by Jonathan Larsen and Ken Olshansky
(crossposted from MSNBC's "Open Channel" blog)
A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.”
The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association.
CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead.
According to the memo, if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”
The memo also suggests that Democratic victories in 2012 should not be the ABA’s biggest concern. “… (T)he bigger concern,” the memo says, “should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.”
Two of the memo’s authors, partners Sam Geduldig and Jay Cranford, previously worked for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Geduldig joined CLGC before Boehner became speaker; Cranford joined CLGC this year after serving as the speaker’s assistant for policy. A third partner, Steve Clark, is reportedly “tight” with Boehner, according to a story by Roll Call that CLGC features on its website.
Jeff Sigmund, an ABA spokesperson, confirmed that the association got the memo. “Our Government Relations staff did receive the proposal – it was unsolicited and we chose not to act on it in any way,” he said in a statement to "Up."
CLGC did not return calls seeking comment.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel declined to comment on the memo. But he responded to its characterization of Republicans as defenders of Wall Street by saying, “My understanding is that President Obama is the single largest recipient of donations from Wall Street.”
On “Up” Saturday, Anita Dunn, Obama campaign adviser, responded by saying that the majority of the president’s re-election campaign is fueled by small donors. She rejected the suggestion that the president himself is too close to Wall Street, saying “If that’s the case, why were tough financial reforms passed over party line Republican opposition?”
The CLGC memo raises another issue that it says should be of concern to the financial industry -- that OWS might find common cause with the Tea Party. “Well-known Wall Street companies stand at the nexus of where OWS protestors and the Tea Party overlap on angered populism,” the memo says. “…This combination has the potential to be explosive later in the year when media reports cover the next round of bonuses and contrast it with stories of millions of Americans making do with less this holiday season.”
The memo outlines a 60-day plan to conduct surveys and research on OWS and its supporters so that Wall Street companies will be prepared to conduct a media campaign in response to OWS. Wall Street companies “likely will not be the best spokespeople for their own cause,” according to the memo. “A big challenge is to demonstrate that these companies still have political strength and that making them a political target will carry a severe political cost.”
Part of the plan CLGC proposes is to do “statewide surveys in at least eight states that are shaping up to be the most important of the 2012 cycle.”
Specific races listed in the memo are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada as well as the gubernatorial race in North Carolina.
The memo indicates that CLGC would research who has contributed financial backing to OWS, noting that, “Media reports have speculated about associations with George Soros and others.”
"It will be vital,” the memo says, “to understand who is funding it and what their backgrounds and motives are. If we can show that they have the same cynical motivation as a political opponent it will undermine their credibility in a profound way.”
Jonathan Larsen (@jtlarsen) is executive producer of "Up w/ Chris Hayes"; Ken Olshansky (@kenolshansky) is a producer for the show.
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The 1% must protect their interests - at all costs. It's that simple. No matter what it takes, no matter who is hurt, no matter how much it costs, the rich must be protected against the rabble.
Richard Nixon had a name for it. "Ratf***king." The lobbyists are volunteering their services as ratf***kers.
>> "The lobbyists are volunteering their services as ratf***kers."
At a fee of around $1 Million, it's hardly "volunteer" work.
I stand corrected. Offering their services as Ratfu***kers.
I agree. It would be awful to have a lobbyist do this research when it is the media's job to research and report this information. What are you afraid of MSNBC....The truth too frightening for the progressives?
No, it just shows how afraid and desperate the teabaggers are and their bankers of OWS.
The same can be said for everyone who thinks they deserve taxpayer money to support them instead of getting a job or making an effort to do something other than mooch off the taxpayers. This includes the 1%. Which btw, if you actually asked an OWS member in terms of salary what they consider "evil", it wouldnt be the 1%, they would hate the upper 55%. They dont stand for me, and i'm of them thinking they do. I don't make millions, or even hundreds of thousands so i'm nowhere near the 1%, but the majority of those who do earn that money, they EARNED IT! its not yours!!!! They are not obligated to give anything to you merely because you exist and dont make what they do! yes there's corruption, there's corruption in everything! dont associate bad people with a bad class of people.
I don't see anyone demanding that the 1% "give" their money to anyone.
I see the 99% demanding that the corporations that caused the collapse of the world wide finances be brought to justice for their greed and fraudulent activities, demanding that the working poor be paid a living wage for their efforts, instead of the top executives skimming off the vast majority of the profits for their own benefits and paying less in taxes (or nothing in taxes) by buying off the "representatives" of the people. I see the people who have been irreparably hurt by these greedy and fraudulent corporations expressing their anger and pain over their intent to turn us into slaves. I see the elderly who spent their lives building and supporting our social networks and greatness being thrown on the garbage heap because they are no longer useful to the great machine.
To call these people "moochers" and a "bad class" is disgusting. I have spent my life "earning" my living. I raised my three sons without the benefit of welfare or any "assistance" from our government. I paid into the Social Security fund for better than 60 years and into Medicare from it's inception. I am not a moocher nor am I a bad class of people. I am only asking a decent return on my investment to the government over the last 60 years. To be told at this point that my investment is going to be cut for the benefit of people who are making in one year more than I did in my lifetime is egregious and shameful.
