The Occupy Wall Street Movement

[andzigallery]

Here we go again with the dumb and the clueless making my day!  They can't even see that most of the people at OWS do pay their taxes and then some!   And whose else is involved with OWS college professors, nurses, teachers, lawyers and anyone else you can think of!  You're going to tell me these people don't pay taxes just who are you kidding! And by the way Greece economy is no where near worse than the US?   First of all their cost of living is cheaper and second of all you don't have to worry about medical expenses among other things!  But of course, you wouldn't know because you are only going by how the media portrays them and that's all you want to know!  Get your facts and go visit the country!  I was there for almost five weeks so I know what I'm talking about!  By the way, didn't you suggest we go to another country!  Well, here's another news flash!  Most people do go to other countries and some visit them on a yearly basis.  Since we aren't criminals, we are allowed to go back and forth as often as we please.   Visit some of these countries, it may open up your eyes and you may actually learn something!  By the way, I'm not really bother about your comments!  I just like busting your chops because these are the kinds of comments that I expect from you.  So continue to blow off the steam because that's all you doing is blowing out hot air!  But then again bring it on--I'm really getting a kick out this!   I certainly look forward to more of your comments! Ha Ha Ha!

[sledgewig]

In my city, the Occupy group have not had to pay for security, permits, waste disposal, etc.  In contrast, when the Tea Party held a rally lasting a few hours, they had to pay the city several thousand dollars and had to make sure the venue was cleaned up after they left.

[GramPolly3]

It is obvious that there are differing opinions regarding OWS. Those of us who have taken the time to watch, research and educate ourselves  and not buy the corporate media interpretation or fall victim to other voices can see the value of what is happening. Those who don't merely throw out whatever the voices implanted in their heads tell them. The bottom line is this movement is for the improvement of the lives of EVERYONE whether you agree or not. If you are 100% content with your lives and the inequality in our country, then you must be among the 1% of our citizens who are.

[ghunter]

I really don't get it, I live in Atlanta and I see them Occupy the parks and cost the city more money to fix.  What do they plan to received from staying in tents at a park or anywhere.  Don't get me wrong, I agree that Wall Street is running everything, but living in the parks to protest..hmm..I don't know?

[mjdoug03]

I'm not sure what exactly they're standing for, but corporations are ridiculous nowadays.  There needs to be something done about that immediately or we're going to have a deeper recession.

[hawkeye3210]

Here we go again with the dumb and the clueless making my day!  They can't even see that most of the people at OWS do pay their taxes and then some!   And whose else is involved with OWS college professors, nurses, teachers, lawyers and anyone else you can think of!  You're going to tell me these people don't pay taxes just who are you kidding! And by the way Greece economy is no where near worse than the US?   First of all their cost of living is cheaper and second of all you don't have to worry about medical expenses among other things!  But of course, you wouldn't know because you are only going by how the media portrays them and that's all you want to know!  Get your facts and go visit the country!  I was there for almost five weeks so I know what I'm talking about!  By the way, didn't you suggest we go to another country!  Well, here's another news flash!  Most people do go to other countries and some visit them on a yearly basis.  Since we aren't criminals, we are allowed to go back and forth as often as we please.   Visit some of these countries, it may open up your eyes and you may actually learn something!  By the way, I'm not really bother about your comments!  I just like busting your chops because these are the kinds of comments that I expect from you.  So continue to blow off the steam because that's all you doing is blowing out hot air!  But then again bring it on--I'm really getting a kick out this!   I certainly look forward to more of your comments! Ha Ha Ha!

No, actually as someone who does have investments and wants to control my own financial well-being, I do pay attention to world affairs and their impact on the US markets.  It’s really not hard to see the impact Greece is having on Europe and the US.

Anyway, trying to claim that Greece’s economy is not worse than the US is just laughable.  A couple things to consider:

1) Greece’s unemployment rate is at 17.6%, which is almost double the 9.1% unemployment in the United States.  The highest the unemployment rate in our latest economic downturn was 10.1% in October ’09, with 10.8% is the all-time high back in 1982.  Roughly 10% unemployment has been the norm over the past 20 years for Greece, so our all-time highs in the US have been the norm in Greece.  

2) Greece has received bailouts from the EU twice in the past year and recently came to an agreement that the EU will forgive some of their debt as long as they pay 50% of what they owe on certain obligations.  The United States never received a bailout, and has never missed a payment, all of which have been paid in full.

3) The poverty level in Greece is ~20% compared to 15.1% in the United States.  I thought these social programs that we so desperately need were supposed to eliminate things like poverty and would make things more ‘fair’.  That’s just not the case.

