Big Government has learned that a new Occupy strategy emerging across the country is to mobilize cross-country marches through mid-size cities where the movement has been absent, and reach out to sympathetic Americans by occupying their homes.

These protests are scheduled to end up in their destination cities on Mayday, May 1–the International Workers’ Day, which was officially celebrated as a holiday in the former Soviet Union.

In an exclusive interview with Bo Han, an Occupy Wall Street activist and Atlanta native, Big Government uncovered the strategy during a demonstration being held in front of the Martin Luther King Center for Nonviolent Change this past weekend.

Han explained that the new Occupy strategy is to mobilize demonstrators in systematic, planned cross-country marches to build new chapters in new cities while converting sympathizers on the way by staying in their homes. Hahn had just arrived in Atlanta after an 880-mile march from Wall Street that cut through Washington, D.C. and other Southern cities such as Richmond, Chapel Hill and Durham.

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The enormous cost to American cities of the Occupy Wall Street “occupations” is now starting to become clear. As of the end of the first two months of the nationwide occupy events, the movement that claims to represent 99% of us cost state taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services, according to a survey by The Associated Press. By all accounts, that number will continue to rise.

In October the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a joint resolution to officially “support” the Occupy L.A. demonstration and “demand accountability and results from the banks we invest taxpayer dollars in.” By December, taxpayers learned they will be “investing” in something else: Occupy LA cost Los Angeles taxpayers, many of them the 99 percenters, at least $2.3 million. LA Mayor Villaraigosa says he will deal with the stunning costs, not by suing those responsible for the damages but by implementing budget cuts that will of course hurt the 99 percenters.

Cities such as Oakland, which spent $2.5 million in the aftermath of occupiers vandalizing public property, shutting down a critical port, trespassing, and committing countless other street crimes, have paid a dear price because of their “reactive approach” to the occupation.

The national cookie cutter approach to OWS was to be as politically correct as possible. City leaders collectively engaged in a hand-wringing mantra of “It’s their right of free speech… we must not interfere!” Add the fact that with “Big Banking” as the OWS target, city leaders had nothing to lose by throwing their support behind the benevolent freedom fighters. Trouble is, they actually had a lot to lose. (more…)

Sources on Capitol Hill tell Big Government that SEIU has organized a major effort to ‘Take Back the Capitol’ this week with a collective of community, labor and Occupy groups that are dedicated to “show Congress what democracy looks like, shine a light on corporate greed and the human suffering it has caused, and demand justice for the 99%.”

According to Congressional sources, Occupy protestors have been visiting one Congressional office after another and demanding to speak with representatives while loitering in their waiting rooms and chanting. ‘Trackers’ are also being spotted roaming the hills of various Congressional buildings.

Joanna Burgos, Deputy Communications Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee described the trackers as, “people with cameras who are trying to track a member or politician on a certain issue. Its just part of the videos you see used all the time. I think their goal is to get them to say something on camera or say something. They tape a lot of their protests and put them on YouTube.”

Some of those videos have already been posted at a site for Think Progress, which describes itself as nonpartisan organization, but was voted the “Best Liberal Blog,” in the 2006 Weblog Awards.

One Think Progress piece posted at 1:57 pm today featured video of protestors occupying U.S. Representative Joe Walsh’s (R-IL) office, reporting that, “These protesters asked to meet with the congressman. The Chief of Staff, Justin Roth, said that Walsh was busy and could only meet with them later but offered to meet with the protesters himself. ‘“I think we’ll stay,”’ said one protester. Roth shrugged and the protesters sat down and decided to occupy the office until Walsh arrives.”

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider told Big Government that although they’ve been “monitoring more activity on the Hill today then yesterday,” there has only been one arrest.

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Just days after Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters were cleared out of New York’s privately owned Zuccotti Park, OWS protests were held across the country in a show of solidarity.

Unlike other municipal authorities who have grown tired of the Occupy movement, the Los Angeles City Council still maintains its open invitation to the protesters to occupy City Hall’s lawn.

