrated that the rules adopted by the owners of the property, concededly after the demonstrations began, are not reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions permitted under the First Amendment."
"Time, place and manner" restrictions on speech like the demonstrators had petitioned against have a long history in American law, going back at least to the 1960s. It is unlikely that this ruling will be overturned on appeal, if it is appealed at all.
"At the end of the day, if this movement is only tied to Liberty Plaza, we are going to lose. We're going to lose," said Sandra Nurse, one of the organizers, referring to another name for the park. "Right now the most important thing is coming together as a body and just reaffirm why we're here in the first place."
The predictable verdict by a politically connected Judge reminded me of an old joke that Lenny Bruce often told, "In the halls of Justice, the only justice is in the Halls."
The Post reported, "With tensions simmering all day, demonstrators had spent hours surrounding the now-closed park near Wall Street as they waited for the judge's decision.
Hours after the city forcibly evicted protesters, scrubbed down the park and closed it, Occupy Wall Street protests scattered across downtown Manhattan."
Earlier in the day protesters thought they had a new space to occupy, a mile away at 6th Avenue and Canal Street on a property owned by Trinity Church, a religious institution with vast holdings in Downtown Manhattan. They called for a new mobilization at the site, an unused playground that is a now site for new construction.
Hundreds showed up with banners but so did the police in riot gear. Soon a "White Shirt" commander named Esposito arrived to take command. He ordered the occupiers off the site. Apparently someone else at Trinity had reneged on the earlier invite, or so it was said.
Some of the protesters left but at least 16 were swiftly arrested with one set of cops telling us to get off the sidewalks and others to get on them. Some journalists were also taken into custody. One woman in a wheel chair was let go.
Most of the demonstrators left the site and headed back to the Park which, later, let some back in after searching them, They are being told they cannot sleep there.
Clearly there is a new challenge here--to build the movement without a residential base. Two New York churches are now offering out of town demonstrators places to stay and others will no doubt extend hospitality.
Other sites may be found, but their "liberated zone" has been lost for now.
Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO issued a statement calling for more protests on November 17th when some activists vow to shut Wall Street down. The police action will do doubt incite more support for this international day of action.
His statement seemed unusually militant:
"They can take away the tarps and the tents. But they can't slow down the Occupy Wall Street movement. The 99% is undaunted. Occupy Wall Street's message has already created a new day. This movement has created a seismic shift in our national debate--from austerity and cuts to jobs, inequality and our broken economic system."
So, clearly, despite the loss of power over the Park, this movement will move on. The question remains: where is it moving---and how can bring the large number of Americans who support it along?
When the police were doing their thing, no doubt, only following orders, demonstrators chanted, "This is What Democracy Looks Like" and "No Riot here, take off your riot gear."
News Dissector Danny Schechter covers OWS daily on his News Dissector.com blog. He also writes for Al Jazeera. He made the film Plunder about Wall Street crime and writes regularly for OpEd News.

Submitters Bio:

News Dissector Danny Schechter is blogger in chief at Mediachannel.Org He is the author of PLUNDER: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books) available at Amazon.com. See Newsdisssector.org/store.htm.

This Is What Revolution Looks Like:Chris Hedges

2011-11-16T11:16:00.001-08:00

By Chris Hedges (about the author)

Welcome to the revolution. Our elites have exposed their hand. They have nothing to offer. They can destroy but they cannot build. They can repress but they cannot lead. They can steal but they cannot share. They can talk but they cannot speak. They are as dead and useless to us as the water-soaked books, tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, food boxes and clothes that were tossed by sanitation workers Tuesday morning into garbage trucks in New York City. They have no ideas, no plans and no vision for the future.

Our decaying corporate regime has strutted in Portland, Oakland and New York with their baton-wielding cops into a fool's paradise. They think they can clean up "the mess" -- always employing the language of personal hygiene and public security -- by making us disappear. They think we will all go home and accept their corporate nation, a nation where crime and government policy have become indistinguishable, where nothing in America, including the ordinary citizen, is deemed by those in power worth protecting or preserving, where corporate oligarchs awash in hundreds of millions of dollars are permitted to loot and pillage the last shreds of collective wealth, human capital and natural resources, a nation where the poor do not eat and workers do not work, a nation where the sick die and children go hungry, a nation where the consent of the governed and the voice of the people is a cruel joke.

