Posts Tagged ‘occupy’

Liberty Chick

Big Labor Money Unites Media Matters and the White House

by Liberty Chick

In light of recent investigative reports from the Daily Caller that reveal close coordination between Media Matters for America and the White House, BigJournalism and BigGovernment have undertaken the task of revisiting some of our prior reporting on the media watchdog group and our list of its donors.  We thought it prudent to highlight some of the mutual financial connections to the Obama White House and MMFA, starting with Big Labor.

In all, labor unions have donated at least nearly $500,000 directly to MMFA over the last three years.

During the heated health care reform debates in 2009, there were a series of incidents that occurred, the timing of which seemed to suggest there may have been coordination between MMFA, various White House personnel and some of those donor labor unions.

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Rebel Pundit

#Occupy State Rep Kelly Cassidy Wants to Tax Ammo in Illinois

by Rebel Pundit

Because the Illinois machine just can’t take enough from the hard working people that haven’t yet fled the state, Occupy Party State Rep. Kelly Cassidy thinks law abiding gun owners in Illinois should pay a tax on ammo.

That’s right, a new “sin tax,” because we all know what a sin it is in the eyes of the left, to exercise your second amendment rights. Illinois Review reports that the Illinois State Rifle Association has condemned the proposed bill HB5167 that would impose a 2% sin tax on retail ammunition sales, sponsored by rep. Cassidy.

Revenue from the tax proposal would go towards the ”High Crime Trauma Center Grant Fund,” a fund which does not yet exist. In other words, hardworking Illinoisans who like to go hunting, target shooting or just prefer adequate self defense in their own homes, will be taxed to pay for the hospital bills of those involved violent crimes.

ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson commented, ”The lawful firearm owners of this state are under no obligation to pay medical bills racked up by gang bangers, druggies, and other violent criminals.”

Proposing new tax revenue is nothing new for Rep. Cassidy. Just this past Martin Luther King Day, Cassidy joined fellow “Occupiers” in Chicago to Occupy the Dream, where she took to the pulpit of the Peoples [sic] Church to promote a progressive-income tax in Illinois. She discussed her pride in the ability she shared with Occupy Chicago to fill the church “to talk about making real change,” and promised to “….work hard to get true tax fairness for all of us….”


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Jim Lakely

Behold the Golden Toilet…and the Occupy Protest of Scott Walker at CPAC

by Jim Lakely

While at CPAC last week for The Heartland Institute, I met a lot of old friends, made some new ones, and heard some great speeches (the best I’ve heard from Rick Santorum; Sarah Palin was on fire; and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was excellent.) Speaking of Scott Walker, the Occupy Wall Street crowd and their union allies targeted him for a special protest.

First, let me say this: The Occupy Wall Street protests were a big dud. Yes, a few got into the hotel — and there was even a scuffle in the hallway. But every time they shouted their tired slogans, they were quickly drowned out by a combination of ridicule and chants of “USA! USA! USA!” by the CPAC attendees.

But as Walker entered the Wardman Park Marriott in DC, the Occupy folks were outside (in a rather small force) to express their displeasure at his reforms, which have probably save the state from bankruptcy. So I moseyed on down with my iPhone in my pocket and took a couple of videos. A highlight of the juvenile street theater was the parading of a “golden toilet” down the sidewalk.

I’d say more, but the video speaks for itself.

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Christian Hartsock

#OccupyBeverlyHills: Black Bloc and the Devolution of a Revolution

by Christian Hartsock

Now that the Occupy movement has been coat-tailed and co-opted by big labor and big government forces that should by definition be their targets of dissent, the shuffled miscellany of loose-cannoned conniptions that’s become the movement is conspicuous even to ultra-left-wing social critics.

The protests of last week from Oakland to Portland to the Super Bowl to CPAC were testament to this, but perhaps a rally planned today in Beverly Hills will signal a healthy shift.

During the Ohio fight over Issue 2, which would have curbed collective bargaining “rights” of public sector industries including Ohio police forces, Occupy Columbus protesters took to the streets in defense of cops. Meanwhile in Oakland, Portland, and Washington, D.C., Occupiers last week took to the streets to chant “Fuck the police!” “All cops are bastards!” “No pigs!” and to throw bricks in cops’ faces.