For you to defend them thinking that somehow you will reap a reward from them for your support is not only bad thinking, but indicative of your own low class status. I see more compassion from the "moochers" and 99% than you will ever know - until the bite hits you. I await your reaction then.
Actually, you do. They do in the form of taxation. They demand everyone who can afford anything they cant pay more taxes. That is in effect, armed theivery at the hands of the government. When we all recieve the same government and are all able to recieve the same services as everyone else (should they qualify in some instances) why should anyone pay over 55% of their income when many dont pay ANY taxes (which includes GE, which i despise) and I did not call anyone a bad class of people. i said "dont associate bad people with a bad class of people" referring to how people in general when they see someone being corrupt, they assume everyone is. I do not think i will get any reward, nor do i want one. And if you want to know who truly collapsed the system, look at Uncle Sam. It's their policy that demanded banks approve loans they knew people couldn't afford. Then they get in bed with Fannie and Freddie (who again, you cannot assicoiate with the whole, merely that each one is a bad and corrupt business) and said they would back the loans wether they failed or not. Then Fannie and Freddie offered to buy the loans from the banks, who of course said yes so that they could avoid going under when people started to not be able to pay their sub-prime mortgage. They didnt want to go under and cause ALL their customers harm when they went bankrupt. They didn't care about themselves, they cared about that if they went under, they cost jobs and cause their customers harm. It all comes back to your government. when government tries to mess around to much in the free-market system, it collapses. Every country and empire who has tried it proves it. Rome, Soviet Russia, and modern Europe. And i congratulate you on raising three sons without government assistance, but many members of my family and my girlfriends family, they did and do. And they have stopped trying to get a job because the government continues to pays for them. My aunt wont even try to go to a docter to get the meds she needs to be functional enough to get a jop because she thinks she's "doing just fine" on what the government gives her. You think i havent seen compassion? I see it in everyone. But unlike you, i dont draw the line of who i see it in based on someone's high or low income. And btw, you have every right to expect a decent return. however, you shouldn't be forced into "investing" in a government program. All it takes is a savings account or some other type of retirement account. Because that way, you WOULD receive a decent return and it would be ALL yours. It's your money, why didn't it stay yours. Besides, in a private investment like a savings account, politicians can't arbiltrarily say what gets done with YOUR money, whether or not you approve of their plan.
Uh-huh. So its got nothing to do with the high rate of unemployment in this country; the lack of security, benefits, pensions, or even full time hours available to those who HAVE jobs; or the lack of jobs waiting for college students after they have put themselves in debt to the scalp for the sake of better prospects; or that the wealthiest are making their money through playing with other people's money; or from off shoring what used to be American manufacturing jobs; or that the games on Wall Street which nearly destroyed our nation's economy, made a few people richer than God, but is illegally forcing millions of people out of their homes; etc etc and so O N!
No, its just people wanting to mooch off of the tits of the tax payers. Riiiiight.
Taxes are lower now than they been since the 1950's. The top earners are making record fortures while what's left of the middle class are making do with wages that have been stagnant for over 30 years. Since Reagan, the middle class has been shrinking, and with high unemployment, what was middle class is losing its shelf-life and sinking into the lower classes - the ONLY class that has actually grown.
Gosh if only the system was...regulated. But if the system isn't regulated then ANYONE can take out a loan regardless of ability to pay! And for so many loans to be going out, that can only mean business must be great right? Right? That was Bush era deregulation of the housing and mortgage industry. That was Bush era adoption of the ethics and methods of Enron. During the Reagan Administration, "junk bonds" forced the the bailouts of Saving and Loans industries and countless people lost their life savingings, over 500 billion dollars.
My wife and I bought a house right before the housing market crashed. We were offered a "no-doc" loan which was a higherer interest loan that required no paperwork. My wife crunched the numbers on it. It would have cost us an additional $87,000 over the time it took to pay back the mortgage. We turned it down, but that is how close WE came to getting sucked up into that mess.
Were Reagan policies caused the bailouts of S and Ls with junk bonds; Wall Street was all but destroyed with mortgage backed securitities which had zip to do with the involvement of Uncle Sam and everything to do with deregulation and Enron style "pay to play" ratings and investment culture. People did NOT just lose their savings, MILLIONS of people are losing their HOMES!
Europe is in the trouble it is in because they trusted US! What happened in '07 and '08 is what happens when govt is taken OUT of the free market system! Enron is what happens! All of the Republicans and conservatives are fighting like hell to make sure that everything remains UNREGULATED, so this can happen again and again. Hey! so long as somebody's making a buck then the system works, yeah? Just so long as the tax payers are their to bail out the banker and investors so they do go jumping out the windows when everything crashes. TARP was definitely a mistake. The more Wall Street financiers who defenestrate themselves the fewer there are to make the same mistakes and the better the world is.
Dumbass! What part of LOST LIFE SAVINGS don't you understand?