Get back into your cages, they are telling us. Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. Invest your emotional energy in the vast system of popular entertainment. Run up your credit card debt. Pay your loans. Be thankful for the scraps we toss. Chant back to us our phrases about democracy, greatness and freedom. Vote in our rigged political theater. Send your young men and women to fight and die in useless, unwinnable wars that provide corporations with huge profits. Stand by mutely as our bipartisan congressional super committee, either through consensus or cynical dysfunction, plunges you into a society without basic social services including unemployment benefits. Pay for the crimes of Wall Street.

The rogues' gallery of Wall Street crooks, such as Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs, Howard Milstein at New York Private Bank & Trust, the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the Koch brothers and Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase & Co., no doubt think it's over. They think it is back to the business of harvesting what is left of America to swell their personal and corporate fortunes. But they no longer have any concept of what is happening around them. They are as mystified and clueless about these uprisings as the courtiers at Versailles or in the Forbidden City who never understood until the very end that their world was collapsing. The billionaire mayor of New York, enriched by a deregulated Wall Street, is unable to grasp why people would spend two months sleeping in an open park and marching on banks. He says he understands that the Occupy protests are "cathartic" and "entertaining," as if demonstrating against the pain of being homeless and unemployed is a form of therapy or diversion, but that it is time to let the adults handle the affairs of state. Democratic and Republican mayors, along with their parties, have sold us out. But for them this is the beginning of the end.

The historian Crane Brinton in his book, "Anatomy of a Revolution," laid out the common route to revolution. The preconditions for successful revolution, Brinton argued, are discontent that affects nearly all social classes, widespread feelings of entrapment and despair, unfulfilled expectations, a unified solidarity in opposition to a tiny power elite, a refusal by scholars and thinkers to continue to defend the actions of the ruling class, an inability of government to respond to the basic needs of citizens, a steady loss of will within the power elite itself and defections from the inner circle, a crippling isolation that leaves the power elite without any allies or outside support and, finally, a financial crisis. Our corporate elite, as far as Brinton was concerned, has amply fulfilled these preconditions. But it is Brinton's next observation that is most worth remembering. Revolutions always begin, he wrote, by making impossible demands that if the government met would mean the end of the old configurations of power. The second stage, the one we have entered now, is the unsuccessful attempt by the power elite to quell the unrest and discontent through physical acts of repression.

I have seen my share of revolts, insurgencies and revolutions, from the guerrilla conflicts in the 1980s in Central America to the civil wars in Algeria, the Sudan and Yemen, to the Palestinian uprising to the revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania as well as the wars in the former Yugoslavia. George Orwell wrote that all tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but that once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force. We have now entered the era of naked force. The vast million-person bureaucracy of the internal security and surveillance state will not be used to stop terrorism but to try and stop us.

Despotic regimes in the end collapse internally. Once the foot soldiers who are ordered to carry out acts of repression, such as the clearing of parks or arresting or even shooting demonstrators, no longer obey orders, the old regime swiftly crumbles. When the aging East German dictator Erich Honecker was unable to get paratroopers to fire on protesting crowds in Leipzig, the regime was finished. The same refusal to employ violence doomed the communist governments in Prague and Bucharest. I watched in December 1989 as the army general that the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had depended on to crush protests condemned him to death on Christmas Day. Tunisia's Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak lost power once they could no longer count on the security forces to fire into crowds.

The process of defection among the ruling class and security forces is slow and often imperceptible. These defections are advanced through a rigid adherence to nonviolence, a refusal to respond to police provocation and a verbal respect for the blue-uniformed police, no matter how awful they can be while wading into a crowd and using batons as battering rams against human bodies. The resignations of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan's deputy, Sharon Cornu, and the mayor's legal adviser and longtime friend, Dan Siegel, in protest over the clearing of the Oakland encampment are some of the first cracks in the edifice. "Support Occupy Oakland, not the 1% and its government facilitators," Siegel tweeted after his resignation.
There were times when I entered the ring as a boxer and knew, as did the spectators, that I was woefully mismatched. Ringers, experienced boxers in need of a tuneup or a little practice, would go to the clubs where semi-pros fought, lie about their long professional fight records, and toy with us. Those fights became about something other than winning. They became about dignity and self-respect. You fought to say something about who you were as a human being. These bouts were punishing, physically brutal and demoralizing. You would get knocked down and stagger back up. You would reel backwards from a blow that felt like a cement block. You would taste the saltiness of your blood on your lips. Your vision would blur. Your ribs, the back of your neck and your abdomen would ache. Your legs would feel like lead. But the longer you held on, the more the crowd in the club turned in your favor.

