To clarify greg's comment of They now sit on 2 trillion dollars of money that they wont invest back into the country.

US companies do indeed have approx $2 Trillion in cash, but the banks do not. That dollar amount that we keep hearing is an estimate of corporate earnings on hand that is not currently invested in employment or r&d, not a dollar amount that the banks have available. Also, IMO, banks sitting on cash reserves is a good thing given that the lack of liquidity had been central to banks/AIG/municipalities/etc. going under. Dodd/Frank addresses some of the cash reserve issues of "too big to fail."

For data on US Company cash reserves, there is an article in the WSJ that discusses as much. http://online.wsj.com/article/.....09568.html

It is curious to many as to why the car companies are not in the crosshairs, nor AIG, Fannie, Freddie, et al.

There is absolute uncertainty with healthcare. The government's intentions have been made clear, however, courts all across the country have put the constitutionality in doubt. Moreover, excluding the legality, additional uncertainty has been added with the actual cost to employers. I employ 30 people, and will go to my grave providing healthcare coverage to them, but cannot accurately account for additional investment and headcount without knowing my true cost of hiring in 2013, 2014 and 2015. It would be irresponsible for me to hire anyone at this point. It's not a matter of me personally making less money - if i (or my accountant) were to predict incorrectly, the consequences could be disastrous.

This sentiment is shared by every business owner I know that wants to expand, which is A LOT of people. Small business accounts for an overwhelming amount of new hiring and current employment, so it's no small issue when uncertainty exists.

I'll reference a few regulations/programs for the sake of edification:

• For small businesses, the regulations are a true burden. There is an actual cost of hiring each person, and a potential liability as well. These regulations, reporting, taxes, etc., also have a disproportionate financial burden. If KBR hires 100 people their compliance cost is a 1/3 of any small business. There are a dozen reasons for this, which are self-evident.
• The Small Business Administration is working for small business owners, but new banking regulations keep them from loaning because of risk. A few clicks of the mouse would give you enough data to show that this is actually an example of the government working against itself. Literally one government program that stymies another. SBA is great when they are able to fuel small business growth.
• The legal risk/cost of firing someone (for completely valid reasons) is an unnecessary burden. Small businesses do not employ in-house attorneys, so the cost to defend is outrageous. I am not referencing anything frivolous, just the firing of good ol' fashioned under-performers.
• Corporate tax is another "regulation". The US has a 35% corporate tax rate. You'd be hard-pressed to justify $.35 of every dollar going to the government, and then asking why business wont/cant expand. Lobbyists, antiquated tax codes, consulting firms with deep pockets to politicians, etc. It's no wonder that every "loop hole" is used - we'd give up far to much any other way.
• The "fewer regulations than the previous administration is pure myth." Has anyone noticed any law that was repealed? No. Heck, The Patriot Act is still in place and Guantanamo is open for business.
• Our government rarely eliminates a law, but they regularly implement or expand new ones. That's what they do. That's their job. And compliance with new laws has a cost greater than compliance with the previous law because now I have to pay a consultant to advise me on the new one. I am not an expert on tax, regulation or law, but I have to hire someone to be an expert if Im to have a viable business. And do you know what I do when Obamacare or the possibility of expiring taxes is in play? I hunker down, tighten up the operation, and hope for the best, because it would not be prudent to do otherwise. When small businesses hire high priced consultants to maintain compliance with new tax or law regulations, we dont use that money to bring on 40-60k employees.
• If the question is taxes... when my company turns a profit, 35% is going straight to the government. That would be OK if I trusted them to be a good steward of those resources, but they're not. The remaining 65% is certainly not enough to weather an economic storm without the stark possibility of having to let go of staff. Adding to which, if I take it as personal income, I am vilified by protesters AND taxed at unconscionable rates. And if I am have an S Corp it goes down as personal income but really it is the corp money.

Again, I am very sympathetic to the movement (even sent a donation to OccAustin) and support much of the cause, but it's not hard for many of us to come up with a laundry list of regulations that hinder growth.

My apologies for the long response but i love the exchanges of individual experiences...

**the above comments recognize that this isnt Utopia, but these are the realities of the world. i also recognize that the 99% is a large, diverse group, and that our experiences and outcomes are going to differ. i do make political contributions to individual candidates. i dont have a politician in my back pocket because i can only contribute the money in my front pocket.

gregg74701 said:

Frank/ Dodd is the bill that was passed last year to "try" and get rid of too big to fail. I agree somewhat your post but disagree with the regulation part of it. RIght now there are less regulations in place than when we had Bush in the whitehouse. Banks are not sitting on money because of uncertainty (thats a right wing talking point) Banks are sitting on the money to try and force governement to get rid of Dodd/Frank (as useless as it is) so they can go back to trading credit default swaps without having to leverage sensably. There are things that government can do that would fix it but as long as wall street is paying these guys they wont go the length they need to in order to save the rest of us. Dodd/Frank was instituted to make Too Big to Fail  impossible. It did not do that. Health care was another of your comments. There is NO uncertainty concerning the healthcare act. They (business) knows what is coming with that and they are preparing for it. Its not like its goign to change by 2014. It is what it is and like it or not its coming. The only opinion I have on Healthcare is that it didnt go far enough. It didnt address the cost of healthcare which is the real problem. It didnt offer a public option which would have brought cost down across the board and he (obama) sold out to the drug companies and stopped Doregans drug reimportatin bill that would have allowed US to purchase RX online and from other countries. But as I said, it is what it is and you cant stop it. A "new" president cant just say we arent doing this. Congress has to act to get that repealed and those that say otherwise are filling you full of it.