The #OccupyOakland rally dubbed their march the “Fuck the Police Rally,” noting to its attendees: “If you identify as peaceful and are likely to interfere with the actions of your fellow protestors in any way…you may not want to attend this march. It is a militant action. It attracts anti-capitalists, anti-fascists and other comrades of a revolutionary bent. It is not a march intended for people who are not fully comfortable with diversity of tactics.” So apparently Occupy protesters have cops’ backs, that is until they’re reminded that cops are hired by the public specifically to stop people just like them.

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Lee Stranahan

CPAC Protesters Once Again Prove How Overplayed ‘Racism!’ Charges Have Become

by Lee Stranahan

The union led “Occupy” assault on CPAC sported a the phalanx of paid Astroturf black, Hispanic and Latino bodies in order to deliberately paint a false picture of diversity, while accusing conservative attendees of CPAC of racism. These tired and overplayed accusations of racism are not based on reports of racism coming from inside CPAC or other conservative groups but are just part of Stuff Liberals Say reflexively.

At CPAC last Friday, I noticed that the protestors were chanting about CPAC ‘racism’ so I shot a little video of their chant then headed back up the hill towards the hotel. On my walk, I saw a small group of students – all CPAC attendees — watching the protest from a good distance away.  One of the students CPAC attendees happened to be black, so I asked him if I could videotape him about his experience with racism at CPAC. He agreed and as the video below shows, he had no experience of racism at CPAC. None.

In the comment section at YouTube, a commentor suggests that one person is not a fair sample. Fair enough, if we were trying to form a statistical average however two things must be pointed out here in response. First, the protesters didn’t ask even a single black person about their experience of racism but that didn’t keep them from chanting anyway. Their accusation is based on literally not one scintilla of evidence. Second, there’s not a single black conservative that I’ve spoken with that said they have experienced racism either at the Tea Party or CPAC.

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Joel B. Pollak

BREAKING: Unions, Occupy Start Clashes Outside CPAC

by Joel B. Pollak

Big Government’s Lee Stranahan and Brandon Darby, on the scene at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC, report that 300-400 union members and Occupy activists have instigated clashes with police outside the conference venue at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

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Lawrence Meyers

Obama’s #Occupy Movement Will Win the Election…for the GOP

by Lawrence Meyers

For everyone out there supporting the #Occupy Movement, who calls themselves part of “the 99%”, identifies with their alleged struggle, and supports their strategies and tactics, you may want to think twice.   History has taught that when the Left uncorks the radical movement, change comes swiftly…to the Right.

If one hops into the Way-Back Machine and plops down in late 18th century France, one is apt to re-discover that fixture of high school European history known as The French Revolution.  Few would argue that French monarchy was a system worth endorsing.  But how quickly we forget what replaced it – a radical left-wing action that resulted in a secular Democratic republic that was a wee bit authoritarian.  Actually, if memory serves, there was this thing called The Committee of Public Safety – a virtual dictatorship run by crazy Robespierre that resulted in the Reign of Terror.

There’s a great quote from Robespierre to justify the use of violent repression, “Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible”.   Hmmmm.  Terror = Justice.  Now just slip the word “Social” in there before “Justice” and you can see where I’m headed.  But just so I can complete this parallel, Robespierre arranged to have even his allies executed so he could run the show himself, with his power assisted throughout the countryside by the Jacobin Club aka Popular Societies aka ACORN.

While the MSM spins about the “non-violent, non-Anti-Semitic non-racist #Occupy Movement”, your intrepid journalists here at The Bigs have uncovered tons of evidence that demonstrate just the opposite. Indeed, plans are in the works to….what’s the word?….terrorize the opponents of the People’s Revolution aka Obama’s #Occupy Movement. The result of all this violence was The Thermidorian Reaction – a swing back to the Right following the revolution.   I repeat, to the Right.

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Liberty Chick

The Occupy Chronicles 2012

by Liberty Chick

If you want to keep up to date on the Occupy movement, you’ve come to the right place. This is Breitbart.com’s running chronicle of Occupy’s chaos, political machinations and internal power struggles as we head towards the Occupy movement’s planned Spring rebirth.