But on November 17, OWS protesters left their lawn and took to the streets, first blocking downtown traffic during rush hour and later, when they marched to the doorsteps of Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

Reason.tv was on the scene for the march to the banks and captured some of the day’s 26 arrests. Violence was minimal, as purple-shirted organizers of the march from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) worked to keep most protesters out of the street.

While most of the protesters were exercised by the economy and government bailouts, at least one participant’s main beef seemed to be with Satan, “Grey Aliens” (who are controlled by “the Reptilians”), and the Illimunati (starts at 2-minute mark).

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The #OccupyWhatever protest has an eerie feeling of déjà vu surrounding it.  Back in 1985, when I was attending Cornell University, the movement du jour was encouraging universities to divest from companies that did business in then-apartheid South Africa.  At the time, my addled mind convinced me this was a great idea — despite the logical arguments from my Texan Conservative floormates that this would have zero impact on changing the government there.  It did, however, give me my first opportunity to try my hand at photojournalism — as all the accompanying photos demonstrate.

For several weeks, the university was littered in red ribbons and armbands, signifying support for divestment.

Eventually, a shantytown appeared directly behind the administration building of Day Hall,  conveniently placed in a location surrounded by structures, making it relatively easy for tours to pass by without horrified parents seeing what was going on.  The center of the protests, where one could pick up literature about divestment, eventually became capitalized — Shantytown — and an easily recognizable landmark where one could meet a fellow student.

The protests led to sit-ins inside Day Hall, and all it accomplished was to irritate other students who had to conduct business there.

Eventually, the protesters refused to leave the building at the 5 PM closing time. Students were warned to do so or risk arrest, some left and some didn’t. Those who didn’t were arrested.  They were carted downtown but were not prosecuted.

It soon became apparent that many of those involved had no clue what was being protested but simply wanted to belong.  This included a friend, who said exactly that to me, and was closely involved with the protest. He said the administration was pissed, but tolerant.  They didn’t want to look like they were shutting down free speech.  Then two things happened that chopped away at that patience:

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From the Oakland Police Officers Association:

We represent the 645 police officers who work hard every day to protect the citizens of Oakland. We, too, are the 99% fighting for better working conditions, fair treatment and the ability to provide a living for our children and families. We are severely understaffed with many City beats remaining unprotected by police during the day and evening hours.

As your police officers, we are confused.

On Tuesday, October 25th, we were ordered by Mayor Quan to clear out the encampments at Frank Ogawa Plaza and to keep protesters out of the Plaza. We performed the job that the Mayor’s Administration asked us to do, being fully aware that past protests in Oakland have resulted in rioting, violence and destruction of property.

Then, on Wednesday, October 26th, the Mayor allowed protesters back in – to camp out at the very place they were evacuated from the day before.

To add to the confusion, the Administration issued a memo on Friday, October 28th to all City workers in support of the “Stop Work” strike scheduled for Wednesday, giving all employees, except for police officers, permission to take the day off.

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“Did a corporation end slavery, or did the government end slavery?!?!”

That’s the sort of question investment guru and radio show host Peter Schiff fielded as he debated Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters last week in New York’s Zuccotti Park.

Schiff is no ordinary observer. As the prinicipal of the financial firm Euro Pacific Capital, he’s a full-fledged and unapologetic member of “the 1 Percent.” As an outspoken radio show host (listen online here) and commentator, he not only predicted the housing crash and financial crisis, he railed bank and auto-sector bailouts as they were happening. Schiff believes that capitalism offers the only hope for young, frustrated people to have a vibrant and prosperous future (get information on his latest book, How an Economy Grows and Why it Crashes, here). So he went to Occupy Wall Street to engage and debate the protesters. (more…)

The Occupy movement is planning to take ‘direct action’ against banks in the next several days, using a variety of tactics, according to video and email evidence compiled by Big Government. These tactics include physical occupations of banks, and attempts to encourage financial runs on the banks.

