A 59 year old carpenter retiring from his union job? Really? I'm self employed, have owned my own business for 36 years, work my arse off, and can't retire. The signs these guys are carrying should read "Union Greed". Unions and their fat pension plans are a major component of driving our economy south.

George: You are 100% correct! These misguided protestors are not helping America by disrupting businesses that provide jobs. Unfortunately, most normal citizens can not picket outside the union headquarters, as we are to busy working, paying taxes, and providing the social services that these protestors sponge off. If you look at the video of these protest over the U.S., it is amazing how many of these protestors are holding cigarettes, or look morbidly obsese. They are part of the society that always blames others for their own bad decisions, blame tobacco companies, blame fast food restaurants as they do not have the will power to say no to junk food. The real threat to our country is not corporations, it is the mentality of these miscontents!

Dear Editor,

Why would a social news media organization in Pleasanton choose to cover a demonstration in Walnut Creek. Does this serve a personal agenda? Is it your purpose to promote such demonstrations and, if so, please provide your personal position and purpose.

Americans favor Occupy Wall Street far more than Tea Party: Despite nonstop GOP and conservative disparagement of the Wall Street protests, the most detailed polling yet on Occupy Wall Street suggests that the public holds a broadly favorable view of the movement — and, crucially, the positions it holds.

Time released a new poll this morning finding that 54 percent view the Wall Street protests favorably, versus only 23 percent who think the opposite. Interestingly, only 23 percent say they don’t have an opinion, suggesting the protests have succeeded in punching through to the mainstream. Also: The most populist positions espoused by Occupy Wall Street — that the gap between rich and poor has grown too large; that taxes should be raised on the rich; that execs responsible for the meltdown should be prosecuted — all have strong support.

Meanwhile, the poll found that only 27 percent have a favorable view of the Tea Party. Web Link

Envision what life would be like if the protestors got their way and their objectives were fulfilled ?

Farmer Dave is a koolaid drinker. The occupy group are Obama supporters too stupid to realize he bailed out Goldman Sachs! Pelosi-another supporter---fought like the pitbull she is to keep HER NAPA winery NON UNION! Lol!! Mcnerney etc all refuse to SIGN house resolution 615 that would require THEM to go on obamacare and eschew their private fed one!! Lol!! Praying for an early winter so anarchists disappear or join the Donner party.

Farmer Dave is a koolaid drinker. The occupy group are Obama supporters too stupid to realize he bailed out Goldman Sachs! Pelosi-another supporter---fought like the pitbull she is to keep HER NAPA winery NON UNION! Lol!! Mcnerney etc all refuse to SIGN house resolution 615 that would require THEM to go on obamacare and eschew their private fed one!! Lol!! Praying for an early winter so anarchists disappear or join the Donner party.

Farmer Dave

I am sure the 54% in the Time article are the ones who wants to sponge off of society, so of course the percentage will be bigger than those of us who provide the money to sponge from! The gap is only widening because of jobless who refuse to take a job that they feel is beneath them. For instance, go to ABC News and look at the interview of the financial advisor who says he can't get another advising job. Maybe it's time for him to try plan B and not put any job out of the realm of possibility!!!

It's pretty easy to envision what this mob wants. If they want to see a country with no banks, no corporations and no food, they can go to North Korea. They ought to be demonstrating in Washington, DC where all the power is centralized in the hands of 536 humans. If they don't like the product or service provided by a corporation, don't buy their product.

They’re used to being rewarded without effort, getting trophies just for showing up, graduating when they can’t even read.

They avoided math and science and are thus unqualified for the 3 million high paying U.S. jobs that currently go unfilled. Instead of preparing for a real job, they were told to “follow their dreams,” and “do what you love” and other nonsense.

They got over-educated in the liberal arts and other subjects they were passionate about. And when they graduated they were SHOCKED that businesses weren’t lining up to pay them a six figure salary to write poetry or whatever.