No one, even you, thought you could win. But then, every once in a while, the ringer would get overconfident. He would get careless. He would become a victim of his own hubris. And you would find deep within yourself some new burst of energy, some untapped strength and, with the fury of the dispossessed, bring him down. I have not put on a pair of boxing gloves for 30 years. But I felt this twinge of euphoria again in my stomach this morning, this utter certainty that the impossible is possible, this realization that the mighty will fall.

Cross-posted from Truthdig

Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than 50 countries and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio

Latest developments in the Occupy protests: AP

2011-11-16T11:10:00.001-08:00

Latest developments in the Occupy protests

By The Associated Press–17 hours ago

Some of the latest developments in the Occupy protests:

CALIFORNIA

A day of demonstrations by students and anti-Wall Street activists was disrupted Tuesday when a campus police officer shot a man with a gun about a half-mile from the main protest site at the University of California, Berkeley.
The shooting occurred inside the Haas School of Business as hundreds of demonstrators left an outdoor plaza at the school for a march to demonstrate outside a bank. Officials didn't yet know whether the suspect was part of the Occupy Cal movement, said Ute Frey, a spokeswoman for the university.
ReFund California, a coalition of student groups and university employee unions, called for a campus strike, and protesters marched and rallied to protest banks and budget cuts to higher education.
Earlier in the day, more than 1,000 students, campus employees, faculty and other demonstrators filled an outdoor plaza after many took part in teach-ins. The plaza was covered with banners that read "stop the cuts" and "educate the state."
In Los Angeles, police and Occupy protesters are working on a plan that would close down an encampment that encircles City Hall.
Cmdr. Andrew Smith said Tuesday police don't have a sense of when demonstrators will pack up and go home but discussions are ongoing and both sides hope for a peaceful resolution.
Tensions rose briefly earlier Tuesday when about 100 protesters marched downtown in solidarity with New York counterparts being ousted from their encampment. No arrests were made.

GEORGIA

About 50 protesters gathered on the steps of City Hall in downtown Atlanta on a rainy Tuesday evening, holding banners reading, "Take Back Wall Street" and "Oakland, Wall Street, Atlanta, Chapel Hill: Our Passion for Freedom is Stronger Than Their Prison."
Spokeswoman La'Die Mansfield said the Occupy Atlanta demonstrators joined protests across the country in solidarity with New York protesters who were told to vacate Zuccotti Park.
The Occupy Atlanta protesters were forcibly removed by police from the park they had camped in for weeks after Mayor Kasim Reed decided conditions had become unsafe. The experience has given the Atlanta protesters a kinship with movements in New York and Oakland, where police also clashed with protesters, Mansfield said.

ILLINOIS

Protesters staged a sit-in Tuesday in front of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office to try to stop health care cuts.
The protesters had the backing of a variety of activist groups, including Occupy Chicago, as they marched to City Hall from a nearby church. About a dozen protesters eventually took up seats on the floor outside Emanuel's office under the watchful eyes of police and journalists. Dozens more protesters assembled in a cordoned-off area in a hallway outside Emanuel's office. The mayor wasn't there.
The protesters oppose his proposed budget, which would close six of the city's 12 mental health clinics and partner the city's neighborhood health clinics with a federal program.
They chanted and offered testimonials about how they had been helped by the clinics.

MAINE

Occupy protesters worked Tuesday to insulate their tents, set up portable heaters and buy extra thermal socks as they vowed to stick it out in a city park for the winter months ahead in Maine.
Close to 60 tents are now set up in Lincoln Park, with many people placing hay bales around their tents and tarps over the top for insulation to ward off the cold to come. Some have brought in portable kerosene and propane heaters to prepare for the weather in Portland, which averages 62 inches of snow a year.

