Lobbying Firm's Memo Spells Out Plan to Undermine Occupy Wall Street - Polidicks

[release]A well-known Washington lobbying firm with links to the financial industry has proposed an $850,000 plan to take on Occupy Wall Street and politicians who might express sympathy for the protests, according to a memo obtained by the MSNBC program “Up w/ Chris Hayes.” The proposal was written on the letterhead of the lobbying firm Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and addressed to one of CLGC’s clients, the American Bankers Association. [url=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/CLGF-msnbc.pdf]CLGC’s memo[/url] proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street in order to construct “negative narratives” about the protests and allied politicians. The memo also asserts that Democratic victories in 2012 would be detrimental for Wall Street and targets specific races in which it says Wall Street would benefit by electing Republicans instead. According to the memo, [b]if Democrats embrace OWS, “This would mean more than just short-term political discomfort for Wall Street. … It has the potential to have very long-lasting political, policy and financial impacts on the companies in the center of the bullseye.”[/b] The memo also suggests that Democratic victories in 2012 should not be the ABA’s biggest concern. “… (T)he bigger concern,” the memo says, “should be that Republicans will no longer defend Wall Street companies.” [b]Two of the memo’s authors, partners Sam Geduldig and Jay Cranford, previously worked for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Geduldig joined CLGC before Boehner became speaker;[/b] Cranford joined CLGC this year after serving as the speaker’s assistant for policy. A third partner, Steve Clark, is reportedly “tight” with Boehner, according to [url=http://www.clgcdc.com/k-street-warms-up-to-would-be-speaker]a story by Roll Call[/url] that CLGC features on its website. Jeff Sigmund, an ABA spokesperson, confirmed that the association got the memo. “Our Government Relations staff did receive the proposal – it was unsolicited and we chose not to act on it in any way,” he said in a statement to "Up." CLGC did not return calls seeking comment. Boehner spokesman Michael Steel declined to comment on the memo. But he responded to its characterization of Republicans as defenders of Wall Street by saying, “My understanding is that President Obama is the single largest recipient of donations from Wall Street.” On “Up” Saturday, Anita Dunn, Obama campaign adviser, responded by saying that the majority of the president’s re-election campaign is fueled by small donors. She rejected the suggestion that the president himself is too close to Wall Street, saying “If that’s the case, why were tough financial reforms passed over party line Republican opposition?” The CLGC memo raises another issue that it says should be of concern to the financial industry -- that OWS might find common cause with the Tea Party. [b]“Well-known Wall Street companies stand at the nexus of where OWS protestors and the Tea Party overlap on angered populism,” the memo says. “…This combination has the potential to be explosive later in the year when media reports cover the next round of bonuses and contrast it with stories of millions of Americans making do with less this holiday season.”[/b] The memo outlines a 60-day plan to conduct surveys and research on OWS and its supporters so that Wall Street companies will be prepared to conduct a media campaign in response to OWS. Wall Street companies “likely will not be the best spokespeople for their own cause,” according to the memo. “A big challenge is to demonstrate that these companies still have political strength and that making them a political target will carry a severe political cost.” Part of the plan CLGC proposes is to do “statewide surveys in at least eight states that are shaping up to be the most important of the 2012 cycle.” Specific races listed in the memo are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada as well as the gubernatorial race in North Carolina. The memo indicates that CLGC would research who has contributed financial backing to OWS, noting that, “Media reports have speculated about associations with George Soros and others.” "It will be vital,” the memo says, “to understand who is funding it and what their backgrounds and motives are. If we can show that they have the same cynical motivation as a political opponent it will undermine their credibility in a profound way.” [/release] [url]http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/19/8896362-exclusive-lobbying-firms-memo-spells-out-plan-to-undermine-occupy-wall-street-video[/url] Well this is rather unsurprising but still scary how hard people are trying to undermine OWS.

"Let us try really hard to get rid of people who are exercising their constitutional rights"

Well it makes sense for them to try to disperse them. It's bad rep after all.

