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Occupy Wall Street protest spreads to Las Vegas
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Move over Wall Street. It's time to Occupy Las Vegas.
A diverse group of more than 1,000 people marched on the Strip to the chant of "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out" Thursday, as the weeks-old Occupy Wall Street protest went nationwide.
Calling themselves the 99 percenters ---- those who aren't part of the richest 1 percent of Americans ---- the protesters marched in a loop between Tropicana Avenue and Flamingo Road from 4 to just after 7 p.m. Word of the event spread largely through social media, with many participants hearing about the protest on Facebook.
Reaction from tourists was a mix of support, bewilderment and anger, with some shouting encouragement to the marchers and others yelling obscenities.
Las Vegas police on motorcycles, in patrol cars, on horseback and on foot stopped traffic on the Strip when protesters neared an intersection.
In contrast to incidents of police using pepper spray and arresting protesters who have occupied Wall Street since Sept. 17, this group at one point chanted, "Thank you, Metro."
Las Vegas police said that no arrests were made during the protest.
The Strip event drew teachers, union workers, college students, children and their parents, the unemployed and retirees. People of all races and backgrounds joined the march.
They were unified by a common frustration amid a profound and prolonged economic downturn.
Protesters carried signs that included slogans such as "They only call it class warfare when we fight back," "Wall Street is responsible for the identity theft of America," "Tax the rich or we'll have to eat them" and "Where the Heller are the jobs?"
And while the national protest has taken on organization and a sense of purpose that was lacking at its inception, Thursday night's message was unified: Take back a Congress protesters think has been bought and paid for by millionaires and billionaires.
But if there was one common thread that made this protest about Las Vegas, it was the foreclosure crisis.
"We're in a city where more people have lost their home than anywhere else," protester Sannette Gutierrez said. "Tourists come here and think Vegas is fantasy land; they don't think of us as a working-class city, but we are. They just think we're here to clean up their vomit after they leave."
Jackie Pletscher, 36, hasn't lost her home, but her three neighbors have, and the Las Vegas street she lives on has become a ghost town.
Her home has lost more than half its value since the housing collapse, and the bank, she said, sold her mortgage to Wall Street.
Enrique Ruano, 39, said he has lost his home and was forced to file bankruptcy. He works one week out of every four these days and is grateful for that. Still, he wonders whether life will ever get back to normal.
"I'm doing this (marching) for my kids," he said. "I have to keep a positive attitude for them. I want them to have a future."
Wayne Lee, 47, a Strip casino dealer, said he tried to negotiate a loan modification with his lender. He said he was making his payments when he asked for help, and the bank said it could do nothing for him until he defaulted on his loan.
"They couldn't even prove they owned the mortgage," he said. "They never did one thing the (Nevada) Supreme Court said they have to do, and the judge let them take it anyway."
Their message wasn't well-received by all those who heard it. Don, a farmer from Missouri who declined to give his last name, said protesters "just want something for nothing."
Not everyone who participated in the protest came because of home foreclosures.
Viviana DeArmis, a Green Valley High School teacher, and Coronado High School teacher Kym Morris marched in support of education reform. Yolanda Diyess protested corporate discrimination against black subcontractors. Angelo Branacair wants his children, who are in college, to have job prospects when they graduate.
All of them believe corporate greed has created the worst economy in more than 70 years.
"We're here to fight the millionaires that control our politicians," said Jim Walsh, one of the protest organizers. "This is nonpartisan. The corporate takeover of our government is across the board, whether GOP or Democrat."
Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@ reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.
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Nachodaddy, you lost all credibility when you described Glen (sic) Beck and Rush Limbaugh as "very sane" (and perhaps you should learn to spell your heroes names properly if you want to be taken seriously). If you are honestly receiving your news from these entertainers, I pity you. Judging by your many posts, it is clear that, irregardless of the liberal roll call, your inarticulate comments reflect a sadly misinformed person. Here's a thought... turn off the radio and the Fox News and expose yourself to actual NEWS. Think for yourself as opposed to parroting what the conservative demagogues say. On that same note, perhaps if you had actually been at the protest, you might have formed an authentic thought about what the protest was about as opposed to relying on ENTERTAINER'S remarks. You seem to have a lot to say about liberal sheep. Frankly, the only sheep I've experienced is the one that lobs hateful rhetoric from the sidelines about people that aren't expecting change to happen from behind a computer. And a final thought to you, Congress, and all the other haters on this thread... be constructive or shut up. This isn't the time to play the same old political games. We're facing very real problems as a nation. Be constructive or shut up.
