OCCUPY DENVER

REBLOG: Lobbying firm's memo spells out plan to undermine Occupy Wall Street

By Jonathan Larsen and Ken Olshansky, MSNBC TV

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.

CLGC’s memo 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, 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.”

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.”

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;  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 a story by Roll Call 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, Obama campaign adviser Anita Dunn 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. “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.”

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.”

Denver may pursue law cracking down on homeless on 16th Street Mall

Some Denver City Council members who fear problems of vagrancy in the city’s core want to make it illegal for people to sleep overnight in the main business sector.

“I want to get them off of our Main Street, and the 16th Street Mall is our Main Street,” said Councilman Charlie Brown. “We have to stand up for our businesses downtown and our women and children who are afraid to go downtown. Are we supposed to just give in?”

Denver in 2005 passed laws to curtail panhandling in downtown Denver, including one that prohibits beggars from sitting or lying down on sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

No city ordinance prohibits sleeping overnight on sidewalks or in other public places that are not in city parks, including the 16th Street Mall.

The state Supreme Court refused a request by the American Civil Liberties Union that it review a Boulder law that bans camping overnight in public places, including parks or under bridges. Denver council members say they will ask the city attorney’s office whether a similar ordinance could be drafted for the downtown business area.

The number of homeless people crowding onto the 16th Street Mall is growing, say city officials, business owners and advocates for the homeless. Convention planners surveyed after visits to Denver say homelessness and safety in the downtown area are among their top complaints, according to Visit Denver, the city’s convention and visitors bureau.

“There’s no question that we have serious concerns over the increased numbers of individuals on the streets,” said Tami Door, president and chief executive of the Downtown Denver Partnership.

Many homeless people stay overnight on the 16th Street Mall because they can’t find beds in shelters and the mall feels safe because it is lighted and populated, said Councilman Albus Brooks, whose district includes the mall.

“This is a nightmare,” Brooks said. “Denver is very sympathetic to the homeless issue, especially during this fiscal time. But that’s not the issue. We have predators, sex offenders, folks selling drugs and taking advantage of people and vagrants all pretending to be these homeless folks.”

Brooks recently went to the mall at midnight to see the issue up close. He found about 180 people setting up to sleep overnight. Many were camping in business doorways.

“I am compassionate, but I also understand that sometimes people need to be dealt with,” he said. “If we don’t do something now, we are going to have a worse spring and summer than we have seen for a long time.”

Brooks has asked to talk with the city attorney’s office to discuss changes to the law.

“I would hope we could do something strong enough to prevent individuals from laying out in front of people’s businesses and prevent this tent city that has the opportunity to become a violent city,” he said.

“We need to put a law in place to prevent that, and provide services for people who need it.”

John Parvensky, president of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, called the effort to beef up laws “a real step backward” for the city, which has been working to end homelessness through its Road Home program.

About 11,000 homeless people in metro Denver were counted during an annual census in January, with about 600 who were “unsheltered,” Parvensky said.

“This is a direct result of the recession, of shelters being closed and lack of mental-health and treatment services that are needed for part of the population,” he said. “It’s not solving homelessness; it’s just criminalizing it.”

Parvensky said laws that would force homeless people from downtown will simply send them elsewhere.

“If the business community is worried about making downtown a better environment for visitors, they ought to use a fraction of their money to build real solutions for the homeless,” he said.

Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com

This seems highly important to post this, since I know a few occupiers DO sleep in 16 street. As you can see from the publish date, this isn’t coincidental in the least.

New York protest square to be ‘temporarily cleared’

NEW YORK — The small Manhattan square occupied by anti-Wall Street protestors for almost four weeks will be temporarily cleared for cleaning on Friday, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg went to the protest site, where several hundred people are camped out, to explain the move, which would be the first time the demonstrators are asked to leave, the mayor’s office said.

Bloomberg said the owners of the plaza wanted to exercise their duty in cleaning it — and that this was their right, although protestors would be allowed back immediately.