‘Don’t speak in my name’: Women’s Day exposes Spain’s social divisions

March 7, 2019

By Sabela Ojea and Belén Carreño

MADRID (Reuters) – Global campaigners are showcasing events to mark Women’s Day on Friday with the slogan ‘a balanced world is a better world’ – but in Spain the gender equality debate is sowing divisions that appear deeper than ever.

Last March 8, hundreds of thousands joined the country’s first women’s strike in protest at inequality between the sexes. One year on, the mood is different.

In a society where the emergence since then of Vox, a new far-right party, is tapping into pockets of nostalgia for a staunchly traditionalist past, women’s rights have become a pivotal topic in campaigning for national elections due on April 28.

Vox opposes a landmark law on gender violence that Spain passed in 2004.

In a video it posted on social media, some of its female supporters compared feminism to an “ideological burqa” and brandished “Don’t speak in my name” placards in protest at the strikes, rallies and other events planned for Friday.

A smaller, ultra-conservative group this week drove buses around Spain flanked with the slogan #StopFeminazis.

Both groups say the 2004 law, which protects women from violence from partners or ex-partners, discriminates against men. They want it scrapped and replaced with legislation covering all forms of domestic violence.

“We won’t take part in the March 8th feminist strike because it denigrates women by treating them as weak and helpless people,” tweeted Vox.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s outgoing Socialist government, meanwhile, wants the law reinforced, while opinions in the mainstream conservative People’s Party (PP) opposition are divided.

‘REACTING AGAINST FEMINISM’

Opinion polls expect Vox, which also opposes abortion, to become the first far-right party to win seats in the lower parliamentary house – possibly up to one in seven – in four decades.

Part of its success is down to the way it has tapped into resentment in some quarters against years of focus on women’s rights and violence against women. Some 70 percent of its backers are men, a GAD3 poll published in January showed.

“Vox is a community of voters that is reacting against feminism,” said Belen Barreiro, director of the 40DB research institute.

Killings of women at the hands of current or ex-partners systematically get prominent coverage in Spanish media, and hundreds of thousands took part last year in protests over a court’s ruling on a gang rape that many judged too lenient.

A Metroscopia survey in February showed 77 percent of Vox voters consider that Spain’s gender violence laws have left men vulnerable. That compares with a still eye-catching 44 percent of voters of all political stripes.

CONFRONTATION?

On the other side, the Socialists have made the fight for gender equality a top priority in their campaign. Days after calling the election – in which no single party is forecast to win a workable majority – Sanchez’s government adopted measures to boost gender equality, including increasing paternity leave.

The PP’s position is less clear, and the question of gender equality could potentially be an issue if PP, Vox and the center-right Ciudadanos were to try and form a coalition government after the election.

PP leader Pablo Casado said the party would not take part in Women’s Day protests because it considers far-left parties are seeking to use them to stir confrontation between the sexes.

“I don’t want a country that opposes my daughter to my son,” Casado told supporters on Thursday.

Some PP officials have publicly criticized previous comments by Casado calling for curbs on abortion – a move he said would make it easier to plug Spain’s pension deficit.

PP official Marta González told Reuters there were many different views on this issue in the party, saying the conservatives stood for equality between men and women.

Opinion polls show Sanchez’s Socialists leading voting intentions for April 28, with the PP and Ciudadanos next and Vox and far-left Podemos vying for fourth spot.

The GAD3 poll showed Sanchez’s Socialists and Casado’s PP as attracting the biggest proportion of women’s votes, at 53.2 percent and 53.3 percent respectively. A CIS poll showed there were more undecided voters among women than men.

(Writing and additional reporting by Ingrid Melander; editing by John Stonestreet)

Moldova looks set for hung parliament as opposition threatens protests

February 24, 2019

By Alexander Tanas

CHISINAU (Reuters) – Early results pointed to a hung parliament in Moldova’s election on Sunday, splitting the vote between pro-Western and pro-Russian forces at a time when the ex-Soviet republic’s relations with the European Union have soured.

The current government wants closer EU integration and warns of catastrophe if the country falls back into Russia’s sphere of influence.

But corruption scandals and worries over the health of its democracy have tarnished the country’s image and weakened the appeal of the pro-Western political class.