They're just finding out now that their art really isn't as good as their parents told them it was. They're really not as "great" or as "wonderful" as they had been lead to believe. And instead of being mad at their parents and teachers and others who mislead them, they're mad at those who have become successful.

They’re mad at the people who actually took the hard courses, took risks in starting their own businesses, saved their money and invested it.

They still believe everyone deserves a reward, regardless of merit. Instead of equality of opportunity, they want equality of results.

spcwt, where are you getting your information about the protestors?? What is your source?

How do you know all these things about others, sp? Are you vocationally trained in telepathy? Because it appears from your sneering self-congratulation that you could sure use a few lessons in em-pathy.

Further, if you don't realize that these demonstrations are an expression of the fact that there are serious structural problems with this economy, you're not paying attention. And instead of acknowledging that things are out of whack, folks around here seem to want to just accumulate and barricade -- no wonder our kids rightly call Danville: The Bubble.

The problems the US faces are real and difficult. We are a Commons, and too many of The Fortunate have been over-grazing, to the detriment of All -- including, ultimately, themselves. Attitudes like yours won't help -- your sheep will starve, along with everybody else's.

@Chris:

"The occupy group are Obama supporters too stupid to realize he bailed out Goldman Sachs!"

They fully understand that BUSH bailed out Goldman Sachs to save our economic system. They are upset because among other things, congressional Republicans blocked attempts to regulate the Wall Street titans and end "too big to fail".

Farmer Dave: Have you been smoking the "medicinal" crop you are growing? It is widely acknowledged by most informed sources that a major cause of the economic meltdown was caused by President Clinton's policies and legislation that allowed financially unqualified "diverse" individuals to qualify for mortgages they could not afford, which led to the mortgage crisis and resulting financial disaster our country is in. Obviously, greedy mortgage brokers played a role in this scheme, but it would not have been a plausible scheme without President Clinton's policies and programs. It is ironic that the same protestors who are yelling outside of Bank of America and other financial institutions, are so fond of President Clinton and are celebrating his alleged "greatness" with Lady Gaga and his self-promotion gala. If they want to yell at someone, they should yell at themselves for singing up for a mortgage they knew they could not afford, and at President Clinton for orchestrating this failed program that led to the crisis they are now facing.

RWR is right as is Chris---One protester in Oakland said she was a junior at ST Marys College---kinda pricey. But from her name it is apparent she is most likely getting tuition subsidizes from some of those RICH donors and CORPORATE types she hates!! Betcha she also got in on their "high potential" program which means low scores and grades but right ethnicity.

This OWS movement is just an excuse for those who think they deserve more handouts from the people who worked hard to get good educations to land a good job. This redistributing the wealth philosophy is just another slogan for those who think they are owed something for not doing anything. RWR is so right as this whole thing started with these same people believing they were owed nice homes, but shouldn't have to pay the going rate and should be given a break. The government listened and started the whole downward spiral to the bad economic situation we have today. Although I have to say, how were these people supposed to know any better when our own government keeps borrowing and never seems to pay what they owe to the other countries we have borrowed from?

It's a Wall Street government (Geithner, protege of Hank Paulson; Larry Summmers, etc., and always has been: Rubin. . .). Not a single Wall Street crook who caused the '08 collapse has gone to jail. Farmer Dave appears to be the only sane commenter here.

Amazing how the media chose to bash tea party people yet ignor occupy wall sT drug use, public defecation, open sex, basic filth, anti Semitic screaming. Thanks George Soros and Acorn----u r unmasked.

No one should be surprised at the dolts screaming on the streets around the country. In addition to have been coddled, stroked, and rewarded for "breathing"---most were "educated" by socialists. In fact, at credential schools like SJ State, if the smell a conservative---that student will be run out of the program---big brother is here.

Truly to read some of the troglodytic commentary here.

Amen, Scary. They are trying their best to believe that this is not their problem. But it is. We are a national community, and no one can forever exist in isolation of immunity from the effects of the selfish changes that have destabilized this economy.

