By Holly Rosenkrantz - Oct 7, 2011 4:06 AM GMT+0700
The Occupy Wall Street protests came to Washington today, as marchers gathered near the White House and President Barack Obama said the demonstrations are “giving voice” to frustrations with the financial system.
“The American people understand that not everybody’s been following the rules, that Wall Street is an example of that,” Obama said at a White House press conference. He stopped short of endorsing the movement, which began three weeks ago in Lower Manhattan and has spread to cities from Houston to San Francisco with the help of postings on Twitter and websites.
Several thousand protesters set up camp today in Washington’s Freedom Plaza, two blocks from the Treasury Department. They staged drumming circles, set up sign-making tents, held a mini-rock festival and spoke against Wall Street excesses. Shortly before 3 p.m., they began marching toward the White House, with plans to rally nearby outside the columned headquarters of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Nationwide, the protesters have criticized the government for propping up hobbled financial giants such as Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. with a $700 billion taxpayer-funded bailout. They also called for more government aid to create jobs for the unemployed and voiced anti-war and anti-trade sentiment.
Biden’s Comments
“There’s a lot in common with the Tea Party,” Vice President Joe Biden said today in Washington of the protests. “What are the people up there on the other end of the political spectrum saying? The same thing: ’Look guys, the bargain is not on the level anymore.’ In the minds of the vast majority of the American -- the middle class is being screwed.”
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain told reporters in Houston today that the Wall Street protesters are “trying to disrupt the whole country.”
“This is an attempt by the left to create a distraction from the failed policies of this administration,” Cain said.
National union leaders based in Washington moved to embrace the protests as they reached the capital. Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation, told reporters yesterday that the demonstrations were reminiscent of a union march on Wall Street last year.
Speakers at a rally in Washington today said their efforts were inspired by union-backed protests in Madison, Wisconsin, this year against Republican moves to curb union benefits.
“Madison was our inspiration; the country noticed,” Gloria English, 51, a bartender and house cleaner from Owings, Maryland, said in an interview.
Not About Union
Not all participants in today’s march were ready to usher union leaders to the head of the protest parade.
’’This is much bigger than my union affiliation,’’ Lisa Oberg, a 32-year-old actor from Baltimore who joined in the Washington protests today, said. “This is about the people. My union has nothing to do with why I’m here.”
In New York, where the Occupy Wall Street protests continued today, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “A lot of people are feeling the pain and when people are feeling the pain they look for an outlet, and that’s what I think you’re hearing from the protesters.”
The causes run from opposition to the death penalty to income inequality, according to Cuomo, who defended Wall Street’s role in the New York economy.
“Wall Street is a major economic engine for the state,” he said at a press conference. “When all is said and told, 20 to 25 percent of the state’s income comes from Wall Street. From the state’s balance, there has to be a balance.”
New York Costs
New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters today that the protests have cost his city about $2 million in overtime so far.
In Sacramento, California, today, about 100 demonstrators gathered in a small park downtown named after labor organizer Cesar Chavez.
“Fight Back,” and “Heal America: Tax Wall Street” were among the signs held by demonstrators.
“They are right, this is class warfare,” Nathan Appete, who said he was a 24-year-old nursing student from Fresno, said, “This is a war against the middle class by those big banks.”
In Houston, Dustin Phipps, a 24-year-old premed student, was one of the organizers of several hundred protesters who had met online. They gathered today in a downtown park and walked four blocks to the JPMorgan Chase Tower.
“They got bailed out; we got sold out,” was among the chants Phipps led over a red megaphone.
Watching from across the street, Peggy Chilton, a 52-year- old oil industry accountant, said, “I came to mock them. They need to get a job. These are rich, white college students whose professors don’t like the Tea Party.”
In San Francisco, police and city crews dismantled an encampment outside the Federal Reserve Bank’s building in the Financial District early today that had been set up by Occupy SF protesters, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Holly Rosenkrantz in Washington at hrosenkrantz@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at lliebert@bloomberg.net
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