Miami, FL – More than 30 south Florida activists gathered April 13 at the Margaret Pace Park. Occupy Miami, part of the Occupy Wall Street movement, organized a reunion for Occupiers and invited other local organizers to take part in discussions. The Occupy movement inspired many to join the fight for justice and many Miami Occupiers continue to organize.

Members of Broward and Miami-Dade Green Party, People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), Veterans for Peace, Progressive Democrats of America-Miami, Reclaim Your Power and Equality and Amnesty International participated in discussions summing up the past couple of years. Local activists are looking forward too, with upcoming plans to celebrate May Day – International Workers’ Day.

Palestine solidarity organizers are planning a commemoration of Al-Nakba, “the catastrophe,” when millions of Palestinians were violently forced to leave their homes in historic Palestine on May 15, 1948. Arab-American women’s leader Rasmea Odeh will be a focus of the May 15 event. Odeh is the target of political repression and is going to court in Detroit on June 10. A nationwide solidarity campaign at www.StopFBI.net is building up to support Odeh.

The Occupy Wall Street movement experienced repression at the hands of the U.S. government and the Occupy Miami reunion called for people to stand in solidarity with activists like Rasmea Odeh who are being targeted.

Pamela Maldonado, lead organizer with POWIR said, “We as activists experience repression, but we also practice solidarity that protects our movements. When we come together to fight we have a bigger impact. Together we are stronger.”

People spoke of ways to support each other’s work and strengthen the fight for justice. The spirited collaboration of the community helps to solidify the movement going forward.

#MiamiFL #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMiami

New York, NY – After news of an impending store closure, workers at the 63rd Street location of Hot and Crusty Bakery called for a 24-hour picket and store occupation, saying the company deliberately withheld rent payments following a hard-fought and successful unionization drive in May 2012. The company, owned by private equity partner Mark Samson, gave the Hot and Crusty Workers Association 11 days notice of eviction from the property, informing employees that August 31 would be their last day.

The union, led by a grassroots labor organization, the Laundry Workers Center and a contingent from Occupy Wall Street, students, faith and community members are occupying the workplace and holding an around-the-clock picket, demanding the company to discontinue its union-busting tactics, pay its rent immediately and continue to negotiate a fair contract with its workers. The company has used several bait-and-switch tactics during negotiations, threatening workers’ immigration status to deter their commitment to continuing the fight.

The August 31 closure will mean the loss of 23 jobs – including those of employees with as many as twelve years of employment with the company. Workers allege owners, including Mark Samson, Evangelos Gavalas and Nick Glendis, have a demonstrated history of wage and hour violations, intimidation, retaliation and harassment of workers in several of their businesses, as well as a pattern of closing down shops and opening under different aliases to avoid legal and economic liability. Workers have filed charges at the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the company is closing the 63rd Street shop to intimidate workers organizing at other Hot and Crusty locations.

Mahoma Lopez, a leader in the campaign who has worked at Hot and Crusty for over seven years said, “I want to send a message that we have to change the way immigrants are treated in this country. We have to show the bosses that we can’t be treated like animals any longer. We need to take radical action like people did in the civil rights movement, so that our voices can be heard. We are so happy to have the community here with us.”

Diego Ibanez, a member of Occupy Wall Street, emphasized the connection between Wall Street and workers, saying, “We’re sending a clear message to greedy bosses that we are watching and will not allow our people in the community to be oppressed any longer.”

#NewYorkNY #NewYork #picket #OccupyWallStreet #HotAndCrustyWorkersAssociation

Minneapolis, MN – The Minneapolis City Attorney is ramping up repression to try to stop the months-long campaign to resist the foreclosure of Alejandra and David Cruz’s family home at 4044 Cedar Avenue South. In an ominous development, at least three of the dozens of people arrested in defending the home from foreclosure are now being retroactively charged with third degree riot, obstructing legal process, disorderly conduct and presence at an unlawful assembly, in addition to their original trespass charge. The third degree riot charge alone could mean a year in jail and $3000 fine.

The protest where these specific arrests took place was on May 30 during one of the Minneapolis Police Department’s several attempts to clear out occupiers and evict the Cruz family on behalf of PNC Bank, which owns the home mortgage. That massive police operation and arrests took place less than 24 hours after Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak had tried to appear sympathetic to the anti-foreclosure movement by saying, “the City is not in the foreclosure business.”

For several months, Occupy Homes MN has mobilized hundreds of people to occupy and defend the Cruz home while building pressure nationally on PNC Bank, demanding that they negotiate to allow the Cruz family to keep their home. The Minneapolis police repeatedly returned to the home to try to dislodge the occupiers and were repeatedly rebuffed through mass civil disobedience. After the police finally succeeded in ejecting the occupiers and locking down the home, there was a mass civil disobedience action on June 21, where 13 more people were arrested, including hip hop artist Brother Ali.

According to a statement from Occupy Homes MN, “These charges are a clear and disgraceful attempt to suppress the Occupy Homes movement and ‘make an example’ of anti-foreclosure organizers who were arrested while non-violently protesting an unjust eviction. City Attorney Susan Segal, appointed by Mayor RT Rybak, has also made it a point to aggressively prosecute other political defendants, including a group arrested while protesting US Bank’s foreclosure practices last fall … This attempt to silence and stifle anti-foreclosure organizing will not deter us from fighting for our homes, our families, our neighbors, and our futures.”

Donations for legal defense of the people arrested defending the Cruz home can be made here: https://www.wepay.com/occupyhomesmn More information on the fight to defend the Cruz home:

#MinneapolisMN #Foreclosures #HousingStruggles #OccupyWallStreet #InjusticeSystem #OccupyHomesMN

Winston-Salem, NC – On June 6, over a dozen activists of Occupy Winston-Salem and the community gathered outside Forsyth Medical Center to protest against the mass layoff of 289 workers by Novant Health, Inc. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, Novant Health employs over 25,000 workers, operating 13 different hospitals, from North Carolina all the way to Georgia.

Picketing between Silas Creek Parkway and Hawthorne Road, the solidarity was very high as hundreds of passersby honked in support, with either a wave or fist outside their windows, while thousands more were at least able to get a glimpse of Occupy’s resistance against job cuts. Some of those who honked in solidarity were employees of Forsyth Medical Center, including an ambulance truck.

