[baconbits]

Occupy Wall Street in New York running out of cash

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - New York's Occupy Wall Street group is warning it could run out of money by the end of the month, raising questions about the future of the movement that sparked nationwide protests against economic injustice last year.

Donations to the group have slowed six months after it set up camp in a park near Wall Street, igniting the Occupy movement across the United States.
A report by Occupy Wall Street's accounting group for the week ended March 2 showed it had $44,828 in a general fund in addition to $90,000 set aside to bail protesters out of jail during planned "American Spring" protests.

The report said, "At our current rate of expenditure, we will be out of money in THREE WEEKS."

The report - posted on the group's websitewww.nycga.net - showed $1,556 had been raised that week, while $14,942 had been spent on the group's kitchen, street medics, New York bus and subway passes, and printing costs.

The latest donation total constrasted sharply with the estimated $500,000 the group raised within weeks of setting up camp at Zuccotti Park on Sept. 17.
Since Occupy Wall Street began, it has received more than $730,000 in donations, according to the accounting group. It has a fiscal sponsor, the Tucson-based Alliance for Global Justice, which allows donations to be tax exempt.

Critics say the Occupy movement lacks direction and specific demands and has lost momentum. Occupy protest crowds in New York and other U.S. cities have tended to number only in the hundreds, despite the group's social media savvy.
But Occupy Wall Street spokesman Ed Needham said, "The success of the movement has never depended on money."

"Occupy Wall Street is about our abundant human resources - the creative talent, dedication and sweat equity of people here and elsewhere that have decided to stand up against a corrupt and unjust society run by a powerful elite few," he said.

'AMERICAN SPRING'

Inspired by the pro-democracy Arab Spring movement and Spain's "Indignados" movement, Occupy sparked a national debate about economic inequality and has influenced the political debate in this year's U.S. presidential election campaign.

The Occupy movement, which prides itself on being leaderless, has struggled to grow beyond the initial protest camps that sustained it.

Christine Crowther of the Occupy Wall Street accounting group said the group had "a lot planned for the spring and we fully expect the money will start flowing in again,"

A march is planned for March 17 to mark the group's six-month anniversary. Needham said there would also be "Occupy the Fundraisers" protests against money in politics, a March 24 protest against the fossil fuel industry's spending on lobbyists and an April 25 protest against U.S. student debt hitting $1 trillion.
Crowther said the $90,000 bail fund would allow Occupy members to keep taking to the streets to protest. More than 1,000 people were arrested in previous Occupy protests in New York.

"While we give the dire warning (on finances) so that people will be conscious and considerate of how we're spending our money, we are still going to be able to take care of our people in the way that really matters - making sure that their bail and their court fees are paid," Crowther said.

Occupy Wall Street protesters have been scattered across New York since their camp was evicted from Zuccotti Park in November.

A number of churches offered places to stay for some of the several hundred people who had traveled to New York to join the protest. Occupy Wall Street has also appealed online for more people to "host an occupier in your home and help sustain the movement."

It has been spending several thousand dollars a week on transit passes so protesters can travel to an office space the group has been using in Lower Manhattan and a public atrium of a Wall Street skyscraper it uses for meetings.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8E9GFU20120309

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OWS is running low on money. Its hilarious that they have to set a fund to bail their members out though – they are essentially admitting they plan to act like a bunch of thugs.

[Mael]

Maybe RP can fund him, since he "supports" them and has cash.

But Occupy Wall Street spokesman Ed Needham said, "The success of the movement has never depended on money."

"Occupy Wall Street is about our abundant human resources - the creative talent, dedication and sweat equity of people here and elsewhere that have decided to stand up against a corrupt and unjust society run by a powerful elite few," he said.

This man has obviously never heard of or read about the concepts of logistics for any sustained operation.

But I'll tell you what, OWS. You start getting more involved in actually affecting politics, shed the Fawkes masks, the bongos, the Burning Man, the trolling of NYC subway commuters, and everything that made people detest you and I MIGHT just throw in some dollars to your cause.

Because like it or not, money matters.

[baconbits]

They might get a little more funds if they can get the top 1% of their supporters to donate some money...

[Mael]

Originally Posted by baconbits

They might get a little more funds if they can get the top 1% of their supporters to donate some money...

Oh ho...saw wut u did thar.



But seriously, anyone who thought this movement could go anywhere without money but fueled by idealism and ideas is pants-on-head stupid. The OWS raises a few legitimate concerns, particularly the banking industry and lobbying, but their inability to deliver a concise message and coagulate into a mass that could affect local, state, and federal politics cost them. Plus boneheaded moves like blocking streets for hardworking DC residents or trolling NYC subway commuters (in New York fucking City of all places where you could get stabbed in some areas doing that i.e. Staten Island sorry Lou but lol Staten) cost them PR points. I'd like to see if they actually have a better plan than break shit (Oakland), sit there (Boston), or rant to bank employees (NYC).

[NarutoSimpsonUltimate]

Originally Posted by Mael

Oh ho...saw wut u did thar.



But seriously, anyone who thought this movement could go anywhere without money but fueled by idealism and ideas is pants-on-head stupid. The OWS raises a few legitimate concerns, particularly the banking industry and lobbying, but their inability to deliver a concise message and coagulate into a mass that could affect local, state, and federal politics cost them. Plus boneheaded moves like blocking streets for hardworking DC residents or trolling NYC subway commuters (in New York fucking City of all places where you could get stabbed in some areas doing that i.e. Staten Island sorry Lou but lol Staten) cost them PR points. I'd like to see if they actually have a better plan than break shit (Oakland), sit there (Boston), or rant to bank employees (NYC).

OWS should take your approach up, sit on the sidelines, whine and knock other people's efforts.

[GrandLordAtos]

This kinda just proves what I've thought about OWS all along. They're disorganized, ineffective in their message, and have no realistic outcome in mind. Look where it got them. These occupy movements are just a bunch of morons who think they're doing the 'right thing', but end up causing more damage than help, if primarily for the fact that they're so disorganized in their efforts. Like a guy taking a shot in the dark, they'll miss their mark almost guaranteed.

Honestly, I can understand why they're doing this. I just loathe the methods they're using. This is no way to convey a message or provoke change in any governmental system. It's little more than poking a hornet's nest with a stick.

[Mael]

Originally Posted by NarutoSimpsonUltimate

OWS should take your approach up, sit on the sidelines, whine and knock other people's efforts.

Well when its supporters like you keep pushing this "NO U B'AWWWWW" mantra, is it any surprise they failed?

Keep dreaming, man. Keep deluding yourself they had no faults at all.

Originally Posted by GrandLordAtos

This kinda just proves what I've thought about OWS all along. They're disorganized, ineffective in their message, and have no realistic outcome in mind. Look where it got them. These occupy movements are just a bunch of morons who think they're doing the 'right thing', but end up causing more damage than help, if primarily for the fact that they're so disorganized in their efforts. Like a guy taking a shot in the dark, they'll miss their mark almost guaranteed.

Honestly, I can understand why they're doing this. I just loathe the methods they're using. This is no way to convey a message or provoke change in any governmental system. It's little more than poking a hornet's nest with a stick.

I wouldn't say poking a hornet's nest. It's more like sitting there crying that the hornet's nest exists without providing the bug spray to dispose of it...or having any concrete idea as to remove the nest to begin with.

[NarutoSimpsonUltimate]

Originally Posted by Mael

Well when its supporters like you keep pushing this "NO U B'AWWWWW" mantra, is it any surprise they failed?

Keep dreaming, man. Keep deluding yourself they had no faults at all.



I wouldn't say poking a hornet's nest. It's more like sitting there crying that the hornet's nest exists without providing the bug spray to dispose of it...or having any concrete idea as to remove the nest to begin with.

the OWS are progressives, they aren't military robots with executing an order. they don't operate how you wish they would, it's anathema, if you don't get that you don't understand progressives at all.

[Megaharrison]

If only public defecating was tax deductible.

[Mael]

Originally Posted by NarutoSimpsonUltimate

the OWS are progressives, they aren't military robots with executing an order. they don't operate how you wish they would, it's anathema, if you don't get that you don't understand progressives at all.

Yeah I'm sorry I'm going to need more concrete statements from them besides a hipster-esque "You just don't get it maaaaaaan."

They operated their own way and lost popularity. What do you do when you fail? Adapt, change, and try again.

Your stubbornness is hilarious.

[NarutoSimpsonUltimate]

it's a protest, not operation wall street or mission objective destroy wall street. good to know where ur coming from though

[Mael]

Originally Posted by NarutoSimpsonUltimate

it's a protest, not operation wall street or mission objective destroy wall street. good to know where ur coming from though

So again you've got nothing but mindless retorts.

Later dude. I'll make sure to ignore your inane viewpoint on this issue going forward.

[Bishop]

I already donated mass amounts to them, screw them. No one can call me evil.

[Mathias124]

Originally Posted by NarutoSimpsonUltimate

OWS should take your approach up, sit on the sidelines, whine and knock other people's efforts.

Being a dirty hippie is not an effort.

[neko-sennin]

...And this was the natural outcome of the movement as it was played.

Sad to think there were so many legitimate grievances they could bring to bear, if only they had a plan of action more extensive than public disruption...

I'm kinda surprised it's lasted as long at it has, given how little it's accomplished. There's no need for the Have Mores to impose Absolute Despair when their most public challengers were setting themselves up for it all along. All they have to do is sit in their cushy chairs and wait out the storm until it's spent.

[HK-47]

Good riddance imo.

[Freedan]

Last I heard about them, they were going to protest in front of govt establishments rather than Wall Street. What happened to that exactly? That was actually a step in the right direction.

[Mael]

Originally Posted by Yoko Takeo

Last I heard about them, they were going to protest in front of govt establishments rather than Wall Street. What happened to that exactly? That was actually a step in the right direction.

I think they're still planning, which as you just said is a step in the right direction. Tea Party, astroturf or not, did this and yielded results. Let's see if it happens from the other side.

Wall Street never gave a shit.

[NarutoSimpsonUltimate]

Originally Posted by Yoko Takeo

Last I heard about them, they were going to protest in front of govt establishments rather than Wall Street. What happened to that exactly? That was actually a step in the right direction.

the govt went out of it's way to interfere with the ability of OWS to stage long term protests, that's what happened, and it's a shame more people don't know and complain about it.

[Unlosing Ranger]

Originally Posted by Megaharrison

If only public defecating was tax deductible.

They should form a church of wall street