But at least their healthcare is cheaper and that makes their economy better??  Well, that’s not really the case either.  Besides paying higher income taxes to help fund their healthcare, employees in Greece have to pay 16% in payroll taxes on every dollar they are paid.  Currently in the US we only pay 5.65% for every dollar with the current payroll tax cut, which is down from 7.65%.  Now, the employers portion for the payroll taxes in Greece is 28.06% compared to 7.65% in the US.  It makes it pretty easy to understand why the unemployment rate in Greece has been so much higher when consider employers have to pay over 20% more on every dollar they pay to employees in comparison to the US.  Now, your self-employment earnings from a site such as this would be subject to 44.06% rate in Greece, compared to the 13.3%/15.3% rate in the US.  Still think that healthcare is cheaper?

As an example, if you make $30K per year, you are going to pay an additional $3,105 in payroll taxes alone.  That’s not even considering the additional income taxes that you will face, but should be pretty clear that those healthcare costs are not going away as you are just now paying them to the government instead.  

[Joeyramone]

Here we go again with the dumb and the clueless making my day!  They can't even see that most of the people at OWS do pay their taxes and then some!   And whose else is involved with OWS college professors, nurses, teachers, lawyers and anyone else you can think of!  You're going to tell me these people don't pay taxes just who are you kidding! And by the way Greece economy is no where near worse than the US?   First of all their cost of living is cheaper and second of all you don't have to worry about medical expenses among other things!  But of course, you wouldn't know because you are only going by how the media portrays them and that's all you want to know!  Get your facts and go visit the country!  I was there for almost five weeks so I know what I'm talking about!  By the way, didn't you suggest we go to another country!  Well, here's another news flash!  Most people do go to other countries and some visit them on a yearly basis.  Since we aren't criminals, we are allowed to go back and forth as often as we please.   Visit some of these countries, it may open up your eyes and you may actually learn something!  By the way, I'm not really bother about your comments!  I just like busting your chops because these are the kinds of comments that I expect from you.  So continue to blow off the steam because that's all you doing is blowing out hot air!  But then again bring it on--I'm really getting a kick out this!   I certainly look forward to more of your comments! Ha Ha Ha!

No, actually as someone who does have investments and wants to control my own financial well-being, I do pay attention to world affairs and their impact on the US markets.  It’s really not hard to see the impact Greece is having on Europe and the US.

Anyway, trying to claim that Greece’s economy is not worse than the US is just laughable.  A couple things to consider:

1) Greece’s unemployment rate is at 17.6%, which is almost double the 9.1% unemployment in the United States.  The highest the unemployment rate in our latest economic downturn was 10.1% in October ’09, with 10.8% is the all-time high back in 1982.  Roughly 10% unemployment has been the norm over the past 20 years for Greece, so our all-time highs in the US have been the norm in Greece.  

2) Greece has received bailouts from the EU twice in the past year and recently came to an agreement that the EU will forgive some of their debt as long as they pay 50% of what they owe on certain obligations.  The United States never received a bailout, and has never missed a payment, all of which have been paid in full.

3) The poverty level in Greece is ~20% compared to 15.1% in the United States.  I thought these social programs that we so desperately need were supposed to eliminate things like poverty and would make things more ‘fair’.  That’s just not the case.

But at least their healthcare is cheaper and that makes their economy better??  Well, that’s not really the case either.  Besides paying higher income taxes to help fund their healthcare, employees in Greece have to pay 16% in payroll taxes on every dollar they are paid.  Currently in the US we only pay 5.65% for every dollar with the current payroll tax cut, which is down from 7.65%.  Now, the employers portion for the payroll taxes in Greece is 28.06% compared to 7.65% in the US.  It makes it pretty easy to understand why the unemployment rate in Greece has been so much higher when consider employers have to pay over 20% more on every dollar they pay to employees in comparison to the US.  Now, your self-employment earnings from a site such as this would be subject to 44.06% rate in Greece, compared to the 13.3%/15.3% rate in the US.  Still think that healthcare is cheaper?

As an example, if you make $30K per year, you are going to pay an additional $3,105 in payroll taxes alone.  That’s not even considering the additional income taxes that you will face, but should be pretty clear that those healthcare costs are not going away as you are just now paying them to the government instead.  

Curse your logic, facts and figures Hawkeye... They are no match against an angry leftists active imagination and personal grudges.

[anubabs]

i think its getting out of hand, there is occupy something in cities accross the country.

[andzigallery]

I continue to be in support of Wall Street, no matter what others have to say.  This article comes from Democracy Now's yesterday's headlines.  