Debra Demske, member of Occupy Winston-Salem, said, “One woman who drove by on Wednesday shouted out her car window that she was laid off after 27 years. If the company is acting with integrity, why does it need to have every employee escorted by security to the door?”

Tony Ndege of Occupy Winston-Salem states, “Novant brought in extra private security staff from Charlotte to show their newly laid-off employees the door like criminals. Novant Health, just like any other big business, is primarily concerned about the next quarter and presenting growth figures for its board. The bottom dollar is the bottom line for Novant, not loyalty to its workers or its customers.”

The reason for these job cuts, according to Novant, is the national mandate by ‘Obamacare’ to lower health care costs. However, in the month of April of 2011 alone, Novant accumulated a net income of $1 million. In 2010 they made $158 million, and another $197 million the year before that. By the end of 2011 their revenue had risen to $3.43 billion, leaving everyone to question where all this money is going and why almost 300 workers have to suffer as a result by having their jobs slashed.

Of the 289 workers to be laid off by Novant, 82 are of managing positions, while the remaining 207 are staff. In response, Novant claims that 10-15% of those laid off will be relocated, but in lower positions with less pay, such as clinical and patient care.

“The management of Novant,” said Debra Demske, “does not have the best interests of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, or North Carolina in mind when making management decisions if this is the kind of decisions they make. The actions of Novant management clearly indicate that the compensation of the Novant management team is the number one consideration of cost-saving decisions for the company.”

Demske continues, “And what about the effect on the local community that they are supposed to be supporting with their tax-free status? What about adjacent losses? How many Novant jobs equal one cashier job at a local market? Those 289 jobs were not the only job losses, but there is no entity that will study the impact of these job losses because the companies that control the research also control the jobs.”

#WinstonSalemNC #Healthcare #jobCuts #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyWinstonSalem #NovantHealth

“We might be depressed or we might be celebrating June 5, but regardless, we're going out there June 6 to let everyone know this recall is one battle within a much larger conflict against the 1% and we're gonna keep on fighting,” stated Occupy Milwaukee activist Daniel Ginsberg.

Support for this idea is spreading widely in a state that has been engulfed in a battle to save unions and to fight off cuts to the poor since Republican Governor Scott Walker took office in 2011. Immediately after taking office, Walker attacked union rights to collectively bargain, rolled back laws on workplace discrimination, imposed over $1 billion in cuts to education and opened new fronts on the war against workers, the Black and Latino communities and women.

Endorsers of Keep it in the Streets include the Amalgamated Transit Union 998, AFSCME 82, the Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association, Welfare Warriors, Students for a Democratic Society and many more who have been on the front lines of the battle against Gov. Walker since the winter 2011 Madison uprising, when hundreds of thousands descended on the Wisconsin State Capitol.

Gov. Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett are virtually tied in the polls, even though Walker outspent the Democratic gubernatorial candidate by millions. Walker is backed by billionaires who want to turn Wisconsin into a ‘right to work’ state, as was seen on a conversation caught on video between Walker and billionaire Diane Hendricks. Tom Barrett, with his own big money backers, is primarily depending on working people from all over the state, who have already launched a mass successful mobilization to force the recall election.

Many will speak on June 6 before the protest heads downtown and into the banking district. The core unifying demands will be: Repeal Act 10 – hands off unions and collective bargaining; no cuts to education or Badger Care; restore the Equal Pay Act – we demand an end to workplace discrimination; tax the 1% – hold the banksters and the 1% accountable for their economic crisis; and stop the cuts to working and oppressed people.

The Keep it in the Streets protest will start at 5:00 p.m., June 6 at Pere Marquette Park.

For more information: www.occupymilwaukee.org

#MilwaukeeWI #GovernorScottWalker #rightToWork #OccupyMilwaukee #OccupyWallStreet

Winston-Salem, NC – On April 16, local residents and members of Occupy Winston-Salem held a demonstration at the U.S. Post Office in the Waughtown area. Protesters demanded that the only post office in the community not be closed down.

Across the country, hundreds of U.S. post offices are on a closure list, based upon the amount of revenue they generate. For the Waughtown area, which is known to be one of the most diverse, predominantly working class communities in Winston-Salem, the closure of the one and only post office would be a major setback.

Local passersby honked to express solidarity as they drove past, while others stopped and greeted protesters as they were coming and going from the post office during the day. Shouting could be heard from Pleasant Street to Waughtown Street: “U-S-P-S should not pay for Wall Street’s mess!” – a financial mess that postal workers are organizing against nationwide.

Amanda Porter-Cox of Occupy Winston-Salem spoke out against the closing, “If that post office is closed, it will impact the daily life of all those residents living in that area. Since it is located in a poorer part of town, it is particularly vulnerable. The other implication that will come up is that the 1% is taking over public services, making them private and taking rights away. We cannot allow this to happen.”

Justin Flores, organizer and Director of Programs for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), also joined the demonstration, angry about what the 1% are trying to force upon the residents of Waughtown. “While farm workers often lack basic human rights,” he said, “our union understands that only by sticking together will we be able to win against those who seek to put profits over people, so I was excited to be there with the good folks in Winston Salem in support of the postal workers and their union.”

Flores continues, “I think this type of work is not only crucial to build the power to push back the Republican efforts to end public mail service, but also to educate and organize our communities about the serious problems that come along with privatization and slashes to federal, state, and local budgets. Whether it is education, mail service or public safety, conservatives are looking for ways to turn everything into a for-profit business, which often fails to account for the importance of these services for many communities. Without good public mail service, the for-profit industry will have no reason to keep good, low cost service in many neighborhoods. Only by engaging our neighbors and families will we build enough political power to not only fight back against the threats to public services, but keep fighting to improve them.”

#WinstonSalemNC #TaxTheRich #postOffice #postalWorkers #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyWinstonSalem

Minneapolis, MN – About 100 rallied in front of City Hall here, April 9, and then occupied the office of Mayor R.T. Rybak, demanding a public meeting with the mayor in response to the April 7 police attack on occupiers. Initially, representatives of the mayor’s office threatened arrests. After about an hour of chanting and mic checks in the office reception area, Mayor Rybak agreed to an April 10 meeting.

