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2 Political Junkies takes note of what City Paper's Chris Potter had to say about the Occupy Pittsburgh demonstrators living Downtown on Mellon Green:
"The Occupiers' message isn't hard to understand: Just look at the cardboard signs lining Mellon Green. Where tea partiers oppose government intervention in the marketplace, Occupiers object to corporate meddling in our government. They object to a system in which CEOs ensure subsidies and bailouts for themselves, while shredding the safety net for everyone else.
"That's why, in the end, the Mellon Green gathering itself is the statement. Occupy Pittsburgh has stood up to one of the country's largest banks, literally on its own turf. For once, the people have foreclosed on the bank's property. In clawing back a bit of real estate, they've reclaimed a sliver of the discourse. They can't afford to buy airtime, or politicians, yet they have claimed our attention -- just by showing up."
Greg Pollowitz at National Review Online asks, "Are you kidding me?" about this item in the Baltimore Sun:
"Efforts by the Occupy Baltimore protest group to evolve into a self-contained, self-governing community have erupted into controversy with the distribution of a pamphlet that victim advocates and health workers fear discourages victims of sexual assaults from contacting police.
"The pamphlet says that members of the protest group who believe they are victims or who suspect sexual abuse 'are encouraged to immediately report the incident to the Security Committee,' which will investigate and 'supply the abuser with counseling resources.' "
Mr. Pollowitz then asks, "And these people want us to take them seriously?"
Dana Milbank in on how Washington politicians say nothing will get done until voters put either the Democrats or the Republicans in charge next year:
The Washington Post"The wait-'til-next-year approach ignores one crucial consideration: The 2012 elections, whatever the outcome, aren't going to change the stalemate that has gripped this town.
"Certainly, if Republicans won the presidency and the Senate next year, they would be in a much better position to repeal pieces of the health care law and to undo other elements of [President] Obama's agenda. But undoing is very different from doing, and even under the most optimistic scenario for Republicans, Democrats would still have more than enough votes to bring the GOP agenda to a halt in the Senate."
The Borowitz Report on Thursday: "A grim chapter in the history of Libya came to a close today when fugitive dictator Moammar Gadhafi was mauled to death by an escaped tiger in Zanesville, Ohio. A CIA spokesman refused to speculate how the Libyan strongman somehow made his way to the remote Ohio town, saying only, 'We didn't plan on Gadhafi being taken out this way, but a win's a win.'
"In a brief statement, President Barack Obama said, 'Under my watch, we've killed both Osama bin Laden and Moammar Gadhafi. That really should be enough to re-elect me, especially if I'm running against a pizza man.' "
Ruth Marcus in The Washington Post takes apart Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan, about which the GOP presidential candidate has said, "Some people will pay more, but most people would pay less."
Ms. Marcus finds that a "Tax Policy Center analysis shows that Cain has it exactly backward. Compared with current tax rates, 84 percent of taxpayers would pay more under 9-9-9 if it were fully implemented in 2013. Just 14 percent -- the wealthiest -- would see their tax bills drop. By a lot.
"The top 1 percent, earning $600,000 and up, would pay almost 20 percent less, for an average tax break of $238,000. The middle 20 percent, those with incomes between $37,0000 and $65,000, would see their taxes rise 10 percent -- an average increase of $4,330."
First Published October 23, 2011 12:00 am