The opposition Socialist Party, which favors closer ties to Moscow, took a slight early lead at 29.5 percent, with 30 percent of votes counted. The ruling pro-Western Democratic Party trailed with 28.8 percent, while an opposition bloc called ACUM, campaigning to fight entrenched corruption, was third with 22 percent.

A clearer picture of the final tally will emerge on Monday.

An inconclusive election or one marred by allegations of fraud could tip the country back into instability just as it has recovered from a $1 billion banking scandal in 2014 and 2015.

If the results are split, it could set the stage for weeks of coalition talks or another election.

“If no one has a parliamentary majority, I think that there will be attempts to form it, but the risk is high that it could come to a snap election in the coming few months,” President Igor Dodon told reporters.

On Saturday, Dodon, the former Socialist Party chief, called the campaign “one of the dirtiest in our entire history”. He and leading opposition figures have threatened to launch street protests and raised concerns about vote-buying.

“If the elections are rigged even more than they have already been rigged to this day, we will come out to protect our vote,” ACUM leader Maia Sandu said.

POISONED POLITICS

The campaign has already been dogged by controversy.

In the past few days alone, ACUM’s leaders said they were being poisoned on the orders of the authorities, which the Democratic Party swiftly dismissed as a “strange accusation”.

Russia’s interior ministry announced an investigation into Democratic Party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, accusing him of involvement in organized crime, prompting Plahotniuc’s party to accuse Moscow of election meddling.

The Democratic Party had already been accused of trying to bend the electoral system in its favor by introducing changes in 2017 on how votes are cast.

Previously, Moldovans voted on party lists, but the Democratic Party introduced a mixed system of party lists and first-past-the-post constituency races, against the advice of European rights experts. The Democratic Party rejects suggestions it benefits most from the new voting system.

It has in turn accused Dodon of colluding with Russia to put the Socialists in power, which the president denies.

“Moldova has the potential for development, it’s only necessary that the authorities not be corrupt, that they should think about the people, and not only about their own pockets,” said Alexandra Ciorescu, a 72-year-old pensioner.

BELIEVING IN THE FUTURE

The EU forged a deal on closer trade and political ties with Moldova in 2014 but has become increasingly critical of Chisinau’s track record on reforms.

One of Europe’s poorest countries, which is squeezed between Ukraine and EU member state Romania, Moldova plunged into crisis in 2014 and 2015 after $1 billion was pilfered from three banks.

The EU froze aid after a court struck down the victory in the Chisinau mayoral race of one of ACUM’s leaders, Andrei Nastase, on a technicality last year. The European Parliament declared it “a state captured by oligarchic interests”.

Plahotniuc’s party has trumpeted the achievements of its government under Prime Minister Pavel Filip. The economy is growing, the banking system has stabilized and cooperation with the International Monetary Fund resumed.

“I believe in the future of Moldova,” Filip said after casting his vote. “We are ready to continue reforms and all social programs, the implementation of which will change the lives of Moldovan citizens for the better.”

Dodon and the Democratic Party have clashed over issues ranging from relations with Russia to ministerial appointments. But some Moldovans suspect that the Socialists and Plahotniuc collaborate behind the scenes to carve up the state between themselves – a suggestion rejected by Dodon in a Reuters interview in January.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Jason Neely and Peter Cooney)

Spanish right-wing parties could hold a majority in parliament: poll

February 23, 2019

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish right-wing parties PP, Ciudadanos and Vox could together hold a parliamentary majority in a snap election on April 28, one opinion poll showed on Saturday.

It was the first such outcome in a major poll since Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the early election a week ago after Catalan independence parties joined opposition parties in defeating his 2019 budget bill.

The three right-wing parties will win 169-179 seats in the election in the 350-seat legislature, according to a Sigma Dos poll published by newspaper El Mundo.

Sanchez’s Socialist Party will win the biggest share of seats, 110-114, according to the poll, short of a majority.

The conservative People’s Party will get 71-75 seats, while the center-right Ciudadanos will take 54-58. The far-right party Vox will win 44-46 seats, according to the poll.

The anti-immigration Vox is a newcomer on the Spanish political scene and pollsters had understimated its score in a regional election in Andalusia in December, where it won 12 seats out of 109.

