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A Majority of Americans (Including Both OWS and the Tea Party) AGREE on the Most Important Issues … We Just Don’t Realize It
I have repeatedly demonstrated that – despite the false divide-and-conquer tactics of the mainstream parties and mainstream media – the overwhelming majority of Americans agree on the most important issues facing our country. See this.
NO MORE BAILOUTS!
As I’ve noted since 2008, Americans are united in their overwhelming disapproval for bailouts to the big banks.
This has remained true right up to today.
As Rassmussen found only last month (as summarized by KXLF news):
Today’sRasmussen Reports survey finds that most Americans don’t like bailouts for financial institutions.
60% Oppose Financial Bailouts; 74% Say Wall Street Benefited Most
Survey of 1,000 American Adults
***
• Just 20% think it was a good idea for the government to provide bailout funding to banks and other financial institutions, but 60% say otherwise.
• While many activists try to link the Republican Party and Wall Street, Republicans think the bailouts were a bad idea by an eight-to-one margin.
• Those not affiliated with either major party think they were a bad idea by a four-to-one margin. Democrats are much more evenly divided. Thirty-four percent (34%) of those in the president’s party say the bailouts were a good idea while 42% disagree.
• Overall, 68% believe that most of the bailout money went to the very people who created the nation’s ongoing economic crisis, but 12% disagree and 21% aren’t sure.
As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent notes, the recent proposal from lobbyists to the American Bankers Association recommending ways to co-opt the Occupy movement accurately stated:
Well-known Wall Street companies stand at the nexus of where OWS protestors and the Tea Party overlap on angered populism. Both the radical left and the radical right are channeling broader frustration about the state of the economy and share a mutual anger over TARP and other perceived bailouts. This combination has the potential to be explosive later in the year when media reports cover the next round of bonuses and contrast it with stories of millions of Americans making do with less this holiday season.
(Except that it is the majority of Americans – not “extremists” on either side of the aisle – that share this anger).
The “Tea Party” movement was centered on the protesting government bailouts of the giant banks, before it was hijacked by the mainstream Republican party, Sarah Palin, Neocons and others. See this, this, this, this and this.
Ron Paul said last month at a GOP debate:
Bailouts came from both parties…. If you have to give money out, you should give it to people losing their mortgages, not to the banks.
And one of the most common sayings of Occupy Wall Street protesters is:
Banks got bailed out. We got sold out
END CRONY CAPITALISM!
I noted last year:
A Rassmussen poll conducted in February found:
70% [of all voters] believe that the government and big business typically work together in ways that hurt consumers and investors.
(and see this).
Remember that the government helped and encouraged the giant banks to get even bigger, and then has hidden their insolvency and shielded them from the free market, and helped them grow even during the severe downturn.
In return, the big banks and giant corporations have literally bought and paid for the politicians.
Conservatives might call it “socialism” and liberals might call it “fascism” – they are the same thing economically.
But all Americans – conservatives and liberals alike – can agree that it is not capitalism, and it is not American.
PROSECUTE WALL STREET FRAUD!
I pointed out a year ago:
Liberals tend to believe that the public should be protected against harm, while conservatives tend to believe that people should be left free to buy what they want.
Too far apart to ever agree?
No. Conservatives believe that people must be held responsible for their actions and punished for their transgressions. Indeed, some 82% of the American public wants tougher regulation of Wall Street.
Moreover, even for those who don’t like the government sticking its nose in our business, liberals and conservatives agree that if a company chooses to make a representation about something, it can be sued if it is a lie. In other words, all Americans agree that fraud laws should be enforced against everyone from the homeowner who fills out a mortgage application on a small house to the head of a giant bank who makes false statements about the bank’s balance sheets and the quality of it’s investments.
Everyone agrees that financial scammers must be tried and put in prison.
Indeed, Rasmussen found last month:
Two-out-of-three Americans (66%) believe the federal government has not been aggressive enough in pursuing possible criminal behavior by some Wall Street bankers, but 10% don’t feel that’s true and 25% are not sure.
Economists agree.
END – OR AT LEAST REIN IN – THE FEDERAL RESERVE!
