Does Anyone Take 'Occupy Wall Street' Seriously?

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I'm getting paid to occupy
Wall Street in a noisy protest.
Don't really know the reason why.
Maybe make news as some have guessed.
Get libs like Pelosi to say
How great she thinks the protests are.
Time for the greedy rich to pay.
Of course she's rich - tain't that bizarre!
I'm s'posed to work the protest crowd
To civil disobedience,
That makes it moreso clear and loud,
We're loony left wing evidence.
Who do you think is paying me?
'Tis a right wing conspiracy.

Ima Ryma of IL 3:02AM October 12, 2011

Why wouldn't anyone take the occupy wall st movement seriously? Our senators count every call they receive from a constituent as 1,500 people's voice. It's because they feel that if one person actually calls or writes, there must be about 1500 other folks who feel the same and are too lazy to speak up. So how do you think they look at thousands of citizens actually out in the street, out of their comfort zone, speaking up against the status quo? Well, it counts as a lot. So why would you say that this movement should not be taken seriously? Oh, it's because you work for US News and blah blah blah. I'll tell you, the people are not confused anymore. They know what is, and has been going on for many years now. And there is a little secret you have about blogging about a sensitive issue, such as this. YOUR BLOG GETS A TON OF HITS!!!. And your bosses love that. Web Metrics. Let me know if you got a raise yet or not. Probably not. Well, if you ever lose your current job, you should join the occupy movement. We will welcome you with open arms! We might not be able to give you the same paycheck. But you can sleep easy at night knowing that you are on the side of the good, not the bad. And I think your kids will appreciate that more than you having lots of money.

R. of MN 1:14AM October 12, 2011

Nice article Mr Roff. The only thing you left out was the mention of this circle jerk protest being a smoke stream for Obama. Calling it a lefty Tea Party. you don't see tea partiers having sex out in the street and living in squalid conditions while they interupt the small stores in their path. Soon the public with the help of the lefty media will forget the record of this totally incompatent, lying and deceitful president and through all the lies, the voters will be convinced that the blame falls on the republicans. What they are saying is lets punish people who produce. They shouldn't be allowed to succeed, give them some of that money.
All their request feed into the "Open Society Plan of George Soros, who surely can and probably is paying most of the tab along with the communist leaning "Family Party" and the left leaning unions. These kids will wander off when the doobies run out and all that will be left is the usual suspects the unions, the communist party and a few washed out entertainers who would use this for self serving ambitions and helping Obama try to get re-elected.Obama's people are very good at lying and deceiving but despite all the venom they are about 22 % of the population. They seem greater in number because of the biased lame stream media. whenthe voting comes they will be hit by a blizzard of real people voting for basics that will make the country strong. The class warfare will continue as the left knows no other way. The progressives may even change their name again, like they did when they were branded socialists and marxist and cast off the name progressive. they will continue with their sweeping changes that were used before and failed and insist they must work this time because of the smart people involved like Harry Belefonte, Jeanne Garofolo, Alec Baldwin Sean Penn and a neverending cast of entertainers who think it is smart to offer their opinion and perhaps even get a few ideas from Castro, and the guy from venezuela.
obama succeeded because bush was overwhelmed and everyone succumbed to the never ending stream of viscious diatribe from dingy harry and botox nancy. the only good thing to come out of the obama win was it got rid of hillary

edward regan of NY 12:56AM October 12, 2011

Allow me to articulate a few things the 99'ers should be asking for.
1.) Ron Paul's Competing Currency Bill HR 1098. "Legal money" has been eliminated in the U.S. all we have now is non-redeemable Federal Reserve Notes and coinage with no intrinsic value. A roll of pre 1965 silver dimes would by 30 gallons of gasoline today.
2.) Eliminate Corporate Personhood, if a corporation must lobby the government, it should do so through its shareholders and employees who have U.S. voting rights.
3.) Audit the Federal Reserve (corporation). If the U.S. Treasury is no longer the primary shareholder of the FED, remove the Bank's privilege to print U.S. debt obligations.
4.) Restore Glass Steagall and bankruptcy for primary residences, currently second homes can be negotiated through bankruptcy courts, but primary residences may not.
5.) Robo-signing fraud is not a victimless crime, it is still fraud. State courts should entertain adverse posession cases against banks. If the bank cannot prove that the it had title at the time the homeowner stopped making payments, the homeowner should from his/her evidence of property tax and maintenance records have some legal recourse against the banks who have forever clouded the title on their property.
7.) Eliminate Business Preference and Temporary Worker visas, these visas are labor market interference. Wage stagnation coupled with U.S. currency devaluation has destroyed America's ability to save, purchase homes and prosper.
7.a) Businesses want open borders, except where U.S. customs detects counterfiet goods and Intellectual property.
7.b) Colleges want open borders, except State borders where they are allowed to much higher out of State tuitions.
7.c) A full 20% of college degreed immigrants are underutilized (cis.org), working as cab drivers, nannies and dishwashers. Meanwhile we are asking our kids to assume $80,000 in non dischargable debt for an undergraduate degree, and then be required to compete against foreign nationals who's first college loan is for a U.S. postgraduate degree.

weaver of CA 12:41AM October 12, 2011

The U.S. is on the wrong track in so many ways, it is difficult to articulate in a sound bite. Also, many young liberals have been brainwashed by political correctness to the point where it is unconsciously taboo to complain about obvious problems like jobs being scarce because of historic levels of immigration and illegal migration. They have been conditioned to feel they must defer to people of color, which categorizes most immigrants and illegal today.

Luther of LA 11:14PM October 11, 2011

Yes...personally, I do take these protests seriously, I support them in spirit. The middle class in this country has become economic prey for large corporations and their owners.
Class warfare was initiated decades ago when Ronald Reagan and his core base of supporters declared war on the unions in this country and began a systematic program to weaken the unions...NAFTA. With a depleted economic base, the workers lost all bargaining power. The problem is, in winning this particular battle, the Republican Party also destroyed the manufacturing economy of the United States.
The resulting shortfalls of revenue for large corporations had to be made up somehow, so prices continue to rise and be passed on to the consumer, the middle class...yet wages remain flat.
Congress was complicit in this assault on the middle class through all the consumer laws that trapped consumers forever if they ever got behind or late on a credit card payment or a car payment or a mortgage payment.
There is no middle ground or mechanism to allow those who lose their income a way to negotiate better terms; either pay or face personal financial ruin.
The people have finally had all they are going to take.

MICHAEL TREADWELL of AL 10:46PM October 11, 2011

You have no idea why they aren't working? Really? No one is hiring. I'm smart, professional, dress well, etc. When I was out of work it was impossible to get a call returned, even find out if any of my hundreds of resume submissions were received, etc. A Microsoft(?) exec recently testified to Congress that they couldn't find people qualified to fill pretty normal positions, so H1B visas must be increased. Seriously? If you've had to look to work in the past five, even ten, years you'd realize how ridiculous your story is. As for the what do they want part, they want different things. It was easier for the Tea Party to agree; they didn't want things, they wanted to abolish everything: taxes, government, etc. much easier to come to a consensus to do nothing.

Mike of CA 10:14PM October 11, 2011

Does Anyone Take 'Occupy Wall Street' Seriously?
In a word, NO. ESPECIALLY after the unions became involved with them. When that happened, I tuned them out entirely.

One of the 53 percent of KY 8:50PM October 11, 2011

When will this group come up with ACTUAL plans - not these ridiculous "Demands" they've posted that mostly are pipe dreams ($20 Minimum wag/Free College Education, Forgive ALL worldwide debt) - where are the REAL ideas and PLAN to implement them? It takes more than just a warped sense of entitlement.
I've talked to MANY of these "occupiers" - in their $300 jeans, smoking weed in public, and not ONE could give me a coherent plan to accomplish ANY of their goals.
Staging a sit-in and throwing tantrums accomplishes nothing except alienating Themselves and making the movement look ridiculous to the rest of the so-called "99%" they so vehemently claim to represent.
(I'm in the 99% - they don't).
Go march on Congress - THAT'S where you can make a difference! On wall street - you are just a spectacle for tourists.

Honest Rob of NY 8:50PM October 11, 2011

Are you dim-witted? The economy has not been adding jobs at a pace to absorb population growth for at least three years. A reasonable person would conclude that a fair amount of college educated grads are now in debt and with no means of sustainable employment. Why do I even bother reading USNews?

Han Solo of PA 8:44PM October 11, 2011