Memories of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who died in 1975, meant Spain had long resisted the growing popularity of far-right party in much of Europe.

Opinion polls have over recent weeks have differed over which parties would have enough seats to form a coalition.

All polls see Sanchez’s Socialists leading and getting more seats than in the previous vote in 2016. But even a potential coalition between Socialists and Ciudadanos, which has so far said it does not want that at a national level, would leave both parties with up to 172 seats, short of a majority.

The poll was conducted through 1,200 interviews from Feb. 19 to Feb. 22.

(Reporting by Belen Carreño and Jesús Aguado; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

America’s Socialist Revolution Has Begun

Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereignman.com

On October 31, 1517, an obscure German theology professor put the finishing touches on a paper he had written about the current state of the Catholic Church, and sent it off to Archbishop Albert of Brandenberg for review. The professor’s letter was polite and professional, with a formal tone that one might find in a modern academic work. It could hardly be described as revolutionary.

Yet within a few years, the professor would find himself excommunicated by the Pope, branded an outlaw and heretic and living in hiding under the protection of an army of followers.

His name, of course, was Martin Luther. And the publication of his famous paper, the 95 Theses, is often viewed as the start of the Protestant Reformation, one of the most important social movements in history.

The reformation was a European-wide rejection of Church authority. But its origins far predate Luther or his 95 Theses.

Mini revolts against the Church go back to the late 1300s, more than 150 years earlier. But historians often focus on a single watershed moment to mark the beginning of a major movement or trend, even though there are always multiple events leading up to it. For example, historians consider October 1929’s stock market crash as the start of the Great Depression, even though the London market had crashed in September, and the US market suffered a smaller crash in March.

Point is, there are always multiple, important events that could mark the beginning of a major trend or movement.

There’s a new major trend taking place right now in front of our very eyes– a modern Socialist Revolution. People are storming into power and prominence with a belief system that bigger government, punitive taxes and nationalization of private industry will fix everything.

They find personal wealth utterly revolting, and they’ll stop at nothing to redistribute it.

We’ve been writing about this for years. But its no longer theory or conjecture. It’s happening. The revolution has begun.

There have been several watershed moments recently that future historians might view as the start of this modern Socialist Revolution… including possibly today with Bernie Sanders announcing his 2020 presidential bid.

But I think a less obvious choice would be when Amazon surrendered to the Socialists last week over its proposed headquarters in New York City.

Amazon’s expansion into New York would have brought 25,000 well-paying jobs to the city, plus state-of-the-art green construction, $10+ billion in tax revenue, land for a new school, a tech and art incubator, etc. In exchange, the city government would give up some tax credits that were completely trivial by comparison.

But… the Socialists couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They were disgusted that a behemoth like Amazon, headed by the richest man in the world, would receive any benefits whatsoever. They couldn’t step back and realize that the deal was a WIN/WIN. Amazon wins. The city wins.

Socialists are only happy with a WIN/LOSE, i.e. they have to win at your expense… otherwise no deal.

So they whined and complained until Amazon walked away.

Here’s a perfect example of this WIN/LOSE mentality: Before all the public outcry, Amazon’s proposed headquarters was within a designated “Opportunity Zone,” which meant that the company could have eventually been eligible for federal tax breaks on its $2.5 billion New York investment.

Socialists immediately lamented the gross injustice, claiming that Amazon shouldn’t receive any opportunity zone tax incentives that were “meant for the poor.”

We’ve talked about opportunity zones a few times in the past; the basic idea is that every governor across the US has designated certain portions of his/her state or territory as an “opportunity zone.”

To qualify as an opportunity zone, the area must have a poverty rate of at least 20% and a median household income level that’s at least 20% below the local average.

Federal law provides generous tax breaks for anyone who makes lucrative, long-term investments in opportunity zones– whether starting a business, redeveloping property, etc.

Talk about a win/win.

Opportunity zone investments mean that an underdeveloped community gets to enjoy more job prospects, safer neighborhoods, cleaner streets, greater economic activity, higher tax revenue, etc.

And in exchange for putting up all the money, taking all the risk and doing all the work, investors can enjoy tax free gains.

Everyone wins.