In this clip from the video bombshell that BigGovernment revealed on Sunday night, we see a New York Times freelance reporter and a self-described ‘commie’ laughing over the possibility of criminal acts against banks – has have happened recently in Dallas, Oakland, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.  The assault on banks  appears to be the movement’s latest strategy and  part of an overall scheme to ‘take over the banks, to nationalize them’, as one #OWS supporter said in a recent email revealed by BigGovernment.com.

This segment comes at about 57:30 in the full video posted by Jacobin Magazine and it shows New York Times reporter Natasha Lennard authoritatively answering a question about what comes after the park occupation ends. Watching her answer, there’s no possible way to tell she’s reporter and not a active part of the Occupy movement. You’ll note her use of the phrase ‘that’s what we need to think about’.

Then something bizarre happens as Malcom Harris takes the microphone. You’ll remember we showcased Harris on Monday discussing how Glenn Beck was correct in his analysis that Occupy wanted to ‘drag people into the streets.’ As Natasha Lennard hands the mic to Harris, he seems like a kid who can’t keep a secret. He speaks cryptically about banks and their doors while Lennard giggles like a nervous schoolgirl who knows exactly what Harris is talking about. As the vauge hints die down, the moderator seems to stop the conversation before it goes any further.

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I spent a few hours with the “occupiers” in Los Angeles. Most of them were dirty, confused, and spent a lot of time fighting with one another. Right before we left, someone offered $150 of “emergency” taxpayer funded food stamps to all the “occupy” vagrants. Newsflash: your poor planning doesn’t constitute an emergency. Again we have the 53% who do pay taxes paying for the poor choices of the members of the 47% who don’t pay taxes.

Typical Marxist thinking in action, right before your very eyes. To them, this is what “democracy” looks like.

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Until now many of the often-illegal antics perpetuated by several individual protesters from Wisconsin seemed to be random acts committed by disillusioned agitators. But we have learned that these acts have been highly orchestrated and perpetuated by a group whose members are told to deny their involvement in the group. A group, we’ve discovered, which is financed by Big Labor.

With that funding comes clout. They have shared the stage with Deomcratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, a candidate for US Senate. They’ve hosted prominent Democratic legislative speakers such as Wisconsin State Representative Cory Mason and Minority Leader Peter Barca.

These protesters have played a key role in many of the most visible events in and around the State Capitol since February. This week, their organization was listed alongside the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and United Wisconsin as key organizers behind the recall of Governor Scott Walker.

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From the Associated Press:

Protests against Wall Street entered their 18th day Tuesday as demonstrators across the country show their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed by marching on Federal Reserve banks and camping out in parks from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine.

Demonstrations are expected to continue throughout the week as more groups hold organizational meetings and air their concerns on websites and through streaming video.

In Manhattan on Monday, hundreds of protesters dressed as corporate zombies in white face paint lurched past the New York Stock Exchange clutching fistfuls of fake money. In Chicago, demonstrators pounded drums in the city’s financial district. Others pitched tents or waved protest signs at passing cars in Boston, St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., and Los Angeles.

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In 1999, I was lecturing at the Smithsonian Institution (The Smithsonian Associates), on The History of Revolutions. At the end of the series, a question was put to me, namely: which country was poised for revolution? My answer was “this one”.

Why? came the inevitably anxious reply.

Again my answer was not comforting. ‘Here in the most economically significant and militarily powerful nation in history has blossomed, an endemic entitlement attitude which has fomented a dysfunctional culture. This culture encompasses not merely welfare mavens or dead-beats, so to say. But also corporations and politicians; the latter whom in a zero-sum, future-be-damned spirit, have fed and fostered this culture for their own perceived advantages’.

Such was my view then as now. The ‘fallout’ from such mendacity often results in social upheaval. However, Americans tend to watch public apoplexy in other countries with a gyroscopic fascination, expressed in the mirthful assumption that “such things cannot happen here”.

Yet, they can, have and are; perhaps now, increasingly.