It has gone from a broad-based, firmly-founded pyramid sitting on its base, to one that is teetering on its point -- too many benefits at the wobbly top.

It may have been scary to read the blather that some folks will spew to temporarily comfort themselves -- but who's really, permanently, and justifiably scared, here?

I'm doing an "Occupy Hugh Heffner's Mansion" next week. I won't be protesting anything - I just want to hang out. Anyone care to join me?

I am a Tea Party member and I can tell you from experience that tea Party goers are patriots first and foremost and don't ask for anything except the freedom we all deserve. They would never demonstrate violently or leave messes. They are hard working people who want smaller government, lower taxes, as well as less government spending and fewer regulations. Now, what's wrong with that? Anyone who condemns the Tea Party obviously doesn't know what it represents or is a socialist and wants handouts from the government at everyone elses expense and hard work!
I believe that many of the "Occupy" protestors don't realize what that movement actually represents!

Tea Party is so yesterday ... it had its 15 mins of fame, time to go and let adults run the discussion.

My thanks to Farmer Dave, Citizen Paine, Scary and Kim J. Nice to know that some of the posters have a few brains.
So much that is being blamed on President Obama was actually done or started by former President Bush. The Wall Street crash was started by Bush's economic policies and cronyism. Of course, much of that actually started with Reagan.
Many posters really need to become educated. If you do not understand economics, watch a few documentaries that explain it more simply.
CW, the Tea Party is not an official political party.
And, last but not least,Sandy, where do you get off judging someone by their name? What was the name, and to what race do you think this person belongs? It is a disgrace to be so judgmental and racist. Come in to the 21st Century and move towards a better tomorrow with the rest of us. " I Have a Dream"................

To Collins and the other mindless libs---the tea party is a gathering of like-minded supporters for less gov intrusion. It is a political movement that the mainstream media is desperately trying to margInalize---lol! Remember Hillary's "It takes a village to raise a child"? Only if no one knows who daddy was! That was one of the first socialist big gov volleys. It IS revealing Obama supports the wall st rabble as does the communist party etc.

These protesters distort what it means to be in the “top 1%.”

To be in the top 1%, you must earn $380,000 per year.

Web Link

That’s a comfortable income, but it hardly makes you a Wall Street big shot.

The marginal tax rate on $380,000 wage earner in Calif. is around 50%. Why isn’t a 50% marginal tax rate considered a “fair share?”

Why do these protesters think it’s fair for half of Americans to pay zero income taxes while these so-called “rich” are subject to a 50% marginal tax rate?

For those who doubt the 50% rate, it consists of the following:

• 35% federal rate (scheduled to rise to 39.6% in 2013);
• 10.5% Calif. state rate;
• 12.4% for Social Security (capped at $106,000), and 2.9% for Medicare (no income cap);
• 28% Alternative Minimum Tax, which disallows a host of deductions and credits, preventing you from deducting property taxes, state income taxes, individual exemptions, other deductions, etc.

@spcwt:

Doesn't it bother you that with your $380,000 annual income you're paying more in taxes (a lot more) percentage wise than Warren Buffet, GE, Lockheed Martin, and a whole host of other corporations and superrich individuals?

Now, half of all Americans may pay zero FEDERAL income tax because they earn so little (they pay other taxes though). Were you aware that the US is #5 in the list of nations with the greatest wealth inequality? It's not a good list to be on, and includes nations like Zimbabwe. Web Link

@RWR: "widely acknowledged by most informed sources". Would you mind providing web links (not to Fox News pundits)? The crash was caused by Wall Street banks selling Collateralized Debt Obligations (mortgage bundles) and Credit Default Swaps (insurance) on same without the capital to pay if the underlying mortgages defaulted.

P.S. I haven't drunk any Kool Aid in decades.