You’d think people would be happy and grateful that some investors are risking their capital and investing their time to improve the neighborhood. But no. The Socialists just can’t keep their mouths shut. They can’t simply accept that they’re going to get a ton of benefit for free because someone else is going to take all the risk and do all the work.

Nope. They’re only happy if they get everything for free… while you get absolutely nothing out of the deal.

That’s a win/LOSE. And it’s the foundation of the Socialist mentality.

If a rich person or a large company derives any benefit whatsoever, they have to stop the deal at all costs, even if they screw themselves in the process.

So now Amazon has pulled out, and the Socialists get 100% of nothing. Everyone loses. And they’re insane enough to consider this a major victory. It’s as if they’re happy to screw themselves, as long as they think they can screw you even more. It reminds me of an old socialist joke from the Soviet days.

A Russian man one day stumbles across an old metal lantern. He picks it up and shines it, and a Genie pops out, saying “I am a Communist genie… so you only get one wish instead of three. Plus, I have to give your comrade neighbor twice as much as I give you.”

So the man thinks for a moment and says, “Then I wish for you to blind me in one eye.” This is the essence of modern socialism that is taking over America: everybody loses. And the revolution has already begun.

Political deadlock beckons as Spain’s PM calls April election

February 15, 2019

By Belén Carreño and Blanca Rodríguez

MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap national election for April 28 on Friday after parliament voted down his budget bill, spelling an uncertain few months for a country whose political landscape is increasingly fragmented.

Spain exited a deep economic slump in 2013 but has been plagued since then by political volatility, driven by deep divisions over an independence drive in Catalonia and the emergence of new, populist parties.

Sanchez, who took office in June at the head of a minority government holding less than a quarter of parliamentary seats, called the election after his former Catalan nationalist allies refused to back his budget.

“One cannot govern without a budget,” Sanchez said in a televised address that bore hallmarks of a campaign speech, laying out his government’s achievements and saying he was seeking a broader majority to pursue a social reform agenda.

“Between doing nothing and continuing without the budget and calling on Spaniards to have their say, I choose the second. Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance.”

Sanchez’s Socialist party leads opinion polls, but they also show that no single party would win enough votes to govern on its own.

A range of possible coalition scenarios point to lengthy negotiations between three or more parties, potentially including the far-right Vox – in would be a first for post-Franco era Spain – and tapping into a divisive and high-profile debate over Catalan separatism.

Anti-immigration Vox, one of several emerging parties that have ripped apart the two-party establishment that has alternated power since Spain’s democracy was re-established after Francisco Franco’s death in 1975, saw its first electoral success in December.

Twelve of its lawmakers were elected to Andalusia’s regional parliament, where it is backing the ruling administration, and in April it seems certain to enter the national parliament and possibly the government.

COALITIONS?

With Catalan separatist leaders on trial in Madrid for a failed independence bid in 2017 that angered many voters in the rest of the country, that region’s uneasy relationship with central government will also be high on the electoral agenda.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter had said on Wednesday that the country’s highest court had no plans to suspend the trial if elections were called, even if it will now take place during campaigning.

Sanchez’s government – which had replaced another, conservative minority administration removed from office in a no-confidence vote – had also depended on the support of other small regional parties to pass legislation.

But it was the Catalan nationalist parties that threw him against the ropes by rejecting the fiscal bill.

Pablo Casado, leader of the conservative’s People Party (PP), welcomed what he called Sanchez “throwing in the towel” and said his party was ready to govern, adding his first move if elected would be to lower taxes.

Sanchez’s Socialists lead the polls with estimates from the last few months averaging at 24 percent, according to a poll of polls by daily El Pais.

But PP and another newcomer – center-right Ciudadanos – would not be far behind and could theoretically form another coalition with Vox.

Ciudadanos might however baulk at teaming up with the far-right nationally, preferring instead a three-way alliance with the Socialists and Spain’s third prominent populist party, anti-austerity Podemos.

Markets in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy were little changed after Sanchez’s announcement.

Bond analysts have said any political impact on sentiment should be short lived given the country’s decent macro-economic outlook.

(Additional reporting by Jose Elias Rodriguez, Isla Binnie, Jesus Aguado; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by John Stonestreet)

Spanish Socialists Call For Snap Election After Losing Budget Battle

One day after pro-independence Catalonians allied with Spain’s conservatives to defeat the budget proposed by the leading socialists, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for snap election to be held on April 28, what would be Spain’s third general election in fewer than four years.

