Calm Before The Storm

To The Core
The core essence of their (OWS) proposals involve $1.5 trillion in new revenue to create 25 million public sector jobs paying union wages, free public transportation, free university education, a single payer health care system and other initiatives. They also favor "reappropriating our business structures and culture, putting people and the earth before profit." Further, they want to end free trade, spend a trillion additional dollars on environmental programs, and forgive all debt.  (Douglas E. Schoen, Foxnews.com, 10/22/2011)


RedStateVT's analysis of the Occupy Wall Street demands - admittedly less scientific than that of Schoen - concludes the following: the Occupy Wall Street protesters want free stuff. 


With Occupy Wall Street we see the soft echo of the 1960s without the singular issue of the Viet Nam War to rally the disgruntled.  The Occupy crowd, no doubt, grew up listening to Mom and Dad talk about the good old days of marching in the streets.  (For those who do not remember, during the 60s part of the country supported the peace loving people of South Viet Nam while the Democrats supported the Communists of North Viet Nam.) 


Role Call
But the role that helped propel Mr. Cain into politics was that of an ultimate Washington insider: industry lobbyist. (NYT, 10/23/2011)


Taking a respite from savaging Rick Perry, The Times pivots to Herman Cain and reveals a stunning charge: He was a lobbyist!  (For those who do not know, in a representative government, a lobbyist is someone paid to represent the interests of a specific constituency.)


Short
By conventional measures, state and local pensions nationwide now face a combined shortfall of about $3 trillion...Efforts to balance the state budget by shrinking the public work force have left Rhode Island with a problem like the one that plagues General Motors: the state has more public-sector retirees than public-sector workers.... (NYT, 10/23/2011)


And flying in the face of the facts, Obama proposes hiring more public sector workers.


Harbinger
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Saturday easily coasted to a second term, winning in a landslide election after failing to attract any well-known or deep-pocketed opposition....His win comes amid the virtual collapse of the Democratic Party's clout in the state. In the current term, Republicans have gained control of all seven statewide elected posts and both chambers of the legislature. (Foxnews.com, 10/22/2011)


What 2012 looks like?