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Occupy Portland is the 99%. The 99% that are choosing to occupy are doing so for many reasons, including the financial stability to do so. Some are occupying because they have no where else to go. We are all the 99%. Through the generosity of Occupy Portland supporters we have been able to feed and shelter many of those most affected by greed. Occupy Portland, with increased media coverage, has been able to bring forth to the light the severe lack of funds and care available to those most vulnerable in our society.
Show your support and solidarity for the unhoused and marginalized by coming out to MARCH with us.
Friday, Oct. 21 at 11:30 AM.
The march begins at Lownsdale Square in front of the memorial statue. We will march down 4th to Right 2 Dream Too (1). We will then continue on to Sisters of the Road (2) at NW 6th and Davis. The march makes a pit-stop at Pioneer Square (3) for a rally, and from there the march continues through the Pearl District and returns to Occupy Portland Base Camp. We encourage all who wish to express their voice on the effects of poverty to come and be heard.
If you have any questions, leave them at the Peace and Safety booth at Occupy Portland and an organizer will get back to you.
***This march is endorsed by the Peace and Safety Team of Occupy Portland***
Do you think that if you repeat “we are the 99%” enough it will make it so? You certainly don’t represent me or my friends or family. You miss the root cause of the problem: government – not business.
It was Congress who pressured Fannie and Freddie to loosen their underwriting standards with the goal of increasing home ownership. They succeeded in significantly increasing homeownership but by compelling Fannie and Freddie to buy loans made to people they shouldn’t have been given credit. This caused greater demand for housing which drove up prices, yet many of the people who bought houses really couldn’t afford the loans and simply were betting on a continued increase in real estate values. In case you didn’t know Fannie and Freddie owned or guaranteed over 70% of all residential mortgages in the US by 2007, and the way they create liquidity is to turn those mortgages into Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). Sure, the bankers took advantage of the situation and were willing to make bad loans, but it was only because there was a willing buyer for them (Fannie and Freddie). Also, the banks did create bad derivatives out of the MBS – but again, they didn’t cause the housing bubble or collapse – rather it was congress pressuring Fannie & Freddie to loosen underwriting standards. To put things in perspective the US agreed to bail out Fannie and Freddie to the tune of $400 Billion. This dwarfs the largest bank TARP of $50 Billion – and almost all (if not all) of the bank TARP money has been paid back with interest. Not so, with Fannie and Freddie. So who is the real culprit – the government with their pressure on quasi government agencies Fannie and Freddie, or the banks? Also, most people have quickly forgot that Fannie had to pay a $400 million fine to the SEC in 2006 because of accounting shenanigans. While the banks may not be faultless, you Occupiers are going after the wrong major players: you should be protesting at Congress and the White House.
You are missing one major point: Congress is in the back pocket of Big Business. It has become as simple as that. They are inseparable at this point; they are the same people. And, yes, protests and occupations are happening in Washington D.C., but, again, Congress is bought by Big Business. The Democratic and Republican parties are corrupted by…$$$$$$$$$$$…Wall Street.
So why aren’t you protesting the White House giving sweetheart loans to unviable companies like Solyndra where one of the executives was a major financial contributor to Obama. This is a classic textbook case of crony capitalism / payola. Why no outrage over Obama getting the bankruptcy court to ignore the priority claims of the GM bond holders in favor of giving part of the company to the UAW? How is it fair that a retiree who invested in GM bonds who has a reasonable expectation of having their debt claim preference loses out because Obama exerts pressure on the bankruptcy court to favor the UAW?
Not only has the government been the primary cause of the bubble and decline, but it has since then pursued policy that has inhibited a recovery by creating huge levels of uncertainty for small and medium businesses. In the past 12 months there have been 81,600 pages of new federal regulations created. These all create uncertainty. Most Americans don’t even read a dozen 200 page books a year. How are they supposed to understand the impact of 81,600 pages of new regs in a year.
Do you understand the uncertainty Obama creates for small businesses by constantly threatening new taxes? If a business is earning $800,000 a year and they think they will be subject to an additional 5% tax (or $40,000) can’t you see why they may be reluctant to hire a new staff member at a cost of $50,000. That tax plus additional employment expense would cost them nearly $100,000. They aren’t going to add staff simply out of benevolence – they need to make a reasonable additional profit to justify adding that additional employee. What is reasonable for the additional profit? $15,000? $20,000? For the sake of argument, let’s assume the business owner is generous and doesn’t expect much additional profit despite the risk. Let’s assume that to cover the profit minimum, the new tax, and new employee cost the business owner needs to earn $100,000 more. Earnings are after business expenses. Most businesses have 5% – 15% net margins. This means the new employee would likely need to be responsible for adding roughly $1 million in additional sales to warrant being hired. This doesn’t even take into consideration new regulatory burdens and the cost of compliance.