Sanchez

Calls for an election were widely expected following the budget’s defeat, since passing legislation has become a challenge for the socialists, who hold only 84 of the 350 seats in Spain’s parliament. The anti-establishment Ciudadanos and the Catalonians, who helped the socialists stage the successful no-confidence vote that led to the ouster of former conservative PM Mariano Rajoy last year, haven’t been as willing to work with the socialists on budgetary and other matters.

Here’s more from the Guardian:

“Between doing nothing and continuing without the budget and calling on Spaniards to have their say, I choose the second. Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance, respect, moderation and common sense,” Sánchez said in a televised address to the nation following a cabinet meeting.

“I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for 28 April.”

 

Wall Street analysts aren’t optimistic about the election’s prospects for streamlining the political process in Spain: Instead, they “will likely result in a more fragmented and polarized parliament, in which no two parties will gather a stable majority,” according to UBS’s Spain CIO Roberto Scholtes Ruiz.

Base case is moderate pro-reform center-right grouping of PP and Ciudadanos parties, possibly supported by new entrant “far- right” Vox Market reaction to uncertainty likely to remain muted as economic growth, budget deficit reduction, low risk of market-unfriendly coalition from the left of center to keep Spain “out of the spotlight”.

As the vote looms, here’s what investors need to know (text courtesy of Bloomberg):

1. How did things go wrong for Sanchez?

Sanchez’s government was always built on sand. With only 84 deputies in Spain’s 350-seat chamber, the Socialists persuaded both Catalan separatists and the anti-establishment group Podemos to back the no-confidence vote that ousted the conservative Mariano Rajoy in June. But Catalan demands for a referendum on independence, and the Socialist party’s pledge to defend Spain’s constitutional order, meant that alliance was always likely to prove short-lived.

2. Which parties are the front runners?

Spain’s political map has splintered since Rajoy took office with a landslide election win and an absolute majority in 2011. A consolidated survey of polls compiled by El Pais newspaper shows the Socialists in the lead with 24.4 percent support followed by the conservative People’s Party with 20.7 percent and the liberals of Ciudadanos at 18 percent. Support for Podemos has slipped to 15 percent, while Vox, a nationalist party, has come from nowhere to notch up 10.6 percent.

There are many moving parts and much could change but one possible outcome could be an alliance on the right of the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox. Those groups have been competing to take the harshest line on Catalan separatism and already collaborated to eject the Socialists from power in Andalusia after regional elections in December. Economy Minister Nadia Calvino on Thursday dubbed the trio “the right with three heads.”

3. What do investors make of it all?

While Spanish bonds wobbled at the first hint of snap elections early in the week, they held steady through Sanchez’s loss in parliament as investors took the chances of a change of government in their stride. The 10-year securities ended Wednesday trading little changed and yielding 1.23 percent, after the budget was blocked.

4. Has Sanchez achieved much with his time in government?

The weak Socialist presence in parliament meant Sanchez had to rely on governing by decree as he struggled to pass key legislation. A major theme of his government has been rolling back the effects of the austerity that followed Spain’s financial crash of 2012. He approved a unprecedented 22 percent increase in the minimum wage and embarked on the biggest public sector hiring program in a decade. He also pledged 2 billion euros ($2.26 billion) to fight youth unemployment and made a stand against gender violence.

5. How’s the economy doing?

After 21 straight quarters of growth, Spain’s economy remains a bright spot in the euro zone. Growth unexpectedly accelerated in the fourth quarter propelled by consumer and government spending. The Bank of Spain expects growth of 2.2 percent this year, compared with 2.5 percent in 2018, though that will still be faster than the euro-area average.

Calling for a vote is a serious risk for Sanchez. Though his socialists remain the most popular single party in Spain, commanding more than 30% of the public’s favor according to recent polling, a coalition of right wing parties commands a larger aggregate share of the public’s support.

The next recession will sweep the Socialists into power

by Simon Black, Sovereign Man: What I’m about to say may sound totally crazy at first. But keep reading, because I think you’ll agree that it’s dead-on accurate. There’s a recession coming. No, that’s not some Chicken Little “The Sky is Falling” statement. Far from it. It’s just a fact: economies and financial markets always […]

The post The next recession will sweep the Socialists into power appeared first on SGT Report.