The Occupy movement is the Obama administration’s shadow campaign; community organized shock troops helping to spread the President’s strategic 2012 campaign message that we need to stop income inequality. With Big Labor calling the tactical shots, Occupy is President Obama’s direct action to bring real radicalism into the mainstream American politics, while another faction of Occupy organizers struggles to extract the movement from the grips of the Democrat Party establishment.

The crowds may have dwindled with the cold weather, but there’s still a tremendous amount of Occupy activity preparing for an “American Spring.”  We’ll be keeping this page updated with links to all of our Occupy coverage.  Catch it all right here, in one place.

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Publius

EXCLUSIVE: Cory Booker & Newark to Occupy: See Ya

by Publius

Newark, New Jersey–home of superstar Democrat mayor and future presidential contender Cory Booker–has just told Occupy protestors to take a hike.

In a letter sent to Eric Richardson, the Occupy activist who recently told Lee Stranahan about racism within the movement, Kenneth Louis, Deputy City Clerk of Newark, informed protestors that they “will be required to remove all individuals and equipment from Military Park as of 9:00 P.M. [EST] beginning on Thursday, February 9, 2012.”

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Jim Hoft

#Occupiers Targeting Breitbart at CPAC, Threaten Physical Violence

by Jim Hoft


#Occupy goons riot in Oakland. (NY Post)

Obama’s #Occupy army threatened to disrupt and physically assault conservative speakers at the CPAC convention this week in Washington DC. Andrew Breitbart and Newt Gingrich are two conservatives who they will be targeting at the event.

Lachlan Markay at The Foundry reported:

The “Occupy DC” protest group is planning to disrupt the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference using a range of potentially illegal tactics that could even include violence against participants, Scribe has learned.

The planned disruptions at CPAC come only days after U.S. Park Police raided Occupiers’ tent cities at McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., confiscating a number of tents, and prohibiting Occupiers from camping out there any longer.

During a Thursday meeting at McPherson Square, until Saturday the epicenter of the protests, Occupiers brainstormed tactics for shutting down or disrupting the conference, according to a source who was present at the meeting.

The protesters suggested pulling fire alarms in the hotel where the conference will take place, screaming “fire” during conference activities, “glitter-bombing” participants, cutting electrical power, and barricading entrances to the hotel, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

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Joe Schoffstall

Conservative Group to Share Freedom Plaza with Occupy DC

by Joe Schoffstall

Some DC-area conservatives plan to hold protests of their own right next Occupy DC’s encampment at Freedom Plaza. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out since cops are finally enforcing the “no camping” rules on the Occupiers, but no one actually believes they’ll be going away any time soon. The crackdown is strictly on overnight camping, not protesting.

MRCTV headed down to the plaza to talk with David Almasi from the National Center for Public Policy Research, who is organizing the events.

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Dan  Riehl

What’s Next? Occupy the Super Bowl, of Course

by Dan Riehl

While blowing all of the inappropriate anti-American, anti-capitalist dog whistles to incite the Left into reflexive action, Dave Zirin at The Nation casts the Super Bowl as basically everything the left hates about America.

Cue angry Union worker: “Upsetting the Super Bowl— I couldn’t care less. This is about my life and my family.” —Lou Feldman, IBEW local 668.” But that’s just the opening salvo. A good Leftist can never go wrong banging on the military, let alone capitalism.

The sheer volume of the Super Bowl is overpowering: the corporate branding, the sexist beer ads, the miasma of Madison Avenue–produced militarism, the two-hour pre-game show. But people in the labor and Occupy movements in Indiana are attempting to drown out the din with the help of a human microphone right at the front gates of Lucas Oil Stadium.

Lest you think the left is merely anti-football, the stakes are somewhat greater than that for them and always political.

The Republican-led state legislature aims to pass a law this week that would make Indiana a “right-to-work” state.

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Lee Stranahan

Racist Occupy Wall Street: ‘Absolutely’ Race Problems & Hypocrisy, Says Black Occupier

by Lee Stranahan

Occupy Wall Street was ‘absolutely’ racist and hypocritical, according to a black occupier and his girlfriend who first liked protesting at Zuccotti Park but now have moved to Occupy Newark. My interview with occupier Michael Morgan raised the same issues that came up in every discussion I had with black members of the Occupy Wall Street protest, who all felt that the movement was racist. These accusations are coming from men and women who support much of the rhetoric of Occupy Wall Street but have seen the reality with their own eyes. So far, the cowardly elitist leaders of Occupy Wall Street have done nothing to answer these charges from within their own movement that they are racist against people of color.

