moi? out of touch? hmm, suppose it's entirely possible. i did turn off my internet.

isn't a pension plan a dealy-bob where the worker volunteers money to their employer, so that the employer can invest it for them? where do most employers do their investing?

Close, but it isn't quite volunteer--it's part of the work agreement, so refusing this service is equivalent to refusing the job. Yes, the stock market is used to manage pension plans, and it does save a good many people from destitution. However, the pension plans are not always honored. This is one of the problems with forcing a person to completely abdicate control of a portion of their compensation package.

In all fairness I do not blame anyone on Wall Street for the utter foolishness with which most people manage (or fail to manage) their money. The bottom line though is that the pensions don't let anyone get ahead. Believe, if the stock market goes up like gangbusters, companies don't pay the pensioners extra. They put that money in their pocket.

well, see, i was always given the option as to whether or not i wanted to use their pension plan or use their health insurance when i was an employee, it wasn't a requirement back then for the non-union positions that i held. are you stating that some labor agreements demand that you fulfill certain promises that they negotiated for you?

Yeah, namely mine. I can't opt out of the North Carolina teacher's pension program.

No shootings yet. *wipes brow*

http://youtu.be/JZcJ31g0ScQ

Are you not seeing this on your nightly news? I think NOT!

always nice to hear that mobs can behave in a peaceful manner. would hate to see them ammend the constitution due to too many rioters.

hmm, technically, since they're currently busy Occupying. i could probably find me a decent middle class house to squat in order to assume ownership.

I'm out occupying Washington, DC and having a great time! Amazingly, between my job and occupying I still occasionally have time to log onto Earth Empires. :)

I consider my job as important as occupying Wall Street or other cities, but I am glad to see a return to the sentiments of the late '60s. I'm a little too young to fully appreciate it, but my parents are loving it.

think i can find something better to do than sit around complaining about people making money. doesn't seem to be a marketable job skill, since too many people are willing to do it for free.

@Terror - Most of us participating here in DC have jobs. We're taking our lunch breaks, after hours, sick leave and vacation time to make this happen!

In my case, I have a flexible, part-time job; so I'm more available than many.

I'm not a whiner and the way things are going, I am thankful I have a job. I live as far from a major city as anyone on the East coast of North America could be. If the movement spreads to smaller cities like one Charlotte NC, I might be convinced to make the 100 mile trek to contribute. It is important.

It raises awareness. You are not just looking at people with no skills sitting around and complaining about it. This doesn't happen in times of prosperity. People are people and this isn't because this generation of people are all lazy and good for nothing. Opportunity right now is terrible, and there are people with a ton of wealth who need to find ways for the rest of us to win too.

I have a masters degree. I'm probably 80th percentile or better, but no amount of shouting and screaming will make me 99th percentile until those who actually are listen in give me a real chance. I really believe 99% are backsliding now.

here here!

bah. it's all about the gluttons wasting the money that they did get.
what are you going to do when you win? re-invest it into society? buy a bigger house? buy a vacation home?
you need to convince the wealthy that they stand a chance to profit from what you want them to invest in.

http://www.addictinginfo.org/...street-protests/?mid=5068

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter. These Folks have the RIGHT to PROTEST. I and other veterans like me, put our lives on the line to guarantee that RIGHT. NO ONE can take it away.

as long as they ain't infringing on other people's rights to do it. isn't Zucotti park privately owned? are you telling me they have the right to squat there without the owner's permission? they're allowed to resist when told to leave?

and i guess we won the War on Terror, since people are willing to group together that much.

I find the perspective of this article worth sharing:

http://ampedstatus.org/...ake-off-with-46-trillion/

Ah, now that's the real question, isn't it? Can we even vote for anyone not already tainted by the current corrupt system?

I would say it's impossible to be able to vote for someone who hasn't already been coopted by the current regime.

The current system operates on what the politicians like to refer to as "democracy", whereby they present to the public at large two candidates for a particular office, ( the primaries not withstanding in the count before someone freaks out about my omission of them).