On April 7, Occupy Minneapolis attempted to reoccupy downtown’s Peavey Plaza. The Minneapolis Police Department attacked protesters, arresting 12. Some participants were injured, including a reporter from a local TV station, whose camera was smashed.

#MinneapolisMN #PoliceBrutality #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMinneapolis #MayorRTRybak

Chicago, IL – 1000 people took to the streets in an unpermitted march from the Chicago Board of Trade Building at Jackson and LaSalle and over to Grant Park for the April 7 Spring to Action by Occupy Chicago.

People chanted, “We are the 99%!” and “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” to passersby in Chicago’s downtown Loop.

At Grant Park, there were several workshops around the field, including direct action, political economy and gearing up for NATO’s arrival in Chicago.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke at a workshop on jobs, housing, health and education. With his famous cadence, “Keep hope alive,” Jackson talked about the need for social services and jobs at home as opposed to war abroad. “On May 20, we will occupy for our future!” exclaimed Jackson, referring to the opening day of the NATO protest in Chicago. Jackson urged people to join the march organized by the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda at noon that day.

#ChicagoIL #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyChicago #NATOG8Summit

John Kraintz from Safe Ground gave a rousing talk that linked the struggle of the homeless to the many instances of police repression of the Occupy movement. He pointed out that the local ordinances against camping and loitering are used to repress people in two ways. One is that police forcibly, sometimes violently, dismantle Occupy encampments around the country. The other is they aim squarely at removing homeless people who survive and live by building community in public space. Kraintz went on to explain, “There is no reason to even have an anti-camping law because there are 55,000 vacant buildings in Sacramento and maybe 10,000 homeless.”

Bob Saunders from Occupy Foreclosures called on participants to never forget that the current housing crisis “is a crime perpetrated by the top Wall Street banks.” Saunders also called for a permanent moratorium on foreclosures.

Eileen Schnitger of the Women’s Health Specialists made it clear that “we don’t just support the Occupy movement. We are a part of the Occupy movement.” That theme of unity with Occupy was repeated in the talks from many of the panelists. Speakers also expressed a sense of urgency for Occupy to make a show of force in Sacramento this spring.

Occupy Sacramento announced that it will soon call for a follow-up meeting to discuss the development of demands and a campaign to win them.

#SacramentoCA #OccupyWallStreet #OccupySacramento

Ocupa, movilizaciones y protestas

Los manifestantes acamparon en el parque y se plantaron allí por 59 días. El apoyo hacia la protesta incrementó rápidamente y se expandió a lo largo del país y a nivel mundial. Semanas después, algunas mil ciudades tenían sus protestas de Ocupar. En ciudades pequeñas y grandes de los EEUU se generaron movimientos de Ocupar, incluyendo Chicago, Fort Worth, Los Ángeles, Minneapolis, Oakland, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tampa, y Winston-Salem.

Muchos de los manifestantes que acamparon de tiempo completo en los lugares ocupados son estudiantes anglosajones provenientes de clase media u obrera, pero también hay desempleados y/o indigentes. Sin embargo, centenares y miles más se unen con los Ocupantes para participar en protestas durante el día y en los fines de semana, especialmente cuando se movilizan los sindicatos. Las movilizaciones sindicales han cambiado la composición del movimiento de Ocupar dramáticamente, como se puede ver en Nueva York o Chicago, dado que miles de africano-americanas y puertorriqueñas, chicanas y otras nacionalidades se tomaron las calles y los parques públicos. La solidaridad y el aprecio aumentan mientras se desarrolla el proceso de protestar unidos.

El lema: “somos el 99%”, surgió de las protestas y capturó el sentimiento en torno a la causa de la crisis económica. Las y los indignados incluyen una amplia gama de personas que están siendo castigadas por el deterioro económico – estudiantes, profesionales, personas con empresas pequeñas, trabajadores, desempleados y también indigentes-. El lema esclarece la necesidad de que la gente se levante para enfrentar al gobierno y al sistema económico que sostienen los beneficios del pequeño grupo acaudalado.

Represión del movimiento en todo el país

Las protestas del Movimiento Ocupar que están surgiendo en ciudad tras ciudad han sido enfrentadas con violencia y represión policial. Tan sólo en Nueva York la policía lanzó gases de pimienta y golpeó a manifestantes y a espectadores en más de cien ocasiones. Videos publicados muestran cómo la policía ha arrestando a personas por el simple hecho de grabar con video la reacción de la policía frente a las protestas.

En la ciudad de Oakland, California, el motín lanzó gases lacrimógenos a la multitud para remover el campamento de los Ocupantes indignada/os. Uno de los cilindros de los gases lacrimógenos fue disparado directamente al manifestante Scott Olsen y le causó una grave herida en la cabeza, dejándolo inconsciente. Su cráneo sufrió fracturas y estuvo hospitalizado por varias semanas. Olsen, un veterano de la guerra en Iraq, tuvo dificultad para hablar después del incidente. Otro indignado, ex miembro de la Marina, y veterano de la guerra en Iraq, Kayven Sabeghi, sufrió lesiones en el brazo después de ser golpeado por la policía.

En la ciudad de Fort Worth, Tejas, las y los indignados fueron multados por razones varias, desde el hecho de estacionarse en medidores expirados en la calle hasta por dormir en lugares públicos. Un caso notorio grabado en video muestra cuando un oficial de la policía le quita a un manifestante una bandera estadounidense que cargaba y le pega por detrás con el palo antes de golpearle la cara. El policía dijo que la bandera lo había rozado al pasar. Esto terminó en el arresto del manifestante.

En Chicago, Illinois, más de 300 manifestantes fueron arrestados en una sola semana por intentar establecer un campamento. En Minneapolis, Minnesota, la policía incautó cada carpa encontrada además de llevarse alimentos, mantas y demás pertenencias. En Winston-Salem, la policía intentó detener un foro del pueblo y además robó una bandera del grupo. Más tarde, mientras los participantes estaban reunidos en la grama del ayuntamiento, la policía cerró la reunión, que había sido aprobada por la alcaldía. Un indignado fue arrestado por responder verbalmente a la policía.

