Big Bad Romney

I just heard a good segment on NPR regarding the Occupation. One of the people that was interviewed was an older activist, who was really no more than a Democratic party hack, and his role on the program was that of a concern troll. (Google it.)

His point was that he supported the movement to an extent, but that it should suck it up and vote Democratic anyway, because if it didn't, we'd end up with Mitt Romney in the White House.

Two points:

First, the best way to make sure that you have zero political power is to tell someone that you will vote for them no matter what they do. That is what "progressives" have been doing for the last 3 years. They've told Obama that they will vote for him no matter what. Cut Social Security and Medicare? Escalate wars? Bail out banks? Sell your soul to the corporate devil? The response? "We don't like it, but we'll vote for you anyway."

Predictably, Obama immediately proceeded to ignore these people, who now have zero political power or voice, and are reduced to sending us all emails asking us to sign petitions that Obama can laughingly ignore.

Second, what exactly is it about Romney that would be meaningfully worse than Obama?

I don't ask this rhetorically; feel free to answer in the comments.

Occupation Update

I spoke with the police department today. They were very cooperative, and I assured them that we would be peaceful and that we would not block the sidewalks. But the sidewalks are public spaces. If we are organizing a group of more than 25 people in the Town Square, we need a permit. Maybe something to think about in the future. But I am not organizing a group. I'm going to the square on Saturday. By myself. And if people want to join me, there's not much I can or will do about it.

Remember that the sidewalks belong to everyone, so be sure to allow people to pass. Be polite, be articulate, be willing to learn and teach. 

Do a little research on the issues as well. Occupywallst.org is a great place to start.

Fool me once...

And here's a must-read on why Occupiers should not align themselves with either party:

http://politics.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/

Anyone who thinks Obama is not bought and paid for by The United Corporations of America should read this.

Get Your Money out Of Wells Fargo

The Occupy Wall Street movement, and its offshoots across the nation, are fundamentally about ending the current system of government, in which corporations and government have basically joined forces and become one, and are consolidating the power of the elite over the 99%.

There are many ways in which that affects us:

• Wars that we pay and die for to secure corporate interests abroad
• A health care system designed to make money for the health "care" industry, with patients as an afterthought
• Wars designed to require massive "defense" budgets, so that war contractors can profit
• An insane War on People Who Use Drugs, which benefits the owners of private prisons*, and a whole industry designed to profit from criminalizing human behavior.
• A War On Terror, which exists for the above reasons and also to ensure that we are all scared into giving up our rights as citizens without question.
• An all-out assault on Social Security (which we have paid for) and Medicare (which we pay for), in order to free up more money for the elite.
• The looting and destruction of our national resources (oil, gas, water) so the rich can profit from them.

But the way that the financial industry has simply become a de facto branch of government is breathtaking. There is a revolving door between Wall Street and government, and there is no longer any meaningful difference between the two.

When Goldman Sachs wants something done, it just calls up one of its many employees who have taken a sabbatical for "public service" in government. They have had employees in positions like Treasury Secretary, bail-out chief, or New York Federal Reserve board members, and those guys don't take phone calls from you or me.

JP Morgan is now funding the NYPD, which means that they have now taken over part of the police department for their own purposes (this would explain the macing of helpless protesters.)

Wells Fargo is as bad as any of these big corporations.

• It intentionally made millions of fraudulent mortgage loans, for which its executives paid themselves billions, while knowing that that taxpayer would have to pay when the loans went bad.

• It practiced predatory lending, pushing people into loans they could not afford because the dees were higher, while knowing that these people would end up ruined and in foreclosure.

• It conspired to get inflated appraisals and to inflate a housing bubble which made many people, including many of our friends and family right here in Jackson Hole, desperate to buy a home in the fear that they would forever be locked out of home ownership, and then ruined them when the bubble inevitably popped. 

• It worked with mortgage brokers, including mortgage brokers here in Jackson Hole, who lied to our friends and family about what kind of loans they were getting, and lied to them about being able to refinance. 

• It has repeatedly, and on a widespread basis, lied to homeowners about loan modifications, encouraging them to miss payments so as to qualify, and then seizing their homes.

• It has forged loan and securitization documents (robosigning) and foreclosed on property which it had no right to foreclose on. Some of these people are undoubtedly our friends and family.

• It has arbitrarily added fees to mortgage payments, without informing the homeowner, and then added cascading late fees when those fee weren't paid, resulting in foreclosure. 

• It has taken billions of dollars in bail-out money. It has been given much more in loan guarantees that are backed by the taxpayer. It has been given access to unlimited interest-free loans from the Federal Reserve. And it has continued to pay its executives obscene amounts of money.

• It is destroying local, community banks by getting cheap funding from the equity markets, which realize that the government will not allow it to fail, because it is actually part of the government.

• It is the fourth-largest bank in the US.

• And it is a massive criminal enterprise. It is the new Mafia. 

To date, not one person from Wells Fargo has ever been convicted of a crime in the what was the biggest fraudulent transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich in the history of the world.

Many of us do not even realize the extent of it, because it has been covered up by the government (which was complicit) and the mainstream media (which is owned by the same corporations).

But it's time to wake up. If you have an account at Wells Fargo, close it. Close it today. You will feel good about yourself. Get an account at a local bank or credit union.

And this Saturday, make sure that you let Wells Fargo know how you feel. They are open until 1PM on Center Street. Include them on your protest sign, and bring it with you when you close your account.



*Private Prisons! We live in a country where there are private prisons. Think about that for a moment. And these private prisons are allowed to lobby government to change the laws to get more customers.

This is what we are going to do

Today is Tuesday, Oct 11. On Thursday night around 7PM, Seadar and I and whoever else wants to help will be at the Factory Studios building at 1255 A Gregory Lane, in the same building as Igneous skis. We're going to make some signs, and talk about ways to make this Occupation work.

On Saturday, at noon, I'll be going to the Town Square with a sign and probably a guitar, and I'm going to stay there for the rest of the day. I hope you will all join me. On Sunday, I'll do it again. And over those days, I hope that we will figure out a way to make this last.

I'm not in charge of this Occupation, nor is Seadar, and neither is anyone else who might claim that they are. This belongs to all of us. We will all do what we can. I like to write, and I know how to blog, and so I plan on keeping this blog going with updates and commentary. What can you do to help?

But I want to stress that I am only speaking for myself, and that the one and only unified message that I hope Occupy JH will send is that we are no longer going to accept a government and a society that is controlled by and for the benefit of 1% of us.

Chris Hedges on why the Occupation has to happen

Welcome

This blog will serve as the public face of Occupy JH, and hopefully become a place for many of you to turn for updates and commentary. I'm not sure how it will evolve, but maybe that's a good thing. Needless to say, this blog will not accept any advertising money, nor will I or anyone associated with it benefit financially in any way. I'm hoping that, through the comments section, we can learn from one another and come to a better understanding of the problems that we all face.