News & Views

The US Census Bureau recently reported what most Americans already knew.  Poverty is deepening.  The gap between rich and poor is growing.  Slippage soon into the ranks of the poor now confronts tens of millions of Americans who long thought of themselves as securely "middle class."

In today's On the News segment: Conservatives trying to sabotage the 99 percent movement, household incomes in US have fallen more in the two years after the Bush recession was supposedly over, planet could be just weeks away from a global economic meltdown, with 46 million people living in poverty and unemployment above 9 percent - House Republicans planning moving on three free trade agreements that will lead to more job offshoring, nation's unmanned drone fleet infected with a mysterious computer virus, and more.

On Wednesday afternoon, we marched out of Zuccotti Park, where the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have bedded down for the duration.  Drums were pounding and shouts of “Whose streets?  Our streets!” “All day, all week, occupy Wall Street,” and “This is what democracy looks like, that is what hypocrisy looks like!” rang out as we headed directly into New York City’s version of a police state.  

Sunday night, our permit expired for occupying Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. So, we threw a dance party, and when we could dance no more, we went to sleep in Freedom Plaza.

We have until 2 p.m. today to remove our possessions. We do not intend to do so. We suspect that if the police want to remove us by force they will wait until evening. So we're throwing a dinner party, and 99% of the country is invited.

Our permit is now the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The boldest attack on the Denver Paid Sick Leave Voter Initiative isn’t from the Chamber of Commerce. With large majorities supporting the November 2011 ballot measure, opponents know they have to do more than simply argue against the common sense notion that people shouldn’t go to work sick.

Occupy Wall Street has already weathered the usual early storms. The kept media ignored the protest, but that failed to end it. The partisans of inequality mocked it, but that failed to end it. The police servants of the status quo over-reacted and that failed to end it – indeed, it fueled the fire. And millions looking on said, "Wow!" And now, ever more people are organising local, parallel demonstrations – from Boston to San Francisco and many places between.

Newly passed restrictions on voting in a dozen battleground states could disenfranchise as many as five million voters - more than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections - says a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice. And guess who most of those five million are? The spate of new laws range from demanding photo i.d.'s to cutting back on early voting to stricter proof of citizenship laws. More scary stuff fromDemocracy Now on the impact of those changes coupled with redistricting.

Check out the live video streams from New York, Boston, San Francisco, Austin, New Orleans and other cities who are part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone used to say "sometimes you have to pick a fight to win one."

Now Occupy Wall Street has picked one, right in Jamie Dimon's backyard.

But it won’t stay contained in Zuccotti Park. While Brookfield Properties called the park a "public sanctuary" in 2005, they have apparently changed their minds. Mr. Zuccotti wants his park back and the police are preparing to clear it with new rules barring camping, sleeping and breathing.

"We don't want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls people to lives of complacencies and dependencies, into a permanent condition where they never get on their feet." -Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin)