Occupy Protesters Hold 'Super Committee' Hearing In D.C.'s Freedom Plaza

WASHINGTON -- Occupy Washington DC, the movement formerly known as Stop the Machine that has been camping and protesting in Freedom Plaza since Oct. 6, held an "Occupied Super Committee Hearing for the 99%" on Wednesday.

"We are more of a liberated committee than a super committee," said Kevin Zeese, an organizer of Occupy Washington DC. "We are not stuck with corporate cash."

The Freedom Plaza hearing was still sufficiently wonky. Andrew Fieldhouse of the Economic Policy Institute talked about tax reform. Carl Conetta of the Project on Defense Alternatives talked about the demilitarization of U.S. foreign policy. Occupy Washington DC organizer Margaret Flowers, who is a medical doctor, advocated for universal Medicare as a cost-saving and humanitarian measure. Gar Alperovitz, author of "America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy," talked about building up more cooperatively owned institutions, like credit unions.

Zeese told The Huffington Post that the purpose of the hearing was to "show the public that there are real alternatives to our economy and to jobs and the deficit. We also have solutions to the wealth divide."

Within about a week, Occupy Washington DC intends to put out a report detailing the group's proposals for fixing the economy and reducing the deficit. Zeese said the proposals will address tax reform, health care reform, a more closely regulated Wall Street and military budget cuts.

"This is really only to show that there is an alternative to what we're going to hear from the [congressional] super committee," Zeese said. "You'll see the things that we recommend in this report will reduce corporate power and increase the power of the people."

WATCH Gar Alperovitz discuss economic transformation:

 

 

Comments

[madcityy]

12:40 PM on 11/10/2011

OCCUPADOS ,.HAVE NO SAY FOR ME...........THEY R IDIOTSSSSSSSSSSSS

[iamyourknight]

12:10 PM on 11/11/2011

All caps. Check. Multiple S's at the end of the word "idiots." Check. More than a "normal" set of ellipses in between words. Check. A period following a comma. Check. The letter "r" replacing an actual word. Check. Zero punctuation in the correct location. Check. Yup. THEY'RE the idiots. Oops, sorry--IDIOTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[SteveC 1979]

03:30 PM on 11/11/2011

LMAO. I've seen all I need to see. F/F

[jane13]

09:19 AM on 11/10/2011

This OWS is just a beginning , by next spring I bet it comes on full force. if you watch them you will see many out there, old, young, all races, people who are really fed up with the way things are in America, with all the wealth and control at the top. and People who really don't care abt the 99 percent of the rest of us. They are ready to throw education, healthcare to the wind for the people. The veterans will be joining this group too, no doubt abt it. and its past time. GO OWS. Jane.

[Brandt931]

08:47 PM on 11/09/2011

This is inspiring to see people coming together for this world-wide cause! We are in the midst of the first ever GLOBAL protest against corporate greed and their molestation of our government. People around the world are standing together to raise their voice against the oppression of the 1% and their corporate welfare and lobbying which are eroding our economy and country from the inside out. See my artwork for the movement as well as resources and videos of the protests at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/09/occupywallstreet.html Get informed and get involved… all you have to do is raise your voice for change!

[jane13]

09:22 AM on 11/10/2011

I agree, its time people came together to stop the takeover of the country by people who only have their money interest at heart. THEY don't mind taking jobs overseas and screw the American worker and they do it to save a buck when they have record profits. Not all are like this but it seems like the majority is. They sure don't do this for the 99ers. Jane

[feliggerate]

07:39 PM on 11/09/2011

It is amazing to me that 2 of the major issues most crucial to Medicare cost containment are never mentioned--maybe because the health insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists donate so much to the campaigns of members of BOTH parties, that they don't want to raise these issues again.

The first is the restriction added as a last-minute amendment to Bush's Medicare Part D bill that prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices. Other government agencies can, health insurers can, other countries' governments can, but not Medicare. The companies' manufacture almost all drugs overseas, why should we pay more?

The second is the refusal to insist on a public option--Medicare for everyone. The political line is that the government can't run anything well. Then why the fear of letting it try? I love the irony of seeing people holding signs saying "keep the government's hand off my Medicare."

In 2008, permitting Medicare to pay for end-of-life counseling was equated to "pulling the plug on Grandma." Since then there have been peer-reviewed studies that show that those choosing hospice care over heroic treatment actually live longer.

We have all heard of the suffering and possible premature death of patients whose insurer would not approve surgery because they considered it "experimental" or an expensive drug that a physician prescribed for a patient, because the condition was not specifically listed as one the drug could treat (off label use). Who's really pulling the plug on grandma?

[jane13]

09:15 AM on 11/10/2011

the president has talked abt cutting medicare in the debt ceiling, cutting the cost and the delivery system. this has to be done. cutting medicare by 500 billion , the gop wants it cut by 700 billion without raising taxes to get revenue , so . but you are right, medicare and medicaid is both a problem due to rising costs in medical care and overhead. Jane

[jane13]

09:24 AM on 11/10/2011

Do you know I have never heard this mentioned, in PA on tv we are bombarded by drug ads, I think this should be illegal , we can't have ads on cigarettes and alcohol , but these drug ads, get people addicted to drugs, there is so much prescription addictions now, in some states more than illegal drugs. why are they allowed to advertise drugs anyway, then they pass the cost onto the people, who I am sure would rather pay less for their prescriptions. Jane

[lightningbolt]

07:24 PM on 11/09/2011

I'm glad the protesters are bringing attention to the fact that we now have a super committee where 6 people can impose harsh austerity on the entire country.

[jane13]

09:16 AM on 11/10/2011

6 people who are continuing to get Lobbyist money, EVEN additional money, even while creating this debt ceiling. you forgot that part. Jane

[lightningbolt]

10:35 AM on 11/10/2011

That's correct.  Thank you for reminding us that these 6 people are being bribed.

[Libertardo]

06:50 PM on 11/09/2011

Occupy the White House.

[Global Cooling]

05:17 PM on 11/09/2011

I guess it is more productive than throwing urine on street vendors in San Deigo....

[jane13]

09:17 AM on 11/10/2011

the raging grannies didn't do that, they sing. Jane

[marine1942]

04:46 PM on 11/09/2011

Pelosi could have real trouble----

[jane13]

09:25 AM on 11/10/2011

Pelosi's not in charge, its BOEHNER NOW. who has no trouble , all he has to do is say NO all the time. Jane

[marine1942]

09:39 AM on 11/10/2011

Pelosi was in charge for 4 years
Boehner in charge for 11 months
Take a bit of responsibilty
Oh, don't forget Barney Frank and Chris Dodd--think they are dems--

[finelytunedchaos]

04:45 PM on 11/09/2011

If only the out-of-towners had gone to vote yesterday.