Occupy Wall Street: News Round-Up

Demonstrators supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate power protest Thursday, Oct. 6 2011, at Pioneer Square, in Portland, Ore. Demonstrators marched downtown Thursday afternoon, disrupting traffic and businesses. [AP Photo]

The Guardian has a nice gallery of images here.

Paul Krugman—Confronting the Malefactors:

There's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear, but we may, at long last, be seeing the rise of a popular movement that, unlike the Tea Party, is angry at the right people.

...With unions and a growing number of Democrats now expressing at least qualified support for the protesters, Occupy Wall Street is starting to look like an important event that might even eventually be seen as a turning point.

...Now, it's true that some of the protesters are oddly dressed or have silly-sounding slogans, which is inevitable given the open character of the events. But so what? I, at least, am a lot more offended by the sight of exquisitely tailored plutocrats, who owe their continued wealth to government guarantees, whining that President Obama has said mean things about them than I am by the sight of ragtag young people denouncing consumerism.

Bear in mind, too, that experience has made it painfully clear that men in suits not only don’t have any monopoly on wisdom, they have very little wisdom to offer. When talking heads on, say, CNBC mock the protesters as unserious, remember how many serious people assured us that there was no housing bubble, that Alan Greenspan was an oracle and that budget deficits would send interest rates soaring.

New York Times—Protests Offer Obama Opportunity to Gain, and Room for Pitfalls:

Mr. Obama, in a series of recent hard-edged speeches around the country, has channeled many of the grievances of the movement known as Occupy Wall Street: deepening economic inequity, a tax code that gives breaks to the wealthy and corporate interests and banks that profit from hidden consumer fees.

Yet the president also oversaw a bailout of those banks, appointed a Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, who is viewed by the protesters as a shill for Wall Street and pushed a reform of the financial industry that many in the movement condemn as shamefully inadequate in curbing its excesses.

David Dayen has a good piece on Obama just not getting it: "Obama also added this, approximately: 'I expended a lot of political capital to keep the banks afloat, and I have the scars to prove it. And I still think it was the right thing to do, because otherwise our economy would have been worse off.' This is the President taking ownership of TARP, which did not pass under his Presidency but which he whipped as a candidate for President in 2008. He took ownership of the extraordinary financial support given to banks as they teetered on the verge of collapse. And this is a central grievance of the protesters on Wall Street and across the country." (Emphasis original.)

TPM—Geithner Dodges on Sympathy for Occupy Wall St; Expresses Shock at Wall Street Antipathy to Obama: "Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told an audience of the country's elite Wednesday that he sympathizes with the underlying loss of faith anti-Wall Street protesters and other Americans have in the country's ruling class—though not specifically for the growing 'Occupy Wall Street' protest movement itself. But at the same time he expressed astonishment and dismay at Wall Street's loss of faith in President Obama and the administration. The juxtaposition is striking, and illustrates how at odds the anti-Wall Street movement is with the administration."

Think Progress—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) Smears Occupy Wall Street as a "Mob": "Speaking at the social conservative Value Voters Summit today, [Cantor] maligned the Occupy Wall Street protests and the wider 99 percent movement as a 'mob' that is out to 'divide Americans': 'I for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and the other cities across the country. And believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans.' ...Cantor has—by his definition—'condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans' when he endorsed the Tea Party movement."

Right Here All Over


Video Description: Various scenes from the occupation.
Directed by Alex Mallis + Lily Henderson
Cinematography by Ed David
Edited by Lily Henderson + Alex Mallis
Assistant Camera: Andrew McMullen + Diana Eliavoz
Assistant Producers: Dana Salvatore + Jillian Mason
Titles by Jason Drakeford.
Via Occupy Wall Street.