Think it’s a worker’s paradise at Occupy Wall Street? Guess again –there’s strife, dissent and violence. Two people who have been at Zuccotti Park from day one discuss how the internal order hasn’t worked for them.

Sage: I’m leaving today, because this is no longer safe. Like, I had somebody–

Q: I’m still recording.

Sage: Sure. I had somebody in our sanitation team take a swing at me. And then I had like three really calm, friendly individuals telling me that they–that they didn’t just take a swing at me. It was, like, I was just…

Channing: Yeah. I had beef with sanitation ’cause they took my s*** down. They took my, like tent thing down that I made.

Sage: Oh, sure, sure, I was just saying that.

Q: But yeah, yeah, all I–

Channing: Yeah, no–they took my stuff. They–I had like a little tarp tent at the end of the park. Their whole thing was they were trying to clean out some of the people that were doing, like, drugs and stuff. But they started with–

Q: Drugs?

Channing: Yeah. Oh, my God. But they started with my tent. And, like, they threw away my toiletries, my food, and, like, a bunch of papers I had, that were really important from the hospital. And then, like, I tried to get them to help me, like, rebuild the tent or something, and they’re like, “We didn’t do it, it wasn’t us,” and I’m like, “I saw you doing it.” Like, I got called from direct action because they doing it.

Q: But I’ve got–

Sage: Yeah, so–

Q: –let me get you to just finish that, because–

Sage: I’m just gonna say the same thing. I don’t call it corruption anymore, ’cause corruption is when a good thing goes bad. And what I think this is–people go, “Oh, they’re so stupid.” No, they’re not. They’re smart, for their purposes, which are not for this camp to function as a community. (more…)

Last night, Oakland mayor Jean Quan and city officials told the press that the Occupy Oakland “general strike” had been “peaceful,” despite violence and vandalism.

Mayor Quan repeated her support for the “99 percent movement,” and other leaders described the protests as “primarily peaceful,” politely asking for no fires to be set and no “bottles, rocks, or human waste” to be thrown at police.

Meanwhile, Occupy Oakland had other ideas–clashing with police in the streets, building barricades, and setting them on fire:

In April we exposed Obama’s overseer of union financial disclosure and his personal conflicts-of-interest.  Now we have well-sourced evidence that Director John Lund is telling union officials to bypass Department of Labor investigators and work with him personally.  Imagine if U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro invited delinquent reporting corporate presidents and treasurers to deal with her directly and ignore SEC personnel. Lund is the Office of Labor-Management Standards Director who oversees investigations and audits of union financial records and union officials’ conflicts-of-interest reporting, and he is using his new position to benefit his old clients form Big Labor. From the previous BigGovernment post:

John Lund’s Conflicts-of-Interest

The Obama Ethics Executive Order requires appointees to pledge that they will refrain from involvement in matters involving their former employer or clients.  The AFL-CIO and other unions are former clients of John Lund , and these unions remain clients of his former and current employer, the University of Wisconsin School for Workers (Lund is currently on unpaid leave while at DOL).  The Wisconsin School for Workers’ primary mission is to train union officials; the very officials that Lund now purportedly investigates for corruption.

Lund currently attends conferences and union training meetings like he did while he was the School for Workers director — a U.S. Government employee on the taxpayers’ dime.  While at the conferences and meetings, he hands out business cards like candy to those he has federally-granted power over.  He tells these Big Labor bosses “If you have a problem come to me, and ignore the field investigators.” Why?  Because by going to Lund, union bosses can work out deals to avoid jail time or criminal charges.  He can personally advise them how to “clean up” their reports to avoid consequences.  On the other hand, if pesky Department of Labor investigators get involved, then government investigative records will be made, facts will be verified, and falsehoods will be documented.

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Richard Trumka is a thug’s thug, and a crafty one at that.

The AFL-CIO boss believes the end justifies the means. Breaking the law is acceptable if it advances the cause. Unions should “forget about the law; this is about more than that,” he said at the “Future of Unions” roundtable in Detroit on April 7th.

Like many union leaders, occasionally the slippery Trumka pretends to like capitalism. He supports vigorous enforcement of intellectual property rights, not because he actually believes in them but because his members work in industries that depend on their enforcement. Turning a blind eye to the manufacture of counterfeit machine parts could put union members out of work.