As I pointed out last month, Americans are not happy with the Federal Reserve:
CNN notes:
“We are seeing a level of enthusiasm for Ron Paul that can be compared with President Obama in 2008?, said Eric Brakey, Media Coordinator for NYC Liberty HQ, the grassroots organization hosting the rally for the candidate. “Congressman Paul’s youth support is different now than it was during his last presidential campaign. It’s more organized and it’s picking up steam and continues to grow”.
As the longtime congressman from Texas stepped onto the stage, the crowd screamed with enthusiasm. The audience’s biggest reaction came when he spoke about ending the Federal Reserve. “The country has changed in the last four years, but my message hasn’t changed” Paul said. “The country is ripe for a true revolution”.
At least 75% of the American people want a full audit of the Fed, and most were against reconfirming Bernanke.
Indeed, as Bloomberg noted last December:
A majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the nation’s independent central bank, saying the U.S. Federal Reserve should either be brought under tighter political control or abolished outright, a poll shows.
***
Americans across the political spectrum say the Fed shouldn’t retain its current structure of independence. Asked if the central bank should be more accountable to Congress, left independent or abolished entirely, 39 percent said it should be held more accountable and 16 percent that it should be abolished. Only 37 percent favor the status quo.
Economists agree.
RESPECT THE CONSTITUTION AND OUR LIBERTY!
As I noted in September, Americans want our freedom back:
Americans have become much less tolerant of the wholesale destruction of our constitutional freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism.
As Talking Points Memo notes:
On the eve of the ten year anniversary of 9/11, the Pew Research Center has released new data on Americans’ reaction to the attacks, and the foreign and national security policies pursued in the post 9/11 era. They show a country with views that have evolved on the relationship between civil liberties and the tools given to government to fight terrorism, and a disbelief that the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan helped to lessen the chance there will be another terrorist attack on the United States.
The Pew survey showed a large shift in the number of Americans who are willing to see some of their civil liberties go out the window in the name of fighting terrorism. Directly after 9/11, Americans were willing to make the deal, as 55 percent thought it was necessary, against 35 percent who felt the opposite. Now, only 40 percent felt that giving up some civil liberties is necessary to curb terrorism, with 54 percent against.
END PERPETUAL WAR!
Americans want to put a stop to perpetual warfare:
Ron Paul is [partly] gaining popularity because he is against the never-ending War On Terror, and wants to bring the troops home. Americans are sick of the never-ending, ever-creeping war. See this, this and this.
As Talking Points Memo reported earlier this month:
“…Only about a quarter say the wars in Iraq (26%) and Afghanistan (25%) have lessened the chances of terrorist attacks in the United States,” the Pew report reads. “In both cases majorities say the wars either have increased the risk of terrorism in this country or made no difference.”
Top American military leaders agree, saying that the war on terror has weakened our national security.
And a CBS News poll from November 11th found:
- Three-quarters of Americans support US withdrawal from Iraq.
- Two-thirds of Americans believe the Iraq War was not worth fighting.
- Half of Americans oppose US involvement in Libya.
- More than half of Americans want to end the war in Afghanistan.
- Seventy per cent of Americans do not support military intervention to change dictatorships into democracies.
- 55% of Americans say Iran can be contained via diplomacy.
- Only 15% of Americans support military intervention in Iran.
MAKE ELECTIONS FAIR!
I noted last year that Americans want fair elections:
All Americans agree that … there should be free and fair elections. That is why – according to ABC News and the Washington Post – 80 percent of all Americans oppose the Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing unlimited campaign contributions. Americans understand that – unless we take the flood of money out of elections – Washington will represent special interests, and not us.
And we all agree on publicly verifiable, automatically audited paper ballot elections with reasonable ID requirements, so that we assured that no party can manipulate electronic voting results.
KEEP POISON OUT OF OUR FOOD AND WATER!
I noted last year that Americans want safe food and water:
Americans want to be free to live our lives without being poisoned. We agree on safe food, clean water and a healthy environment.
For example, polls show:
- A large majority of Americans want strong food safety rules, and want genetically modified foods to be labeled
- Most Americans are worried about water pollution
- Americans don’t want to be exposed to toxic pollutants
IF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGREE ON THESE CORE ISSUES, WHY AREN’T OUR DEMANDS BEING HEARD?
If Americans from across the spectrum agree, why aren’t these desires being implemented by our politicians?
Because our politicians are bought and paid for … lock, stock and barrel.
