While members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction hit a rough patch on Wednesday — Republicans say Democrats on the panel "walked away" from negotiations; the Dems deny that, saying that although they rejected the latest GOP plan, they're still at work — another D.C. group took on the the deficit reduction mantle.
Occupy Washington DC, the national capital's version of the global protest movement, held an "Occupied Super Committee Hearing for the 99%" in Freedom Plaza, where the group has been camping and protesting since Oct. 6.
"We are more of a liberated committee than a super committee," Kevin Zeese, an organizer of Occupy Washington DC told the Huffington Post. "We are not stuck with corporate cash."
Since this was in D.C., the mock super committee hearing had its wonky moments:
- Andrew Fieldhouse of the Economic Policy Institute talked about tax reform.
- Carl Conetta of the Project on Defense Alternatives discussed demilitarization of U.S. foreign policy.
- Gar Alperovitz, author of "America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy," talked about building up more cooperatively owned institutions, like credit unions.
- Margaret Flowers, a physician and Occupy DC organizer, advocated for universal Medicare.
Within about a week, Occupy Washington DC intends to put out a report detailing the group's proposals for fixing the economy and reducing the deficit.
If the mock deficit group can meet that timetable, it would be one week ahead of the real committee's Nov. 23 deadline.
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sarah monotl
Americans blame the federal government more for the nation’s economic plight than they do the primary target of the Occupy Wall Street protests — big financial institutions. If you don’t know why people are protesting on wall street, this article gives a very good explanation on it.
http://explainlikeakid.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-people-are-protesting-on-wall.html