Here’s my interview with Mr. Morgan:

Mr. Morgan was clearly bothered by the segregation at Zuccotti Park and that there was an area of Occupy known as ‘the ghetto.’ This segregation was brilliantly  exposed in one of the best pieces on mainstream media reporting on #Occupy from The Daily Show, which also shows the rift between the smug, privileged liberal elites who talk about the 99% but clearly wouldn’t want to be caught dead with them.

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MRC TV

Occupy Oakland Burns American Flag While Reciting Anti-Semitic ‘Pledge of Allegiance’

by MRC TV

As an American flag burns at Occupy Oakland, the man capturing the videos recites the following:

“I pledge allegiance to a flag of the imperialistic, capitalistic dictatorship. And to the plutocracy for which it stands, privately owned central bank, under the Jews. With inequality and injustice for the 99.” (h/t Moonbat Tracker)

In late October, we at MRCTV went to Zuccotti Park in New York City and ran into this guy.

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Joel B. Pollak

Occupy Slams National Prayer Breakfast for ‘1 Percent’; Will Lead ‘People’s Prayer Breakfast’ in Protest

by Joel B. Pollak

Tikkun magazine, a radical left-wing publication based in San Francisco, has announced that it is working with the Occupy movement to create an alternative to the National Prayer Breakfast, which is due to take place in Washington, D.C. this Thursday.

According to Tikkun publisher Rabbi Michael Lerner, who heads the Network of Spritual Progressives (NSP), the alternative prayer breakfast will “pre-empt” the mainstream event with its message of “solidarity” with the “99 percent.”

Rabbi Lerner explained in a message to activists today:

We’ve been working with Occupy Faith D.C. to create “the Peoople’s Prayer Breakfast.” You can do the same in your area of the country–create a People’s Prayer Breakfast. It doesn’t have to be this week–take your time, make sure you do outreach to Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Ba’hai, Sikh, Wicca, Buddhist, Quaker, Unitarian, Religious Science, and all other possible communities of faith to get them involved in the planning.

Though Tikkun and the NSP have occasionally protested Obama administration policies from the left, their core religious precept–that faith’s proper expression is economic redistribution–is one that Obama seems to share.

In that vein, Rabbi Lerner and fellow “progressives” promoting the People’s Prayer Breakfast have been slamming the National Prayer Breakfast as a gathering of the “one percent.”  (more…)

Publius

New #OccupyOakland Violence: Police Injured, 100 Arrested as Left’s ‘Mostly Peaceful’ Movement Returns

by Publius

Activists from Occupy Oakland attacked police on Saturday during attempts to take over civic property, injuring three police officers.


The Associated Press reports:

Police were in the process of arresting about 100 Occupy protesters who failed to disperse Saturday night, hours after officers used tear gas on a rowdy group of demonstrators who threw rocks and flares at them and tore down fences.

Police Sgt. Christopher Bolton said the arrests came after protesters marched through downtown Oakland a little before 8 p.m. Saturday. Some protesters entered a YMCA building.

Meanwhile, about 100 police officers surrounded City Hall while others swept the inside of the building to see if any protesters broke in…. (more…)

Rebel Pundit

BREAKING VIDEO: Occupy the Dream or Occupy Church and State? #OccupyChicago

by Rebel Pundit

Here is new video from RebelPundit’s continuing coverage of Occupy the Dream, an event held at the Peoples[sic] Church of Chicago, Sunday January 15th. The following video reveals the overwhelming and until now, unseen tone of the event.

The event had little to do with Martin Luther King, Jr., or any of his larger than life accomplishments in the civil rights movement, or changing dynamic of the racial divide in America. Perhaps this is not very surprising. What it did have plenty to do with, however, was in fact, occupying the dream.

Progress Illinois even titled their coverage, “Occupy Chicago, Religious Leaders Use MLK Holiday As Means To Call For Change.” There could not have been a more appropriate description of the event.