Both candidates having been vetted by the two major political parties, (who are secretly the same political party who's main aim is to keep the population of the US as dumb as possible in order to maintain their hegemony over politics), these two candidates have been checked out and proven as loyal members of the political cadre that runs the government for their own benefit.

Both political parties will and do use the court system to keep third party candidates OFF the ballot, thus ensuring a continuation of the current regime.

The corporations that contribute to political campaigns and action committees directly influence the mind set of the congressman and senators that they have bought.

In order to properly correct the system, Congressmean and Senators need to be made affordable for the average person, not exclusively to the corporations.

dunno. i live a pretty easy life because of the greedy corporations. and it ain't because i'm getting paid billions. i just ain't spending the time that would be required just to survive if everything wasn't being delivered practically to my doorstep.

find out about Milton William Cooper!
then u will know wat this is all about, "creation" of two opposing sides, all for the same agenda

i already know what it's about. it's about having to borrow money just to get a high enough education level to be qualified for a decent job. tell the dang teachers to quit striking for a pay raise.

meh. credit is a bit tight because the economy ain't so good. they can't afford to gamble recklessly. might cost them a fortune.

they can afford to sit around Occupying a space that wasn't meant for them, but they can't afford to live a normal life because the greedy corporations are making the law makers pass unconstitutional laws. stick it up your wahzoo. you gave them back the money they needed to do it with. mad spoiled fat cows.

how many of y'all are pissing in or fluffting in toilets provided by the greedy corporations and their political dupes? keep the stench next to your tent if you don't want to be a hypocrit.

i'm protesting about organic food prices being to expensive

Dibs, I think you might be barking up the wrong tree, dude.

It's not about greedy corporations, it's about greedy people running those corporations.

The bottom line in this whole thing is that the people who have damaged the economy are the people who are getting "bailed" out.

The Government ought to give the bailout to the population who will then promptly inject that cash infusion directly into the economy, instead of to the bankers, who will promptly sock it away so that they may have a larger stockpile then the next guy.

the government works for the wealthy now. you are elected by how much you get through fundraising not by votes. then you can spend you're time in office fundraising. get the money out of the way and get back to a government that works for the voters.

i could be, but then i could just go for a walk and categorize all the litter on the side of the road. people aren't even responsible enough to find a trash can.

Did y'all hear about the way police are using tear gas and flash bang gernades against folks in Oakland?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QngE6kKk8Lg

yeah, think i read something about mad angry fat cow people throwing a bunch of rocks at people who are sworn to protect and serve.

The folks in Oakland were throwing fluff at the cops. That's what doing that gets you.

Occupy Oakland: Iraq war veteran in critical condition after police clashes
Scott Olsen, 24, in hospital with fractured skull and brain swelling after allegedly being hit by a police projectile in Oakland

Video footage published to YouTube shows Olsen lying prone in front of a line of police. Around 10 people gather around him in an apparent attempt to provide aid, before a police officer throws an explosive device into their midst, scattering the group.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZLyUK0t0vQ

The number of protest injuries were not immediately known, but two officers were hurt when protesters splattered them with paint.

how much police involvement would have been required if you found an acceptable way to voice your opinion?

What's so unacceptable?

Would you prefer armed revolution to peaceful encampments?

i'd prefer it if people would quit sitting on their brains. armed revolution, eh? against who? each other? how clean is your brain? what kind of detergent did they use? did you get the spin cycle?

apparently 17 other cities are now in protest just like wallstreet.

i might feel the need to help. they should have told me that they were going to sit around getting drunk and disorderly. i can do that with my eyes almost closed. i'm really good at it when somebody else is buying. they got wifi access?

Dibs,. I resent this greatly.

A LOT of us OLD RETIRED people relied on the Government to do what it promised to do when we were working and producing. Unfortunately, the Government betrayed our trust and gambled away the future securities that we had had forcibly saved upon us on those same Wall Street Bankers who frittered it away on paper securities that had no backing in the real world.