Más que el clima invernal, la represión policial ha puesto fin a campamentos permanentes del movimiento Ocupar en la mayoría de ciudades. Tan sólo un pequeño número sigue en pie como en Madison, Wisconsin, y en Albany, Nueva York. En la ciudad de Albany el jefe de la policía se niega a utilizar recursos de la ciudad para sacar a manifestantes del los parques. No obstante, tres rondas de arrestos masivos y limpiezas en los parques fueron organizadas al nivel nacional con la colaboración de Homeland Security, el FBI y las autoridades locales.

La policía cerró el campamento de Oakland el 25 de octubre del 2011. Sin embargo, el movimiento de Ocupar Oakland reconstruyó el campamento al siguiente día. Posteriormente, el 2 de noviembre, Ocupar Oakland convocó a una huelga general, incluyendo el paro de uno de los puertos más activos en EEUU. Fue renombrado como una “masiva jornada de acción” y tuvo el apoyo de muchos sindicatos locales y concejales laborales, y, más importante, de Longshore International y Sindicato de Bodegas (Warehouse Union). La acción masiva también logró cerrar algunas partes del centro de la ciudad y decenas de miles de personas se tomaron las calles. No hay manera de saber cuántos miles más de personas se quedaron en casa en vez de asistir a sus empleos para mostrar su solidaridad. El nuevo campamento de Ocupar Oakland permaneció activo hasta que la policía lo cerró nuevamente el 14 de noviembre.

El 1% acumula, el 99% se moviliza

El 12 de diciembre, el movimiento Ocupar tomó la idea de cerrar los puertos y la expandió por toda la costa occidental. Puertos de Oakland; Seattle y Longview, en Washington; Portland, Oregón y Houston, en Tejas, fueron cerrados parcialmente o completamente durante segmentos del día. Aunque algunos dirigentes sindicales se oponían al cierre masivo de los puertos, muchos sindicalistas apoyaron y participaron en los cierres.

Ocupar el Campus es una tendencia en desarrollo, después de que manifestantes universitarios fueron golpeados con bastones en la Universidad de Berkeley de California (UC), lo que provocó que más de 3.000 estudiantes, profesores y trabajadores protestaran en el Campus. Luego en UC Davis, un infame oficial de policía roció con gas pimienta a estudiantes que estaban sentados unidos de brazos en un acto de desobediencia civil. Esto indignó a estudiantes, padres y otras personas en todo el país, en forma similar a lo que sucedió con los golpes recibidos por los manifestantes de los derechos civiles hace 50 años. Más de 5.000 personas se organizaron en UC Davis para exigir que el policía sea acusado de un delito y que Linda Katehi renunciara a su cargo como rectora. Con los estudiantes regresando al campus se están gestando reuniones y planes sobre cómo continuar con el movimiento Ocupar.

El movimiento continúa...

A pesar de los esfuerzos y el poder del 1%, el movimiento de Ocupar está lejos de ser vencido. Las tácticas de los ocupantes han mostrado gran creatividad y variedad. En Minneapolis y en otras ciudades los ocupantes están desafiando las ejecuciones hipotecarias. En Grand Rapids, los ocupantes celebraron un juicio de prueba de la ex secretaria de Estado Condoleezza Rice por la responsabilidad de crímenes de guerra en relación con la guerra en Irak. Rice estaba presente en una cena de recaudación de fondos a sólo unos cientos de metros de distancia. Ocupantes en Salt Lake City, Utah, marcharon en solidaridad cuando Ocupar Oakland cerró los puertos. Ocupantes en Durham, Carolina del Norte; Dallas, Texas, y Champaign, Illinois, marcharon frente a sedes de bancos principales como el Chase y Wells Fargo para responsabilizarlos por la crisis económica.

En los primeros días de 2012 ya se han realizado varias movilizaciones masivas, mientras muchas ciudades se siguen movilizando en escala más pequeña. El 17 de enero miles de personas se movilizaron en la grama del Capitolio en Washington DC, en lo que llamaron “Ocupa el Congreso”, demandando el fin a las guerras imperialistas y condenando la influencia del negocio en el Capitolio. Marcharon a la Corte Suprema cantando “Dinero no es libertad de expresión”, y después a la Casa Blanca, con consignas como “Sal Obama, tenemos que hablar”, y “¿Casa de quién? Nuestra casa”.

El 28 de enero, miles de personas en Oakland se movilizaron para ocupar un edificio abandonado y convertirlo en un centro comunitario y casa para participantes en el movimiento. Movilizaciones solidarias tuvieron lugar en más de 30 ciudades, incluyendo Chicago, Nueva York y Boston. La policía local de Oakland respondió con gas lacrimógeno, granadas de aturdimiento o explosiones cegadoras, rondas de sub letales y golpes de bastón gratuitos, gastando cientos de miles de dólares para violentamente prevenir el uso comunitario de un edificio no utilizado, propiedad de la ciudad. En estas movilizaciones arrestaron a más de 400 personas. Entretanto la administración de la ciudad sigue cerrando bibliotecas públicas y escuelas, y despidiendo a empelados municipales.

El 30 de enero manifestantes en DC construyeron un campamento llamado “La carpa de sueños” en un parque central en la ciudad, cerca a la Casa Blanca. Aunque la policía local ordenó que se desocupara el parque y el Servicio Nacional de Parques ha advertido que pueden ser arrestados, los ocupantes no se han ido hasta la publicación de este artículo.

No hay ninguna manera de saber qué ocurrirá a continuación con el movimiento de Ocupar. Los medios masivos de comunicación ya casi no están cubriendo las movilizaciones, por eso muchos temen que el movimiento se está cayendo. Sin embargo, es claro que el movimiento de Ocupar representa un despertar de la conciencia y protesta en los Estados Unidos. La economía se dirige a más problemas en el 2012 y más personas están sufriendo. No podemos predecir qué forma tomará la lucha, pero con certeza podemos predecir que el 2012 será un año aún mejor para lucha que el 2011.

#UnitedStates #politicalRepression #OccupyWallStreet

13 people were arrested on the first day trying to occupy Compton Hill Reservoir Park. Police armed with batons attacked the Occupiers, causing several injuries. Protesters were initially threatened with felony charges, which were later dropped. Then on March 17, Occupy Wall Street protesters rallied against home foreclosures in front of the Wells Fargo Corporate Center, one of the big bailout banks. Unfazed by the previous day’s police violence, the protest then merged into the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Saint Louis chanting, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!”

