4)  Sentencing largerly depends on your state and how much was stolen.  In Alaska for example you can get 20 years.  3 and 1/3rd years sounds like plenty of time for embezzling though, considering you're going to come out of that completely broke and blacklisted.

5) Could work anything, like lending regulations.  I mean hell, Dod-Frank is passed off as "credible banking conrols" when in general it's effect will be to kill off small banks, if anything doing the opposite of making two big to fail banks, too big to fail.

Aside from which, I'd like to see how your proposing of a flat tax would go over with the Occupy Wallstreet crowd.   Actually I wouldn't cause i'd fear for your saftey.

6)  I don't see how that equals "System Broken".  There are plenty of reasons to have an electoral system over a popular vote system... largely being so that small minority groups and small states don't get completely sold out.

The Electoral College essentially is a system between our House of Representatives and Our senate.  One that doesn't rely on pure majority, nor on giving each state an equal voice, and there is good reason for it.

7)  From that video though it looks like he is shooting INFRONT of them targeting someone off camera, and they got hit indirectly.

I was watching a live stream of people working on petitioning view points.  A discussion point was advocating personal responsibility as part of it.  What is going on is that the initial voices there would end up being those of leftists, and anarchists, who feel shut out.  The initial movement would draw that in.  But if you view the entire liberal "so opened minded their brains fall out" then there is an ability to be able to engage in this.  It would benefit to move beyond simple stereotypes here.  Engaging helps.  See what exactly is useful in this, rather than turning a blind eye would also help.  Going in with your own signs that would steer the message differently would help also.  I know where I was, first week out, it was carboard and magic markers and create your own message.  In this, OWS could end up morphing into more general Occupy with a more balanced message.  Will say, if one is concerned about it being coopted it might happen, but if it can, then anyone can shape it however.

Ok, consider that my own spin on it, and maybe to idealistic.

To me it seemed like the reveres was true.  When it began it seemed like about 1/4th or so of the protesters were the Ron Paul crew.

As the crowd has grown it's grown more leftest in attitude making the few people who actually know stuff about the economy generally drowned out as the general assembly becomes to big to allow everyone to speak, and it's steered by the original organizers who have a bit of a communal communist style bent to them.

As for engaging people, it's kinda hard to engage people who are hysterical and generally lack a basic foundation on which to explain economic matters.

Occupy Maine was attacked with a chemical bomb:

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/177145/314/Occupy-Maine-attacked-with-chemical-bomb

I wouldn't be worried about that. While some people are misguided about captialism being bad, etc, I think that most are pissed about big corporations like GE and Exxon not paying taxes at all. If everyone paid the same tax rate, say 25% of taxes, with NO other taxes - no property tax, no sales tax, etc, strictly only 25% of income, it would be balanced and equal. Equal, something this country hasn't known yet to date. If everyone was treated the same, people would have less to protest about.

See that's where we disagree.

I think people are pissed because they are out of work/in debt/broke.

If like, Rick Perry becomes President and he forces through a flat tax, I think the occupy wallstreet movement would only start again.  Or get bigger if it miraculiously stays around that long.

While if he became President, all the dumb corporate loopholes and stuff stuck around, but we dropped to about 6% unemployment, and regular person's debt is fixed...  Then nearly everyone would declare victory go home and be happy with the current system.

Afterall, storys about corporations paying no taxes have been around for decades, people just didn't care though.  Truth is, the people don't care now either, shit is just going bad for them and they want someone to  blame.

Well outside of the real small core that helped kick things off anyway, but if you took all that core you could probably fit the entire group into one small sized colleges ranks with plenty of fillover.

It's worth noting that on it's highest day so far those camping out represented I believe are at most 0.02% of the population of the US.

If you want to combine that with the Tea Party... protestors that are 0.08% of the population...

you've got .1% of the population in your revolt numbers... since I'd imagine you would at least have to be willing to go to a protest to be willing to overthrow the government.

Just saw a great quote from Occupy Toronto that I think needs to be shared:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/globe-to/occupy-toronto-the-one-week-anniversary-party/article2209898/

“It’s weird protesting on Bay Street. You get there at 9 a.m. and the rich bankers who you want to hurl insults at and change their worldview have been at work for two hours already. And then when it's time to go, they're still there. I guess that's why they call them the one per cent. I mean, who wants to work those kinds of hours? That's the power of greed.” – Jeremy, 38

Jeremy here is on the verge of a breakthrough but is obviously struggling with it. He identifies that these bankers work longer (and potentially harder) than he is willing to, and if you helped him he might even admit that they have been doing it for a long time (working hard through school to get an entry level position at a firm where they work hard to advance their career), but he doesn't see that the bankers motivation to work hard is the same thing that brings them to the protest; the banker wants a better life than sitting around complaining and blaming other people for your problems will provide.

haha nice find :)

After looking over all the quotes, I suspect this is satire. Still, that is amazing. I really can't think of a better argument in favor of capitalism. It's a thing of beauty.

How many hours a day?  I do understand the work hard bit and the need for a realigning of values, but let's say that banker is doing 14+ hour days, day after day after day, and maybe spends an hour or two at home before going to sleep to do it again, and doesn't take a day off.  What kind of personal life do you think he has?  And, if he is married, and has kids, what kind of family life does he have?  You also have people working very low wages, and like 16 hour days spread out among 3 jobs, not getting ahead.  If society gets like that, and Americans are noted for working the most hours among industrialized nations, then where is community?  Who has time to volunteer for anything?  The Hudson Valley area of NY, is noted for people commuting to NYC and back.  Since the post-IBM era, civilic involvement is way down.  People don't come out for anything at all.  Everyone is too tired doing the commute.  Malls and dining out are what people do, if anything.

So, I will ask what kind of society is it, if people work extremely long hours to end up getting rich (if they are lucky enough to also have that happen) so they can buy expensive things, and any semblance of civics and community are thrown out as everyone withdraws into their own gated communities and don't even know their neighbors?

And I will also ask: Exactly what value does that banker add to the economy?  Putting in long hours to end up doing calculated risks where to move money to, in order to make more money, or getting on the phone to sell a service, and pitch to merely make more money adds how much more goods and services to the market to be bought and sold?  And I note you said banker.  If the guy were someone actually running a business that sold actual goods and services people paid for, and not just money, then I hold that to a different story.  And on that, I would say if Occupy ends up feeding the community, getting public parks used, organizing community events, and providing a hub for people to get together and meet each other, which reduces crime, that will do a LOT more than that investment banker who is a middleman to get cash and brokered a deal that caused more jobs to get outsourced outside the United States.