Wall Street Protests

[ZenGum]

This is going around on facebook.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

... We want political power brought back to a more democratic level, from the massive bias in favour of the rich we have now. We want the tax loopholes and other financial advantages closed off, and we want politicians who are not too spineless to do this. We want reckless casino capitalism regulated so that international financiers can no longer gamble with the fate of the whole economy, keeping the winnings and dumping the losses on the tax payer.

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I'd sign up for that.

Better that than an OWS movement modeled on the OSF* movement.



*Occupy Sherwood Forest

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by Flint

Is the point of all this that "rich" = bad person?

My understanding of it is that there is a huge, dangerous debt/deficit problem in the US, and the poor and middle class cannot fix it. It's up to the "rich" and corporations to step up.

[jimhelm]

or down, as it were

[tw]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

My understanding of it is that there is a huge, dangerous debt/deficit problem in the US, and the poor and middle class cannot fix it.

Clinton had no problems fixing it. He fixed the tax structure by having everyone pay fair amount of taxes. What resulted was job increases and reduced deficits. Funny how many want to solve this problem with no taxes.

Michelle Bachman is a perfect example of one so many approved of. She was asked how much of every dollar should go to taxes. She said none. In a next question, she then said defense spending should be increased. Why do so many believe this nonsense? So many even foolishly insist lower taxes mean more jobs. Well, tax cuts last decade resulted in how many more jobs this decade? At what point does the word 'liar' apply?

What worked previously? It will work again. But as Obama so accurately noted, it will take at least a decade to fix a mess created by politicians and their money gamers between 2000 and 2008.

How many $billions did we have to spend only to get bin Laden because someone all but protected bin Laden? Never forget why we have so many debts. "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter." Not when he was creating them a political agenda. Now we must increase taxes to pay for those deficits. No way around reality - no matter how often Bachman, et al ignore that reality.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by tw

Michelle Bachman is a perfect example of one so many approved of.

Whoa. Most of your post makes sense, but this part - "So many"
I'm still trying to figure out who elected her and why ANYONE is paying attention to her. She's batshit insane and should be rendered to the irrelevant pile.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

Whoa. Most of your post makes sense, but this part - "So many"
I'm still trying to figure out who elected her and why ANYONE is paying attention to her. She's batshit insane and should be rendered to the irrelevant pile.

You have to admit that she is popular, did get elected, and she resonates with tea party voters. I guess "so many" refers to those people.

[classicman]

I just don't see her as popular. I admit she got elected and all, but sheesh every time she opens her mouth more crazy comes out. She is taking the spotlight off of Palin though. I wonder how long that will last.
Hopefully they will both stop getting the undeserved press they both get. Then again - sensationalism sells!

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by classicman

I just don't see her as popular. I admit she got elected and all, but sheesh every time she opens her mouth more crazy comes out.

Makes you wonder how crazy her supporters are.

[Happy Monkey]

Crazy and/or jaded and cynical. If you don't care who your representative is, she's at least interesting.

[SamIam]

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., whose shares have fallen 43 percent this year, may report its lowest quarterly profit since the 2008 financial crisis. Despite this fact, upper level execs at GS will receive a yearly bonus of anywhere from $120,000 to $446,000 (according to glassdoor.com). This is obscene. They get REWARDED when the company’s stock has fallen by almost 50%? Has Goldman Sachs repaid the American tax payer all that bailout money yet? So, these CEO’s and other execs are shouldering their share of the sacrifices deemed necessary to reduce the national debt? I don’t think so. Occupy Wall Street!

[classicman]

What were their bonuses when the company was doing well? Just curious.
Occupy this

[BigV]

Originally Posted by tw

snip--

Michelle Bachman is a perfect example of one so many approved of. She was asked how much of every dollar should go to taxes. She said none. In a next question, she then said defense spending should be increased. Why do so many believe this nonsense? So many even foolishly insist lower taxes mean more jobs. Well, tax cuts last decade resulted in how many more jobs this decade? At what point does the word 'liar' apply?

--snip

Seriously??!!

This is the root of the fucking problem. Read it again folks. There just is no mathematical support for such nonsense. This is the problem that OWS demonstrators rebel against. The Bachmanns of the world are telling impossible lies, things that *can* *not* *happen*.

The problem is that those in power, the 1%, want the real effects of such actions like this by Bachmann. They *do* want "no taxes". Many *do* want increased defense spending. And even if neither of these things come to pass while we're trying to figure out what the fuck she's talking about, even in nothing happens because we're arguing amongst ourselves about how crazy this is, or who should pay an additional 4.9 % more or not, nothing changes, and the field stays tilted as it is.

The solution is to call bullshit on bullshit like this. Then, do the math on what it will take to correct our numerous situations, then act. We've called bullshit, the math says more tax revenue, and our brothers and sisters at OWS around the globe are acting.

[SamIam]

Originally Posted by classicman

What were their bonuses when the company was doing well? Just curious. Occupy this

Good question. I imagine that they continue to be vastly over paid in good times as well as bad, since they run the corp and they set the pay scales and bonuses. If you come across that bit of information, I'd be interested to know.

@BigV

[classicman]

Originally Posted by BigV

the math says more tax revenue,

AND less spending.