MASSACHUSETTS

Hip-hop mogul and political activist Russell Simmons told protesters at the Occupy Boston encampment Tuesday that it will take dramatic action to rid the American political system of corporate influence.
Simmons arrived in Boston after police dismantled the birthplace of the Occupy movement in New York earlier Tuesday.
"The Occupy movement is under attack," Simmons said, adding that there is no contradiction in a multimillionaire such as himself supporting a movement demanding economic equity. "I benefit off the tax code, but I'm ready to pay more taxes and ... I don't like having my secretary paying more in taxes than me."
Also Tuesday, Occupy Boston demonstrators filed a lawsuit as a pre-emptive strike against any attempt to remove them from their protest site.
The lawsuit said the demonstrators are concerned about attempts in New York and other cities to shut down the protests. The group is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the city or police from removing them from Dewey Square in Boston's financial district, where they have had an encampment since Sept. 30.
A hearing on the request is scheduled in Suffolk Superior Court Wednesday.

MICHIGAN

The Detroit City Council has given Occupy Detroit protesters a one-week extension on their right to hold out at a city park.
Organizers of Occupy Detroit told council members Monday that they wanted extra time to clean up the park and move their belongings to new, winter locations.
Council members approved the extension Tuesday. It allows group members to remain at Grand Circus Park until 10 p.m. next Monday.
About 150 people have moved into the park since Oct. 14.
The city last month denied a request for a 45-day permit.

MINNESOTA

Authorities in Minneapolis aren't saying when or if they will begin enforcing a new rule against sleeping overnight on a government plaza after they declined to remove Wall Street protesters the night the rule took effect.
Several dozen protesters spent Monday night on the plaza between the Hennepin County Government Center and Minneapolis City Hall. Since Oct. 7, the roughly half-block area has been the site of protests rooted in a movement that began in New York City.
Carolyn Marinan, a Hennepin County spokeswoman, and Sheriff Rich Stanek have said they're balancing free speech with concerns about the safety of protesters, who have been forbidden to set up tents.
"It's not going to be OK for people to stay overnight when temperatures are dangerous and cold," Marinan said Tuesday. "We don't want someone freezing on our plaza."

MISSOURI

A federal judge refused Tuesday to order Kiener Plaza re-opened for round-the-clock protests by the group Occupy St. Louis, whose tent city was ousted over the weekend after police began enforcing a 10 p.m. curfew in city parks.
U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson said Occupy St. Louis failed to show that the curfew was being selectively enforced in Kiener Plaza or that the enforcement was a reaction to the political nature of the protest, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Occupy St. Louis maintained its tent city in Kiener Plaza from early October until police arrested 27 members without incident early Saturday.

NEW YORK

Hundreds of police officers in riot gear raided the Occupy Wall Street encampment in New York City in the pre-dawn darkness Tuesday, evicted hundreds of protesters and then demolished the tent city, leaving the future of the demonstration in limbo.
Later in the day, a New York judge upheld the city's crackdown. Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman said in his ruling that the protesters "have not demonstrated that they have a First Amendment right to remain in Zuccotti Park, along with their tents, structures, generators and other installations to the exclusion of the owner's reasonable rights ... or to the rights to public access of others who might wish to use the space safely."
Protesters were allowed back into Zuccotti Park two by two Tuesday evening. They each could take only a small bag. No sleeping bags or tents were allowed.
City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez was released without bail Tuesday night after being charged with resisting arrest as police cleared the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park.
Rodriguez emerged from a courtroom Tuesday night with visible scrapes on his left temple and right forehead. He says an officer assaulted him two blocks from the park as he went to observe the police action. Police had no immediate comment.
Several journalists were arrested, handcuffed and hauled onto police buses along with hundreds of protesters Tuesday.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the NYPD's policy of keeping the media back, saying it was intended to keep them out of harm's way.
City officials said the behavior was troubling, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the council would look into "reports of excessive force by the NYPD and reports of infringement of the rights of the press."
According to a poll released Tuesday, most New York voters don't believe the Occupy Wall Street movement has a clear message or represents 99 percent of Americans, but they support the demonstrators' right to stay in public parks around the clock.
The Siena College poll showed 45 percent of voters statewide have a favorable view of the movement. Forty-four percent have an unfavorable view, up six percentage points from a month earlier.
However, 57 percent of those polled said the demonstrators should be able to stay in the parks all day and all night, while 40 percent say they should not.
In upstate New York, a Republican Party official clashed verbally with Occupy Albany protesters Tuesday and urged Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to appoint a special prosecutor to handle curfew violations by the demonstrators in a public park next to the state Capitol.
Albany County Republican Chairman Don Clarey went to the encampment Tuesday to tell reporters that Cuomo should appoint the special prosecutor.
"The rule of law is at stake here," Clarey said. "We need to enforce the law."
Demonstrators surrounded him Tuesday with signs with slogans like "Got Lies" and "Robin Hood was right" and countered that they have a constitutional right to be there. "The Constitution is the law of the land," some chanted, making him hard to hear.