But unlike most high-profile leftists, Trumka doesn’t even make an effort to conceal his radicalism. “Being called a socialist is a step up for me,” he told Bloomberg News in June. In 1994, Trumka proudly accepted the Eugene Debs Award named after the five-time presidential candidate and labor organizer who founded the Socialist Party of America.

As an AFL-CIO executive, Trumka helped to create “Union Summer,” a program for training young people as organizers and political activists. Participants were made to recite a pledge called “Working Class Commitment” that included the Marxist idea “that we [union workers] produce the world’s wealth … [and] will end all oppression.”

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No telling what’s going on with this story.

A resident of Oakland has sent us his photographs from today’s Occupy Oakland “general strike” march, which turned violent.

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Live Feed–complete with shouts of “F*** the police!”:

Live video from your Android device on Ustream

Occupy Oakland activists vandalized a Whole Foods store on Grand Street this afternoon during their “general strike” march:

Occupy activists painted “STRIKE” on the building’s walls and windows, and damaged a fence, among other acts of vandalism–ignoring those few who cried “non-violence.”

Fights appeared to break out among activists as some attempted to discourage further damage to the store, and were attacked themselves.

Russia Today released this video:

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Photo credit: AP Photo / Andrew Burton

Occupy activists around the nation claim that their movement is a peaceful one. However, details in police reports and provided by police sources demonstrate a pattern of lawlessness–including violent crime–at Occupy protests throughout the United States.

Sources tell Breitbart.com that there have been more than 1,050 arrests in New York City alone, involving a variety of crimes from sexual assault to disorderly conduct.

Here’s a list of the ten worst crimes allegedly committed at Occupy demonstrations across the country:

NEW YORK, NY: A 26-year old was arrested today for an alleged sexual assault upon an 18-year old female that took place on October 24 in Zuccotti Park, where the Occupy Wall Street protest is based. NYPD Police sources said that detectives are investigating a separate incident involving a possible rape.

BOSTON, MA: On October 21, a 34-year old man and a 31-year old woman were arrested for allegedly trying to sell heroin in the Tent City area of Occupy Boston. The two suspects were reportedly living there with a child. Upon arrest, Brown told officers he had moved into Tent City three weeks prior, and had joined the Occupy Boston movement.

MANCHESTER, NH: A 23-year old woman was charged with felony prostitution for trying to solicit a 16-year old girl she met in Victory Park during the Occupy Manchester demonstrations. She also allegedly tried, through the Internet, to arrange a liaison for the minor with a man who was actually an undercover police officer.

MADISON, WI: An incident involving public masturbation allegedly occurred at the Occupy Madison protest result. The allegation was raised by a public official during a City Council meeting after complaints came from nearby employees, and although a complaint was not filed with police, the city has denied an application by the movement to renew its permit as a result.

NEW YORK, NY: On October 28, a 31-year old man allegedly threatened a Fox News Channel 5 reporter. The suspect was arrested at the corner of Trinity Place and Cedar Street, and has been charged with Grand Larceny, Menacing, Harassment and Criminal Possession of a Weapon. (more…)

On “Meet the Press” Sunday, David Gregory asked Barack Obama’s campaign manager David Plouffe, “Should government be playing venture capitalist to try to prop these interest–industries up [referring to Solyndra]?”

Plouffe’s answer: “Well, let’s step back for a minute. We have to win this race, you know, we–if we don’t win the clean energy race in terms of technology, innovation, and jobs, and cede it to other countries, we’re not going to have the century–we need this. It’d be like us ceding the automotive industry race or the Internet and computer race.” [emphasis mine]

What pure balderdash!  I am sure that Henry Ford would not be happy to hear that the White House was taking credit for his successes – like inventing the assembly line. The success of the American automotive industry and Internet was not because the government subsidizing Henry Ford or Bill Gates or Steve Jobs; it was because private investors saw the value of their ideas.

David Gregory’s question goes to the heart of our economic train wreck. Where in the Constitution does it state that Congress should be playing the role of venture capitalist and funding one business over another? What authorizes the government to fund one particular business – whether it’s Solyndra or Exxon – with everyone else’s money?

