this is how Miss L and I are both feeling today… #dogs #lexi #ows #sleepies #naptime #naps (Taken with instagram)

motherjones:

rtnt:

Who Owns Washington?

In the wake of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy in 2008, many were left wondering how the financial sector had become so integral to the world economy that its collapse could bring the economy to its knees. Writing for Mother Jones in 2010, Kevin Drum explores how the financial lobby grew into the most powerful lobby in Washington, and how that power persists even today:

This is a story about politics. It’s about how Congress and the president and the Federal Reserve were persuaded to let all this happen in the first place. In other words, it’s about the finance lobby—the people who, as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) put it last April, even after nearly destroying the world are “still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”

But it’s also about something even bigger. It’s about the way that lobby—with the eager support of a resurgent conservative movement and a handful of powerful backers—was able to fundamentally change the way we think about the world. Call it a virus. Call it a meme. Call it the power of a big idea. Whatever you call it, for three decades they had us convinced that the success of the financial sector should be measured not by how well it provides financial services to actual consumers and corporations, but by how effectively financial firms make money for themselves. It sounds crazy when you put it that way, but stripped to its bones, that’s what they pulled off.

Read the full article here.

Two years later and still painfully spot-on.

occupyallstreets:

Protesters from the Million Hoodie March knocked down the barricades that surrounded the Wall St bull since Occupy Wall Street started 6 months ago.

Credit

(via silas216)

poisonville:

The evolution of riot gear. (NYT)

Yes… not excessive at ALL for peaceful protestors.. not.at.all.  (/sarcasm)

(via randomactsofchaos)

wearethe99percent:

I challenge any current politician to live on minimum wage and nothing else for one year then come back and tell us the minimum wage should be lowered. Shame on greed. We are the 99% and we’re fighting back.

wearethe99percent:

I am 26 years old, uneducated but am employed in one of the nations stock markets as a clerk for a small broker. My family are well educated but struggle to make ends meet. After 26 years, my parents have been forced to live separately because of their jobs. My sister has a journalism degree from a prestigious college but can only find work as a “miller lite girl”. Im ashamed of what i have to do every day for money. I live in a small apartment, work full time, and take classes at a local community college. I borrow money from my family to pay for it, one class at a time. At this rate it will take 7 years. The people i work with all live very comfortable lives. They have no idea what life is like for the average middle class family. My boss makes my yearly salary in 10 days. When i first started working here there were opportunities for young men to make a career for themselves. At this point there is no future for us. I am ashamed that my job directly contributed to the global economic crisis. I am ashamed to tell people what i do for a living. There are protestors in front of my office building right now. I want nothing more than to go join them. Im afraid I would lose my job here if people knew how i really felt. If things keep going the way that they are, i will never be able to afford a house, a car, or a family. My grand parents had 4 children by the time they were my age. I can barely afford rent. I’m afraid to post a picture of my face for fear of being ostracized or terminated at my job.

This country is doomed.

Im one of the lucky ones.

I still dont have a future..

I am the 99%

occupywallst.org

wearethe99percent:

I’ll sooner hit the lottery than afford a family-sized house on a teacher’s salary.

wearethe99percent:

I CAN’T HANDWRITE THIS NOTE BECAUSE MY DOMINANT HAND WAS DAMAGED IN THE MILITARY. I WAS MEDICALLY RETIRED AS A WOUNDED WARRIOR.

AFTER ONLY 4 YEARS IN THIS ONLY PROVIDES A SMALL INCOME THAT IS BARELY ENOUGH TO COVER MY MORTGAGE AND EAT CHEAP PACKAGES OF NOODLES.

MY MORTGAGE HAS NEVER BEEN PAID LATE BECAUSE I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. EVEN THOUGH THE VALUE IS UNDERWATER DUE TO ALL THE OTHER FORECLOSURES AROUND ME. I ALSO HAD TO USE GRANTS TO COVER MY MORTAGE A FEW TIMES WHILE I WAS WAITING A YEAR FOR MY V.A. DISABILITY RATING. I CANNOT USE THOSE GRANTS AGAIN. THE WOUNDED WARRIOR PROGRAM PROMISED TO FORM POSITION FOR ME TO WORK ON NEARBY BASE BUT THAT PROGRAM FAILED TO DELIVER.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO BUY A CAR.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SAVE ANY MONEY.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO MOVE FROM THIS HOME.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO TAKE A VACATION.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SEND MY WIFE TO SCHOOL.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO AFFORD A LOAN. (OR GET ONE SINCE MY CREDIT GOT SHOT AFTER BEING REMOVED FROM MILITARY SERVICE)

I WON’T BE ABLE TO REPLACE THE ROOF ON MY HOUSE IN 5 YEARS.

I WON’T BE ABLE TO REPLACE MY 50 YEAR OLD SEPTIC TANK SO WHEN IT CRUMBLES AND FAILS MY HOME WILL BE CONDEMNED ON ACCOUNT OF SEWAGE IN THE BACK YARD.

I WON’T BE ABLE TO AFFORD MY MEDICATIONS AS I GET OLDER.

I WON’T BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THE AMERICAN DREAM OF PROSPERITY AND HAPPINESS.

BUT I GUESS I SHOULD LOOK AT THE POSITIVE SIDE: I WON’T BE ABLE TO TELL MY KIDS THAT THEY ARE SCREWED…. BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE ANY.

I AM THE 99 PERCENT. WELCOME TO THE CORPORATOCRACY.