Much of the weekend's agenda focused on the upcoming NATO/G8 protest against war makers and bankers in Chicago. Occupy Chicago, as well as organizers from the Coalition Against NATO/G8 gave presentations about the causes of war and poverty and facilitated discussions on building for the protests across the Midwest. Cities from around the country are organizing buses to Chicago for the May 20 day of action.

“We were excited to connect with organizers from around the country that are a part of the same movement against corporate domination and war,” said Danielle Meyer of Occupy Milwaukee, “We want to coordinate Occupy further and develop plans for future connected actions throughout the Midwest.”

#StLouisMO #OccupyWallStreet #NATOG8Summit2012

New York, NY – March 17 was the sixth-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. In the late evening, a crowd of hundreds gathered in historic Zuccotti Park, now dubbed Liberty Plaza. Many organizers and progressive forces attending the annual Left Forum at Pace University, very close to the park, joined OWS activists.

The youth gathered in the park for hours, playing drums and refusing to leave. The crowd gradually swelled as the evening went on. A small contingent of youth from Workers World Party circled the square chanting, “Just like Ho Chi Minh! Occupy is gonna win!” Others joined in this anti-imperialist chant.

Michael Moore and Cornel West, who had addressed the Left Forum earlier in the evening, joined the crowd and gave words of support.

When the New York Police Department announced that the park was closed, several hundred youth sat down together, joining arms. They insisted on their right to stay there, citing a recent court ruling that required the park to remain open. When the police refused to listen, they chanted, “We are not afraid.”

Police pulled protesters out of the crowd and handcuffed them. They swung batons and pushed people to the ground. The media reported that police actions injured several people. These included shoving a woman’s head against the hood of a car and pushing a man’s head into a plateglass window. Another woman suffered a seizure because of a forceful arrest, and then police denied her help from OWS emergency medical technicians. It took loud protests from the crowd to get an ambulance to the scene.

A youth who witnessed the police attack told Workers World, “All I could see was batons high in the air, coming down on people.” Some of the 73 people who were arrested reported being held, handcuffed and left on city buses for hours, before finally being taken to holding cells.

A march was called the following evening in support of the arrestees. At the closing panel of the Left Forum, speakers urged the audience to attend the march and support the arrested youth.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceBrutality #MichaelMoore #Repression #OccupyWallStreet #ZuccottiPark #LeftForum #NYPD #CornelWest #LibertyPlaza

This law makes trespassing, actions in or near restricted areas that would “disrupt the orderly conduct of Government” and blocking entrances to the restricted areas federal crimes. The restricted areas include locations under Secret Service protection including “(1) the White House or its grounds of the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds, (2) a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or (3) a building or grounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance.”

Under the anti-Occupy bill one must act “knowingly,” not “willfully and knowingly” which was the previous language. This new wording means one would need to know that they were entering a restricted area but not necessarily know their actions would constitute a crime.

The American Civil Liberties Union explained the potential impact of this new law, “H.R. 347 did make one noteworthy change, which may make it easier for the Secret Service to overuse or misuse the statute to arrest lawful protesters.”

Meredith Aby, an activist with the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and who helped organize the 2008 March on the RNC, responded to the passage of the law. “The classification of National Special Security Events and the criminalization of protests at these events is unfortunately nothing new. The federal government has used this designation since the Clinton administration as a way to make national political conventions, like the DNC and the RNC, and events like the G-8 and WTO insulated from justified public protest and outrage.”

Aby continued, “Regardless of how the federal government uses their rule book to favor the 1%, people in this country are fed up and want real change. Tens of thousands of people came out to say no to the war on Iraq in Saint Paul in 2008, despite the multitude of barriers to protest that the federal, state and local governments put up. Similarly tens of thousands will come out this May to protest the NATO summit in Chicago despite this law and Mayor Emmanuel’s attempts to criminalize protests. The 99% want money for human needs not war and will take to the streets in Chicago to have their voices heard.”

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #civilLiberties #CivilRights #OccupyWallStreet #rightToProtest #FederalRestrictedBuildingAndGroundsImprovementActOf2011 #HR347

Durham, NC – Holding signs and shaking noise-makers, about 50 people gathered outside the Durham County Detention Facility on Feb. 20. The protest brought out a diverse group of people, who held banners that read “No more prisons” and “Solidarity with prisoners everywhere.” Others held placards saying, “End prisoners abuse and solitary confinement.” Dozens of people honked their car horns in support as they drove past the demonstration.

In the distance and several stories above, inmates crowded around the few windows that looked out onto the plaza, waving to the demonstrators.

More than 16 cities held rallies on Feb. 20 as part of a national day of action, “Occupy 4 Prisoners”, that emerged from a [January general assembly at Occupy Oakland](http://occupy4prisoners.org/2012/01/09/proposal-to-occupy-oakland-general-assembly/). The Occupy for Prisoners call to action was informed by a letter from [Kevin Cooper](http://occupy4prisoners.org/2012/01/06/occupy-death-row-by-kevin-cooper/), a prisoner on death row in San Quentin, who wrote in an open letter to the Occupy movement earlier this year, “No man or woman on death row in this state, or any other state, is a 'Have.' We are also the 'Have Nots.' We are the bottom 1 %.”

Occupy for Prisoners calls for abolishing the death penalty; supporting prisoner struggles such as the [Pelican Bay hunger strike](http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/); freeing political prisoners; ending the repression of activists; dismantling solitary confinement and “Secured Housing Units” and shifting public funds from the prison-industrial complex towards improving communities. 13 Occupy assemblies endorsed the protest, along with dozens of national organizations.

The call from Occupy for Prisoners notes:

“Mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow. Between 1970 and 1995, the incarceration of African Americans increased 7 times. Currently African Americans make up 12 % of the population in the U.S. but 53% of the nation’s prison population. There are more African Americans under correctional control today—in prison or jail, on probation or parole – than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.

“The prison system is the most visible example of policies of punitive containment of the most marginalized and oppressed in our society. Prior to incarceration, 2/3 of all prisoners lived in conditions of economic hardship. While the perpetrators of white-collar crime largely go free.”

