Ehrenreich: Democratic Establishment Abandoned Occupy Wall Street

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/11/15-7

Author says she is 'disgusted' that Obama and other Democrats did not act to stop Zuccotti Park evictions

Author Barbara Ehrenreich accused Barack Obama and the Democratic establishment of betraying the Occupy movement on Tuesday by failing to stop the evictions from Zuccotti Park.

Ehrenreich, who has championed the struggles of working class Americans in books such as Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America said her outrage at the police crackdowns was magnified by the acquiescence of Democratic leaders.

"One of the appalling things here is that there are so many Democratic mayors involved in these crackdowns or in Bloomberg's case, someone who is seen as a liberal," Ehrenreich said in a telephone interview. "And where in all this was Obama? Why couldn't he have picked up the phone at some point a couple of weeks ago and called the mayors of Portland and Oakland and said: 'go easy on these people. They represent the anger and aspirations of the majority'. Would that have been so difficult?"

More at the link --

[Le Taz Hot]

1. K & R

[Freddie Stubbs]

2. The Occupy movement is losing popularity. President Obama can't afford to be tied to it

[Fumesucker]

5. Everybody chill the fuck out..

[femrap]

6. Yep,

he has to stand w/ the billionaires of Wall Street so to campaign funding and get re-elected. Great system we have here.

And The Former Middle Class applies for Food Stamps...which with all the Budget cuts coming down the road will soon be decreased. We will have a New Weight Loss Program!!!

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. It is losing popularity with VOTERS

[Donnachaidh]

14. really? You know this HOW?

Seriously, this sort of nonsensical statement just whiffs of an *orifice voice*... :eyes:

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Public Policy Polling (a respected Democratic firm) just released a new poll:

Occupy Wall Street Favor Fading

The Occupy Wall Street movement is not wearing well with voters across the country. Only 33% now say that they are supportive of its goals, compared to 45% who say they oppose them. That represents an 11 point shift in the wrong direction for the movement's support compared to a month ago when 35% of voters said they supported it and 36% were opposed. Most notably independents have gone from supporting Occupy Wall Street's goals 39/34, to opposing them 34/42.

Voters don't care for the Tea Party either, with 42% saying they support its goals to 45% opposed. But asked whether they have a higher opinion of the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street movement the Tea Party wins out 43-37, representing a flip from last month when Occupy Wall Street won out 40-37 on that question. Again the movement with independents is notable- from preferring Occupy Wall Street 43-34, to siding with the Tea Party 44-40.

I don't think the bad poll numbers for Occupy Wall Street reflect Americans being unconcerned with wealth inequality. Polling we did in some key swing states earlier this year found overwhelming support for raising taxes on people who make over $150,000 a year. In late September we found that 73% of voters supported the 'Buffett rule' with only 16% opposed. And in October we found that Senators resistant to raising taxes on those who make more than a million dollars a year could pay a price at the polls. I don't think any of that has changed- what the downturn in Occupy Wall Street's image suggests is that voters are seeing the movement as more about the 'Occupy' than the 'Wall Street.' The controversy over the protests is starting to drown out the actual message.

Voters continue to be very unhappy with the new majority in the House. Only 37% of voters think the Republicans have been an upgrade from when the Democrats were in charge, to 41% who believe they've been worse. Among independent voters, whose overwhelming support fueled the new GOP majorities, 26% think the Republicans have been an improvement to 37% who believe they've made things worse. That unhappiness extends to John Boehner's personal poll numbers as well- just 30% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 46% who disapprove. That -16 spread is a whole lot worse than the -6 we find for Obama's approval, but you don't see the Speaker being described as unpopular whenever you read about him the way you do the President.

more: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/11/occupy-wall-street-favor-fading.html

[Donnachaidh]

21. push polls are cheap

And I would suspect polls being dragged out by EITHER party.

Like I said -- I smelled ass stat. Thanks for proving my point.

[Freddie Stubbs]

26. How exactly is this poll a "push poll?"

Other than the fact that you don't like the result?

Do you even know what the definition of a push poll is?