OHIO

Police in Ohio say they have arrested seven Occupy protesters for refusing to leave a bank.
Columbus police Sgt. Rich Weiner says the group on Tuesday took their protest and chanting into a Fifth Third branch and a U.S. Bank branch, where they were arrested.
He said they were asked to leave by security, and those who refused were arrested on misdemeanor criminal trespassing charges.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson plans to join an Occupy group in Ohio at a rally protesting the recent clearing out of Occupy camps in New York and other cities.
Spokesmen for Occupy Cincinnati and Jackson say he will join the group Tuesday night at a downtown park where the group's members have been meeting and last month camped out. The group says about 20 University of Cincinnati students joined them Tuesday in a meeting on the UC campus where Occupy Cincinnati had urged students to walk out of classes in support of the movement.

OKLAHOMA

A member of the Occupy Tulsa group said Tuesday that demonstrations will continue there around the clock despite recent arrests of protesters in the city and elsewhere.
Occupy Tulsa members have been gathering at a downtown park for several weeks to protest what they say is corporate greed and economic inequality.
Tulsa police officer Jason Willingham estimated 40 to 50 arrests had been made at H.A. Chapman Centennial Green since Nov. 2, the most recent on Sunday.
Occupy Tulsa member Brian Horton said those arrested in Tulsa weren't acting as part of the group when they violated the city's 11 p.m. park curfew.

OREGON

A group of key Occupy Portland demonstrators say they're breaking off ties with the city and police amid allegations by demonstrators that police used excessive force when they broke up a downtown camp that protesters had held for five weeks.
Protester Justin Bridges was hospitalized Sunday after police dragged him away from the camp, and he now claims officers beat and brutalized him. Police said Bridges was simply pulled away from a dangerous situation when he fell to the ground between protesters and riot police.
Six demonstrators who had served as liaisons between Occupy Portland, the city and police published an open letter Tuesday saying they were giving up their positions "in direct response to the deplorable police actions" and what they see as a lack of communication.
Officials told protesters in a state park on the Capitol grounds in Salem their tents and other structures have to be out by the end of the month.
Parks and Recreation Department officials say the camp's food and medical structures at Willson Park are open all night and are attracting unruly people.
The department told the protesters Monday their permit to demonstrate would end at the end of the month. The park is open to pedestrians 24 hours a day, and state officials say the protesters can be there if they don't camp or have structures.

PENNSYLVANIA

Police say a homeless man was arrested early Tuesday for assaulting a homeless woman at the Occupy Philadelphia encampment.
Officer Jillian Russell says the 47-year-old man was arrested after slapping and punching the woman. He is charged with simple assault.
Both the man and the woman told police they were affiliated with the protest. A member of Occupy Philadelphia said he couldn't immediately verify whether that was the case.

TENNESSEE

A flood of support for Wall Street protesters poured in after Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam imposed a curfew that led to the arrests of 55 people in Nashville, according to public records obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Of nearly 400 emails sent to the Republican governor's office, only 11 supported his actions.
The documents also include cost estimates for cleaning the plaza following the protest. One company on Oct. 31 said it would cost more than $46,000 to clean and refinish the surface, while another estimated it to be about $18,000 to pressure wash and treat the areas.

TEXAS

Police say seven people have been arrested at an Occupy El Paso campsite in a peaceful removal of the protesters.
El Paso police spokesman Darrel Petry says no one was injured during the arrests early Tuesday at San Jacinto Plaza. The seven El Paso residents are accused of misdemeanor unlawful camping in a city park and also being in a public park after hours, he said.
A federal judge has refused to grant an order sought by Occupy Dallas demonstrators to prevent the city from closing their campsite.
Protesters failed to get a temporary restraining order Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle earlier expressed concern that federal courts did not have jurisdiction.
The city last week said protesters had violated an agreement to allow the campsite near Dallas City Hall. The city noted reports of a sexual assault of a child at the site, the removal of a baby over possible endangerment and trespassing arrests.
A Nov. 12 deadline to comply has been extended.
Occupy Dallas officials said protesters are abiding by the deal.