Spain’s far right Vox party surges in polls, Socialists lead

January 31, 2019

MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s far-right political party Vox saw support surge from just a month earlier while the ruling Socialists remained in the lead, according to a voting intention poll released on Thursday.

The CIS poll showed relative newcomers Vox would win 6.5 percent of the vote, putting them in fifth place, up from 3.7 percent forecast in the poll carried out in December.

The official poll by the Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS) showed the ruling Socialists would win an election if it were held today with 29.9 percent of the vote, up from 28.9 percent when the poll was taken last month.

(Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Axel Bugge)

Hollande Bolstered as Socialists Win French Parliament Control

ShareThis

Hollande Bolstered as Socialists Win French Parliament Control 17 Jun 2012 French President Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party and its allies won an absolute majority in the National Assembly, exit polls showed, paving the way for them to pass legislation without the aid of other members of parliament. The Socialist bloc won 314 out of the 577 seats, pollster CSA said, with 289 needed for a majority. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement party and its allies have 228 seats, CSA said, and the anti-euro National Front won two seats.

Citizens for Legitimate Government

Occupying Occupy Gainesville With 9/11, Federal Reserve, and Chemtrails Truth


November 6, 2011

Many people within the Occupy Gainesville protests were awake to the issues while many were simply leftist and sometimes socialists.

Stay tuned for more news report from The Intel Hub Media Network and be sure to sign up for our exclusive mailing list.
http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=tepmj6gab&p=oi&m=110…

Bob Tuskin
http://bobtuskin.com

The Intel Hub
http://theintelhub.com

Solid Evidence That Occupy Wall Street Is A Communist Movement Run By Socialists Who Wish To Bring Down The Free Enterprise System

The American Dream Blog
October 18, 2011

Is Occupy Wall Street a communist movement?  Is it being run by socialists who wish to bring down the free enterprise system?  As you will see in this article, the answer to both questions is yes.

Of course many of the people participating in these protests want nothing to do with either socialism or communism.

Many of the protesters are simply angry at the big banks or they just want something to be done about the economy.  But the truth is that when you take a close look at the “organizers”, the literature and the stated goals of this movement, you see socialism and communism everywhere.

As our economic system crumbles, an increasing number of Americans are coming out of the woodwork and are proudly declaring that they are socialists or communists.

An increasing number of Americans truly believe that the free enterprise system needs to be brought down and that the answer to our problems is to fully embrace socialism and/or communism.  Sadly, this puts Occupy Wall Street in direct opposition to what our founding fathers intended.

If you want to know what these protests are all about, just go down and visit one of them.  The following is what Charles Gasparino of the New York Post found when he recently took a trip down to Zuccotti Park….

It’s not an overstatement to describe Zuccotti Park as New York’s Marxist epicenter. Flags with the iconic face of the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara are everywhere; the only American flag I saw was hanging upside down. The “occupiers” openly refer to each other as “comrade,” and just about every piece of literature on offer (free or for sale) advocated socialism in the Marxist tradition as a cure-all for the inequalities of the American economic system.

Wow.

Yes, there are millions upon millions of Americans that are upset with the big banks and with the rampant corruption down on Wall Street.

But is “socialism in the Marxist tradition” the answer to all of our problems?

Of course not.

During his visit, Gasparino also picked up some very interesting literature….

Maybe the worse-spent dollar I have ever spent in my life was on a propaganda broadsheet titled “Justice,” which advocates “Struggle, Solidarity, Socialism.” On the front page of the newspaper-like document, beneath the headline “Capitalism: System Failure,” was a tease for a story on the economy and how “influential business economist Nouriel Roubini” recently said how “Karl Marx had it right. At some point, capitalism can destroy itself.”

But it is not just in New York where you find this sort of thing.

For example, a stunning report from a visitor to Occupy Charlotte was recently posted on the Economic Policy Journal blog….

An organizer began reading a script in the way that a minister reads wedding vows, with pauses for the audience to repeat each phrase. The first order of business was an agreement that organizing committee names would be drawn from a hat. The inner circle were known to each other in advance. I could not see the hat, or the people drawing the names, so I can’t say exactly what happened, but I can conjecture.