Veterans March for Occupy Movement in New York City

In New York City, dozens of U.S. military veterans marched to Zuccotti Park on Wednesday in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Standing in front of the New York Stock Exchange, the veterans read a statement underscoring the oath they took to defend the Constitution and declaring themselves supporters of the Occupy movement. A number of the veterans expressed that they were motivated by Scott Olsen, the U.S. Marine veteran who was critically injured protesting in Oakland last Tuesday after police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd. Iraq War veteran Eli Wright described the conditions servicemembers face when they return to the states.

    Eli Wright, Iraq War veteran: "Veterans are coming home and finding that we don’t have access to proper medical care, we don’t have access to jobs. We’re having a difficult time getting the educational benefits that we were promised and that we served for. So, you know, I’m worried about how I’m going to feed my daughter and how I’m going to put her through college. So I’m basically here with everybody else, marching for economic justice for all of us."

[andzigallery]

We guarantee it. Check out this Men’s Wearhouse window in Oakland.



For some of us, you're going to like who closed up shop in solidarity with the #OccupyOakland Strike

[andzigallery]

Here is a heartbreaking photo of someone who is an American and worked in his field for 20 years.  After losing his job he became a pizza delivery guy and got cancer.  Read his story this is one of several things that #OWS is protesting about.  He is the 99%!

[mawhite63]

I'm really inspired by the reports of all the small local banks and credit unions who have received new customers since this all started. I had moved my money a while back. I wish I had done it a long time ago, I don't know what I was thinking. I love the service I've been getting. There's nothing better than calling customer service with an issue, and having the person know me by name, take care of my problem right away, and then ask me about my kids or my dogs (all of whom she knows by name too) and chat a little while. Try to get something like that from Bank of America or Chase.

[Abrupt]

Here is a heartbreaking photo of someone who is an American and worked in his field for 20 years.  After losing his job he became a pizza delivery guy and got cancer.  Read his story this is one of several things that #OWS is protesting about.  He is the 99%!

They are protesting cancer?  Maybe they are protesting that delivering pizza causes cancer?  Just what are you saying in the above?  Seems to me they are protesting everything except what they should be protesting (the government undermining capitalism by bail outs, the government exposing the nation to excessive risk through social programs, the government wasting most of it's stolen money in areas they have no Constitutional authority to become involved in).

Such argumentum ad misericordiam as the one you just displayed reveals the willingness to use deception in an argument.  These things don't work on any critical thinkers you know?  Even the most casual discernment usually recognizes this fallacious form of argument and develops a negative opinion of the group/person/organization trying to use the trick.

If you actually fall for such things I can only be reminded of the phrase "There is a sucker born every minute".

[GramPolly3]

I think this movement is unstoppable and is the only venue left for change to happen in this country. Just look at your government failing at every turn to do the things that will bring jobs and re-store this country to economic stability. If you want that to continue, then turn your back on OWS. But it is about more than that. We live in a society that promotes homelessness. poverty, hunger and the destruction of the American dream. If you want that to continue, turn your back on OWS. We live in a country where state governments are intent on passing budgets that compromise the education of your children. If you want that to continue, turn your back on OWS. We live in a country where states are infringing on everyone's right to vote, passing voter registration legislation that makes it impossible for hundreds of thousands to exercise their right to vote. If you want that to continue, then turn your back on OWS. We live in a country where a state can determine that your city is not viable and take over that city. If you want this to continue, then turn your back on OWS.
I am an activist grandmother who has marched and demonstrated for many years, since the days of Civil Rights to anti-war and I know we can make a difference. OWS is the only venue left that can bring about the changes to all of the above and restore dignity to the existence of all of us. I can no longer actively participate, but every iota of my spirit is with OWS.

[hawkeye3210]

I think this movement is unstoppable and is the only venue left for change to happen in this country. Just look at your government failing at every turn to do the things that will bring jobs and re-store this country to economic stability. If you want that to continue, then turn your back on OWS. But it is about more than that. We live in a society that promotes homelessness. poverty, hunger and the destruction of the American dream. If you want that to continue, turn your back on OWS. We live in a country where state governments are intent on passing budgets that compromise the education of your children. If you want that to continue, turn your back on OWS. We live in a country where states are infringing on everyone's right to vote, passing voter registration legislation that makes it impossible for hundreds of thousands to exercise their right to vote. If you want that to continue, then turn your back on OWS. We live in a country where a state can determine that your city is not viable and take over that city. If you want this to continue, then turn your back on OWS.
I am an activist grandmother who has marched and demonstrated for many years, since the days of Civil Rights to anti-war and I know we can make a difference. OWS is the only venue left that can bring about the changes to all of the above and restore dignity to the existence of all of us. I can no longer actively participate, but every iota of my spirit is with OWS.

You talk about the government is failing us, but then go on the say you support the OWS, a movement that wants to give the government even more control?  Really?  Giving more control to same group of people that have failed me makes no sense to me.  I'm not sure how that could make sense to anyone.