VIRGINIA

Members of Occupy Richmond say they'll take up a newspaper publisher's offer to encamp on his property next door to the mayor's residence.
The protesters said they'll accept the offer from Raymond Boone, editor and founder the Richmond Free Press. They said they'll begin their encampment on Tuesday.
Boone offered his property last week in an editorial.

WASHINGTON

The Occupy movement has reached one of Washington state's most remote towns — the fictional home of the characters in the vampire teen series "Twilight."
The Peninsula Daily News reports that 17 people held an Occupy Forks protest on Saturday, rallying outside a Bank of America branch, the only corporate presence the protesters could find in the town.
It's about a four-hour trip from Seattle, on the western side of the Olympic Peninsula.

AUSTRALIA

Police in Australia have swooped down on the Occupy Melbourne camp, arresting three protesters as they enforced city orders requiring demonstrators to take down tents and tarpaulins.
A Melbourne spokeswoman says campers weren't evicted Wednesday morning but were issued notices giving them an hour to remove the shelters. She said some protesters have lawfully remained at the camp.

SWITZERLAND

Police in the Swiss city of Zurich have cleared a makeshift camp linked to the global Occupy protest movement.
Zurich city police say 31 protesters peacefully resisted the clearance and were briefly detained when officers enforced an evacuation order for the historic Lindenhof square early Tuesday.
Police spokesman Marco Cortesi says some 20 protesters had earlier left the camp voluntarily.
The protesters had pitched their tents in the old town square Oct. 16 as part of an international anti-capitalist movement sparked by efforts to "occupy Wall Street."

Signs Point to a Coordinated National Program to Try and Unoccupy Wall Street and Other Cities

2011-11-16T10:42:00.001-08:00

Police State Tactics: Signs Point to a Coordinated National Program to Try and Unoccupy Wall Street and Other Cities

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/900

Tue, 11/15/2011 - 18:27 — Anonymous

by:

Dave Lindorff

The ugly hand of the federal government is becoming increasingly suspected behind what appears to be a nationwide attempt to repress and evict the Occupation Movement.
Across the country in recent days, ultimatums have been issues to groups occupying Portland, OR, Chicago, IL, San Francisco, Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA, and most recently New York, NY, where the Occupation Movement began on September 17. The two most recent eviction efforts, in Oakland and New York, have been the worst.
The police attacks have had a lot in common. They have been “justified” based upon trumped up pre-textural claims that the occupiers are creating a health hazard, or a fire hazard, or a crime problem, generally on little or no evidence, or there has been a digging up of obscure and constitutionally questionable statutes, for example laws outlawing the homeless. Then the police come in, usually in dead of night, dressed in riot gear and heavily armed with mace weapons, batons, plastic cuffs and tear gas, or even assault rifles in some cases and so-called flash-bang stun grenades--all weapons to be used against peaceful demonstrators.
So violent has been the response that some returned veterans have condemned the police for using weapons and tactics that are not even permitted by occupying troops in war-torn countries.
“We definitely feel, especially in a movement like this that has arisen so quickly in a number of cities, that there will be a coordinated national effort to try and shut it down,” says Heidi Bogosian, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, which has been playing a key role providing legal services to the new movement.
“We see the scapegoating of these movements, the attacks at night, and in general tactics designed to terrorize and to scare protesters away. I can’t see this as anything other than centrally coordinated.”
One indication of that coordination may have been a conference call among 18 city mayors which was confirmed by Oakland Mayor Jean Quan in a radio interview on San Francisco station KALW. Dan Siegel, an Oakland attorney who worked as an advisor to Quan, but who resigned in disgust after Oakland police and law enforcement personnel from a number of surrounding jurisdictions brutally drove occupiers there out of their park using tear gas, supposedly non-lethal ammunition (bean bags and rubber bullets) and flash-bang grenades in a night-time raid in the early hours of November 14, says that phone conference call took place, significantly, while Quan was in Washington, DC.
Remember this image: it's the national police state on the march
Shortly afterwards, on Oct. 25, Quan authorized the first brutal police assault on Occupy Oakland. It led, among other things, to the critical wounding of Scott Olsen, an Iraq War veteran who was among the protesters, and was hit in the forehead by a police tear gas cannister fired at close range.
Who organized that critical conference call? Was it Quan or one of the other mayors, or was it someone in the federal government? Siegel says he doesn’t know, and Quan isn’t saying.
But both Siegel and Boghosian say they strongly suspect federal involvement in the planning of the recent spate of police violence against occupiers. Says Siegel, “It’s only logical to assume that the ‘Fusion Centers’ are involved, especially after the Oakland occupiers shut down the port in Oakland.”
Some 72 Fusion Centers, located around the US and funded by the US at a cost of half a billion dollars, are a post 9-11creation of the new Homeland Security Department. Bringing the FBI together with local law enforcement departments, they both collect and share domestic intelligence, and can serve as command centers to direct local law enforcement in helping implement national law enforcement goals. There are also many Joint Terrorism Task Forces, which directly link the FBI with urban police departments.
Says Boghosian, “What we are seeing here is the Miami model, with various levels of law enforcement, local, state and federal, all at work. It would be shocking if federal law enforcement were not seeing this occupy movement now as a national security threat.”
Mara Veheyden-Hilliard, co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild’s National Mass Defense Committee, based in Washington, agrees. “These crackdowns on the occupation movement certainly appear to be part of a national strategy to crush them,” she says. “We haven’t yet found overt evidence of federal involvement, but the fact that in rapid succession local authorities have taken action raises the specter of coordination.”
She adds, “There is absolutely no legal justification for the involvement of the Joint Terrorism Task Forces in this movement. These demonstrations are not terrorist activities, and police should not be treating them as such, yet all over the country the police are treating the protesters as if they are criminals. The similarity of the response everywhere to the movement makes it appear that there is a coordinated strategy.”
Meanwhile, Siegel, now back in private practice, says that since the riots that followed the killing of Oscar Grant by a BART transit cop, who shot Grant fatally in the head after he had been arrested, subdued and handcuffed for a turnstile jumping violation, federal law enforcement officials have been observed actively involved in police activities in the Oakland area.
Some Oakland residents have reported seeing federal vehicles and possibly also National Guard equipment during the police actions against occupation demonstrators, too, though National Guardsmen can only be legally activated by a governor, and California Gov. Jerry Brown, a former mayor of Oakland, has not publicly issued any such order.
Rick Ellis, a journalist with the Minneapolis office of the news outlet Examiner.com, is reporting that an unidentified US Justice Department official has confirmed what Boghosian, Siegel and Veheyden-Hilliard say they suspect is the case: that each of the recent brutal police evictions and attacks on occupation groups “was coordinated with help from Homeland Security, the FBI and other federal police agencies.”
Ellis writes, “According to this official, in several recent conference calls and briefings, local police agencies were advised to seek a legal reason to evict residents of tent cities, focusing on zoning laws and existing curfew rules. Agencies were also advised to demonstrate a massive show of police force, including large numbers in riot gear. In particular, the FBI reportedly advised on press relations, with one presentation suggesting that any moves to evict protesters be coordinated for a time when the press was the least likely to be present.”
According to an AP story published early Wednesday, mayors and city leaders in as many as 40 cities were communicating about coordinating an attack on the occupy movement. Again, this hardly seems like it was on their own initiative.
Given how things have played out, it certainly looks like the suspicions were correct, and that Ellis’s source is telling the truth.
President Obama has a lot to answer for. So do the mayors who have been overseeing the repressive operations locally.

The Washington Influence Industry Trailer

2011-11-15T02:24:00.001-08:00

US Uncut Minnesota

Goldman gets exposed (again) by Taibbi

Goldman's Latest Boiler-Room Stock: America

Occupying the Occupy Movement: Robin Morgan (Hurrah!)

Occupying the Occupy Movement

Robin Morgan January 3, 2012 Women’s Media Center

An Occupy movement for 2012 could gain strength and staying-power with strategies suggested by an emerging feminist critique.

Mexico city collective, from Occuprint.org

Who then is the real constituency in need of economic justice?