In any case, organizers were selected from the hat. The very next order of business, I kid you not, was “All socialists will huddle at such-and-such area.”

Silence. The rest of us are wondering, OK, are they going to suggest any other groups? Next announcement: organize in small groups any way you want.

The self-identified socialists huddle. By some miraculous coincidence, the anointed leaders are all socialists.

This is what you will find in city after city.  Most of the “leaders” somehow happen to be socialists of one sort or another.

It should be no surprise that Communist Party USA  has officially endorsed the Occupy Wall Street protests.

In fact, communist leaders have been speaking at many of the protests.  For example, a spokesperson for the national board of Communist Party USA spoke to Occupy Chicago the other day.  As you can see from the video posted below, his remarks were greeted with tremendous enthusiasm….

In the video, you can also see protesters marching with Occupy Chicago that are carrying communist flags and that are wearing shirts promoting Communist Party USA.

In this next video, an “organizer” of the Occupy Greensboro protests explains what this “movement” is really all about….

***”We’re the International Socialists Organization… Our goal is to raise political consciousness to build a revolutionary party and work for a revolution here in the United States.”***

***”The problem is capitalism… We need a new system that’s going to put people first and put profit back to the wasteland of history.”***

***”Socialism is the solution. We need a society where everything is produced to meet human needs and wants rather than to make money off of them.”***

The following is video of her comments….

The truth is that the goals of the Occupy Wall Street movement are not some great mystery.  They have put them out there for everyone to see.

Yesterday, I reported on “The 99 Percent Declaration“, which details the tentative demands of this protest movement.

The following are some of the things that they want….

*Much higher taxes on the wealthy

*The government to provide health care for all Americans

*The EPA to be given the power to shut down any corporation or organization that is damaging the environment

*Student loan debt relief

*Immediate passage of the Dream Act

*Mortgage debt relief and for all underwater and foreclosed mortgages to be bought and refinanced at interest rates of less than one percent

*An immediate one year freeze on all foreclosures

Basically, what the protesters are demanding is a much larger federal government that takes from the wealthy and that gives lots of stuff to them for free.

An increasing number of Americans believe that things such as housing, college education and health care are “rights” that the government should be required to provide for them.

This is especially true among our young people.  We have trained them to have an “entitlement mindset”, but we have not trained them to work hard for what they want out of life.

Yes, our economy is a complete and total mess, but the answer is not socialism.

Our nation once had an economy that was the envy of the entire globe.  Our free enterprise system was at the heart of that economic boom.

We need to get back to what once made this country great.  We don’t want to go down the path that so many other nations have gone down in the past.

One more thing about the Occupy Wall Street protests….

It is curious that approximately three months ago a high level CIA operative began working inside the New York Police Department.

Nobody seems to know exactly why he is there.

His job title with the NYPD is “special assistant to the deputy commissioner of intelligence“.

The timing of all of this is more than a little unusual.

Does this have any connection to the Occupy Wall Street protests?

Did the CIA know that the protests were coming?

It all just seems a little too convenient.

We live in a very strange world.

As the economy falls apart even more, America is going to become very angry.  Millions of Americans are going to be searching for a way to express their frustrations.

Many of them will be pulled into protest movements that are run by socialists and communists without even realizing it.

We are a nation that has already been highly socialized, and yet we are going to see protests all over the nation calling for even more socialism.

Today, U.S. households receive more money directly from the U.S. government than they are paying to the government in taxes.

How much farther do we want to go?

Socialism is not the answer.

Communism is not the answer.

Hopefully America will wake up and will remember what once made us so great.

*****UPDATE*****

For those of you that would defend this movement, I hope that you are aware of some of the things that are going on at these protests.  For example, I love my country and I would never utter the words that some crazed lunatics from Occupy Portland are singing in this video.

Is there anyone out there that wants to defend what those idiots are singing?

OWS March On Millionaires Homes Actually Organized And Run By Obama Supporting Socialists

The Intel Hub
October 12, 2011

READ THE ARTICLE: http://theintelhub.com/2011/10/12/occupy-wall-street-march-on-millionaires-ho…

Guess Who REALLY Planned The Occupy Wall Street Millionaires March
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-progressive-groups-unite-around-occup…

This protest was run by unions and the Working Families Party which openly promotes its strong ties to Communist Party!

