NYC Letter: Disowning OWS -- Nancy Pelosi

Day 1,095 of CHOPE

(A) As OWS gets uglier -- and it is, and it will -- Democrat support will go down the memory hole.

(B) The Democrats can't control OWS but think they can control the OWS narrative in collaboration with a sympathetic press.

(A) Posted by Damian at October 19, 2011 12:00 PM
(B) Posted by Damian at November 23, 2011 02:15 PM

The easy calls are easy.

It was thought to be a godsend. Rough mobs of malcontents recast as an aggrieved citizenry petitioning its government for redress. The little people against the financial giants. The next generation shouldering the serious business of crafting a fairer and more just society. The Democrats jumped aboard thinking they could escape Mr. Obama's failed presidency and ride the protests to a comeback in November 2012.

PELOSI GETS BEHIND
OCCUPY WALL STREET

WASHINGTON October 6, 2011 (TPM) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, 8th) threw her weight behind the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations Thursday, showering praise on a movement that has so far spread to dozens of cities, including Washington, D.C. Ms. Pelosi:

God bless them for their spontaneity. It’s independent people coming (together), it’s young, it’s spontaneous, it’s focused and it’s going to be effective.

So far, Occupy Wall Street has drawn vocal support from former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) and a handful of progressive lawmakers, including Rep. John Larson (D-CT), who heads the House Democratic Caucus; Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee; and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

PELOSI SUPPORTS
OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENT
WASHINGTON October 9, 2011 (ABC News)

DAVID PLOUFFE: OBAMA ON SIDE OF
OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTERS

October 11, 2011 (Politico) - The White House wants to make it clear that President Barack Obama is on the same side as the Occupy Wall Street protesters – and that Republicans are not.

OBAMA PLANS TO TURN
ANTI-WALL STREET ANGER
ON MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICANS
October 14, 2011 (WaPo)

OBAMA ON OCCUPY WALL STREET:
'WE ARE ON THEIR SIDE'
October 18, 2011 (TWS)

PROTESTS CONTINUE ON CAPITOL HILL

WASHINGTON December 8, 2011 (National Journal) - Protesters continued flooding the Capitol on Thursday, chanting in the streets, holding signs in support of “the 99 percent,” and trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to get meetings with lawmakers.

The demonstrators are not from just one group and their demands may vary, but they have a common goal -- one that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says resonates with her. Ms. Pelosi:

I think the protesters have made a very strong statement: The status quo is unacceptable. I agree with that.

See here for an extensive -- but not exhaustive -- roster of Democrats on record supporting OWS. [Pause.] What were they thinking? Who did they think they were fooling?

WALL STREET TO DEMS:
YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

October 10, 2011 (Politico) - After the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a recent email urging supporters to sign a petition backing the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests, phones at the party committee started ringing.

.. Democrats’ friends on Wall Street have a message for them: you can’t have it both ways.

President Barack Obama and other top Democrats are parroting the anti-corporate rhetoric running through the Occupy Wall Street protests, trying to tap into the movement’s energy but keep the protesters at arms’ length.

But many bankers aren’t buying the distinction. And some financial services lobbyists and industry insiders say the liberal line will make swing givers think twice before opening their checkbooks this year.

Alas, there comes a point when the threats and the arrests and assaults and the rapes and the murders and disease and the trash and the rats and the excrement (and this) become more than selected camera views can hide and liberal talking heads can excuse. When the OWS came to town, the public experienced something very different from the glamorized celebrity-soaked protest portrayed in the press. OWS was a rolling PR disaster -- but the Democrats hung on. It was either OWS or running on Mr. Obama's record.

FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI
SLIPS QUIETLY INTO BIG ISLAND RESORT
December 24, 2011 (Hawaii Reporter)

OCCUPY HAWAII ISLAND MOVEMENT
PLANS PROTEST NEAR PELOSI'S
POSH HAWAIIAN HOTEL

December 29, 2011 (Hawaii Reporter) - U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, one of the most powerful supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement, may be in the right place at the right time to protest with the Big Island branch of the movement, Occupy Hawaii Island. The former House Speaker is once again spending her holiday at the exotic and luxurious Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu in Kona on the island of Hawaii. ... According to West Hawaii Today, she spent previous Christmas holidays in Kona at the same hotel in an elaborate presidential suite that rents for $10,000 [a night].

... Jim Albertini, a well known community organizer, who has held several local protests, writes on his blog: "I just got a report from Kona. There are about 30 private half billion dollar jets parked at the Kona airport. I'm up for a drive over to protest at Kukio and possibly other 1% gated communities just north of the airport. Any others interested in joining me? The 1% pay only a little more to park their jet as it costs us to park our cars overnight. Something is wrong with that picture."

... Pelosi will have security nearby if protestors get too rowdy. She has been escorted by local police during her last two holiday visits to Hawaii Island at a cost of $34,000 to local taxpayers and is being escorted on this trip as well, according to Big Island police.

Where's the love?

PELOSI DISTANCES DEMS
FROM "OCCUPY" PROTESTS:
NOT "MUCH OF A CONNECTION"

WASHINGTON January 17, 2012 (RCP) - Nancy Pelosi likened the "Occupy movement" to the Tea Party while distancing herself from the activists. House Minority Leader Pelosi, an event hosted by Politico:

My understanding, I don't -- we're not -- as opposed to the Tea Party which was practically a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Republican Party, we don't really have much of a connection with the Occupy [movement]. In fact, they probably have some sentiments that overlap between the two.

"We don't really have much of a connection with the Occupy." Not much, just the hinge of the 2012 elections.

From the start, why Ms. Pelosi and other fat-cat Democrats thought OWS sans-culottes would back their play remains a mystery.

RECESSION… WHAT RECESSION?
PELOSI'S WEALTH GROWS BY MASSIVE 62%

June 16, 2011 (Daily Mail) - House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saw her wealth rise considerably last year, from just more than $20million to a huge $35.2million.

HOW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS GET
RICH THROUGH 'HONEST GRAFT'

November 14, 2011 (The Atlantic) - A 60 Minutes report on Sunday examined the ways that members of Congress trade on inside, privileged information to make themselves rich — without breaking any laws. Even though many positions in the federal government are bound by conflict of interest laws, Congresspeople are exempt from insider trading rules and are perfectly free to make business deals based on information they learn through their jobs.

... [Peter Schweizer, a researcher at the Hoover Institution,] and his team have looked at financial transactions made by Representatives and Senators and found that many, including the past three House Speakers, have made deals that appear to be based on non-public information that they had access to thanks to their position in Washington. Schweizer calls it "honest graft," since many people would consider it unethical, even though it's not illegal.

... Nancy Pelosi has participated in eight IPOs, including some involving companies that had business before her House. Schweizer says that giving a Senator or Congressperson pre-IPO shares in a company is allowed under current rules, even though giving them an equal amount in cash would be considered a illegal bribe.

... The problem, of course, is that not only are these transactions perfectly legal under existing law, the people who benefit the most are the ones who write the laws. Naturally, most members of Congress don't seem eager to take away these special benefits that can turn humble public servants in the multi-millionaires.

Meanwhile, when Wall Street insiders make similar moves, they end up in jail.

CHOPE.

Plan B, the "vision thing".

Posted by Damian at January 21, 2012 11:45 PM