Join Us! Subscribe to WAMMToday from our blog website and “Follow” us. www.wammtoday.wordpress.com.

WAMMToday is now on Facebook! Check the WAMMToday page for posts from this blog and more! “Like” our page today.

Brooklyn, Occupy Imnop, from Occuprint.org

Christy C Road, Brooklyn, from Occuprint.org

It’s not too late. As the Occupy movement in many areas moves away from the tactic of claiming physical space, a change of protest style is in order: more hit-and-run, engage-disengage, morning-long, afternoon-long, or day-long (not open-ended) demonstrations—plus focused, doable demands.

At the minimum, it should be possible to demand that men become the change they claim they want to see. (I mean,really, guys.) If Occupy men can dare be unafraid of that different kind of leadership—can even seek it out and welcome it—everyone wins and the paradigm is transformed.

If not, they will at least have radicalized a whole new generation of feminists.

The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author alone and do not represent WMC. WMC is a 501(c)(3) organization and does not endorse candidates.

Record Number Of US Kids Face Hunger and Homelessness

The Goal is Not to Occupy it is to End Corporate Rule

Occupy Movement, African-American Leaders Form Coalition

Occupy Movement, African-American Leaders Form Coalition

Related Articles

Moinique fights back to SAVE HER HOME

How to defend homes from foreclosure #OCCUPYYOURHOME

Background

Visual Resources

Our Unrepresentative Representation

Our Unrepresentative Representation

CBO: TARP to cost US double initial estimates

Operation Shield for Occupation safety - more to follow

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/17/2551149_p2/mannings-sexual-orientation-is.html

Manning's sexual orientation is raised at hearing

Related Content

By PAULINE JELINEK and DAVID DISHNEAU

Associated Press

This County Needs a few Good Communists by Chris Hedges

50 Economic Numbers From 2011 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

1% vs. 99%: Occupy Homes Begins ~ Foreclosure Crisis in Americ...

OFF TO DC! to help Monique White fight foreclosure and help us get JOBS!

Tomgram: Peter Van Buren, Thought Crime in Washington

November 27, 2011 Tom Dispatch

And keep in mind, when it comes to that pepper-spraying incident, we’re talking about sleepy Davis, California, and a campus once renowned for its agronomy school. Al-Qaeda? I don’t think so.

It was a police-developed terror case that evidently so reeked of coaching even the FBI refused to get involved. And yet this was Mayor Bloomberg’s shining moment of last week, as the NYPD declared his home a “frozen” zone, the equivalent of declaring martial law around his house.

State Department official Peter Van Buren, whose new book about a disastrous year he spent in Iraq, We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, is a must read, learned that the hard way. So did Morris Davis. So may we all. Tom

MF Global Looted Customer Accounts

MF Global Looted Customer Accounts

This Is The Report That Caused Banks To Tank today

Eviction @ #Occupy Wall Street, LRAD used Journalists kicked out as police beat sitting protestors

Senate announces Vikings stadium hearings

Next Move to Amend organizing meeting, Nov. 21

SuperCommittee! Listen to us "- no dirty energy!"

DO IT NOW ! Recall Bloomberg!!

All NYC Residents: RECALL MAYOR BLOOMBERG NOW

Why This Is Important

DO IT NOW! Join the 99% at Capitol, 2 pm, Thursday

We Are The 99% event

Show Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

Show Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street

How to Liberate America from Wall Street Rule

erica from Wall Street Rule

@UFE Fair Economy

NEW Economy link!

What Is the New Economy?

News from the New Economy Movement

Our Mission

Occupy Oakland's new target - foreclosed buildings

'It will not be tolerated'

Attracting support

Previous actions

DO IT NOW: Kucinich petition re #OWS to mayors

GREAT LINKS via 12160!

A message to all members of 12160

Movement Moves On After Police Occupy the OWS Park: Danny Schecter

Movement Moves On After Police Occupy the OWS Park

This Is What Revolution Looks Like:Chris Hedges

Latest developments in the Occupy protests: AP

Signs Point to a Coordinated National Program to Try and Unoccupy Wall Street and Other Cities

Police State Tactics: Signs Point to a Coordinated National Program to Try and Unoccupy Wall Street and Other Cities

The Washington Influence Industry Trailer