And the powers-that-be are good at using the age-old divide and conquer trick to keep us weak, divided and fighting at each others’ throat … instead of for what we actually want.
But ultimately, the main reason that we are impotent is that we don’t realize that the overwhelming majority of Americans want the same things we do.
Indeed, most Americans – conservatives and liberals – are fed up with both the mainstream Republican and Democratic parties. This is not surprising, given that neither party is addressing the core demands of the American people as a whole.
Sure, liberals and conservatives will always disagree on some things. But if we realized how many core beliefs we share, we would unite to take our country back from those who disagree with fundamental American values.
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OWS offers chaos......
....and how is that different from what we have now?
Oh, thats right. A select few get to fuck it up for the rest of us. Time to eat my peas.
Except the wrong path they offer is continued crony capitalism. The system is corrupt. A third party is needed. OWS has the possibility of bringing together right and left for the greater good of our economic sustainability.
How would OWS bring together right and left? Be specific.
I have long considered myself a conservative and have supported the advent and progress of the Tea Party Movement. I have also found myself in support of (what I believe) is the core planks of the OWS movement, although they have acquitted themselves roughly and have let wild and power grabbing elements hijack their movement. The Tea Party was and is effective because it stayed on message and didn't give in to the baser elements of its movement nor a monied interest bent on shaping and benefitting from their message. OWS has, unfortunately. See SEIU
As a social and fiscal conservative, I can live with (although not necessarily agree) gay marriage, environmental and educational policy and other mostly social and principle ideas and ideals that I do not at all support. My thinking is that if they have merit, they will find merit. I believe they don't, but that's just me. What I am saying is that time and circumstance will test these social issues. I will teach my children our beliefs, reasoning for such beliefs, and what I/we regard as truth and reasonableness. Let those chips fall as they may.
What I cannot agree with is a centralized government growing in power and stature driven mostly by banker policy and need, a democratic government that is far too beholden to temporary interests, further tamped by short term financial consequences and threats, for a government interested in only enforcing laws to suit its fancy or immediate need and a regulatory regimen that has grown monstrously to act and enact law outside of the consent of the people.
We may have already lost by consequence. The bankers and central govt. may have already flanked us, the body politic, so severely and acutely that it may in fact be too late. "Our" government has dithered and much as in the Civil War, many Union generals were unprepared becasue they were too busy reading their own newspaper clippings.
I say we have hope. If men, women of conscience and right can and will agree on the basic things that keep us corporeal, lacking that true unision of spirit, then I say yes, we can and will survive. A gay man in Santa Fe wants and honors freedom as much as the Father of three in Pittsburgh. Though they diverge, they meet again at that apex.
Remember this and do not give in. Remember that our country, while flawed, while imperfect, is a great land and a great people. Not for the wars we've won, not for the riches we've reaped, but for the people who have made it great.
We need more than ever our people to join where they can, agree where they can and steer this great country back in a direction that we can continue to be proud of and continue to be that "shining city on a hill."
My thinking is that if they have merit, they will find merit.
The path to the place in which we find ourselves is paved with the misplaced belief in this ideal.
Education has merit...until the NEA lobby quintuples the size of the education beaurocracy while the curriculum diminishes. Safety net programs have merit...until they become institutionalized means of disincentivizing people and handcuffing them with "benefits". The regulation of commerce has merit...until it is twisted and denies consumers the benefits of competition in things like health-care provision. Organized labor has merit...no, actually it doesn't...until it is enabled by bought-off officials to metastacize into industry-destroying black holes (see, e.g., the once-flourishing U.S. auto industry). This "merit-driven" mentality - the camel's nose, if you will - has landed the world in incomprehensibly large sums of unrepayable debt.
Great sounding "speech," but the ideology of acquiesence leads to unneeded largess in the central command post.
bravo
Tea Party, george washington. OWS: a fatal amalgam of brain dead motherfuckers
Go suck on a shit stick,FuckTard.
You are not welcome here.
Yardfarmer,,,spreading shit.
And such a brilliant display of your grey matter. I can tell you think hard about things before you hunt and peck.
The OWS crowd wants something for nothing.
The Tea Party crowd works for what they have.
That's the difference.
Ya,It sure looks like the divide and conquer thingy don't stand a chance with you eh,FuckTard.