Not only that, but the wonderful government allowed government agencies to borrow agains the "Social Security Trust Fund" that was established to maintain a modest level of security for retired Americans.

Thus, what should have been the largest money making investment in the world has become broke because our OWN government OWES the fund Billions.

Look at this realistically. THe fund should have kept growing and growing bringing in more and more interest, because no one ever lives long enough to collect out of it, what a lifetime of working has paid into it.

NO ONE EVER LIVES LONG ENOUGH TO COLLECT the amount they paid in back again.

Not to mention the interest that would have accrued on that money in the meantime.

So, don't just blame "OLD RETIRED PEOPLE" for a problem that was caused by bankers and politicians.

i resent that you trying to get me to think too much on my Drunken Monkey Pay Day. well, not really, but i think it's a legitimate question because of healthcare costs, though a bit vague because i don't have the stats. it is one of the things that i would like to opt of because the stats pretty much put me at never collecting it.

thank you for notifying me about your emotional state regarding my questions, but i feel that it's kind of a personal thing and beyond my ability to control.

99%

https://www.facebook.com/...hp?fbid=10150355095231211

(Well, technically only 91%)

In Germany the occupy campers held their daily morning meeting after days/weeks of camping and it went like "...it is time to start thinking on what message we want to send..."

very... impressive.....

I thought people knew why they are there. Watching this on TV probably did not get them more supporters...

Well, I believe that that's the plan. At least in London. 99% of the tents are empty during the nights and I am absolutely sure that it is so because, once they've decided to revolt, now they're trying to figure it out why are they revolting and against whom. Not that because the capitalist hotel rooms might be warmer than the chill nights, of course, the revolution fire keeps them warm.

While I'm not a great supporter of those 99%, lets face reality even if you don't want to, especially here in the US.
the bottom 50% have became poorer in real income over the past 30 years.... actually the bottome @ 80-85% have.
The 85-@93% have just maintained the standard of living they had 30 years ago in real (inflation adjusted ) terms.

If you belive a Flat tax is fair you are delusional then any of those out there protesting. No bottom 50% has the coast guard doing multi-day/Multi million dollar searches for their sorry asses when they head out to sea and get lost in a storm; and then have one of those lower 50% percentiles jumping out of a safe helicopter into unsafe choppy seas to save their stupid / no F..Kin commensence AS.SES.
No one but the upper 99% have a Seal team risking their life to save their AS.SES of the coast of Somalia fromthe pirates.
And no one but corporate america get entire battle fleets cutting half way acroos oceans to save their sinking ship taking on water.
Do you really think BP fully compensated all them people who were hurt in the GULF .... I know I haven't bought any oil soaked shrimp since then and yes I use to eat shrimp probablay more then once a week before then ( guess I should thank BP for my health benifit and screw the shrimpers) and Have yet to since.

While I fully agreed with lets get SADDAM ( he was a plague on earth) I really didn't think all US citizens need to borrow from their Un-born Grand-children to load Halliburton and numerous other companies asses to screw it away afterwards. But hey what do I know it only took longer then All of WW1 and WW2 to finish not only from an American perspective either.

Oh and Obviously Smedley Butler(ONE of the GREAT MARINES in our History) was just a FOOL, But obviously the Vanderbilts and Morgans were bigger fools when they thought they could buy his ass to over throw the USA.

Sorry but 24 years of being a participant ( I'm retire military) of saving/enacting the interest of large corps and the most wealthy usually neither even actually owned much more then 50% by US wealth I got to agree that the Wall street Protesters atleast have some justification. and the fact that we have really spent @ 10 trillion in the world of banking rescue put on the general US tax payer ( most of whom will never spend a day outside the US except in the military, to do more saving the rich, from their own FU.KED up gambles.)

We the other 99% have already payed the cost; If you make less then 350K per year YOU ARE NOT in that 1% even if you are single.

