Occupy Everywhere & Economic News Round-Up

Here's some of what I've been reading this morning...

CNN—Wall Street discontent high but Occupy Wall Street largely unknown:

Although most Americans don't trust Wall Street, that hasn't translated into full support—or understanding—of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Despite large majorities who think that Wall Street bankers are greedy, overpaid and dishonest, four in ten don't have an opinion about the weeks-long protests, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Monday.

Among those who have an opinion, the public is split on how they feel about Occupy Wall Street. Thirty-two percent of Americans say they have a favorable view of the movement that has spread from Wall Street to Chicago, and that even cropped up at the most recent CNN presidential debate in Las Vegas. Twenty-nine percent of the nation says they have an unfavorable view of Occupy Wall Street.

But opinions are clear about Wall Street itself. Eight in ten say Wall Street bankers are greedy, 77% say they're overpaid, and two-thirds say Wall Street bankers are dishonest, a number that has gone up by a third in roughly two decades.

Hmm. So USians are somehow not hearing about the Occupy Movement. I wonder why that could be. Curious.

Roy Greenslade at The Guardian—Gannett and Newsquest executives indulge in 'bonus excess':

USA Today, the paper owned by Gannett, carried an editorial on 12 October about "five good reasons" for the Occupy Wall Street protest.

Number two on the paper's list was "bonus excess".

...The week before the editorial was published, Craig Dubow resigned as Gannett's chief executive and the board granted him about $37m in retirement, health and disability benefits.

That comes on top of a combined $16m in salary and bonuses in the last two years.

...For the record, as I reported earlier this year, Newsquest's chief executive, Paul Davidson, has had his snout in the trough too.

It's not just that the 1% controls most of the wealth; they control most of the media, too.

In other Occupy Everywhere news...

The Guardian: Occupy Wall Street puts spotlight on police stop-and-frisk tactics.

New York Daily News: Occupy Wall Street sympathizer creates 'I'm Getting Arrested' app to help protesters.

TruthOut: Wall Street Firms Spy on Protesters in Tax-Funded Center.

Kenyon Farrow at The American Prospect: [TW for racism] Occupy Wall Street's Race Problem.

CBS Dallas: [TW for sexual violence] Police Investigating Possible Sexual Assault of Teen at Occupy Dallas.

Portland Press Herald: [TW for violence] Chemical bomb tossed
into Occupy Maine encampment.

San Francisco Chronicle: Cops arrest Occupy Oakland protesters.

And in economic news...

Greg Sargent in the WaPo—How Obama's jobs policies would really impact the rich (hint: not much): "Any senators—Democrat or Republican—who vote against the individual pieces of Obama's jobs bill on the grounds that they impose a new surtax on millionaires are protecting the extremely narrow interests of an extremely tiny minority of their own constituents. I've got some new numbers for you that illustrate this in fresh detail: They reveal that the surtaxes would be paid by an infinitessimally small percentage of American taxpayers, and that the surtaxes themselves would constitute an infinitessimally tiny percentage of the income of the wealthy."

The Hill—House Dems: Obama's response to mortgage crisis is insufficient:

Just hours after the Obama administration unveiled enhancements to its anti-foreclosure efforts, House Democrats are already saying it doesn't go nearly far enough to help the millions of homeowners still struggling from the housing bust.

"It's far too little, it's just baby steps," Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), a longtime critic of the administration's housing policies, said in a phone interview. "They're still not getting it."

Yves Smith agrees. Krugman is withholding judgment until he has time to dig into the details.

That on which we can all surely agree is that Rick Perry's Tax and Spending Reform Plan is garbage.

Hey, speaking of garbage economics, here's a good article about how Mitt Ronmey's business practices helped shape the garbage economy in which we're all currently living. Seriously, it's long, but read the whole thing. 'Tis worth it.

And on a last lolsob note: Obama campaign brings on ex-lobbyist as senior adviser. Of course.