Candace Mujahid, an organizer with the Ban the Box Durham initiative – a movement aiming to ban the use of the “have you ever been convicted of a crime?” question on job applications – noted that prisons are big business (one report from 2006 suggests it is a [$37 billion dollar a year industry](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/12/01/8394995/index.htm). “They are utilizing prison labor to make products and sell products and not putting any of that money to rehabilitation or education access,” Mujahid said.

Across the country, there is growing awareness and outrage about for-profit prisons, mass incarceration of Black and Latino youth, racist death penalty sentences and long sentences for non-violent drug offenses. While the U.S. has 5% of the world's population, it has [25% of the world's prisoners](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/world/americas/23iht-23prison.12253738.html). As organizers of the Occupy for Prisoners day of action noted, any movement of the 99% must fight for justice for prisoners and their families, who are among the most oppressed and exploited in society today.

#DurhamNC #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyForPrisoners

“This is a victory for Occupy in their involvement in forcing negotiations. Make no mistake – the solidarity and organization between the Occupy Movement and the Longshoremen won this contract,” said Jack Mulcahy, ILWU officer with Local 8. “The mobilization of the Occupy Movement across the country, particularly in Oakland, Portland, Seattle, and Longview were a critical element in bringing EGT to the bargaining table and forcing a settlement with ILWU local 21.”

“West Coast Occupys had already demonstrated their ability to stage such a blockade by shutting down ports along the West Coast on December 12th, as well as the Port of Oakland on November 2nd,” said Anthony Leviege, ILWU Local 10 in Oakland. The Occupy Movement shut down ports in order to express solidarity with port truckers and Local 21, as well as responding to a nationally-coordinated eviction campaign against Occupy.

Negotiations progressed to the point where Longshore workers began loading the merchant vessel Full Sources on Tuesday. “When any company ruptures jurisdiction it is a threat to the entire union. The union jobs wouldn't be back in Longview if it weren't for Occupy. It's a win for the entire class of workers in the Occupy Movement in demonstrating their organizational skills,” said Leviege.

“It is clear that the port shutdowns on November 2nd and December 12th, and the impending mobilization in Longview, is what made EGT come to the table. When Governor Gregoire intervened a year ago nothing was settled – non-ILWU workers were still working in the port. It wasn't until rank and file and Occupy planned a mass convergence to blockade the ship that EGT suddenly had the impetus to negotiate.” said Clarence Thomas, an officer of ILWU Local 10. “Labor can no longer win victories against the employers without the community. It must include a broad-based Movement. The strategy and tactics employed by the occupy Movement in conjunction with rank and file ILWU members confirm that the past militant traditions of the ILWU are still effective against the employers today.”

EGT itself made evident the company's concern about Occupy's role in the conflict in the January 27 settlement agreement: “The ILWU Entities shall issue a written notice to The Daily News and the general public, including the Occupy Movement, informing them of this settlement and urging them to cease and desist from any actions[...].”

“The Occupy Movement and rank-and-file unionists both within and outside of our ranks have forced the company to settle, but this is not over,” says Jess Kincaid of Occupy Portland. “Occupy doesn't sign contracts. We have not entered into any agreements with EGT, nor do we intend to do so. EGT and its parent company Bunge bribe the government for military escorts, use slave labor in Brazil and systematically avoid contributing anything to our social safety net in the US or abroad. There is no ethic here beyond putting money back in the pocket of the 1% at the cost of working people and the sustainability of the earth.”

“It was the brave action of members of Local 21 blocking the train tracks this past summer that inspired the solidarity of the Occupy Movement up and down the West Coast and around the country. It was not until Occupy joined together with Local 21 and its labor allies that the company returned to the table. Governor Gregoire did nothing but let EGT raid Longshore Jurisdiction until Occupy responded to the call for support,” said Paul Nipper of Occupy Longview.

#LongviewWA #InternationalLongshoreWarehouseUnionILWU #OccupyWallStreet #LongshoreWorkers #ExportGrainTerminalEGT

Milwaukee, WI – While 300 foreclosed homes were being auctioned off Feb. 6 at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, over 50 protesters stormed Milwaukee City Hall, Feb. 6 demanding an end to foreclosures, evictions, plant closings, school closings and layoffs, as well as transparency with the federally-funded Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).

The Occupy Coalition called the event “Take Back City Hall.” It included a march past several downtown banks before entering City Hall, along with mic checks and chants against bankers and corrupt politicians. One chant addressed the mayor: “Tom Barrett, get your ass in gear; stop giving our homes to the auctioneers!”

“Our people have been robbed so long and our elected officials have been letting big businesses control the voices of the people,” said Khalil Coleman of Occupy the Hood. “So we went to City Hall to take the power back.”

Despite the heavily-policed City Hall confining protesters to the main lobby, Occupy protesters made it to the second floor balcony to drop a large banner that read, “We are the 99%. Stop foreclosures. CDBG transparency.”

At one point, Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton came down past the police to meet the protest. Confronted about transparency issues over CDBGs, he agreed on public record to a hearing over the issue.

The Occupy Coalition, made up of Occupy the Hood, Occupy Milwaukee and Occupy Riverwest, have also recently been involved in door-to-door interviews, bus teach-ins and community service.

Danielle Meyer of Occupy Milwaukee explained, “The only way to confront the power of the 1% is to do it together. We've been in a lot of communities talking about the economic crisis and its impact on us. Today at City Hall we just got done confronting that power with our demands and I expect we'll be doing it again soon.”

Brian Woods, an Occupy organizer, agreed. “This was an empowering experience,” he said.

From 3 to 5 p.m., the main floor of the Milwaukee City Hall lobby was occupied, with Occupy protesters promising to return.

#MilwaukeeWI #Milwaukee #OccupyMilwaukee #OccupyWallStreet

Minneapolis, MN – More than 75 people rallied here, Feb. 3, as a part of the National Day of Protest against the provision of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that allows for indefinite detention without trial. The protest occurred outside the Obama campaign headquarters. President Obama signed this unconstitutional bill into law Dec. 31. According to Anh Pham of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), “This law allows the government to continue to oppress anyone who doesn’t agree with them.”

Sam Richards of Occupy Minneapolis stated, “The NDAA of 2012 is the largest assault on our rights since the Patriot Act. Obama ran as a champion of civil liberties. We demand an end to the attack on our civil rights.”

