Occupy Everywhere - Sept 17th - Day of Rage Against Wall Street and what it stands for!

[Peter Lemkin]

Banks on Pace to Spend Record Amount on Lobbying

A new report from the Charlotte Observer has revealed banks are on pace to spend a record amount on lobbying this year in an attempt to weaken or repeal new financial regulations. Banks have spent $47 million in lobbying so far this year up from $42 million at this time last year. Wells Fargo has spent $6 million on lobbying an 80 percent increase over last year. Three years ago, Wells Fargo had five Washington lobbyists. Now it has 28. The massive amounts spent on lobbying has helped banks gain access to regulators. According to Public Citizen, Wall Street lobbyists have had more than 350 meetings with regulators to discuss weakening the Volcker Rule. During that same time, public advocacy groups like Public Citizen were granted only 20 meetings.


Two Occupy Wall Street Protesters Sue NYPD For False Arrest, Excessive Force

Two Occupy Wall Street protesters have sued the New York City Police Department for false arrest and excessive force arising from a protest at a Citibank branch last month. One of the protesters, 23-year-old Heather Carpenter, received national attention after a video was posted online showing an undercover police officer dragging her into the bank and then arresting her. Anderson was detained moments she closed her Citibank account.

undercover police officer: "You were inside. You were inside with everybody else."

Heather Carpenter: "I'm a customer. I'm a customer."

witness: "She is a customer."

Heather Carpenter: "I'm a customer."

undercover police officer: "You were inside. Yes, but you were inside with the wholeno, no, no."

witness: "What are you doing?"

witness: "Hey, what thehey!"

witness: "What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? This is all being documented right now. She's not doing anything! She's not doing anything wrong! Oh, my god! This is wrong! This is wrong! This is wrong! What you're doing is wrong! This is wrong! You should be ashamed of yourself! Shame! Shame! Shame!"

Heather Carpenter was arrested along with her fiancé and others who attempted to close their accounts.


Nation's 10 Biggest Banks Could Lose $185 Billion As Customers Move Money

New research shows the nation's 10 biggest banks could stand to lose as much as $185 billion in deposits over the next year as the movement to move money to credit unions and community banks expands.


15 Arrested at Bank of America Anti-Foreclosure Sit-In

Fifteen people were arrested at a sit-in against home foreclosures at a Bank of America branch in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Monday. Among those arrested was Lara Shepard-Blue.

Lara Shepard-Blue: "If Bank of America would lower the principle to the actual real value of the home then we could keep families in their homes and also help spur an economic recovery in our city and across the country. So that's why we got arrested. We're also calling on them to stop evicting home owners after foreclosure. They should be accepting rent from home owners or agreeing to sell the house back to them. If they could afford the house at the current value Bank of America should sell it back to them."


15 Students Arrested in New York City Rally Against University Tuition Increases

Here in New York City, 15 students were arrested during a daylong rally against a tuition increase at the City University of New York. The arrests occurred in a lobby at Baruch College where the university's trustees were meeting.


University Of California Davis Protesters Set Up Camp Near Site Of Controversial Pepper-Spray Incident

Meanwhile at the University of California Davis, students have set up a protest camp with tents near the site where campus police officers pepper sprayed students on Friday as they were sitting down during a peaceful protest. On Monday the campus police chief was put on administrative leave.