Thank you, Don, for your superb defense. It was better than I could have done.
My only additional comment to Silence is the Enemy is that I did put my money into a savings account and found that the bank's "fees" ate up not only any interest I "earned" but the funds I put in there as well. As I watched my "savings" shrink I shortly determined that it was useless to try to build a safety cushion for myself to the benefit of the bank. Where have you been in the last 30 years, honey? We little people who have had to live on the edge have had very little chance to put away savings, while we are faced with ever increasing costs of living. When you are living from paycheck to the day after payday, there is no room for savings. Welcome to the real world of finance.
I'm about to turn 41. Most of these kids know no history before Reagan. Have no clue what made America great once upon a time. It falls to us oldsters, old cranky bastards, to tell them that everything they'd ever been told is a bald-faced lie. Otherwise there will BE no America!
Don -Although im impressed with your rebuttal, Your the one who is believing what progressives have taken from history and rewrote. You think regulation is the key and your the reason capitalism turns into socialistic economic structures and then collapse.
"Gosh if only the system was...regulated. But if the system isn't regulated then ANYONE can take out a loan regardless of ability to pay!"
Actually, not true. It is in a banks interest to only give loans to those who they determine could pay. Otherwise, the lose money. Banks don't want peoples houses in foreclosures, they want their money that they LENT you. people seem to think that because a bank gives them money, that they shouldn't have to pay it back because its what bought their house. WRONG. it wasn't your money, you borrowed it from them.
Europe: ITS NOT THE U.S'S JOB TO BABYSIT THEM! THEY ARE THEIR OWN PEOPLE AND HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICES FOR THEIR WELLBEING! I expect nothin less if the US trusted another country and it went bad, it would be the U.S's fault for trusting the other country. We can only make decisions to keep other countries happy for so long before it goes against our wellbeing.
However, we can agree on something. Bailouts are wrong. For anyone. Big business is not to big to fail and it should be allowed to. Threat of failure is what drives good business to stay good.
Quick note, the people that responded to your post make me sound like i'm some rich person and that i don't live paycheck to paycheck and have now recently become unemployed. I am in school trying to get a degree in engineering hoping that there will be a decent enough economy when I graduate to get a job that pays enough to be worth all the time and tens of thousands of dollars i spent on my education.
It's like the GOP -- the Greed Old Party. What they want is simple: Government of, by and above all for the greedy. Please help expose -- forward to as many friends, relatives, etc. as possible. To maximize exposure, please post on your social media sites. Ray A. Cohn, retired journalist.
Sounds like Silence is the Enemy has been reading Atlas Shrugged.
Silence -
Your belief in the free market is commendable, but somewhat misplaced.
It can (and was) actually in the banks' interest to make bad loans. By making bad loans, packaging them up, and selling the packages, they masked the uncertainty of payback, then sold them to someone at a higher price than the actual safety of those products really warranted. If you are more interested in turning a quick buck than in the long-term payout, it's like hot potato. As long as you sell quickly and aren't holding the bag when the mortgage falls through, you don't suffer the consequences; some other guy does. And since banks, like most companies, are run based off quarterly reports, this looked like a great idea in the short term, even though in the long term, those overvalued products weren't living up to their hype.
Obviously in retrospect, all of it was a subtle fraud. What the banks did here was clearly wrong. But it wasn't illegal. Making sure that bad practices like this ARE illegal is a legitimate intervention of government in the economic system: keeping the free market safe from fraud, violence, and deceit. Even the most strident libertarian alive could get behind that. That's exactly what government regulation should be for. The blind deregulation of industry - in this particular case, the repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act in 1999 - is exactly why this was allowed to happen and to go unpunished. Free market idealism is all well and good, but without someone watching for people cheating the system, the whole thing falls apart.
I don't think anyone liked the bailouts. The fact that they are at this point basically paid back doesn't really make a difference there. The bailouts shouldn't have had to happen - but they did have to happen. Because we destroyed the separation between investment banks and commercial banks, the money that was being badly invested was the backbone of our economy. Had those banks failed outright, they would have taken the system with it. It's inexcusable that it had to be done, and it wasn't big enough, or targeted correctly to jumpstart the economy. That said, if you look at a chart of various economic indicators, the bailout did mitigate the plunge: Most of the usual indicators abruptly stop falling right around the time the bailout went through.
The thing to do now is to carefully set down some rules about what is and isn't fair play, to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.
(I have no comment on Europe, except to point out in an era of increasing globalization, they are just less direct victims of the same fraud the rest of us were.)
lol. Good luck with that, you naive libertarian child.
And I've got over 20 thousand dollars of student loans and no prospects. I never thought you were wealthy Silence. I just figured you were stupid enough to vote against your own economic best interests. Good luck with your degree, you are going nowhere.