You should all be camping out on The White House front lawn, not Main street parks.
“Business certainty” is 1%er talk– the same talk Obama uses as that’s who he represents by choice at every turn. Occupy DC, StopTheMach2011 and the rest of the Occupy movement all over the world get that.
I did make a very short response here 2 days ago. Not sure where it went …
‘Late Night FDL: If You Need “Economic Certainty” Before Investing, You’re Not a Risk Taker’
By: dakine01 Wednesday September 21, 2011 8:00 pm
Link: http://firedoglake.com/2011/09/21/late-night-if-you-need-economic-certainty-before-investing-youre-not-a-risk-taker
By definition, business activity involves risk. If it doesn’t, then it’s called “corporate welfare” or “privatizing the benefits to a privileged few while socializing the risks” (i.e. private investors get bailed out from their bad private debts by a tax paying public to which those debts are transferred).
Same goes for the highest tranche held by some French and German bondholders who should have taken a hair cut long ago if it weren’t for being shielded from their bad bets via the crime wave of fraudulent mortgage foreclosures.
“Foreclosure Fraud: It’s the Tranches, Stupid”
By: Cynthia Kouril Tuesday October 12, 2010 2:34 pm
Link: http://my.firedoglake.com/cindykouril/2010/10/12/foreclosure-fraud-it%E2%80%99s-the-tranches-stupid/
There’s much more on the American side of the international mortgage foreclosure fraud at http://firedoglake.com/foreclosure-fraud.
So, #OccupyDC, #StopTheMach2011 and other #Occupy folks do understand hence why #Occupy.
Note: comments typed in aren’t getting posted. This is my 3rd attempt.
What would have been wrong with allowing Fannie and Freddie to go bankrupt? And who ended up with the $400 billion, anyway? It wasn’t you or me and anyone else I know. Maybe the banks and wealthy individuals who bought Freddie and Fannie’s AAA rated paper.
Exactly: what would have been wrong with letting Fannie & Freddie go bankrupt? Yet, politicians like Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, and Barack Obama would NEVER allow that. Are you aware that Fannie and Freddie are quasi-government entities? What you occupiers keep focusing on is how evil/greedy corporations are, but the people who are allowing themselves to be influenced by corporations and who are spending record levels of tax payer dollars are the politicians. Government is screwing up the economy far more than any corporation. The problem with government is that the bigger it becomes and the more control they have over our lives and commerce the more problems they create whether they are Republican or Democrat. It’s the nature of big government. If you want to do something productive camp out at your congress person’s office or on the White House front lawn and insist on limited government: dramatically cut spending, cut taxes – including for the 1%, cut those regulations that don’t meet a society cost-benefit test, and eliminate entire agencies that have outlived their usefulness (i.e. NASA, federal department of education – the states can handle this, the IRS if we can replace the tax system with something simpler, etc.). The government should quit picking winners and losers. By this I mean that we shouldn’t be providing any foreign aid unless there is a national defense purpose, we should not be providing subsidies to any corporations, we should quit funding an organization that is rife with corruption – the UN, the government should get out of the student loan business, and no more loans or grants to companies like Solyndra should be made (leave that to the private sector).
I understand the frustration of a bad economy, but, unfortunately, the policies the government has pursued over the past 3-5 years are making things worse not better. It’s time for Occupy to turn its protest to where the real blame resides: the White House and congress.
I’m wondering why this march is happening at a time when most working people can’t go….
All are responsible for the issues our society faces. Unless you are entirely off grid and live entirely independent of society, then you, me, and everyone else has a role in the preservation of the systems which seek to undermine access to fundamental human needs. This march event is intended to humanize the people who have come to Occupy Portland who are victims of an unjust system. The message is simple, there is no need to complicate it. POVERTY is a social issue, and the corruption and greed of the top percent are reinforced by those who allow it to continue. Portland’s poverty crisis is symptomatic of both the local apathy as well as lack of resources. We must first clean our own house, then I will march with you to the White House.
I agree with both of you. This movement isn’t just about banks or just about the white house. It’s about both. I’ve got no love for Obama and the democrats, and I’ve got no love for the republicans. Unless you’re bankrolling their campaign, you don’t have a voice. I work 40hrs a week, and I volunteer at occupy portland because my children, my self, and all the rest of the hard working Americans deserve better. What I look at and read about every day is not what this country is supposed to be. Pure socialism doesn’t work because people are lazy, pure capitalism doesn’t work because people are greedy. It is my hope that through this occupy movement we can come up with something better. Something transparent, that is much more difficult to hijack than this joke of a government we’ve been dealing with for the last 50-60 years. I believe people should be rewarded for their hard work, but I also believe that millions of Americans shouldn’t be thrown under the bus so that somebody can add a few more percentage points to their profit margins.