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From the Associated Press:

Protesters speaking out against corporate greed and other grievances were maintaining a presence in Manhattan’s Financial District even after more than 700 of them were arrested during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge in a tense confrontation with police.

The group Occupy Wall Street has been camped out in a plaza in Manhattan’s Financial District for nearly two weeks staging various marches, and had orchestrated an impromptu trek to Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon. They walked in thick rows on the sidewalk up to the bridge, where some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway, police said.

The march shut down a lane of traffic for several hours on Saturday. The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said.

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From the BBC:

A solar panel factory in eastern China has been shut down after protests by local residents over pollution fears.

Some 500 villagers staged a three-day protest following the death of large numbers of fish in a local river.

Some demonstrators broke into the plant in Zhejiang province, destroying offices and overturning company cars before being dispersed by riot police.

Tests on water samples showed high levels of fluoride, which can be toxic in high doses, officials said.

The BBC’s Juliana Liu in Shanghai says the Chinese villagers see the plant’s closure as a victory.

They accuse Jinko Solar, a Chinese company making solar panels for sale overseas, of dumping hazardous chemicals into the water supply, our correspondent says.

“We feel that it is socially responsible to close the factory first and to take corrective measures,” company spokesman Thomas Jing told the BBC.

Read the whole thing here. Remember, externalities are everywhere.

[Ed Note: This is the first post to run at BigGovernment. It was published two years ago today. It still seems relevant.]

In 1995, President Bill Clinton stood before the nation and proclaimed, “The era of big government is over.” The following year, the federal budget deficit stood at 1.4% of GDP. Thirteen years later, in 2008, the deficit had doubled, to just over 3% of GDP. This year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal budget deficit will equal 11.4% of GDP.

As George Will would say, “Well.”

This is the real source of our “summer of discontent.” Yes, millions of Americans spent the month of August holding Tea Parties, attending town halls, organizing, marching and protesting against ObamaCare, i.e. Congressional and Administration proposals to reconstruct the entire health care sector. But to suggest that health care alone is at the root of this backlash is to miss the forest for the trees. To paraphrase Democrat strategist James Carville, “It’s the big government, stupid.”

Since last September when the financial markets stumbled, we’ve seen a Wall Street bailout, government takeovers of AIG, Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, Chrysler, and numerous banks. The Federal Reserve has opened its discount window to almost all-comers and has taken the unprecedented step of aggressively buying up the federal government’s own debt. Congress rushed through a “stimulus to nowhere,” moved closer to a “cap-and-trade” remake of the energy sector and openly talked about higher taxes and more regulation.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel famously said that, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Ronald Reagan said, “Government isn’t the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” The administration has turned this observation upside down, proclaiming that Big Government will lead us to a better world. In August, we heard America singing, “Enough!”

The mainstream media and politicos from both parties were caught flat-footed by the push-back from average citizens. Each news-cycle brought a new theory for the protests: “astroturf,” angry “mobs,” distortions and misinformation, kooks and conspiracy nuts, and, inevitably (and perhaps most offensively) racism (MSNBC amazingly even cut the head off a black man holding a gun to make the point that white racist extremism was behind the entirety the protests).  The elites have convinced themselves that, once Congress is safely cocooned on Capitol Hill, and engaged in some Kennedy-esque legislating—a tweak here, a nip-and-tuck there—ObamaCare will be back on track and the Administration can continue its march to reshape America.

The elites are whistling past the graveyard. The ground has shifted. It could just be that deficits above 10% of GDP are the new $4 a gallon gas, i.e. the tipping point that awakens the silent majority and recalibrates political dynamics. Americans are setting aside parochial self-interest and reaching to reclaim the legacy of the Founders.

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Get a load of how some in the Left view the role of the media:

While covering the latest demonstration outside the office of Congressman Paul Ryan, MacIver News Service’s Bill Osmulski learns some protesters are upset that he has not been helpful to their cause. Because he has consistently and accurately reported what’s been going on in Wisconsin, some liberal activists attempted to prevent him from working.