GREAT job on this expose and on the show today, Chris! Thank you for all your great investigative work. I wish more reporters would come up with this kind of thing. We need to educate/inspire America to make their voices heard, that the corruption and heavy handedness against us the 99%, needs to stop, whether it be by petitions, phone, email, letters, Popvox, or best of all, hitting the streets and/or getting in our "leaders" faces. My *wish* is that we could turn this movement into actual legislation and/or candidates for office and that there could be some defined demands, (since D.C. can't seem to discern the clear message!).
I decided to launch an Occupy movement with clear, achievable goals to get the 1 in 5 impoverished children of our nation, their top 4 requests of Santas in 2010:
1. socks
2. shoes/boots
3. jackets
4. food for their families
That's 17.2 MILLION of our own children! 1 in 4 go hungry so in a classroom of 25, the average, 6 children are enduring hunger and 5 live in extreme poverty. So... be watching for the launch later today, with clear Statement of Intent, resources, goals/achievement flow chart, etc. of #OccupyNorthPole #ONP #OpJoyRising. Hope you enjoy a great weekend and wishing you and your staff many blessings, Chris. <3
I really wish that the 1%er's would understand (as Warren Buffet does) that their long-term fortunes are tied to the well being of the 99%. This is a business problem for them and they are failing in their vision.
Just this past week, a group calling themselves the the Patriotic Millionaire Americans addressed members of Congress, stating that Bush Tax Cuts should be immediately rescinded, and that many lucrative tax loopholes closed in support of fixing our economy and paying their fair share. I hope that more join their Movement!
The system has been working against the interests of the 1% for decades. The price of increased bottom lines from off-shore manufacturing is shrinking markets at home. America has paid the price in loss of tax revenue from off-shored factory workers.
Under supply-side economics, EVERYBODY loses ultimately.
Economic and educational policy must be rolled back AT LEAST 30 years to get our nation back to rights.
LOL Don!
@karaokechris- Yeah, and Grover Norquist and his cronies laughed them out of the room, and Fox News mocked and berated them mercilessly. These people are not moved by reason.
But is this true? Are the fortunes of the 1% really tied to the 99%? I think they realize the element of truth in what you're talking about and are shifting their focus more and more to the money that can be made in the developing world. They don't need to rely primarily on the 99% in the USA any more; they have an untapped 99.9% to exploit elsewhere in the world. Richard D. Wolff has interesting things to say about this.
The answer is both simple and apocalyptic. America is the market of the world. Everything made everywhere is sold here. The rub is this, people who don't have jobs and don't have money don't buy things. In closing factories here in America to get it made cheaper abroad, the owners of production destroyed their own market for customers because ex-employees can't afford their products. Similarly, the govt loses on the payroll taxes collected on factory workers overseas. Result? Deficit.
Add to this union-busting. Unions were reliable employers for decades, provided good benefits and pensions. So the unions get busted. Now the employers are bringing in busloads of undocumented Mexicans to do the same job for a fraction of the price and no benefits. If they get too uppity, even breathe a word about a raise, call ICE have them deported - go get another busload.
Hey, anyone remember when Bush the Younger tried to privatize port security? Remember who he tried to hire instead of using the Coast Guard? Dubai Port World.
These are the same bastards rewarded with tax cut, compounding the deficit.
That is why Henry Ford decided to pay his workers well. Ford -- despite some of his failings, anti Semitism being just one -- was a very perceptive businessman. He said if he didn't pay them decently, they couldn't afford to buy his cars. End of story.
The 1% planning a hit job on the message of the 99%! IMO, this confirms the validity of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The GOP has to plot a secretive campaign to support their friends on Wall Street while appearing to hold their nose.
Terrific reporting, Chris!
Just like they planned a hit job on Obama. It is sad when the agenda is to smother out the masses, no matter the cost. I will vote for Obama, not just because he has "integrity", but because he is up against the most powerful forces, and yet he has stayed focused and accomplished much more than anyone gives him credit for. He is not "Superman"
Go OWC and stay on Chris!
If you dont like smothering the masses, then your on the wrong side of the political spectrum. The only way people like OWS and thier affiliates work is by saying they speak for everybody and when anybody stands to say otherwise, they try as hard as they can using various tactics like hiring their union buddies at SEIU to bully them into shutting up.
Hey, you're Sean Hannity talking points are showing! Unions stand up for middle class workers in this country, take your b.s talking points somewhere else.
God forbid they should spend their million on jobs or education!
So far, the conservative agenda to divide and conquer is the only winner in the OWS movement, the 99% are still fighting eachother while the 1% remains unscathed.
Hold fast OWS, if the neo-con's hold true to form they will carelessly spend to bankruptcy as they have in the last 2 occupations they fumbled.
Think big OWS and continue to cultivate SOLIDARITY!
you actually think conservatives condone spending and would be the ones to spend until bankruptcy?! Are you nuts!? its liberals who will spend someone else's money at the drop of a hat because "everyone deserves to be equal" and they dont care whose rights they trample on to make everyone "equal". Im all for equality, but not their kind. Every time the national debt goes up, most of the time, it was a democrat/liberal congress and/or president. check this site out: there's an awful lot of blue in there. Yes there is red. Republicans spend an insane amount of money too. here's the difference, conservatives are not democrats. They can be republicans. but seeings how there is way less red than blue, you need to get you ideaologies straight before you slam a particular group. That kind of lack of restraint is why the media is a former shadow of itself, they don't care whether what they says is biased or is even true.
