More Republican leaders have weighed in on the local chapter of the Occupy Wall Street movement that reached its 27th consecutive day of demonstrations in Chicago Wednesday.
Pat Brady, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, told NBC Chicago that he felt the Occupy Chicago demonstrators would find a protest base more effective than their current home in the Loop outside Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's campaign office at 6500 S. Pulaski in Chicago's West Lawn neighborhood.
"'Occupy Chicago' should 'Occupy' Madiganville. What's a couple of bad years in the market compared to 40 years of getting it stuck to you by the Madigan Machine!" Brady told NBC.
"The 99% of Illinoisans that don’t get a double dip pension, a legislative scholarship, a county or city job, an interest-free loan from the government, or special treatment on their property tax appeals should be outraged," Brady continued.
Brady was apparently referencing Madigan's office's recent pronouncement that the speaker would block Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's attempt to dismantle the state's controversial, abuse-ridden legislative scholarship program. That program, NBC adds, was utilized by Madigan to grant his daughter a legislative scholarship to the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Tuesday, another conservative voice chimed in on the Occupy movement: Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz. When asked by Fox Chicago what she made of the scene at Occupy Chicago's latest demonstration, she said:
"Mass chaos, people who have allies such as the Venezuelan, Iran, Chinese and Russian government. I don't know what their goals are other than to crush Wall Street and they have no plan after that."
While Wojtowicz also told Fox that she "agreed" that the rich should "pay their fair share" in taxes, she found other bones to pick with the occupiers she spoke with.
"They want free tuition, free health care, free housing. And, no, it doesn't work like that. Who's gonna make the money, you know," she continued. "The solution? I mean, let the free markets work. And honestly, I know this [doesn't] sound bi-partisan, get Barack Obama out of the White House."
Also weighing in, again, on the protests Tuesday was Mayor Rahm Emanuel. In addition to reiterating his previous assertion that police were meeting their obligation to enforce the law by arresting more than 175 Grant Park protesters over the weekend, he told the Chicago Tribune that the Occupy protesters have denied his office's request to meet with them. He said he is working with police and the city's law department to try and identify a way for protesters to "continue to express themselves."
Kelvin Ho, a spokesman for the occupiers, told the Tribune that they have "decided not to have the meeting (with Emanuel’s people) until the charges were dropped."
Emanuel previously stated that, although he felt the ongoing protests were "understandable," he did not agree with the movement's solutions.
WATCH Wojtowicz address the protests:
Photo by hamilton.bret via Flickr.