We will find a way to get big money out of our government. We are some sort of millionaireocracy now. This is the big problem. Senators have a nice enough salary and then when big corporations pour the money in-then we no longer have the representatives we elected. Money seems to be all that is listened to. We are done with that and will find a way to create change.
Term limits and voting in only politicians who pledge to reduce the size and scope of government would help solve this problem.
If we are serious about creating an alternative to the creeping plutocracy that has parlyzed Congress we must do everything in our power to reshape the Supreme Court that enables it and neuter the money talks political structure that the court has put in place.
It would be appropriate for us to establish a pledge from candidates for public office that limits all contributions to those coming from individuals and to an amount affordable to most people – I would suggest the cost of a ticket to a Nascar Race, or of a 16gb Iphone 4s. the names of those who do not take the pledge should be published and assumed to be the employees of Wall Street and the Koch Brothers.
I don’t begrudge anyone from taking a little time off and re-charging. However, if an organization is struggling, then the leadership of those organizations should be judicious in the amount of time they spend on rest and relaxation. There’s a time for that activity, but not as much when an organization has significant problems and isn’t performing well. That goes for CEOs, Non-Profit Executive Directors, AND Government officials.
It takes about 5 hours to play an average round of golf. I’m an ordinary Joe who would love to play more golf, but I’m so busy I can’t find the time – I play about 5 times a year – and have a difficult time finding even that much time to play. Interestingly, Barack Obama has played 41 rounds of golf through the middle of July since he took office. That’s equal to 205 hours on the golf course, or the equivalent of about 5 full work weeks. Furthermore, he took 61 vacation days during his first 31 months in office. So, in other words he’s playing golf or vacationing about 5 weeks a year for his first 2.5 years in office. He’s also been known to play quite a bit of hoop, and throw some pretty extravagant parties that don’t seem to have much connection to the government’s business.
How many of you can take that much time off during a good year? I know I can’t. When someone is presiding over the largest economy in the world, which is failing, how can the leader justify taking more than a month a year off? If our economy was going well and there weren’t significant systemic problems, then I wouldn’t care, but that’s not the state we are in. There are serious problems that need focus and attention. Talk about an elitist! He’s sipping champagne while the country burns. Yet, the Occupy crowd don’t seem concerned with his extravagant parties, golf outings, vacations, and sending Michelle around the world financed by tax payer money, all the while doling out favors and money to people and companies, and organizations he likes (SEIU, GE, NEA, UAW, GM, Solyndra, etc.).
What’s even more appalling is the he takes you all for a bunch of dupes. He is using you as pawns to try to help him win re-election. Yet, what positive outcomes has he accomplished since he has been in office? Is unemployment lower? Is the economy stronger? Are fewer people living in poverty? Is there more or less divisiveness? Are we in fewer wars? Is the government improving the quality of your life? Is education less expensive and more effective? He is now even admitting that parts of the health care bill won’t work. Occupy, you are on the wrong track. It isn’t the 1%, Wall Street, or Banks that you should be protesting – rather you should be camped out on The White House front lawn calling for smaller, limited, more accountable government. The biggest, most undeserving, fat cat in the country occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Oh yeh. And the republicans have our best interests in mind. My assets and retirement DIED during the last REPUBLICAN administration. Barrack Obama had nothing to do with it. Are you serious? what a joke!
I’d agree that Obama had nothing to do with the crash – but he has had a lot to do with the lack of recovery. All of the policies he has pursued have been antithetical to a recovery. Name one policy decision he has made that has improved the economy or lead to improvement.
While Obama didn’t have anything to do with the crash – you are right that Bush contributed to it, but I would suggest that the biggest culprit was congress pushing Fannie and Freddie to loosen their underwriting standards with the goal of increasing homeownership rates. Yes, they accomplished that goal by agreeing to buy a bunch of loans made to unqualified buyers and turning those loans into Mortgage Backed Securities. Barney Frank spearheaded this whole push.
It’s time for grown-up leadership in Washington – and that certainly isn’t Obama, and neither was it Bush (but I’d take Bush back in a heartbeat compared to Obama’s cluelessness. Who would have thought that Obama would have made Carter look competent, Nixon look honest, and Bush look smart?). You Occupy crowd are being duped and used by Obama. Think for yourselves – no more sound bites and simplistic slogans. You certainly DO NOT represent the 99%. Polling shows that roughly only a third of the population is even somewhat supportive of you. I’m one of the 67% that think Occupy is clueless.
“What you occupiers keep focusing on is how evil/greedy corporations are.” Says who? Really? Is that really what the entire Occupy movement is about? I think not. Maybe some idiot bandwagoneers out there make it look that way…
STOP BLOCKING TRAFFIC and DESTROYING PUBLIC PROPERTY. You are keeping ME from geeting to my JOB. Your message doesn’t match up with your actions and I’m sick of it.