Where's the link to your "smoking gun" website? Republicans spend just as much, if not more than democrats. The only difference is where they spend it. Republicans don't spend much on trying to fix things in America, but spend billions trying to destroy countries all around the world. Democrats try to spend money at home, and I admit they overstretch their power sometimes, but at least they're trying to fix things, not blowing the rest of the world up.
We never had multitrillion dollar deficits before Reagan. We were close to having our house in order under Clinton. Under Bush the Younger we had tax cut after tax cut two war (only one of which was justified) which were never included in the budget, a Medicare expansion, which was also never included; and a vice president who said that deficits don't matter. It was on the Bush watch that Wall Street melted down and TARP was his baby! McCain broke off campaignin g for president and John Boehner cried like a little girl on the House floor to get it passed. Some of us were paying attention.
Well said Don Quixokie.
Next, we need to occupy K Street, the source of government corruption.
As a person in his sixties I recognize that things are different now, than when I graduated from college with no debt by working in a grocery store. I got a good job with the degree. Here in Southern California back in the 70's McDonald Douglas was building airplanes. The Federal Government was constructing Interstate 5, and paying Rockwell to build the Space Shuttles in Downey. The many military bases that have now been closed, used to hire civilians and pump cash into the local economy. Those military personnel at El Toro Marine Base and George Air Force Base in San Bernadino used to spent their paychecks locally at restaurants and retail shops.
Back then fire departments, police departments, school systems, aerospace, home construction contractors were hiring, but not anymore. Many of my friends sons who have college degrees in business, finance, and biology are stuck in the same minimum wage job that they have had for years. These are ambitious young people with educated, professional parents, who usually have connections.
The Federal Government, led by Dick Cheney, decided to blow up and rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, while borrowing money from China to pay for the bombs. The billions that used to be spent here building our highways and Space Shuttles is now being spent to hire Korean construction firms to build roads in Afghanistan, and bribing the Taliban to let the fuel convoys pass without being destroyed. We didn't even get the oil from Iraq, it's going to China!
Our politicians have sold us out to trans-national corporations that fund their campaigns. They said "Don't worry if those manufacturing jobs leave to China, we'll have the financial services industry." and if there aren't any jobs locally, then join the military. Our politicians are supporting over 600 military bases spread all over the world, putting cash into the pockets of business in Germany, Korea, Japan,and Australia too. We should demand that our tax dollars be spent here in the States as a top priority.
BUT our politicians don't care, because the world they see around Washington DC is flush with cash and jobs due to the thousands of lobbyists making hundreds of thousands per year. Do some research and find out what kind of jobs your congressman's children got. Their kids get cushy jobs due to their corporate sponsors doing them favors that aren't directly in cash. Even the politicians spouses are lobbyists, adding a couple of hundred thousand to the $175,000 they make, so they do not feel our pain.
Start making you congressman or senator sweat, knowing that we won't buy their excuses any more. Lets occupy their offices!
I suspected as much. I'm sorry that I was right. Everyone who talks about how we can't tax the job creators needs a punch in the mouth.
This memo does not surprise or shock me. I am surprised that more of these directives have not been intercepted. I have always said that these phony-hypocritical right wing politicians and talking-heads are tools of the corporations. Marionettes that follow the script written by their masters. My only hope is that there will be an awakening of empathy and conscience among the right.
The GOP has always been fairly successful at following the Joseph Goebbels handbook for propaganda and lies, especially the BIG LIES, repeated incessantly on their FOX propaganda network. FOX fans the flames like a giant bellows to heat up the goobers who are incurious and uninformed. I think CNN made a fatal mistake trying to win over the Teatards from FOX.
The Dems need to hire a PR department like the genius of Jon Stewart.
and left wingers are controlled by their unions and brainwashed by MSNBC and their college professors (if they even went to college). (this is meant to be a sarcastic retort) ENOUGH!!!!! those of us who believe government shouldn't rule our lives and believe in conservative idealology are tired of those of you who dont saying that we're marionettes for big buisness. WE'RE NOT! Just becuase we don't agree with you doesnt mean that we are in any way less informed, intelligent, free-thinking, or in any way inferior to you. I don't go around thinking that if you think entitlement programs are the government's job and sworn duty to every deseving or undeserving citizen, then your being paid off by SEIU. I try to have FACTS before i accuse and group, person, or movement of being part of such action. This "US vs. THEM" game has gone on long enough and needs to stop. Talk about facts, not stories you want to believe about your percieved "enemy"
I've been giving you nothing BUT facts!
and silence has replied to none of them ;)
also, is public education a handout/entitlement? then why is it always on the chopping block? why are my parents who are teachers looking at pay cuts next year, even when they don't make an exorbitant amount? they're college educated. they're not in any unions.