Their idea of a real journalist is apparently someone who is ‘helpful.’

“Obviously you’re doing something wrong as a journalist if people don’t want you here that badly,” one protester told him.

That some protesters think a reporter’s job is to be helpful to their liberal cause should be offensive to every traditional, mainstream, journalist.

Well, you’d like to think so.

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In June we reported on newly elected Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel using his clout to bring the 28-member NATO meeting and G-8 Summit to town in 2012. Also, in bringing the meetings to Chicago, the city will likely be confronted with the usual large-scale protests, which are most often comprised of violent anarchist revolutionaries.

The Chicago Tribune is now reporting that activists in Chicago are indeed planning large-scale demonstrations in Chicago, and have filed requests with the city to obtain protest permits.

From the Trib:

Activists are planning massive demonstrations to coincide with the G8 and NATO summits in Chicago scheduled for spring 2012, with crowds of protesters likely to reach “tens of thousands,” organizers said.

More than 160 members representing about 50 groups from across the U.S. and Canada gathered Sunday at the Chicago-Kent College of Law to discuss strategy and start planning two large-scale protests and a march during the weeklong joint summit, which is set for mid-May 2012.

Chicago could see crowds of protesters similar to the 35,000 or so activists who descended on St. Paul, Minn., during the 2008 Republican National Convention, said Joe Lombardo, co-coordinator for the New York-based United National Anti-War Committee.

Chicago activist Joe Iosbaker, who helped organize the RNC protests in 2008, and radical gay rights and anti-war activist Andy Thayer, whose homes were raided by FBI agents in October 2010 for suspected ties to funding Hamas and other terrorist organizations, are helping to organize the protests.

According to the Trib, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy recently stated that the department is preparing for “mass arrests” of protesters during the summit.

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Sigh.

Look what happened when Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dared to go to a successful inner city school to read to a group of young kids.

The event was a perfect storm for the unhinged Left: A chance to combine their absolute hatred of the Republican governor with their complete disdain for the nation’s longest running school choice program.

SEIU, AFSCME and Milwaukee Public School officials combined forces with Students for a Democratic Society, self-professed Hippies and others to march, sing, chant and yell at not only the governor, but the students and staff of Messmer Preparatory School.

The Messmer story is inspiring, and one I’ll tell in greater detail here soon. What’s really striking to me is this obnoxious display of thuggery comes onthe heels of the release of the MacIver Educational Choice Census, which shows that throughout Wisconsin, parents are embracing educational options. In Milwaukee, nearly 4 out of 5 children attend a school other than the one geographically assigned to them by the public school bureaucrats.

The Left and the perpetually offended, who despite spending millions of dollars in national money have been losers now in several consecutive elections and policy debates in Wisconsin, must resort to civil disturbances, vandalism and thuggery.  Their well of vitriol has no bottom, apparently.

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Don’t you just hate it when a protest doesn’t go as planned?

Anyone who follows politics knows that Congressman Paul Ryan has been on vacation with his family. Dozens of national media outlets reported on this fact while several movers and shakers unsuccessfully lobbied Ryan to run for President.

The Left in Wisconsin, bored now that the occupation of the State Capitol and the recent recalls are over, decided it would be the perfect opportunity to embarrass Ryan. So they orchestrated a series of demonstrations at his in-district offices.

The liberal activist group Wisconsin Jobs Now is in the news again. Last month we reported on the questionable election activities of the group during the recent recall elections, and their tie to a candidate for public office.

Now the group is engaging in disruptive demonstrations at the offices of Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Their litany of complaints mixes in some class warfare with a touch of projection.

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This past weekend the walls, doors, public art and walkways outside the state chamber of commerce in Madison, Wisconsin were vandalized.  Today, the offices were the staging area for the liberals’ stunt of the day. A throng of protesters chanted, “Cuts? No way. Make the corporations pay!” as they took the half mile walk from the State Capitol to the offices of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.

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