I support the Keyston pipeline. I know that posting that on here will make me "unpopular" with this crowd and thats fine. My family has been in the Pipeling biz for 60 years and we are all proud union memebers. I love the environment and dont believe we should be drilling in certain areas nor do I believe we should sacrafice lands/ or animals in order for us to survive. There is an alternative. We should be investing in renewable energy sources. Believe it or not there is a limited supply of oil in this earth and if we dont start looking for other areas to develop energy in we will be in a world of hurt and no pipeline will solve that problem. I agree the pipeline should go and got into a very heated discussion last night with an enviromentalist from Michigan concerning this. All was going well until I reminded him that this line and this technology is new and anything new involves risk and that if we hadnt taken risks before then we would be riding horses, plowing fields with oxen and he and I would not be able to have this conversation on a computer (they wouldnt exist) So no Idont want to destroy land or kill animals or anything else but I am a realist and I have  a vision Id like to see my kids and grandkids live. I want them to be able to have "protected" areas and I want them to able to work too. Ill shut up about Keystone now before im ostricized here! lol  I will say that the unions support this and I know FOR A FACT that those memebers care allot about the environment and will do whathever they can to make the line (if it goes) the safest they possibly can.

"Regulations" is another buzz word you get from the right. They claim there are too many regulations on business...as you do. So I ask... Give me ONE regulation that we could remove that would allow people to create jobs. Just ONE.... I assume you are like most people I ask and cannot name one. Personally I would like to see someone sit down and take Oil and Gas for example. Give me a list of regulations they currently operate under and then Ill (for me personally) tell you if I agree with it or not and Ill tell you why. Its all you hear on the right, to much regulation, too much uncertainty, too many taxes. Really? Again...regulations on business are less than when Obama took office, uncertainty? Hell there is no more uncertainty on wall street than there is on main street. None of us can be certain about anything. Taxes too high? seriously? We pay less taxes (all of us) than we have ever paid. If less taxes on the rich, less regulation on wall street more certainty was the answer to our problems then we wouldnt have any problems...we have all that now. We have lost 7 million jobs in the past 10 years with tax rates lower than they have been since WWII and less regulations than we have had in 10 years. How does that make sense? To anyone?

Forcing people to buy houses? I think was your other comment. Really...forced banks to loan money to people who couldnt offord them? Banks/ mortgage companies and investment groups made loans to people that couldnt offord them,true...but who do you think profited off that practice? Yep, banks/ mortgage companies and investment groups. They took those toxic mortgages, bundled them with our pensions and retirement plans and then BET on whether or not people would pay them off.  Once the fall started happening, even people that could pay their mortgage lost their ass...not to mention the ones that held the retirement plans. Every bubble bursts...housing is no different. We have been through these before and are you saying they (Wall street) didnt know this was coming?  They BET that it would. Some won, some lost (WE)??? LOST 99% of the country lost in that gamble and yep part of it cause governement intervened and tried to get everyone to buy a home. Thanks Clinton and Reagan! And bankers were comliant in that transaction because they made money frome aquiring the mortages and then made money by bundling and selling them off to unsuspecting folks like us, greece, europe.  Did you know that half of all the toxic mortgages cant be located? Some homeowners dont know who holds their mortgage? What happened to the day when you could go to the bank, get a loan for a house and deal with that bank for 30 yrs till you pay it off? Those days are gone and its because we have de regulated the banks over the past 30 years to the point where there is NO accountablity. I think thats what most of us are asking for. Where is the accountabiltiy for bankrupting the 99%. Why is that the top 1% continue to get more wealthy (earnings up 250% over the past 30 yrs) while the bottom 99% are getting poorer?(earning up 18% over the past 30 yrs) Why? Do we not work as hard as Mr Hedgefund manager? Are we not as smart? No...its because we cant offord a politician and we have no say so anymore. All we want is a fair shake...is that too much to ask for making those billionairs billionairs?  No other country on earth offers someone a chance to become a billionair like this country does , that is something they seem to have forgotten. The (Wall Street) looks at us in bewilderment and cant figure out why were are so angry.. really? You took our money and bet on success and failure to the extent that it cost US our money.