WE ARE NOT RIGHT WINGERS – We are pro freedom. We do not support the foundations. We have NEVER received a donations from foundations connected to the controlled right or controlled left wings.

We are not doing this to smear the honest protesters that are at these occupy protests nationwide. This is a WARNING.

This once grassroots movement is being literally co opted from inside. NO ONE will talk about it in the liberal media and it is banned from discussion on the Global Revolution livestream.

The CORPORATIONS and the GOVERNMENT have essentially MERGED! Giving the government more power will HELP the major corporations and HURT the real 99%!

Occupy Wall Street Protests Full Of “Useful Idiot” Communists And Socialists

By Lee Rogers | BlacklistedNews.com

It is becoming increasingly clear that the people who are taking part in the much publicized Occupy Wall Street protests are mostly a bunch of useful idiots promoting communist and socialist ideologies. Even multi-millionaire propagandist Michael Moore and a myriad of rich Hollywood celebrities have come out supporting the cause of these protests indicating that the establishment has an interest in steering the direction and outcome of what is taking place. This is one of the most obvious cases of controlled opposition that we have ever seen where the protesters are actually endorsing the collectivist ideologies that benefit the wealthy elite. Communist and socialist ideologies when put into practice have historically done nothing but centralize power and wealth in the hands of a few people as seen in the cases of the Soviet Union and China in the 20th century.

Most of these useful idiots protesters know absolutely nothing about how the global financial system works and know less than nothing about the central banking systems of the world. Central banks like the Federal Reserve System and the European Central Bank have been setup by design to implement a debt based monetary system that has been used to turn the vast majority of people into debt slaves. They create money out of nothing and then charge interest on top of the money they create out of nothing through loans. Even the United States government borrows money from this system and because of that they have to implement draconian tax schemes on the people just so they can pay back the interest on the debt.

What’s ironic about this whole situation is that a central banking system is in fact a major plank of the Communist Manifesto as is a graduated income tax both of which have been fully implemented in the United States for almost 100 years now. With this in mind you would think that these Communist protesters would have nothing to protest because the ideologies which they claim to be in support of have actually been in use for a very long time. Unfortunately because these people are so ignorant and stupid they have no idea that the ideologies they are promoting are the very cause of the problems they are suffering from.

Even more laughable is the fact that some of these protesters are actually supporters of Barack Obama despite the fact that his 2008 presidential campaign was supported by a huge number of Wall Street insiders and Fortune 500 corporate interests. The George Soros financed MoveOn.Org political action group is said to also be getting involved in steering the protests in a direction that will undoubtedly be as favorable to the establishment as possible. Soros is a wealthy billionaire insider and an individual you would think these protesters would be against. It is laughable that the protesters don’t even question the fact that their so-called movement is now being supported by an organization that is financed by somebody as closely tied into the elite as Soros is.

The protesters are at least correct about one thing and that’s the fact that the big banks and brokerage firms on Wall Street are certainly part of the problem. Many of these organizations in a real free market system would be out of business if it wasn’t for the bailouts they received back in 2008. The only reason they are still in existence is because of their insider links to the highest levels within both the Federal Reserve System and the United States government. The fact that these organizations get multi-billion dollar bailouts is proof that we do not operate in a true free market system and is the reason why power and wealth has been centralized in the hands of fewer and fewer people. Small and medium sized business would never receive bailouts even a fraction the size of the bailouts these high profile banking interests received and this fact alone shows that we are in the midst of a predatory monopolist economic system that favors the few and not the many.

It is unfortunate that these protesters are entirely off base as to what the main problem is and also entirely off base as to what the real solution to the problem is. The real problem is the phony debt based money that originates from the Federal Reserve System which allows these powerful insiders to manipulate the economy and bailout their buddies if they get in trouble. An institution that sets rules as to how money is created and dumped into the economy should be at the very center of this debate and it is laughable that these protesters don’t even consider it an important issue. The real solution does not exist within collectivist ideologies but instead exsits within true free market principles and within a monetary system not based around centralized control and debt. Unfortunately, convincing these useful idiots of these principles may prove to be next to impossible.

We Are Change TV.US