Farmer D,

It’s misleading to say I pay income tax at a higher percentage than Warren Buffet. Nearly all of his income is from dividends, capital gains and other investments, which are currently taxed at 15%. But this ignores the fact that such investment income was already subject to 35% corporate tax, and thus it is effectively taxed at a combined 50%.

Also, everyone can take advantage of the 15% tax rate on investment income, no matter how rich or poor you are. I became a millionaire in large part due to sacrifice, delayed gratification, living well below my means for decades, saving and investing even when I was very poor, cleaning toilets at Burger King. It is a formula anyone can follow. Tax policy should encourage this type of behavior.

I am not advocating a tax hike on the poor, although I think “shared sacrifice” should include everyone paying at least something. I’m merely questioning how someone paying zero income tax can smugly claim I am not paying my fair share.

I am also not bothered by the fact that America rewards entrepreneurs handsomely. It encourages people to take a chance on a new idea. If you’re making $150,000 a year in a stable corporate job, why would you take a risk and start a new company making $300,000 if the govt.’s going to take half anyway? Better to just stay put. If we don’t properly encourage entrepreneurs, they will be less likely to form new businesses and create jobs.

As for income disparity, why should I be envious of other’s wealth? Envy is corrosive and destroys your peace of mind. Globalization has enabled certain entrepreneurs to create wealth on a massive scale. These people have also helped hundreds of millions of Indian, Chinese and Brazilians enter the middle class. I am proud of these American entrepreneurs. How does their wealth harm you?

For example, no matter how poor you are, you are wealthy by world standards. Are you ashamed of your wealth knowing that half the world lives on $2 per day or less? Should we take your wealth and distribute it evenly around the world? Would you support this type of “economic justice”?

These protesters need to remember that American capitalism has been kind to them. Rather than pouting, they should be celebrating America.

Hey Tea Party Crazies, the Occupy Wall Street movement is the safe, sane and logical response to the recession. Over leveraging brought on by deregulation and financial industry lobbying (translate: make more commissions off of marginal borrowers) is at the root of the crisis. What we are in now is a slow motion depression. Slow motion because the government stepped in to provide liquidity for financial institutions and business--as opposed to the Great Depression in which liquidity was withdrawn, industries closed, real estate values crashed, job evaporated, and bread lines kept millions from starvation.

I am reminded by a sketch done on Saturday Night Live in the late Seventies. It was called "Run Liberal Run", and featured Chevy Chase.
Was this sketch prophetic?? Since when is it a crime in this country to be a liberal or a protestor? A few years ago, it was the Teabaggers who were protesting. One of them yelled at me at the Danville Farmer's Market, simply because I declined a pamphlet she was shoving at me. Another time, while trying to make a right turn in Pleasanton, Teaparty/baggers carrying signs started waving them in front of my car, impeding my progress.
In this country, we have free speech, and I thank my ancestors for this. One of them, Alexander Hamilton, helped write the Constitution and was appointed by the first President, also an ancestor, to be the first Secretary of State.
I am a proud American, and also proud to be a liberal!

Look folks,,,this is an organic down home movement, our kids will tell you as they graduate now they do not have a sense of the optimism we all had. I have 2 in college, one in education and one in business, and sadly they both feel a limited sense of opportunity. No one knows the answer and we all know it...boom and bust is the inevitable cycle of market based economies and we cannot artifically control it. I am all for the movement to send a message and hopefully we will get new politicians in place with a higher sense of duty and execution.

jrm,

As usual, you have misplaced faith in the govt's ability to solve problems. Despite what these protesters may believe, "tax the rich" is not a job creation strategy.

@spcwt, you have attributed your financial success to a status well deserved due to "sacrifice, delayed gratification, living well below my means for decades, saving and investing." This self congratulatory attitude is the epitome of misplaced entitlement. One health crisis and your well deserved financial status could come tumbling down. If you have children, their financial success could be affected as well - unable to afford college, nickled and dimed in nowhere jobs. To make the assumption that your comfortable status is due to you because of a lifetime of struggle denies the reality of those whose lives have been thrown off track through no fault of their own.