Religious leaders, community organizers and local politicians joined Occupy Chicago to occupy the dream, occupy the church and occupy the state for one grand revolutionary extravaganza.

Community organizers even called elected officials of the Democrat Party to the pulpit to get their commitment to pushing forward the radical agendas of the groups participating in the event. State senator Heather Steans took to the pulpit to blast Republicans, with other members of the Illinois general assembly calling for progressive tax reform in Illinois. (video) And Jesse Jackson spoke of spending a “mere $900 billion” in taxpayer dollars for the federal government to directly hire 15 million workers at $40,000 per year. (video) Jan Schakowsky was also present and demanded that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. (video)

But what was not so present at the event was a celebration of the victories the King achieved and how different the landscape of this country has become since his death. The sermon, delivered by Dwight Gardner of the First Trinity United Baptist Church of Gary, Indiana, only referred to King periodically in his address, but only to emphasize the need to “occupy the dream of King” while making tremendous calls for revolution.

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Mike Flynn

Dead Movement Walking: Pelosi Tries to Distance Herself, Dems from #Occupy Movement

by Mike Flynn

As the boss says, Nancy “1%-er” Pelosi has clearly read the internal polls on the #Occupy “movement.” On the same day that a few dozen #Occupiers descended and Capitol Hill, one of whom was arrested for assaulting a cop, Dame Pelosi tries her best to distance herself from the leftist temper tantrum:

Of course, when the #Occupy movement first arose, Pelosi and and other members of the Leftist Elite gushed with enthusiasm about the protests:

House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she supports the growing nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement, which began on the streets of downtown New York City in mid-September.

“I support the message to the establishment, whether it’s Wall Street or the political establishment and the rest, that change has to happen,” said Pelosi in an exclusive interview with ABC News “This Week” anchor Christiane Amanpour. “We cannot continue in a way this is not relevant to their lives.”

For good measure, President Obama added:

The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side.

So, what happened?

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Publius

What Could Go Wrong? Washington State Democrats Want to Create State-Owned Bank

by Publius

OLYMPIA — State government stores money at Bank of America, buys goods with U.S. Bank cards and distributes welfare aid through JP Morgan Chase ATMs.

Supporters of cutting such ties to big banks say the first step is to create a state-owned bank.

The idea of a state bank — a favorite of the Occupy movement that sees it as an alternative to Wall Street — has strong support among the Democrats who control the state House. Speaker Frank Chopp called it a top priority last week in a speech opening this year’s session of the Legislature.

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Lee Stranahan

#Occupy Manipulates the Media, the Public and the English Language in Squatting Scandal Strategy Session

by Lee Stranahan

An e-mail exchange detailing a conference call between members of the Occupy Wall Street media team exposes the level of coordination happening to attempt to save face over a recent New York Post story that exposed how Occupy had taken over a foreclosed home despite the owner’s wishes. Almost concurrently with Big Government’s report on the story yesterday, the #Occupy media team was having a confab in crisis management that would make any Fortune 500 company blush.

The media team takes a smart strategy and realizes that attacking the owner of the house directly is probably a bad move. However, behind the scenes they can’t help trashing him and calling him dishonest…

“Post story, owner made several claims, most of them false.  Says OWS won’t let him into his house.”

Despite this insult, the back-and-forth reveals that there are actually negotiations going on back-and-forth between Wide’s attorney and Occupy Wall Street.

1.  Premo: one question – meghan hasn’t been able to get in touch with Wise’s lawyer since the new year?  El: don’t think she’s been trying actively to get in touch with him.  Now that the article has come out that changes the negotiation.

2. [ed note: this line blank in original email]

3.  El: the last meeting did go well, Wise wasn’t there but his lawyer was.  Lawyer agreed to speak with Wise about working with us, agreed that the best solution would be to work with us to transition it to a community land trust, and fight the banks to reduce his debt so that he can become a home owner again.

Will the public and the lenders be made aware that there is a behind the scenes shakedown via media exposure being worked out here? The homeowner is trying to play on sympathy to get back his foreclosed property and Occupy Wall Street wants to gain positive media exposure, even though they were squatting in someone else’s private property.

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