[QUOTE=valkery;33348120]"Let us try really hard to get rid of people who are exercising their constitutional rights"[/QUOTE]

A lobbying firm has a plan for pressing an agenda. Stop the presses.

[QUOTE=Morcam;33348793]A lobbying firm has a plan for pressing an agenda. Stop the presses.[/QUOTE] When they have an agenda to get contracts from the government or change regulations, that's another thing. When they are trying to undermine a [I]protest[/I] then there's something a bit strange I would say about that. It's almost like they are afraid of the movement.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33348148]Well it makes sense for them to try to disperse them. It's bad rep after all.[/QUOTE] Of course. What else would you like to point out to those FP members who cant see the obvious.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;33348148]Well it makes sense for them to try to disperse them. It's bad rep after all.[/QUOTE] cant be having these disgusting jobless hippies ruining the glorious and wonderful deeds our corporations perform daily!

[QUOTE=Jimpy;33348822]When they have an agenda to get contracts from the government or change regulations, that's another thing. When they are trying to undermine a [I]protest[/I] then there's something a bit strange I would say about that. It's almost like they are afraid of the movement.[/QUOTE]This happens far more often than you realize.

Are we still supposed to be surprised by OWS opponents?

[quote]CLGC’s memo proposes that the ABA pay CLGC $850,000 to conduct “opposition research” on Occupy Wall Street and have Glaber post threads on Facepunch.[/quote] Oh, well that makes sense now.

Not surprising at all.

[QUOTE=Jimpy;33348822]When they have an agenda to get contracts from the government or change regulations, that's another thing. When they are trying to undermine a [I]protest[/I] then there's something a bit strange I would say about that. It's almost like they are afraid of the movement.[/QUOTE] They should be. What started as a single protest that hardly any of the major news stations paid any attention to (aside from MSNBC and NPR) has now become a global phenomenon gaining more and more support from citizens and politicians alike, and one of their original demands was "quit your lobbying bullshit you cocks" so it's understandable that now that it's garnered so much attention that they'd be like "Uh oh..."

I'm surprised they haven't hired people yet to go undercover among the protestors and stir shit up. Police have done that before to pretty spectacular effect.

[QUOTE=Kuro.;33363131]I'm surprised they haven't hired people yet to go undercover among the protestors and stir shit up. Police have done that before to pretty spectacular effect.[/QUOTE] I am pretty sure they have or tried to.

This nation needs another FDR.

[QUOTE=cat man;33363460]This nation needs another FDR.[/QUOTE] If he was around today, the Republicans would just block him from doing anything like they've been blocking Obama for the past two years.

[quote]Specific races listed in the memo are U.S. Senate races in Florida, [B]Pennsylvania[/B], Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Mexico and Nevada as well as the gubernatorial race in North Carolina.[/quote] I'm a threat to Republicans lol.

Ugh, I've pretty much known for a long time that this shit runs really really deep, but seeing it displayed so egregiously just depresses me. The fact that nearly every single aspect of our civilization is being engineered by the powerful is just frightening. I'm not talking about some Illuminati or NWO shit, it's just that the rich have more ability than ever to pull the strings. People like to bring up the fact that every generation thought the next generation was a lost cause, a bunch of punks who would bring about the fall of western civilization. Of course, everything turned out all right. It was just a bunch of old men scared of a future they'd have no relevance in. I'm going to risk making myself sound stupid by saying this time things will be different. The combination of corporate lobbying, frighteningly effective advertising (starting in early childhood), and the defunding of education is heading us towards cultural ruin.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;33363963]I'm a threat to Republicans lol.[/QUOTE] [quote]Specific races listed in the memo are U.S. Senate races in Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Ohio, [b]New Mexico[/b] and Nevada as well as the gubernatorial race in North Carolina.[/quote] Hell yeah, threat bros!

[QUOTE=valkery;33348120]"Let us try really hard to get rid of people who are exercising their constitutional rights"[/QUOTE] Constitutional rights have no meaning to the oligarchy. It's like George Carlin said, they want people just smart enough to run the machines and use the equipment, but dumb enough that they don't see how badly they're getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 or 40 years ago.