Occupy Wall Street

[Riot]

Posted by Cannon Shell
Seriously think of middle Amercan 50 years ago and then think of it now? Outside of healthcare being a far greater expense now the midle class lives a far more prosperous life than it did.

[jms62]

Folks are starting to get serious..

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/10/news...test/index.htm

[slotdirt]

Sorry, but I'm missing the point in all of this. Rich people are rich and therefore are evil? Taxes should be higher because Warren Buffett's secretary pays a higher income tax rate than Buffett himself (because, well, he doesn't take a salary.)?

Seriously, I don't understand the point of these protests. If you want to go to a place where everybody pays taxes out the wazoo, move to Europe. Don't begrudge the wealthy just because they've worked hard to earn their money.

[Clip-Clop]

Stopped by occupy Denver this morning with a stack of job apps. Not a lot of takers. Even the guy whose sign said "We Want Jobs!!!" he must've meant Steve.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Stopped by occupy Denver this morning with a stack of job apps. Not a lot of takers. Even the guy whose sign said "We Want Jobs!!!" he must've meant Steve.

What were you looking to hire for?

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Riot

What were you looking to hire for?

Quite a few positions actually. We are expanding. Some white collar, some grey, some administrative and some blue. Even a few collarless (god forbid).

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Quite a few positions actually. We are expanding. Some white collar, some grey, some administrative and some blue. Even a few collarless (god forbid).

where can I send my resume?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Clip-Clop

Quite a few positions actually. We are expanding. Some white collar, some grey, some administrative and some blue. Even a few collarless (god forbid).

What industry?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Sorry, but I'm missing the point in all of this. Rich people are rich and therefore are evil? Taxes should be higher because Warren Buffett's secretary pays a higher income tax rate than Buffett himself (because, well, he doesn't take a salary.)?

Seriously, I don't understand the point of these protests. If you want to go to a place where everybody pays taxes out the wazoo, move to Europe. Don't begrudge the wealthy just because they've worked hard to earn their money.

don't begrudge them? we pay and pay, they can too, can't they? the koch brothers are loaded--i thought if we didn't tax the rich, they'd create jobs??instead, 700 people here just got their walking papers courtesy of the kochs. yeah, because laying off more folks will help turn the economy around!!

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by Danzig

don't begrudge them? we pay and pay, they can too, can't they? the koch brothers are loaded--i thought if we didn't tax the rich, they'd create jobs??instead, 700 people here just got their walking papers courtesy of the kochs. yeah, because laying off more folks will help turn the economy around!!

Obfuscation. The federal income tax is 35 percent for the top bracket. 35 percent. How is that not a "fair share?" If 35 percent of any human's income isn't their fair share to fund the government, what is? 50 percent? 60 percent?

When a staggering percentage of the rich have profited off of the decade-long wars? 85%

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

When a staggering percentage of the rich have profited off of the decade-long wars? 85%

Do you have specifics? Sounds interesting.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Obfuscation. The federal income tax is 35 percent for the top bracket. 35 percent. How is that not a "fair share?" If 35 percent of any human's income isn't their fair share to fund the government, what is? 50 percent? 60 percent?

Percentages are meaningless unless you have limited rightoffs. They are not paying anything near 35% hence Warren Buffets statements.

[dino]

Shouldn't these protestors either be working or looking for a job? Just when was it that working hard and making something out of your life is a BAD thing? Maybe we should all bring up our children teaching them that they should be losers who expect other people to take care of them.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by jms62

Percentages are meaningless unless you have limited rightoffs. They are not paying anything near 35% hence Warren Buffets statements.

which is why the tax code needs to be overhauled. also, people need to face facts-not all wealthy folks create jobs, or worked hard for their money. we can't keep burying the middle class under all the burdens. 47% of america pays nothing in federal taxes. nothing. of course no one mentions whether they receive 'refunds'. that means just over half the country bears all of the burden. and the burden is getting too big for the 53% who are providing 100% of the money that our fed burns thru.

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by jms62

Percentages are meaningless unless you have limited rightoffs. They are not paying anything near 35% hence Warren Buffets statements.

Warren Buffett's statement is true because A., he makes all of his money on investments, and B., the capital gains rate is lower than the federal income tax rate paid by his "secretary." It has nothing to do with income tax percentages or "rightoffs" as you put it.

Are you saying that capital gains and dividends should be taxed at the same rate as income? Because if so, that is beyond a horrible idea.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Sorry, but I'm missing the point in all of this. Rich people are rich and therefore are evil?

No.

Yes, you are missing the point completely. OWS is not anti-capitalist, not anti-wealth, not-anticorporation. Wealth, success, freedom, happiness, working hard at something you enjoy, building a life, is the American Dream. We are a country of immigrants, this country is based upon that dream of a better, successful life.

It is about the small percentage of wealthy and powerful who have literally purchased our government, and have been running it for their own personal profit for the past 50-70 years. The 1% who have dismantled regulation and controls, so they can personally profit at the expense of everyone else.

The protesters - who are indeed the majority - have every intention of taking their government back from the 1% that think it is their private plutocracy, and get corporate ownership out of government, and citizen ownership of this democracy back in. So the American Dream can be shared again by the 99%.

And that has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans or Independents. Although the Republican Party is clearly a wholly-owned corporate subsidiary of the 1%, and alot of Democrats are, too.

This 3-minute video by DC Douglas explains "why" OWS exists perfectly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK1MOMKZ8BI

This round table discussion from This Week with Christiane Amanpour this past Sunday demonstrates the complete misunderstanding of OWS by Peggy Noonan and George Will, which is succinctly answered by OWS protester Jesse LaGreca

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/video...tests-14699460

Today the Republicans are so scared of losing their power and ownership, they are starting to give lip service as to the validity of the movement.

Unfortunately, the movement will not be able to be co-opted by a political party, as the Tea Party astroturf was by the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove. And that is precisely what the politicians are scared of.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by jms62

Folks are starting to get serious..

It got pretty serious overnight this morning in Boston, when the Boston Police Department came in, confiscated every protesters private possessions (tents, etc) from the park and threw them away , then went back through the line of Veterans for Peace, throwing their flags on the ground while they hauled them off and arrested them; then arrested an additional 100+ people: including bystanders, media people and medics.

So less than 24 hours ago, this morning in the dead of night, we had the largest mass citizen protester arrest since the Viet Nam war era, and the national evening news covered none of it.