i agree that they have the right to protest anything. But why is it called occupy wallstreet? Banks and wallstreet didn't bail themself out. Our Gov bailed them out. Why aren't they furious at the gov?? They should be in DC at the steps of the white house. Seem strange to you? Sounds like misplaced agreession OR well directed deflecton in a election yr.
They could take a page out of the Tea Parties protests. They have -0- arrests , they follow the laws and the clean up when the protest are over.OWS has had over 3000 arrests to date.
The fault for the economic collapse lies both in the hands of government and Wall St. To be sure, the gov't was at fault for pressing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to issue subprime home loans. They called it a program to realize the American dream, but it is really nothing more than a euphamism for extending loans to people who werent credit worthy(think Adjustable Rate Mortgages and Interest Only Loans). The goal was to promote home ownership, but the program went terribly awry and that's where Wall St. comes in. The Banks(Lehman Bros, AIG, etc.), didn't exercise any control of the situation and accepted income as stated and promoted home loans that were well beyond the applicants ability to pay. Banks sheltered themselves from these high risk loans by selling them off as securities. During the housing bubble all the world's developed nations invested in these securities as they were low risk and high return. Homes were selling like hotcakes and increasing in value, so even in the case of a default the bank would likely recover all of their money and then some when the foreclosed home sold. Then the housing bubble burst, and a huge amount of the world's wealth was tied up in a toxic asset. Suddenly, the invested capital of much of the world was worthless. The countries themselves had become subprime(Greece, Ireland, etc.)This triggered the global economic collapse. That's right, the U.S. was the major cause of the global economic collapse.
The govt reaction to the crisis has been swift and decisive. Within a matter of weeks the prime interest rate(the rate at which the Fed loans money to banks) was reduced to 0.1%. The goal was then and is now to increase spending and thereby stimulate the economy. It hasn't worked... Why? The reason is that these major corporations are sitting on their profits. They aren't spending a dime as they are worried about a double dip recession and their shareholders are thrilled with the huge dividends.
The gov't had a role in triggering the collapse, but they have reacted and there is little more they can do. The person who is keeping us in a recession/unemployment situation is the major corporations who are hoarding cash at the expense of the American working class. The economy cannot rebound until they start distributing their wealth in the form of wages and thus create spending.
Fast forward 3 years and you now know why the "Occupy Wall St" movement got started..