jack.webb listen to Rush and Hannity and Glen Beck and many other very sane conservative Talk and Tv stars. Maybe we can save your pathetic soul. What they say is the truth because if it wasn't the liberal whiney babies would protest. I know your having a tough time with the Anthony Weiner case, he was the Godson of Crazy Chuck Schumer D NY. I bet you have a post of Debbie Wasserman Shultz over your bed. Save America from mangy liberal vermin like jack.webb!!!
jack.webb has hugged so many trees he has arthritis, he has snorted ao much KOOL-AID he's diabetic. He is so brain washed he thinks nancy Pelosi is the sexiest woman on Earth. Reality webb ha ha ha, reality and liberalism ha ha ha. I needed that laugh! Come November your little change America fairy tale is hitting the dumpster. We demand whiney snotty cry baby liberals keep their KOOL-AID holes shut. It's going to take at least a couple of years to fix what these cretins messed up but Finally We Will have Change will can Believe in. Down with liberalism. America is tired of these radical kooks. Now there trying to get these melon head brats to riot. They would do anything to destroy America. Sick people.
Nachodaddy has eaten even more Rush Limbaugh pills and has abandoned reality for the AM radio, sound-byte Fantasyland.
liberals have their nirvana image of the enlighten elite ruling a country of sheep. However they don't have a plan. They are scared their little dream of total control is falling apart. They are desperate, Sharpton calling Cain a racist. Wha?! Even poor old Nancy Pelosi is babbling, Nany should have been put in a home a long time ago. Democrats the party of blame, whiney little tweerps, cry babies. You had you chance you blew it and almost ruined America with you socialist agenda. liberals suck hard!
To all these haters calling the protesters hippies and jobless I just want to let you know I was at the protest. I'm 25 years old and I served 4 years in the military. I have a well paying job on the outside (60k salary) and I served two tours in Iraq. This war is pointless, we need to pull out. In 10 years we have spent $444 billion on the afghan war. Imagine if we invested that in our country!!! The war IS bankrupting us. Also, I don't think its hard to realize that big banks and big business have get the hell out of politics and laws need to change to regulate it. The Fed lent $16 trillion during the financial crisis, where did that money go? You tell me. These people are mad and rightfully so. They are out there protesting for YOUR well being so just remember that. Reform isn't so bad, is it? Love and respect. -Al
No amount of protesting is going to change these facts: unskilled labor is worth less than ever because we have machines and illegal aliens that can do unskilled work, we have exported millions of jobs to China, and environmental and other government regulations have killed other jobs. The unemployment rate for people with college educations is around 4%, even lower for those who have degrees in science, business, engineering. Bottom line - if it takes a couple of weeks to learn your job you are not secure and never will be again.
What we are witnessing here is Tea Party II. The original Tea Party - average Americans upset with the ruling class - was eviscerated and co-opted into becoming part of the
Republican party. It was brilliant work: there was no meaningful reform and certainly no new political movement. The Tea Party fell apart. But the sentiment is still there. The middle class isn't going down without a fight. Let me know when the next protest is because I want to be there. And by the way, Harry, Shelley and Chris aren't being the cheerleaders here because they don't want a new movement any more than the Republicans or Wall Street.
Why weren't radical Leftist politicians Harry Reid, Shelley Berkley, and Chris Giunchigliani heading up and rabble-rousing this bunch of Leftists? I thought they were big promoters and captives of the SEIU. Are they becoming chicken?
Renne.Lang: You are correct many people bought with liar loans most of are escalating loans. They bought what they wanted not what they could afford. The houses were skyrocketing in price because millions who could not afford them hit the market. Barney and the black caucus with the help of Raines CEO of Fannie Mae were cranking this loans out. The people who had bought before the boom says look at me I got equity. My house had doubled in price. I'm gonna go get me a second mortgage and act rich. Whoops the bottom fell out wow it's worth less than I paid for it plus now I have a second lien note for a 100 thousand dollars. Man my greed got the best of me. I think big banks are dangerous too. They say they are to big to fail, I say they are so big they should fail. Mortgage companies sell money that's what they do and they sold loans from realtors/buyers to banks and they made a fortune in the boom days. Liberals see government as a big never ending feeding trough. They have sold America out to seed their own pockets and promote their socialist agenda. Do You Agree???