[CTyankee]

46. even, so, we have to remember that before the public was against the Vietnam War

it was against the antiwar demonstrations. People in the vanguard are often unappreciated, but the antiwar protesters eventually "won" and the war was ended. Let's hope the OWS vanguard leads to real reform and "change we can believe in."

[Zorra]

57. Isn't Public Policy Polling owned by a wealthy 1% businessman CEO?

Dean Debnam is CEO of Workplace Options, a leading global provider of work-life programs and employee benefits headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., that serves more than 32 million employees in over 20,000 organizations across 170 countries.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=5061764&mesg_id=5062129

[golddigger]

29. Bullshit.

[golddigger]

34. Sounds like more pimping for the 1%.

[femrap]

58. I don't believe you. nt.

[lunatica]

8. Yeah, that's why it keeps getting bigger

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. Is it?

Occupy Fort Lauderdale on Monday Afternoon: Five People Short of a Ghost Town

After reading a tweet this morning from Occupy Fort Lauderdale about "desperately" needing people at their occupation site (City Hall), we decided to check out exactly how many people were hanging around.

Shortly before 3 p.m., there were five people at the occupation site, although we were assured it was no indication that the movement was dying down.

Sure, we'd assume that most people would be at work at 3 p.m. on a weekday, but it's a far cry from the hundreds of people who showed up for Occupy Fort Lauderdale's inaugural meeting.

On the other hand, the .003 percent of Fort Lauderdale's population occupying City Hall around an hour ago is slightly higher than the proportion of New Yorkers who sleep in Zuccotti Park on a given day -- which, in higher estimates, is around 200 people.

more: http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/11/occupy_fort_lauderdale_camp_city_hall_monday.php

The number of people who are participating in the Occupy movement far less important than how voters perceive the movement. And that perception is negative.

[lunatica]

20. You don't know what you're talking about

Rachel Maddow showed last night how the Occupy groups have grown every time the police force them out.

Thanks, but I'll believe her.

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. Apparently not in Fort Lauderdale

[LiberalEsto]

11. That's what the Corporate Media says

Do we believe what the Corporate Media tells us to believe?

[Freddie Stubbs]

13. I believe what reputable Democratic pollsters say

[Kingofalldems]

38. Wow, so you agree with Karl Rove?

[Freddie Stubbs]

40. Karl Rove is a reputable Democratic pollster?

[Kingofalldems]

44. No, but since you have been trashing OWS from the beginning

it's a pretty safe bet you agree with Rove.

[Freddie Stubbs]

47. Please stop projecting. It's not very dignified

[Kingofalldems]

55. Didn't you make fun of the injured marine at OWS Oakland ?

Prompting outrage, the post was removed of course.

[JackRiddler]

18. Coming from you that's such a surprising & devastating statement. Keep kicking now.

[Freddie Stubbs]

19. OWS is losing favor, according to a new poll:

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2011/11/occupy-wall-street-favor-fading.html

[JackRiddler]

22. For moral guidance on telling right from wrong I always put Democratic pollsters first.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

25. Somebody sure seems to be getting a chubby over that poll. nt

[Kingofalldems]

37. Yep, also posted it in LBN, with it's own thread.

Searches the internet for this stuff. Looks like total agreement with Karl Rove.

[Freddie Stubbs]

39. Are you suggesting that Karl Rove supports President Obama on this?

Or that President Obama supports Karl Rove?

[JackRiddler]

52. No, s/he's suggesting that YOU support Karl Rove on this...

although you seem to have confused yourself with an imaginary friend you call "President Obama."

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

53. .

:spray:

[No Elephants]

60. What Guy Whitey Corngood said.

Nothing personal against any poster, but that surprised me and struck me funny in the same instant.

[JackRiddler]

49. It's like trash talk against the opposing team on a sports site...

but unfortunately with more serious consequences.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

51. But don't you get it? it's all a big laugh riot.

:rofl: I mean no matter how much the Democrats let Pukes control the narrative and keep following them over the cliff. It's all one big horse race. Fuck the people losing their livelihoods. :sarcasm:

[Freddie Stubbs]

27. You only like the President to listen to the people when it suit you?

[JackRiddler]

35. You only like the government to respect the Bill of Rights when it's popular (according to polls)?

[Freddie Stubbs]

42. President Obama is respecting the Bill of Rights

[JackRiddler]

50. The *government* is trampling the Bill of Rights, as it often does.

[Freddie Stubbs]

54. No, it is not

A court ruled that the rules which the owners of Zuccotti Park created were reasonable.

