The Real Costs: Crooks/banksters compared with The Victims: Occupy and the 99%
It’s continuing to disturb me that officials and the news media focus on the cost of cleaning up Occupy activities instead of keeping a balanced picture.
We need to keep the big picture in front of us, the massive and unprecedented violence wrought on the majority of hardworking Americans, not by Occupy, but by Banksters among others.
I’ve begun to see some devastating comparisons between the costs of Occupy and Banksters (bailouts). I’m not a scholar on bank fraud but am trying to check the facts out. Let’s get some experts engaged here.
We start with the current estimate on Occupy costs, $13million?
Here is a starter: AIG’s bailout has been estimated between $70 and $152billion depending on the timeline you use. (Started with Wikipedia). Then there is the CPP-Capital Purchase Program, a US Treasury loan to 8 of the most notorious banks, BOA, Mellon, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan,Wells Fargo etc. Bet not many people have heard about this. Total $250billion.
Oh, BTW, there are approx. 4,000 arrests of Occupy Protesters, 0 Banksters.
That’s plenty for me to continue pushing for what Occupy is promoting: clean up corruption of the financial system including the Federal Reserve and the incest between the White House and Wall Street. Please Mayor Quan and the media, give a little more of the spotlight on the crooks instead of the victims!
Tom Luce, Berkeley
NOT 1% — BUT 51%
For the 1% rich ruling class, they keep 80% of wealth, trickle down 20% of wealth to the upper half of society and then sit back and let greed do its wonders.
Whereupon, the 10% Country Club-class, they keep 10% of wealth by hiring the Republican Party to defend their power and privilege.
Whereupon, the 40% Educated Middle-class, they keep the last 10% of wealth by hiring the Democrat Party to stop any wealth from trickling down to the impoverished lower half of society.
Think about it, here we are the most filthy rich empire that ever plundered the world by brutal imperialism, a nation that could easily pass just 5% of its wealth down to the lower half of society and give them all good jobs decent housing and adequate healthcare — and yet so corrupt is the upper half that since 1776 nothing but starvation wages has the entire lower half of society had to suffer.
This is a good message to keep people focused – damn the smoke and mirrors we need to stay on target. Every time I want to forget I look at my own life and I’m reminded it isn’t supposed to be this hard when you play the rules, work, and are a good citizen, but it is and I don’t see an end in sight.
Why is it that students who can’t find jobs can’t file for bankruptcy and have their student loans forgiven when businessmen can? Instead we are yoked to debt for a life time – those that would be middle class can’t get out of the debt required to even put them in the running for getting a job deemed “middle class”.
btw- there were a few bankers arrested, but the number is minimal it might as well be zero. This is an unfair system and it feel validating just to know it isn’t just me. So thank you for your post.