Arguably, Most “Occupy” Protesters HAVE Jobs … Unemployment Much Lower Than In Tea Party
Yeah, who are they working for. The powers that be, who would like to distract us with deficit talk while the banksters continue to loot our economy. They are not what they sold themselves as. Look at what the Tea Party started as. It was all about holding the banks accountable. Not a peep about that these days. Somebody must have tamed them.
privatized gains, socialized losses. That is the issue that makes our blood boil. You are correct, OWS and Tea Party agree on that. The solutions they believe in differ radically.
the OWS solution is to eliminate the possibility of gain for anyone. In their world, problem solved. For those of us that work for a living, not so much.
The Tea Party wants to eliminate the socialized losses.
For me, I'll support the Tea Party approach.
Thanks for reading
Silly you ... you feed right into the false left/right conflict the PTB thrive on, so as to "divide and conquer the masses".
Unless you are up there with the 0.01% of the 1% ... unless you up amongst the Rothschilds and the banking elite, you are just an unwitting tool to throw spanners in the works against opposition to the banksters, the IMF, the BIS and Financialism generally.
You hate me because I am (loosely) a 'socialist' who, like you, worked for all of his life but, unlike you, objects to banksters ripping off my pension funds.
OK you have some idea that financialism is the problem, but you are typical of Tea Party members who attack others, who like yourselves, are at the bottom of the pecking order.
A person like myself - yes a socialist - wants a reasonable standard of living for everyone and a measure of equality in access to health-care and education. And we object to at least some of the 1% who pay no taxes, do not really work for a living (like you and I do/did), yet get the best available in all contexts ... take the British royal family as a case in point, though there are many other dynasties which live off the fat of the land and control the banks that never take a loss, because plebs like you and I cover their losses via the taxes we pay, plus the interest they charge on loans made to us.
But you and your ilk effectively ignore all that and attack so-called "hand-outs" to anyone you perceive to be on a lower rung of "the social ladder" than you are.
You want "gain" for yourself and fail to see that that actually should unite you with the OWS movement, because that is what everyone wants in some context or other.
What should unite the 99% of us + a fair proportion of the 1%, is that the banksters are ripping us all off.
Divide conquer seems to be doing extremely well on this thread. However, it should surprise no one. One would think people reading this site are capable of seeing through the propaganda machine that seperates us. But beliefs are a funny thing. We hold onto them as if they are real, not something that has been taught to us.
Your comment was well articulated.
And GW's title says it all.
OWS is against capitalism. The Tea party is not against capitalism.
The Protesters Are Not Anti-Capitalism … We Are Simply For “1 Person 1 Vote” and Equal Application of the Rule of Law
How many video/audio have there been with protesters saying get rid of capitalism.
I'm one person who doesn't want the right to vote but rather the right to live my own life regardless of how other people chose to vote.
Then, move to Antarctica.
You're the one who wants to force others to obey policies which are against their own interests. You get the hell out.
you are funny
you are funny
Yeah, freedom is hilarious.
If Americans from across the spectrum agree, why aren’t these desires being implemented by our politicians?
1) Because there isn't the unity you try to portray with your selective cobbling together of "data."
2) Because the elected officials haven't listened to the people in years.
Only an ideologue can convince himself that he can accurately describe the opposing views and believe himself to be objective in doing so.
We do all agree. Except TP is whiter, fatter, older and believes in JESUS who has been keeping them docile and dutifully consuming for centuries. Whereas OWS is too young, too lazy, too inexperienced and too touchy feely (hippie). Other than that, there's much in common -- e.g. a.) blaming someone else; b.) uh...
But none of those goals facilitate the looting of Empire by the Powers That Be within the Kleptocratic Framework.
They are pabulum spouted to mollify the masses.
Yeah but since when does it matter what the majority wants?
It does if what the majority wants does not threaten the power of the ruling class. But take a counter-example. The majority in favor of closing the border with Mexico to illegal immigration has been between 70% and 80% for decades in America. But that threatens the ruling class. Ruling Democrats because they want poor, minority voters and ruling business Republicans because they want cheap labor. That coalition has successfully prevented the will of the majority from being implemented for decades in America on this particular issue.
By George!
You've got that right.
Good analysis. Time for Banzai to make the posters...