[JayCT]

While there were a few young people that looked and spoke the role of protesters, there were many middle class people as well. Some were there like me for curiosity, but others had legitimate concerns about what is going on. One very nice middle-aged woman said she was laid off by a major insurer and has been unable to find a replacement job. She is concerned she may be forced to give up her home in West Hartford and move in with her grown children. There were others like her who spoke of why they were there. It is not as black and white as you htink. Jay

[SVTJayC]

LMAO at "taking shape". This will be OVER the second the weather changes.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by SVTJayC

LMAO at "taking shape". This will be OVER the second the weather changes.

We'll see.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by JViello

Of course, the Hartford "protesters" are well groomed and proper. lol

Originally Posted by JayCT

While there were a few young people that looked and spoke the role of protesters, there were many middle class people as well. Some were there like me for curiosity, but others had legitimate concerns about what is going on. One very nice middle-aged woman said she was laid off by a major insurer and has been unable to find a replacement job. She is concerned she may be forced to give up her home in West Hartford and move in with her grown children. There were others like her who spoke of why they were there. It is not as black and white as you htink. Jay

Anyway, I'm not sure why/how it's wall streets fault in general that the middle aged woman is out of work. Are companies obligated to keep people on if they can't afford it? I think not.

I'll say it again, what caused this financial collapse back in 2008 was not Wall Street in general. It was a combination of corrupt politicians and corrupt "capitalists" who took advantage of "open season" that the government basically caused.

I'm not blaming one over the other. SOME people on wall street should be in jail. Instead they have a cushy position in the Obama administration. I'm sure you all are up in arms over that right? Or is it just proctor and gamble who are the demons? Microsoft is evil, Apple is genius. I get it...no really, I do.

I'm guessing you don't have any stock or any kind of portfolio in "corporate America" either right? You benefited nothing from "corporate America" in your life either. Come on.

Where were you when grass roots people were out protesting the bailouts, lobbyists and corrupt government institutions like Fannie and Freddie? Oh right because they sound funny, have a goofy "name" they go by, and wave flags, we can't have that. We all know "real" protesters shout catchy phrases, block buses and go to people houses like a mob and just "look hip". Really?

This video highlights the contrasts between the sides here IMO.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ0M_rEcHls

[MikefromCT]

Having a few small shares of stock is one thing. Being a hedge fund manager who takes massive risks, loses investors' money and still reaps huge profits is another. (Can you say Dick Fuld? God, what a dickfuld! )

And Jay, with all due respect this movement began modestly just like the Tea Party - which at its inception spoke the same outrage as these recent protests. In fact, there have even been a few Tea Party activists at these Wall Street protests. Where was I during the 2008 bailouts? Well, like everyone else in my department, I was frantically trying to keep my sanity (what's left of it) while trying to do my job. In the months after the collapse, for the first time in years the company laid people off - including long-standing employees who had seniority. I was scared like hell that I, too, would be laid off and that I could lose my home and what I would do then. If my job weren't at stake, and if the Tea Party stayed true to this cause, it would have been a movement I might have supported. Their message has changed since then, and what's emerged now is a new movement, one that's devoted solely to exposing corporate wrongdoing and misbehavior, something that's long overdue. I won't deny that you have some people here who look better suited to attending a Woodstock reunion, but you've got alot of people here who are angry and fed up.

[SVTJayC]

A hedge fund manager, who loses a ton of his clients money, will not be reaping any profits. If you knew anything about how a hedge funds works (which is typical of these folks, a lot of talk, not a lot of research), you'd know that. Bank fund managers perhaps, but HF manager's business model doesn't work like that.

[MikefromCT]

Originally Posted by SVTJayC

If you knew anything about how a hedge funds works (which is typical of these folks, a lot of talk, not a lot of research), you'd know that.

OK, so what you're telling me is we should be leaving things in the hands of "experts" like yourself, is that it? Eh, let's not and say we did.

PS, before assuming you know everything about me, as well as the financial world, do yourself a favor and read "Winner Take All Politics" by Jacob Hacker. My guess is you've never heard of it because Fox News didn't deem it important, but believe me, it is. This is just the latest is a series of expose's that details (at least in part) why we're in the mess we are today.

[nep321]

Sounds like the TEA Party of the left, if you ask me. This country will always be divided on these issues. We can't make everyone happy, it seems.

[SVTJayC]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

OK, so what you're telling me is we should be leaving things in the hands of "experts" like yourself, is that it? Eh, let's not and say we did.

Hedge fund managers only collect performance fees on the high water mark. Meaning, if they lost 50% of their client's money, they would have to make ALL of that money back first, (ie get above the high water mark), before they started collecting performance fees again. More likely though, if they lost a large amount of client money, the remaining clients would leave, and they would make nothing. I'm not asking you to make a leap of faith here, that's just how it works.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Having a few small shares of stock is one thing. Being a hedge fund manager who takes massive risks, loses investors' money and still reaps huge profits is another. (Can you say Dick Fuld? God, what a dickfuld! )

Honestly as SVTJayC put it, I don't put it so much on the hedge fund managers. But there no doubt was greed and corruption abounds in the financial circle and it's tied directly into Washington. You just can't separate the two.

I find it almost amazing that most people don't realize much of Wall Street is a friend to the Democrats. It's just assumed they are all evil cigar smoking conservatives. Do people really believe that Bernie Madoff was a conservative? That Barney Frank is a conservative? (As he told people that there is no risk in the housing market and Fannie Freddie are sound.) Do people not know that Obama was the largest Wall Street funded president in the history of the United States? Do they not know the Glass Steagle Act was repealed under Clinton?

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

And Jay, with all due respect this movement began modestly just like the Tea Party - which at its inception spoke the same outrage as these recent protests. In fact, there have even been a few Tea Party activists at these Wall Street protests.

Fair enough. And you are correct, there are some correlations, I wish both could trim the extreme elements out of the rhetoric and focus on cleaning up our business and political sectors. (Not that all business are corrupt or all politicians but it's enough to be harmful for sure.)

Here is a great article by the CATO Institute on the subject. You might be surprised on their angle.

Tea Party, Meet Occupy Wall Street. OWS, Tea Party. | Cato @ Liberty

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

Their message has changed since then, and what's emerged now is a new movement, one that's devoted solely to exposing corporate wrongdoing and misbehavior, something that's long overdue. I won't deny that you have some people here who look better suited to attending a Woodstock reunion, but you've got alot of people here who are angry and fed up.

I'll give you that some have tried to hijack the Tea Party, but it doesn't reflect the overall mindset IMO. Believe me, I get frustrated on some levels with them myself.

The one thing I do take serious issue with in your statement above is the lack of "expose'" on the governments involvment with all this. There are a lot of smoking guns in Washington. LOTS. But it goes basically ignored by this crowd, and IMO that's not a good thing. They are playing right into the puppet masters hand.