[No Elephants]

61. Did the court rule that the owners of Zucotti Park were the government?

Or maybe the court held that they were acting as agents of government?


I am not following.

[No Elephants]

64. In what respect, Freddie?

[No Elephants]

62. Not for nuttin', but how do you know when President Obama is listening to the people

and when he is simply doing what he is inclined to do for reasons unrelated to the voice of the people?


Because if he's governing by public opinion poll, this may worse than I thought.

[Donnachaidh]

24. ass-stat push poll, done by 1 percenters.

:rofl:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

43. Bingo!

I no more trust Dems on this issue now than I do the GOPers. Freddie is a longtime DLCer, who indeed is getting a chubby at the "dirty hippies" allegedly losing favor.

Anyone who doesn't get that O and the establishment Dems are just as unahppy about OWS as the GOPers hasn't been paying attention the past three years.

[Freddie Stubbs]

48. What aspect of the poll makes it a "push" poll?

[redqueen]

31. How many polls have now indicated this new trend, Freddie?

How many results do you personally consider a 'trend'?

Without a trend, this is not a reason for anything, it's a convenient excuse.

[whatchamacallit]

45. As events force Obama off the fence

and onto the side of his "benefactors", we'll see lots of DUers joining Rove and the establishment in marginalizing and disparaging OWS.

[No Elephants]

63. We've been seeing that for a while.

[shraby]

3. He did that with Mubarek.

[crazylikafox]

4. Because the Democratic Establishment is part of the 1%

[blindpig]

10. Give the lady a cigar. +1

[Gold Metal Flake]

16. +1

[golddigger]

30. +1

[redqueen]

33. Precisely. (nt)

[lunatica]

9. It's because the OWS has shown our government is corrupt

That's not to say all elected officials are corrupt, but the system itself has become corrupt.

[SOS]

15. The establishment is the oligarchy

The state has fused with Wall Street and other powerful financial interests.
They are one and the same.
There will be no support for OWS coming from the establishment (other than Bernie Sanders and a few others).
Some call it state monopoly capitalism.
Others call it an oligarchy.
But it is what it is.

Nobody in Washington is going to jeopardize their bribe money to support a peoples uprising.

[No Elephants]

65. I call it the kleptocracy plutonomy.

I feel I must do homage to the Citicorp Plutonomy memo.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. Kinda like George III "abandoning" the Sons of Liberty.

[backtoblue]

28. Like it or not...

Those in control would like to keep their control. Democratic values are of top priority to some democrats, but let's face it - if you've got alot of power (and money), you're not going to give it up easily. nt

[JNelson6563]

32. How do we know he hasn't been in touch with the mayors?

I can't say for sure whether he's called any of them or not. Neither can you.

Unless a PhD gives you magical powers to just know these things this is just another knee-jerk reactionary column by someone speculating.

Julie

[bullwinkle428]

36. The Democratic establishment is getting a gift-wrapped ROAD MAP

for guaranteed electoral success in the years to come! If they choose to use that map to do nothing more than wipe their own asses, it will be at their own peril.

K&R.

[mulsh]

56. When in hell did the Democratic Establishment endorse the Occupy movement ?

I think I may have missed that moment.

You known moments Like Senator Schumer occupying wall street. Senators Feinestein & Boxer in SF or Rep Barbara Lee adding her vociferous moral support at Frank Ogawa Plaza. oh wait, none of the above happened. I mention those people since they represent those cities. None of the other oh so vocal and visible "Democratic Establishment" types showed up either.

It appears our anointed leaders had other things to do. Elizabeth Warren certainly enthusiastically endorsed the Occupy movement. I hope she's a future member of the "Democratic Establishment.

If I'm wrong about other Democratic Establishment people please point out the ones who actually endorsed the movement or showed up at the sites.

[Maraya1969]

59. "Then they fight you"

[bvar22]

66. President Obama's position on the OWS movement,

...and the unnecessary use of force and violence against American Citizens?




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