10,000 Plus Occupy Portland

What has happened on Wall Street affects everyone. This is very likely a major turning point in American history.

Photo at Portland's Pioneer Square by Bonnie King Salem-News.com

(SALEM, Ore.) - As the sun set on the first day of the Occupy Portland demonstration, the enthusiasm remained high. Thousands at Pioneer Square Want Americans to regain control of their nation from the scandalous banks that have raked the middle class over the coals.

Those taking part in the event that has saw 10,000 demonstrators gather on day one are Oregon residents like Geoff Thompson, whose hotel caught fire. He can't get a loan, he says he's mad and he's not going to take it any more, and he's one of many people with a similar viewpoint.

Thompson says he went to every bank, wrote to every elected official, with zero results. He even wrote to U.S. President Barack Obama, who this week admitted that he knew of the Occupy Wall Street protests and offered understanding words for this effort.

Unfortunately, Obama goes on to explain how the operators on Wall Street didn't actually violate any laws. In the end the bankers are essentially above the law.

Thompson says he devised a plan to wake Bank of America up since no bank will loan them money. He's encouraging a bank run on 1 Nov at Bank of America. He says if enough customers pull their accounts on the first, that it will send a message through Bank of America and back to Wall Street that the people have had enough.

Which leads to something we have rarely seen in America; this isn't partisan, what has happened on Wall Street affects everyone. This is very likely a major turning point in American history.

This could be the early states of a revolution that is socially acceptable to almost all Americans, who believe it is obscene that the richest 1% have full control of 99% of our national assets. A nation where dishonest lenders are rewarded not with sanctions or criminal charges, but bailouts that are all funded by the 99%.

The 99% that includes Oregon residents like Anthony Barbera, who spent eight years in the military only to come back to a lack of opportunities, and a country that has no jobs.

The words coined by the band Ten Years After in 1971, still holds true for this crowd forty years after:

Tax the rich
Feed the poor
Until there are no rich no more

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Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 91 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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Pete October 8, 2011 1:53 pm (Pacific time)

I actually have hopes for the Occupy Wall Street movement. Now, before you dismiss me, let me explain. I hope that one of the things we’re seeing down at Pioneer Square and other locations here in Portland is the first rustlings of what will eventually (though maybe not in our lifetime, comrades) become a full fledged revolution — not against capitalism but against what some call Big Education and some others label the Educational-Industrial Complex. This is really what most of these kids are angry about, isn’t it? Most of them — except for the usual complement of old lefties and sundry off-their-meds street people — are, as many reporters have noted, college grads. They’re mad that they “can’t get jobs.” As Herman Cain points out, surely they can get some kind of job right now — just not in a trendy place like New York, Boston, or Seattle (cities where the Occupy movements have sprung up). In that time-honored Grapes of Wrath–esqe tradition, they could put Ma in the flatbed and set off cross-country to look for work. The job will probably be a low-paying one, and conservatives would do well not to sugarcoat this fact. Wages for entry-level and semi-skilled workers have barely budged in ten years. I credit this to employer’s wariness about hiring anyone at all. Hiring people (and all the litigation risks they present) is simply too risky unless that hire is obviously going to enhance the bottom line. In short, if an Occupy Wall Street kid is ever inclined to look for work, the job he finds is not likely to be the groovy one he and his beleaguered parents envisioned when that $200,000 was shelled out for a four-year degree in poli-sci or women’s studies or some other degree that has no market value. Hopefully the parents of kids still in the early years of grade school, get them cross-trained or focused on practical training for a real market-valued skill.

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Anonymous October 8, 2011 1:40 pm (Pacific time)

When Reagan (who also inherited a very bad economy) was at the exact same corresponding time as Obama is now, 1.3 million jobs were created during the month of September. Subsequently over 20 million jobs were created in the next 5 years. So compare not just policies, but the level of government spending. It is the latter that has created our current situation. Unfortunately nothing will change until the day Obama leaves office in January 2013. I have seen far larger protests than the ones going on presently, so considering the harsh weather coming up, I expect that the crowds will get smaller. If violence and arrests tick up, coupled with the continuous build-up of trash and public sanitation violations, they will lose their momentum. Strategically they should have started these protests last spring. I would not be surprised if they restart in a large way next summer in hopes of helping Obama win, thus this all may be just a trial run to re-tool tactics for next year. Time will tell.

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