INHERITANCE TAXES for real what are we at now the first 5 million are TAX FREE and then 35% after that only if it was sudden and they never thought they might die 3 years ealier to do any planning as most could be transferred ifd the palnned 3 years prior without actually transferring the wealth (HEY GUESS WHAT YOU WILL DIE EVENTUALLY, IF YOU DON"T BELIVE THAT THEn I THINk SHOULd Be HIt WITh A LARGe DELIOSIONAL TAX.

Wall Street is so Corrupt it is un-real and to make (as most REpublican are now promoting) zero capital gains, would sell out the country. Lets face it NO realitor/ Builder/ anyone who works Wallstreet would ever Pay TAXES AT ALL.
As it is wallstreeters tops end each are thye arbitrators for each other's salaries. thiose at the top receive multi-hundreds of million dollars no matter how much the LOSE for the companies and they still are3 called Performance bonuses, FOR REAL you almost totally bring the Corporation worth over 100 Billion to worthless and we pay you 1/4 of a billion to fire your worthless/sorry piece of SH.T A.S like Merrill G lynch did but F-CK the Stock Holders (oh are they trhe Owners ....lol they have nop say anymore since the Mutual Funds( wall streeters) control almost all the vote you vote for me to get a billion for losing their shirt , thewn I'll vote for you Being a Total F.CH-UP too.)

Sorry but IF YOU ARE THINK YOU ARE DOING GOOD LOOK at the price of Gold as If you can't Double yoyur INCOME IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS be smart and Count on your money becoming worthless if gold drops in halve then we are still looking at doubling in pricing compared to just the past 5 years.

All those supporting the current BS REPBULICAn agenda (and I have never voted Democrat (actually I have been a Republican Sheriff and a Republican JUDGE); I really do hope you make well over 350K) (700K when you can figure the expected inflation they will create to make that deficit seem manageable again.

.

i can maintain my existence on $24K a year without owning any property in NJ. explain how other people can't do that? NJ is abit expensive to live in.

oh, and since you got me started again, i heard on MSN Mobile that 40% of middle-class Americans don't have to pay any income taxes at all.

I think the people who are against the Occupy movement have a fundamental misunderstanding of what people are pissed about (in no small part because the occupy movement has a lot of dumbasses in it who are very poor at communicating this).

It's not that they are anti-capitalist or WANT higher income people/corporations taxed per se. It's that they are feeling swindled by the CEOs and upper corporate management as well as politicians. Companies are taking advantage of the job market to slash salaries and benefits even when the company doesn't need to do so just because it will improve the bottom line. Meanwhile the remaining employees who aren't on the street are asked to do much more for less pay. Meanwhile are upper management salaries being reduced at all? Hell no. In fact these salaries are increasing in most places. So there is no sense of shared sacrifice at all. People will put up with the pay cuts and whatnot if there is a sense that it's really neccesary and the upper management is going to do the same to themselves to get the company through the rough patch, but they turn around and see their bosses get huge bonuses and raises because they are making huge profits and paying out big amounts to stockholders all the while they are struggling and are getting fed up with it.

As for corporations the American people in general are PISSED and rightly so with the financial sector. The government gave TONS and TONS of money to these banks to save their asses and have even gone so far as to allow banks to borrow money at 0%, then buy bonds to have the government pay interest to THEM on money we loaned them! And what do Americans have to show for it? The banks are sitting on huge piles of money and refusing to lend it or spend it. Many other corporations are doing the same thing. It is common practice among corporations to list available jobs with such ridiculously specific job qualifications that it is extremely unlikely any candidate would meet the minimum qualifications that way they can claim they have been advertising open jobs without having to actually hire someone.

Basically the 99%ers are pissed that we invested so much in all of these businesses who begged for help and now those businesses are not doing anything to reciprocate that.

Well put, Orkinman.

don't see where people are required to invest in those companies.
people wouldn't be required to accept lower pay if they didn't sell their future by borrowing too much to pay for their present.

The point is the people DID invest in these companies via the government. And now those companies are shooting the people the bird.

you feel that they're obligated to do something more constructive? it's their money now, shouldn't have given it to them.