My parents lost 60K in 2008-2009. They did absolutely nothing wrong. They trusted their investment people. They owned their house outirght (thank God) but now its worth less than it was when they bought it 30 yrs ago. Should we blame the pople that bought houses they couldnt offord? Should we blame the politicans that set the rules or should be blame the ones that actually made the bets? Personally I say there is enough blame to go around. But the last people we should blame are the ones that were sucked into this scam. Banks shouldnt have loaned those people money to begin with. Nobody forced them(banks) to, they(government) just made it profitable to lend the money. The blame lies with the politicians that set the rules (we can correct that with our votes) and the people on Wall Street that rigged the game (we can correct that by OCCUPYING)

Ive said allot here and get passionate about the subjects discussed but my intention is not to discourage anyone piss anyone off its simply to try and educate people on what is really going on. I try and be factual and honest with my posts on here, and realize most of my blubbering is opinion. I suggest to anyone who reads this that may want to argue or have another view to research the facts and try and gain an understanding of the issues so we all can learn more from each other. Im sure all of us can agree that the way things are currently are not working for the 99% of us, at least as well as they are for the 1%.

How do we educate without ending up in the slammer?  I mean, I am so happy to witness people who are willing to actually stand up for what is right.  I would just prefer to remain free.  My dilemma.  I asked a question in another thread if anyone could give me any info on low cost printing so I could print up some fliers but received no response.  Maybe no one knows?  I am wondering if a more hands on, face to face approach may be another direction to go, simultaneously with the protests.  Just thinking on the screen here...

While your point is taken and I agree whole heartedly that the problem lies with policy you must agree that corporations and the top 1% have bought these politians in order to create policy that caused the problems we are protesting about. Truth be known these entities have bought local governments, judges, politicians, all the way to school boards in order to implement their agenda.

Look at what the banks did: Used our money to gamble on the failure or success of each other, other governments, ability to pay for houses, etc... For this terrible decision they lost all OUR money. What did government do? Give them more! And when we got angry, what did they do to appease us? Dodd/ Frank...A useless piece of legislation that they proudly hold up and say is the cure. False! When banks are allowed to leverage 40 to 1 (MF Global) and expect to "guess" right to make money it never ends well. Especially for us.

The reason we are targeting the financial sector is even after the generous contribution we made to help them get out of their whole they dug themselves into,  they took the money and ran. They now sit on 2 trillion dollars of money that they wont invest back into the country. They hand out bonus' to people for "guessing", they refuse to work with homeowners on refi's, they are crooks and not ONE has been arrested for what happened.

Look at all the protestors that have been arrested for mostly, peaceful , civil, demonstrations. Why is Jamie Diamond still allowed to walk the streets? The accounting practices of these people is amazing. Greece failed with the help of these institutions. Phoney numbers allowed them to continue borrowing and there is NO accountability in what has happened. Yes! The politicians set the rules and they should be held accountable, they will be on election day, but those that facilitated OUR run to the bottom and lost all our money need to re think how thye do bussiness and the only way to do that is to make people aware. Most of us on here and those that read these post are not the people we should try and reach...its the untold number of folks that have no clue as to what is really going on. Those that blindly go through life and agree or disagree with the powers that be based on what FOX news or MSNBC are telling them. What you see there is NOT whats going on. Every news program on TV should start with "sanitized for your ingestion" Its ridiculous!

This country has lots of problems...from income disparity to affordable education to care for vets to the broken political system to (insert your cause here). We wont solve them all but we will go a long way to getting a resolution if we demand fairness. Its a simple yet straight forward demand and we will get some changes if we keep demanding it and keep educating people on what it is that we are doing.

Thank you for all your efforts.

What strikes me is that many Occupiers in Houston seem unaware, in the present, many of the homeless do not have chemical imbalances and are not sociopaths. We are experiencing high unemployment, there is a loss of unemployment benefits, lots of foreclosures pushing high rents, and this during what is considered the greatest recession on record….one that is probably more accurately a depression according to some successful business people that sound like they have done their homework.

This of course, is not to excuse the overall homeless concerns, but intended for depth of the variety of homeless people out there and how their population is growing and why.

BTW, I sent a letter to the mayor this morning. It was a bit wordy, but here it is, whatever it is worth:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was present at the park for the past two nights. I agree with you that if this is how the bottom 1% are being treated, it is an affront to the principles the Occupy movement stands for. I also heard, from some of the homeless there, that they felt ostracized. I will try to address this at the next general assembly. The actions of a few individuals can easily mar our reputation with the community, as it seems it already has with a particular segment.

Taryn

Can anyone shed some light on some specific questions below about Occupy Houston?

1) Who is the "We" that is speaking in the Contribute page on this website, and ostensibly taking money? Who does it go to? How do we (the public) know? The same goes for the Facebook page. (Each day these concerns go unanswered, the larger skepticism about the moral integrity of this movement grows.)

2) Why do so many homeless people report being shunned, degraded and even attacked at Occupy Houston events? Please don't start along the lines of "they are mentally ill" or something. There are too many making these comments week after week for this to be an isolated opinion. )If this is how the movement treats the bottom 1%.... I fear for the movement.)