And if we wanna go on living lives free from the government, then why can't the gays get married? why are abortion rights and voting rights under attack across the country? why can't i grow pot in my garden if i want? your conservative representatives don't seem too keen to protect my liberty on those issues.
Hear hear!
Sorry, I can't sit at my laptop all day and the second i see someone reply post a reply back. And actually, I'm a libertarian. I think gays should be allowed to get married and the fact the congress thinks they could bypass the "full faith and Credit clause" in the Constituition to say that states have to the right to ignore gay marriages is deplorable. I am pro-choice, what a women does with her body is her choice and why would pro-lifers condemn an unborn child to whatever circumstances come to it at its birth, regardless of whether the situation will provide a happy life for it or due to various unfortunate circumstances could end up being chewed up by the system and spit out. I agree, conservatives do not stand up for those rights and i disagree with them. Btw, you should be able to grow pot all you want, just don't make me smoke it (which of course you wouldn't =) ) So yes, i have repsonded and surprise surprise, the hated conservative in the post actual has things in common with others here.
Bravo Chris!!! Great scoop!
Good news is there's no putting the OCCUPY genie back in the bottle. The 99% are awake and we're mad as he_l— and we're not going to take Wall Street gangster and bankster corruption anymore.
OCCUPY! Solidarity with the people and unions. I am the 99%
Does it seem at all odd that the memo shown on the screen is purportedly dated Nov. 24, 2011 (NEXT Thursday - Thanksgiving Day)??? Strange date.
Very interesting observation DT-2455291. It could be a typo or could it be it the memo leaked before it was planned to be released. It is curious that Nov. 24 is the day after the Super Committee's deadline. Or was it leaked by design? The plot thickens and its politics as usual in the USA.
I was thinking 'leak' too, and misdirection. As far as I can see, the Dems are a no bigger a threat to Wall Street as the Repubs and they know that. As long as they can successfully portray OWS as 'left', they can keep the people divided; which has been their MO for decades.
The issues that OWS has transcend party. I'm still profoundly disgusted with Obama's handling of BP. His weak handling of bringing the authors of the Wall Street melt down to justice; his lack of support for unions. I'm agrieved at the Clinton roll-back of anti-trust legislation and all Free Trade Agreements. There is no lack of mud to go around. We need solutions. That is what they are out in the streets for.
These extreme right wingnuts can say or do what they think they can get away with, but the reality is they are on the way out off office and wallstreet and the banks will be our bullseye for a long time.
Reluctantly, I will vote for Obama in 2012 in the hope that he will follow through
on his promise of change we have not seen yet rather than vote for a
republican* that we all know will follow through on their promise of more hate
and war as shown in many of their debates.
*I do not include Gary Johnson in this group and would like to hear more of his message.
James, it's easy to be discouraged by the perceived lack of change proposed by Obama, but sometimes things get overlooked or not reported in the media. Check out Politifacts' scorecard and you'll see that not all his proposals get watered down, in fact he's actually accomplishing some things.*
*Sorry, can't post the link, but it is on the main page at Politifact
Gitmo still open-check
patriot act still in affect-check
Med Marijuana still being attacked-check
Still a few left but you get the idea.
This president is so lucky that the republican field is what it is, and that sans a late surge of the likes of Gary Johnson, he still gets my vote.
Did you see Alex's interview with Chris Mathews? I really thought he nailed fully one half of Obama's problem with his base of support.
But for me his problem still remains with the promises he COULD have kept and hasn't. His only real bright spot is the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
Why is the Republican field so weak? Because Republicans enjoy working with Obama just fine. He's nice and malleable, and they can treat him like a dog that keeps coming back after its been kicked, because he does!
Chris, you said it best when you coined the phrase "The Empire Strikes Back"! I immediately envisioned Jabba-The-Hut ringing the opening bell! Thanks for your coverage. You still retain the integrity of the 'freelance reporter', as opposed to 'cable news anchor'...BIG difference! Get Darli Raney, 84yr old pepper sprayed, on your show! She is absolutely fantastic...activist, NOT victimized little old lady!
I agree I think Darli Raney would be a great addition to your show. Keep up the great work Chris.
She's even more badass than Bruce Lee. From what I understand, she is a veteran when it comes to this kind of thing.
Thanks for your dedication to truth, Chris. To the panelist (my son plays video games while I listen, so I don't know which one) who commented that a difference between OWS and TP is that the TP ran candidates. This is not accurate. TP candidates are GOP candidates who jumped aboard because the GOP brand became toxic after the Bush presidency. The astro-turf TP do not run candidates, the Koch brothers and Wall St. do.
As a big picture person, what this memo indicates is that the OWS movement is actually working. So HT to all the peaceful protesters!
Any time that a group of people can intimidate an Industry by merely standing up indicates that the Industry, aka banking, is on shaky ground!
One part of the program this morning brushed on a meeting between OWS and TPer's in Memphis. It was really brief and I don't have details, but this type of meeting should be heralded, as it places a laser focus on the idea that TBTF banks are not in the best interest of our entire country, not D v. R!
