Posted on 11/18/2011 3:51:46 PM PST by Qbert
One of the enduring questions about Occupy Wall Street has been this: Can the energy unleashed by the movement be leveraged behind a concrete political agenda and push for change that will constitute a meaningful challenge to the inequality and excessive Wall Street influence highlighted by the protests?
A coalition of labor and progressive groups is about to unveil its answer to that question. Get ready for Occupy Congress.
The coalition which includes unions like SEIU and CWA and groups like the Center for Community Change is currently working on a plan to bus thousands of protesters from across the country to Washington, where they will congregate around the Capitol from December 5-9, SEIU president Mary Kay Henry tells me in an interview.
[Snip]
One goal of the protests, Henry says, is to pressure Republicans to support Obamas jobs creation proposals. More generally, the aim is to highlight Congresss misguided obsession with the deficit and overall inaction on unemployment.
Were taking about it as an effort to take back the Capitol, Henry says. It would be great if we could build pressure that goes beyond the jobs act.
[Snip]
The reason were targeting Republicans is because this is about jobs, she said. The Republicans insistence that no revenue can be put on the table is the reason were not creating jobs in this country. We want to draw a stark contrast between a party that wants to scapegoat immigrants, attack public workers, and protect the rich, versus a president who has been saying he wants America to get back to work and that everybody should pay their fair share.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Take Thaddeus McCotter for example. He could be out daily taking Zer0 and the 'rats to task.
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