This demand rang clear as activists joined in chants, speeches, guerrilla theater and an occupation of the Obama headquarter building as part of the direct action. The message of the protest was apparent, with signs such as “No war on our rights: No NDAA,” and chants like “Hey Obama, pay attention! We say no to indefinite detention!”

After hearing representatives from organizations such as the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Occupy Minneapolis and the Anti-War Committee, protesters performed a skit to illustrate what the NDAA laws could look like. During speeches by activists, guerrilla actors dressed as military and FBI personnel attacked and hooded them, thus silencing the progressive voices. A member of the Anti-War Committee called out “I have a constitutional right to protest!” as an ‘FBI agent’ threatened her and led her out of the demonstration.

Then the crowd entered the Obama headquarters building, to press their demands for civil liberties. Many stayed to occupy the headquarters for over two hours and were successful in getting a future meeting set up with state director of the Obama campaign.

Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, whose home was raided by the FBI on September 24, 2010 stated, “The government is already engaging in attacks on anti-war and international solidarity activists. While the U.S. government spends billions waging war on people of the world, they want to criminalize our right to speak out against their unjust wars.”

#MinneapolisMN #Minneapolis #PresidentObama #MinnesotaCommitteeToStopFBIRepression #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMinneapolis #NDAA #NationalDefenseAuthorizationAct #indefiniteDetention #PoliticalRepression

Washington DC – In response to a call for a nationwide Occupy presence in Washington D.C., thousands joined Occupy Congress, Jan. 17.

People made their way onto the lawn of the Capitol building demanding an end to imperialist wars, condemning the influence of big business on politicians and challenging the system that creates unemployment, increased foreclosed homes and more poverty. The Occupy protesters were joined by the Veterans for Peace, who called for getting the U.S. out of Afghanistan, South Korea and elsewhere. The anti-war veterans and protesters also demanded an end to the aggressive policies toward Iran. Tony Ndege, member of Occupy Winston-Salem, stated, “One has to only look at the violence that this Congress has sanctioned its military to commit upon the world to see where they really stand.”

“I didn't have any hopes for any type of serious legislation being considered or anything game-changing on behalf of our Congress. Why? Because they are part of the problem,” Ndege continued.

By 6:30 p.m. a large mass of protesters marched off the Capitol lawn and began to spread their demands all across D.C. The sound and sight of police sirens could be heard in the streets as the protesters made their way toward the Supreme Court. The Occupy protesters began storming the steps, chanting together, “Money is not free speech!”

Amanda Porter-Cox, another member of Occupy Winston-Salem, expressed her enthusiasm, “The storming of the Supreme Court steps was phenomenal! I've never experienced anything like that in my life. It was indescribable.”

A single protester was arrested near the bottom of the steps as the police began insisting protestors leave the Supreme Court immediately. Occupiers then marched on the White House. When they arrived, they chanted “Obama, come out! We have some things to talk about!”

When several protesters began climbing the gates and hanging various banners symbolizing their demands to an end of all wars and for-profit economic policies, the police started closing in. The chants “Who’s House? Our House!” and “We won’t back down!” could be heard.

Then, everyone eventually marched back to the Capitol Building. The police tried rerouting the march, but the protesters pushed through and stayed on their original path. Commenting on the Occupy Congress event as a whole, Ndege stated, “our government overwhelmingly does not think that they serve us, but that instead we serve them. This is one of those moments where ‘we the people’ sent a serious reply to their out-of-control arrogance and elitism.”

Ndege continued, “I thought the march went beautifully. I know that this will not always be the case the deeper the class tensions grow in the future. Despite the media blackout, the event created a strong buzz within the Occupy community and the actions at the Capitol, Supreme Court, White House, etc. are just the first among many. I am hopeful that, by spring, we will be back 100,000 strong.”

#WashingtonDC #VeteransForPeace #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyCongress #USCongress #OccupyWinstonSalem

Grand Rapids, MI – Occupy Grand Rapids protested big banks with a march here, Jan. 27. Twenty-five Grand Rapidians gathered in the snow under the Union Soldier Monument downtown. They marched with a giant orange octopus, representing the corporate tentacles reaching into all aspects of American life. Members of Occupy Grand Rapids read speeches revealing the racist, undemocratic and abusive practices of each corporate bank. Stopping outside each of the six corporate banks branches including PNG, Bank of America and Fifth Third Bank, speakers exposed the banks’ role in home foreclosures, predatory lending and student loan debt.

While marching, Occupy Grand Rapids chanted, “Banks got bailed out! We got sold out!” and “We are the 99%. You are the 99%.” There was even singing about the need for revolution and a new type of society.

At the first bank, PNG, the entire Occupy group, including the octopus, entered the corporate lobby and were met by a bank manager demanding they leave immediately. After an exchange of views, the manager threatened to call corporate management and the police. Unmoved, occupiers chanted for a few more minutes and then stepped outside to be more visible to the public while the first speech was read. The march continued through downtown with speeches at each bank and many car horns blaring support for Occupy Wall Street and well-wishers waving on a bright winter’s day. Occupy Grand Rapids continues to camp at the Fountain Street Church and hold General Assemblies every Sunday afternoon, making plans for more protests.

#GrandRapidsMI #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyGrandRapids

Ron Paul is attracting a lot of attention, including some attention from some people in the anti-war movement, because of his views on foreign policy. Paul has demanded that the president “bring the troops home.” He reflects popular opinion when he says that President Bush overstepped his powers in starting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without a declaration of war. In general, Paul is known as an isolationist, rather than a pro-war candidate. However, Ron Paul supports assassinations and other ‘covert actions,’ acts, which are both illegal and anti-democratic, against other countries. In the Republican debates, his campaign tends to put little emphasis on his anti-war stances. Still, to find a candidate of either party who is against the wars is viewed by some as refreshing.

Many supporters of Ron Paul have also been reaching out to the Occupy Movement. But when Ron Paul ran for Congress in 2010, he said, “We should cut payroll taxes and give workers the opportunity to seek better returns in the private market.” While Ron Paul claims to want to protect Social Security, he is in fact backing a privatization of Social Security that would be a boon for Wall Street. His campaign plays the same tune as Wall Street when he says that Social Security is “broke and broken,” when in fact the Social Security trust fund grew by some $70 billion last year, to almost $2.7 trillion.