Ethanol producers receive billions in government subsidies. What does it accomplish? It increases the price the farmers pay to feed their livestock, devours huge quantities of the corn supply (more than 40%), and increases the price of corn for American families and families around the world. How crazy is that – a government subsidy that drives up the cost of food? (more…)

“If you’re going to take away liberty and property, there has to be some sort of due process involved,” says Chris Littleton, the head of Ohioans for Healthcare Freedom and a Tea Party leader in the Buckeye state. “In this case, as citizens, we feel that those things are fundamentally inhibited and we want the Supreme Court to hear our case on this.”

Littleton’s group is pushing an upcoming ballot initiative that would amend the state constitution to prevent citizens’ involuntary participation in any health-insurance system. The U.S. Supreme Court is widely expected to issue a ruling on the constituationality of what’s known as the “individual mandate” in Obamacare and Littelton thinks passage of the Ohio Healthcare Freedom Amendment will give his state unique legal standing: “This is citizen-initiated, which is very unique. If it passes, Ohio will be the only state that’s done something like that.” While most challenges to the individual mandate revolve around the limits of Congress’ commerce clause powers, Littleton believes the amendment will activate due process and 10th Amendment considerations.

Littleton sat down with Reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie to discuss the Healthcare Freedom Amendment and the similarities between the Occupy Movement and the Tea Party. “I sympathize with the Occupy people…They’re sensing that the system is broken,” explains Littleton. “But it seems their answer to things is the confiscation of wealth…where [the Tea Party] advocates for legitimate and true free market systems rather than what we have right now.”

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Despite what top Democratic party leaders in Wisconsin are planning, the process to recall Scott Walker could begin this week, not November 15th.

“Wisconsin can’t wait,” reads a missive on the website of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “The only way to get Wisconsin working again is to remove Scott Walker from office as soon as possible.”

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This morning, on KTOK’s “Mullins in the Morning” (Oklahoma City), Oklahoma political consultant Chris Wilson (WPA Opinion Research) claimed that he had been a witness to GOP presidential frontrunner Herman Cain’s alleged sexual harassment of a former female employee some twenty years ago.

Wilson told host Reid Mullins:

I was the pollster at the National Restaurant Association (NRA) when this, when Herman Cain was the head of it. And I’ll tell you, and I was around a couple of times when this happened, and, you just–anyone who was involved with the NRA at the time, knew this was gonna come up…

This all occurred at a restaurant in Crystal City [Virginia] and everybody was very aware of it. And so it is, it was only a matter of time because so many people were aware of what took place, so many people were aware of her situation, the fact that she left after this, that it was, it was a–everybody knew with the campaign that this would eventually come up.

When Mullins pressed Wilson to provide details on what he supposedly witnessed, Wilson declined, citing a reluctance to be drawn into legal disputes. He would only say: “If she comes out and talks about it, like I said, it’ll probably be the end of [Cain’s] campaign.”

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Photo credit: AP Photo/Andrew Burton

A member of the New York Police Department, who requested anonymity, has told Big Government that crime is even more prevalent at the Occupy Wall Street demonstration than has been reported.

“It is far from the butterflies and Bambis that the media is trying to portray,” he told us. He described sexual assault as being a particular problem, partly because of drug use at the site:

There are many incidents of sexual touching and groping that goes unreported to us, mainly because the alleged victim is either too stoned or high to properly ID them or they “dont want to get the guy in trouble.”  One girl, with hickeys all over her neck was brought to us and claimed she was raped….She said she had gotten high and had sex with one guy then sex with the other guy, but when guy #3 tried, she rebuffed him. She later got stoned somewhere else and returned to her place where guy #3 came back and had sex with her (she thinks) but she remembers blacking out and him leaving and her pants off.

He concluded that sexual assault in Zuccotti Park “is much more wide spread than even they [the activists] think.” (more…)

Over the past few weeks, we have brought your attention to how the unions behind the front group “We Are Ohio” are intertwined with the radical socialist/communist movement in America. First, we laid out for you who funds the vast majority of “We Are Ohio’s” campaign and how they have expressed not only support but provided coordination and accommodations for the “Occupy” movement, which is organized almost entirely by socialists who want to overthrow the American economy.

Then, we showed you that their “Statewide Youth Outreach Coordinator” is deeply involved in the “Occupy” protests around Ohio and openly decribes himself as a “revolutionary” whose goal is to implement communism in America. Now, “We Are Ohio” is hosting an official event with another radical self-admitted communist, Van Jones.