The story I read on that from Huff Post left me with the feeling that the TPer's were looking down their nose at OWS. meeting.Post meeting interviews of TPer's clearly indicated they were praising the commitment but dissing the method with comments like "no direction and leaderless" and "They should go home and work from within their communities".
OWS interviewees were more upbeat than the TPer's, and much more supportive of their methods and accomplishments.
Talking about issues is always good, but the Tea Party members were more interested in showing off than showing support for OWS, imho.
Great Job with this story. I have no doubt that other such "memo's" are floating around. My guess is that Wall Street middle-lower wage scale employees who are struggling (Only upper tier employees get those bonuses) may be more sympathetic to OWS and could become a source of more leaked memos.
To counter fiction of the information warfare of the elite, OWS needs to recruit not only enlightened TEA party members but also more jobless veterans and baby boomers (and older retirees) who have had their 401Ks looted. Some laid-off cops and firefighters wouldn't hurt either.
Nothing says injustice like granny or a World War II vet being maced.
This is one of the rare times when the generation gaps have been folded in on themselves: retirees are finding common cause with college students. How often has that happened?
I remember when:
Personal initiative was once highly rated in the marketplace. People could rise on their own merits, earn more money and find personal success from within. That was before "There is no I in TEAM." That was before our universities started to teach that TEAMWORK is what is looked for in the marketplace. That was before my grown sons started to be told that they were "working too fast, too hard, accomplishing too much to the detriment of those on the TEAM who were functioning in half-time, looking for the next break.
While our media is touting the "greatness of Steve Jobs" and how he managed to excel in his chosen field - the reality in our workplace today is to strip the individual of his personal triumph. If anyone begins to excel in their workplace they are let go, because they "can't work with the team." Thus the TEAM becomes a group of automatons, performing the endless functions on a daily basis and the corporation can deny raises (even cost of living) or bonuses to the lower echelon due to uninspired performance. Great ideas are reported to the supervisor, who reports to the manager, who reports to the management, who reports to the administration, who takes credit for the genius.
There was a time when American products were the best you could buy. You could expect at least a 5 - 10 year lifetime for your purchase and often much longer. My first microwave lasted well over 20 years and was still going strong when I gave it away as it was too big for the tiny kitchen in my apartment. Every one I have purchased since has died within 2 years. I truly regret giving away that Kenmore. A latest "new and improved" coffeemaker has a one year lifespan, the next time it will be improved it will die in 6 months. Our manufacturers have sent our jobs overseas because people in other countries simply do what they are told.
I despair whenever my co-workers tell me they only do what they are told to do. There is no initiative to improve our systems, to find better ways to obtain the same results, to ease the the workload or to create something better.
The acceptance of what our society has imposed on the common man is one of the areas that has ruined our reputation in the world. What created our great middle class was exceptionalism. May it come back soon!
GO OWS!!!!!!!!! Help me to find a way to be involved. The 74 year old body is weak, but the mind still functions - without restraint of the TEAM logo.
Planned obsolesence. Whoever thought of that one needs to spend eternity smoking a turd in Hell.
If you have any friends in Anonymous, forward this article to them.
I've just started following Anonymous. He/they are tweeting about it. Extensively.
What a travesty of justice. This goes beyond just money to power. It is interesting that the ABA wanted to make it clear that they did not solicit CLGC and claim that they do not plan on acting on this proposal but time will tell if they are telling the truth. At this point lies are the norm for the GOP because they are more desperate than ever. The conservatives without consciences are uncomfortable when the public knows what they are up to. In the 2010 elections this group with the help of Karl Rove/Crossroads were successful because there was a low voter turnout and those that did vote were told only what they wanted to hear and the Tea Party/GOP held back their REAL agenda. Enough is enough. The GOP/Tea Party Congressional candidates in 2012 have a right to concern because spending millions on neuromarketing ads of fear which Rove is great at will not be as effective as in 2010. Also the states that CLGC planning on targeting will surely not be as effective because people now see that libertarian ideology with help from ALEC will limit their right and monies. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time. That is why OWS has spread throughout the US and does not seem to be weakening.
This is amazing Chris thanks!!!! Keep doing what you do!! Also Check out "Tim Pool" if you haven't already. He is doing a great non edited Ustream coverage of the event and has been at the front lines reporting this movement! You should bring him on the show would make a great interview!! Thanks again love your guys show!!
Same here in the UK, the all powerful elite never fail to exploit and abuse the powerless majority. Latest is they are to cut off state benefits for the sick, so deprevation to increase. Their pet Quango ATOS will probably get the contract to add to its power to disqualify the disabled from receiving benefits. The Occupy movement is growing here so hope it continues in the USA.
So some K street lobbyists circulated a memo begging someone to hire them? That is news! I bet Maddow had to inhale a whole box of Sharpie fumes down on the floor with her notecards to find that out.
How much did GE spend on MSNBC while paying no taxes and getting Energy Department bailouts by the way?
Just look at the ads now supporting msnbc, Oil Companies, and Banks, Pharms too!!
