Occupy Everywhere & Economic News Round-Up

ARLINGTON, VA - NOVEMBER 01: A statue of former President Ronald Reagan is seen after its unveiling ceremony at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport November 1, 2011 in Arlington, Virginia. The nine foot tall bronze statue of Ronald Reagan weighs approximately 900 pounds and stands in front of a 38 foot curving stainless steel wall outside Terminal A. [Getty Images]

If there were ever a time to install a nine-foot, 900-pound bronze statue of Ronald Reagan, it's definitely now. Perfect.

Meanwhile, in Oakland...

The Guardian—Thousands to gather in Oakland for mass day of action:

Thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Oakland on Wednesday for a general strike and mass day of action, organisers said on Monday.

The strike, organised by Occupy Oakland, aims to "shut down" the city, culminating with a march to the Port of Oakland to prevent the transit of cargo. Workers, university students and school pupils are all being urged to rally near the Occupy camp, with banks and large corporations expected to be targeted by marches.

"Oakland was the site of the last general strike in the US," said protester Tim Simons, at a press conference on Monday – drawing what would be an oft-repeated parallel between the Occupy action and Oakland's general strike of 1946.

"On Wednesday, we're going to make history once again. We're gonna make Oakland proud."

In other news, this is quite possibly the stupidest thing written about Occupy Wall Street so far.

Next up, domestic news...

CNN Money—FBI investigating missing money at MF Global: "The FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating how some $600 million of MF Global customers' money has gone missing, CNN learned Tuesday from sources close to the probe. The investigation of MF Global is being conducted by the FBI and other federal regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission."

Azi Paybarah at Capital New York—Bloomberg: 'Plain and Simple' Congress caused the mortgage crisis, not the banks: "Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this morning that if there is anyone to blame for the mortgage crisis that led the collapse of the financial industry, it's not the 'big banks,' but Congress. ... 'I hear your complaints,' Bloomberg said. 'Some of them are totally unfounded. It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis. It was, plain and simple, Congress who forced everybody to go and give mortgages to people who were on the cusp.'"

New York Times—Deficit Panel Is Warned That It Must Not Fail and Is Urged to Compromise: "A co-chairman of President Obama's fiscal commission told members of a powerful Congressional panel on deficit reduction Tuesday that he feared they would fail, and he said the consequences of such failure could be calamitous. ... One co-chairman of the president's fiscal commission, Erskine B. Bowles, said he had great respect for each member of the committee, but added, 'I am worried you're going to fail—fail the country.' Former Senator Alan K. Simpson, the other co-chairman of the commission, denounced Grover G. Norquist, the conservative antitax advocate, and AARP, the lobby for older Americans, saying both were obstructing efforts to reduce the deficit."

Bloomberg—Lawmakers to Propose Transaction Tax for Financial Firms Modeled on Europe: "Two U.S. lawmakers will introduce measures to impose a transaction tax on financial firms that resembles a proposal released by the European Union. Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, and Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, will introduce the bills tomorrow in their respective chambers. The bills will give the United States an increased role in the international debate over a transaction tax, which is likely to be discussed at the Group of 20 summit this week in Cannes, France."

And in international news...

The Guardian—Greek PM wins backing for referendum: European debt crisis live. Check that page throughout the day for updates.

New York Times—Austerity Faces Test as Greeks Question Their Ties to Euro: "The crisis of the euro zone has finally hit the potholed road of real politics, with the Greeks now openly questioning whether their commitment to Europe and its single currency still matters more to them than control over their own future and economic well-being. ... 'This is clearly the return of politics,' said Jean Pisani-Ferry, director of Bruegel, an economic research institution in Brussels. 'The management of all this by the Europeans has been fairly technocratic. But now we see the gamble of a politician, which creates uncertainty again, but in a different form. But it was bound to come at some point.'"

Seconding what Atrios says here in response: "It's time to do away with the term 'technocratic.' It creates a category of policies which are The Right Thing To Do, yet the rightness of the policies aren't tested against anything. They aren't tested against democracy (messy pesky voters!) or results (the economy sucks, technocrats, and this is your doing). But merely say the word and we've conjured up images of very sensible highly educated wonky people doing the right thing, even as they destroy the world."

More Reagan statues! Reagan statues for EVERYONE!