Amen Barbara.

You are mistaken. Unlike these protesters, I have no sense of entitlement to wealth or status.

Like everyone else, I am entitled to the minimum safety net of Medicaid, Social Security and the like, nothing more.

Those who are worried about losing financial status due to illness should purchase disability insurance. It's one of the cheapest insurance products available.

Interesting that so many of these protesters can somehow afford iPhones, Starbucks, fashionable clothing, fast food, and other luxuries. They should reconsider their priorities before demanding yet another handout from the rest of us hard working Americans.

They choose to live paycheck to paycheck in affluent neighborhoods like Concord and Antioch rather than in cheaper alternatives available in Oakland and Richmond, where they could better save for a rainy day. They should live in places more aligned with their income.

Let go of envy.

Let go of hate.

It does no good to be filled with anger just because Baby Boomers had it easier and better than people today. People need to realign expectations and realize those easy days may have been a fluke and may never return.

We have it much better than those who lived during the Great Depression. We have it better than practically any group in history. Stop pouting. Count your blessings.

Are there no workhouses! Are there no prisons! Perhaps they should just die and decrease the surplus population.

spcwt, the congratulatory nature of your post (think: "I'm where I am because of my fantastic work ethic") reeks with entitlement. Your attempts to backpedal fail miserably.

I agree that disability insurance is a rational investment, and those that can afford it are wise to contribute. However, this resource does not completely replace salary. This leaves the person in question living on less money while trying to meet the overwhelming cost of medical treatments. Added to that burden may very well be childcare costs (the ill/injured person may not be capable of caring for their kids 24/7), paying for COBRA if they lose their job in the process, and the rest of the bills that will certainly pile up.

You write like someone who has never been in such a position. How nice for you. Perhaps you can work on not blaming others who have not been so lucky. There but for the grace of God....well, you know the rest.

How could our kids know their best direction, when we don't really know what is best for them in tomorrow's world, which is quite different that the one we knew at their ages.
My question to the occupiers, do they know if their gripes in Walnut Creek and the same gripes as LA,or Oakland, New York etc.
Some have too many school loans, some gave up school because they wouldn't take on school loans, some have never had jobs, some are totally UNemployable, others them it's a flash mob, and they want to be part of the action, some are just going drugs and hangin' out.
Since Michael Moore, (the new Jesse Jackson mob spokesman) showed up in Oakland, I know the mobs are crazy and I will be opposite to whatever they are...Michael Moore is so anti-American, he can only harm our country.

As if all the purple SEIU shirts in the mob aren't enough, now they want everybody who works at Oakland city and county office to 'strike', be absent how every they need to do it to join the group...TOTALLY hyjacking the message of the youth and others. ...like the union member are suffering ! ! plezzze
With the union hyjacking and M Moore, I have to hope it all fails. The union greed will destroy it for all the others. The big thugs !myob Of course, in Oakland, many in the group never have worked, which has nothing to do with current conditions. Too bad for the non-political victims, that the leftist-socialists had to take over and ruin it. Let the unions pay for the porta-potties.

It is revealing that the OWS rabble recently released their list of demands - it is a recyled variant of the communist manifesto. In light of these demands, if the lefties on here still support OWS, they are by admission "Communists". So much for the "vast philosophical divide" liberals try to widen in distancing themselves from murderous communism.

I also note that many on left here use using the tired, threadbare canard of self styled "intellectuall superiority" Mindless adherance to a failed political philosophy that is based on false premises and misinformation, coupled with copy and paste rhetoric, and finisshed off with dismissive, sarcastic name calling, is so typical of the one dimensional left.

I also suspect a few lefties on here are highly paid public employees, desperately trying to protect their ability to slop at the "gubment trough", and screw everyone else. By leeching off of real achievers and protecting the entranched, failed government status quo, and their political overlords in the Dem party, they are the antithesis of everything this country was founded on.

Socialism is collective GREED!!