And msnbc is still reporting MSNBC issues. They used to shun MSNBC, now those companies are interested in reaching out to its viewers. I think that speaks volumes and I would thank you for pointing this out.
Curious to ask you how you felt about FOX reporting that the white house was fired at by an OWS member , only to find out later it was a Jesus wanna be from Idaho. Or has FOX got around to informing its viewers of it mistake yet?
Please keep us informed.
Thank You!
What makes you think the Occupy movement supports GE not paying taxes?
Apparently Jesus had been living among the Occupy DC people for days and they felt very comfortable with each other. Of course it was like a vacation for Jesus. He didn't have to multiply any loaves or fishes, since the few dozen Occupy DC people have more than one tent a piece, fossil fuel powered generators, and haute cuisine donated by local restaurants.
And given your slimy treatment of the tea partiers, biting them, shoving them, calling them names, telling lies about them, having the police force them out of Lafayette Square Park in the pouring rain at the White House when someone allegedly threw a tea bag over the White House fence, etc., it is hard to work up much sympathy that someone called this nut case an Occupista. He was at least sleeping and eating with them.
Gee, according to what I read, he was staying in an abandoned house. Was the Occupy hiding there too?
It is truly pathetic that the media (right-wing) need to try to use this sad, sick human being as a tool to try to bring down a movement that has nothing to do with him.
Heavens, with all the idiotic benefits you claim for the Occupying forces (haute cuisine foods, two tents for every person and the fossil burning generators?) I should join them. Sadly, I don't think I could help with the bicycle pumping to run the generators that I saw on the news, the "kitchen" didn't look very "haute cuisine" and I didn't see anyone trying to fill their two tents.
Seems like some of your information has holes the size of the Grand Canyon. Maybe you should join Faux News, your minds would mesh like the gears on one of those bicycles.
How do you expect us to treat traitorous sons of bitches who advocate the assasination of elected officials (Sharon Angle and her "2nd Amendment remedies") and underscore the point by celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Murrah federal building bombing as 2nd Amendment day? Your lot are being treated gently compared to what they would get in a sane world.
You apparently haven't heard of Occupy Police. They have already joined the movement. Because they realize the "first responders" were only revered after they gave up their lives on 9-11. But when they wanted liveable salaries they were thrown under the bus.
I want to hear about what the Oathkeepers are doing now. This is exactly the kind of thing they said they would never participate in. Are they putting their money where there mouth was?
You apparently haven't heard of Occupy Police. They have already joined the movement. Because they realize the "first responders" were only revered after they gave up their lives on 9-11. But when they wanted liveable salaries they were thrown under the bus.
So where were OP last week?
Great work. The ABA wants a dirty trick campaign such as this one. They will pay huge to find a way to hide behind some firm's name no one can pronounce and or remember. The money is already being laundered and is coming from ALEC rove kochs army and their ilk. This way the repubs in congress and those faux candidates running for POTUS can vouch not knowing a thing about all the lies about the Dems, TP, prgressives, and independents who support OWS. Everyone knows better. These efforts will not work for them but will give OWS more impetus. Yes, we can!
Ratf***king in Nixon terms.
Chris should organize a response to this proposal. He should ask everyone who has participated in or supports OWS to send this lobbying firm an email that says:
"I am one of the 99%. I understand you are looking for information about me. Here it is..."
Followed, of course, by details of what our lives are like and what we think about bankers. It would be pretty funny if hundreds of thousands of the 99% inundated these people with emails. They want opposition research? We should all help them out.
Looking for that email addy.
I'm in!
Great post by the way!
Contact the firm that wrote the memo . . . .
Contact away:
Senior Partner Steve Clark
(202) 246-1600
Start Date: 2007
clark@clgdc.com
Fax: (202) 628-2589
Senior Partner Sam Geduldig
(202) 997-3363
Start Date: 2007
Fax: (202) 628-2589
geduldig@clgdc.com
Senior Partner Gary R. Lytle
(202) 841-8618
Fax: (202) 628-2589
lytle@clgdc.com
Partner Jay Cranford
(202) 628-0028
Start Date: 2011
cranford@clgdc.com
Fax: (202) 628-2589
Partner Jim Parker
(317) 508-1662
parker@clgdc.com
150 Fayetteville Street, Suite 1130, Raleigh, NC 27601
Associate Partner Adam Geller
(732) 817-1088
Start Date: 2009
Fax: (732) 817-1288
adam@nationalresearchinc.com
Vice President, External Relations Amy Lorenzini Wren
(202) 246-1600
Start Date: 2011
amy@clgdc.com
Fax: (202) 628-2589
Managing Associate Judy Grinston
(614) 444-1316
judy@clgdc.com
Fax: (202) 628-2589
Lobbyist Deborah D. Pryce (R)
(614) 462-1049
dpryce@szd.com
Fax: (614) 462-5135
Good job. I enjoy your show. Thanks for getting the truth out there. Quite refreshing.
a long term negative effect on the corrupt Wall Street companies is a good thing. Turning around the culture of government is not only a good thing, it is a vital thing