That said, there are many other big problems with Ron Paul, including his views and policies on racism and discrimination, women’s rights, GLBTQ rights, workers' rights, the environment and even civil liberties. The solutions Ron Paul is selling will not solve the problems of working people or create more equality. They will create more poverty and oppression, just like those of the other Republicans.

Ron Paul's views on African-Americans are especially ugly. A newsletter he put out for years was full of racist rhetoric. One quote out of many says, “We are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational.” Another time, Paul referred to the Martin Luther King holiday as “national Hate Whitey Day.” Though Ron Paul says he did not approve these statements, they appeared in his newsletter and under his name over the course of years.

It gets worse. Paul states that he’s against the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Act was one of the greatest victories in the struggle for equality for African-American, Chicano, Asian American and other oppressed nationalities. While it is true that all sorts of discrimination and inequity still exist, it is also a fact that the 1964 Civil Rights Act provided the legal framework that ended Jim Crow – including outlawing separate and unequal schools, banning employment discrimination against oppressed nationalities and women, and desegregating restaurants, buses, and hotels. But Ron Paul says it “destroyed privacy” – meaning white business owners should be able to discriminate against African-Americans and others, in the ‘privacy’ of their own businesses.

Ron Paul's views on immigration are sure to appeal to the worst sort of racist. Paul is against any sort of legalization that would fix the problem, even for immigrants who have been in the country for decades. Paul favors tougher enforcement of immigration laws, breaking up families and expelling hardworking people. He even favors eliminating birth right citizenship, which was written into the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in order to guarantee rights to African Americans. This means children born in the U.S. would not automatically be citizens, which was a racist demand by the anti-Chinese movement in the 1880s and is still pushed by those opposed to immigration from Mexico and Central America today. Ron Paul places the blame for what he sees as the “immigration problem” on the U.S. “welfare state,” instead of a system that destroys the economies of other countries and exploits low cost labor. Ron Paul’s view flies in the face of the obvious fact that immigrants are among the most hardworking people in the United States. Immigrants often do the most unpleasant, most dangerous and lowest paid jobs in the U.S. and deserve full equality and legalization.

Ron Paul's newsletters were just as offensive to the GLBTQ community. A news article bearing his name said: “Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities.” Despite claiming to be for civil liberties, his current positions on gay rights are not much better. In 2005, Ron Paul sponsored a bill called the “We the People Act”, to prevent federal courts from enforcing any civil rights claim relating to sexuality. Ron Paul also supported the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. Until this law was passed in 1996, a marriage that was carried out in one state was valid in any other state. But under this law, that is not true for marriages between two people of the same sex.

On women's rights, Ron Paul's record is also dismal. While claiming to stand for individual freedoms, Paul would take away a woman’s right to choose. Ron Paul would undo Roe v. Wade and allow states to make abortion illegal again. Paul also says there should be no legal protection against sexual harassment at work, opening the door for an employer to coerce or intimidate an employee to have sex with him or lose their job.

When it comes to organized labor, Ron Paul seems to think that union activities violate the constitutional rights of employers. He boasts on his website about taking the side of big business in every modern legislative fight between unions and employers – opposing card check and the Employee Free Choice Act, supporting the so-called “Truth in Employment Act” and misnamed ‘right to work’ laws, which lower wages and worsen work conditions. In December of 2011, Paul said he is opposed to the existence of the National Labor Relations Board, even in its weakened condition.

Ron Paul is also a global warming denier. Several times he has called global warming “a hoax.” But global climate change is very real, with the droughts and floods growing more severe in recent years. Climate change has already killed hundreds of thousands of people in developing countries, causing crops to fail, and every Texan knows about the summer 2011 record-breaking heat wave, drought and wildfires.

Ron Paul is known as an advocate of civil liberties, but the reality is different. Just recently, Congress passed a bill, called the NDAA, allowing the president to arrest people and hold them as long as he likes without trial. Ron Paul did not vote against this bill, for all of his talk about civil liberties – he didn’t vote either way. More importantly, Ron Paul and other supposed ‘libertarians’ are failing when it comes to the FBI raids on Carlos Montes and 23 anti-war activists. More than a dozen members of Congress, such as Representatives Keith Ellison and Dennis Kucinich, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to express concerns about these raids. Grassroots supporters of Paul, working with the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, asked Ron Paul to write a support letter, with no result. Ron Paul’s anti-war and civil liberties sentiment only extends so far.

Many activists in the anti-war and Occupy Wall Street movement interact with Ron Paul supporters. Sometimes, we find ourselves working alongside them. But in the end, Ron Paul's ideas simply are not what working people need. Ron Paul’s purpose is to deliver votes to the Republicans at the end of a mind numbing and lengthy Republican primary season. The problem in our society is not that government is out of control. The problem is that the government, the economy and most of our world, are under the control of a handful of very wealthy people.

Taking government out of our economy is not possible, nor will it fix things. During the Great Depression, the federal government acted to insure bank deposits, started Social Security and unemployment insurance and welfare as a safety net for the elderly, jobless and poor families. At that time, one quarter of Americans were out of work, and starvation was not uncommon. In the 1960s, another wave of federal legislation led to civil rights laws, Medicare, and federal financial aid for college students (the Pell Grant).

Even with government regulation, working people continue to experience financial crisis, unemployment, poor living conditions, housing foreclosures and other problems. But Ron Paul's so-called solution – removing the government from the economy – will not solve anything. It will make things worse. It will give more power to the 1% and the corporations.

Ron Paul will not win the Republican primary, and he will not be President. We do not need to worry about what would happen if he were elected. In 2008, he did not win a primary in one single state. He is not on track to win any this year.

But the problem with Ron Paul are the ideas he represents, which confuse working people and keep them from seeing what is really behind the problems in the country. We need people to build the movements in the streets, like Occupy Wall Street movements. Most people now are focused on the fact that the economic crisis is caused by the big banks and the billionaires who control both parties. The last thing we need is good people with anti-war sentiment, or supporters of the Occupy movement, wasting their time chasing the pied piper of the Republican Party – Ron Paul.

#UnitedStates #Editorials #republicanParty #OccupyWallStreet #RonPaul #Libertarianism