The American Dream Movement is flexing its muscle in Ohio. I’m coming to Columbus to be a part of it. This Thursday, November 3, we’re gonna Rock the Repeal of Senate Bill 5 and restore the voice of hard-working, middle-class Ohioans in their workplaces by voting “No” on Issue 2.

Yes, the “We Are Ohio” unions are bringing in the same guy who said this:

But in jail, he said, “I met all these young radical people of color — I mean really radical, communists and anarchists. And it was, like, ‘This is what I need to be a part of.’” Although he already had a plane ticket, he decided to stay in San Francisco. “I spent the next ten years of my life working with a lot of those people I met in jail, trying to be a revolutionary.” In the months that followed, he let go of any lingering thoughts that he might fit in with the status quo. “I was a rowdy nationalist on April 28th, and then the verdicts came down on April 29th,” he said. “By August, I was a communist.”

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From Accuracy in Media’s Benjamin Johnson & Logan Churchwell:

After more than a month of protest demands for better employment opportunities and benefits, Accuracy in Media saw fit to test their desires with…employment applications. Our “headhunters” were treated to every excuse as to why these jobs aren’t good enough for them. The idea that recent college graduates or typical jobs seekers should work their way up from an entry-level position is lost on the #Occupy crowd.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Pejman Yousefzadeh and Kevin Holtsberry are joined by Peter Ferrara of the Heartland Institute to discuss his new book, which discusses America’s fiscal and economic condition, and possible solutions.

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Lee Stranahan and Brandon Darby have released the latest video clip from their visit to Occupy Wall Street.

In the video, an activist named Channing, who has been at the Occupy Wall Street protests from the beginning, volunteers the information that the former ACORN organization–through its new front group, New York Communities for Change–is paying $10 per hour and $100 per day to homeless people to attend the demonstrations.

She suggests that ACORN’s involvement is unwelcome, alleging that its homeless employees are “being paid to come here and mess things up.”

Channing’s information corroborates reporting by Big Government on ACORN’s role in the Occupy movement. (more…)

Last week in New York City, during my Intelligence Squared debate about stimulus, I pointed out that Germany is doing better than the United States and explained that they largely avoided any Bush/Obama Keynesian spending binges.

One of my opponents disagreed and asserted that I was wrong. Germany, this person argued, was dong better because it was more Keynesian thanks to “automatic stabilizers” that resulted in big spending increases.

This claim was made with such certainty that I wondered if I made a mistake.

Well, we were both right about Germany doing better. In the past few years, it has been enjoying yearly growth of about 3.5 percent while growth in the United States has remained below 3 percent.

But who was right about the key issue of whether Germany has been more Keynesian? At first, I was going to be lazy and not bother combing the data. But then I got motivated after reading an excellent post about Germany’s pro-growth reforms, written for National Review by Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center.

So I looked up the data on annual government spending in the United States and Germany and discovered that I was right (gee, what a shock). As the chart shows (click to enlarge), the burden of government spending has increased faster in the United States. And that is true whether 2007 or 2008 is used as the base year.

To make sure the comparison was fair, I sliced the numbers every possible way. But the results were the same, regardless of whether state and local government spending was included, whether TARP spending was included, which base year was selected, or whether I used annual spending increases or multi-year spending increases.

In every single case, the burden of government spending grew faster in the United States from 2007 to 2011.

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Flashback to August and what was then called the Obama clause at MF Global:

Corzine’s Obama Clause in MF Global Offering Stuns Wall Street

MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF) took the cult of the Wall Street chief executive officer to a new level with its sale of bonds that pay a higher rate if Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine quits to take a job from the U.S. president.

Come on down and open your present, Democrats. But be warned, Obama-clause seems to be delivering coal for your stockings.

Meanwhile, MF Global CEO Jon Corzine reportedly had a handshake deal Sunday evening for Interactive Brokers  to buy the company.

But as the potential acquirer sifted through MF’s books, officials became concerned about the amount of customer funds held on deposit by MF Global. The difference was roughly $900 million at one point, although the amount remained fluid and never was resolved, according to WSJ sources.

Federal regulators have now started investigating the situation. According to the New York Times, authorities believe that the amount of unaccounted money could be close to $700 million. The report said that investigators are concerned that rather than just sloppy accounting, MF Global in its rush to remain afloat diverted some customer funds to support its own trades.

Flashback. Obama: Corzine is ‘our Wall Street guy‘

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