Washington DC gets Occupied in a Big Way

The streets of downtown Washington DC were filled today with the 99% as several separate Occupy groups converged on K  Street to protest economic disparity and the injustice that is embedded in our economic and monetary system. The  Lobbyists of K Street stood and aimlessly looked on as a very diverse group of Americans from all walks of life expressed their feelings to the power the leverage on the US Government and the people’s representatives.  With over 2700 registered occupiers taking it to the streets, as well as several hundred others, the number of protesters on the streets of Washington today most likely numbered more than 3000.  
Going by the title of “Take back the Capitol”, the weeklong augmented occupation has been seen as one of the most successful events to date by Occupy Wall Street activists and the 99%, as they are often called and now refer to themselves as.  With the initiation of what many of the 99% have referred to as the “Peoples Lobby”, the members of Congress and Senate may now feel more pressure on an almost daily basis. Many of the representatives who often feel that Washington DC is a sort of sanctuary from those they have been elected to represent, may soon have a change of heart.
As the separate groups (there are several different Occupy Camps throughout DC) converged on K  Street, I sensed a feeling of accomplishment as the groups then spread out to various locations and intersections. There was only one known arrest (as of 2:41 PM). With more activities planned, there should be much more to report on in the next day or two. I will be on the road as of tomorrow night but will try to get out another report before I leave.

Take Back the Capitol Begins with Some Success.

Members of the 99% have descended upon Washington DC with a mission that is more than carrying signs and singing chants. Today they have begun the “Peoples Lobby” as they have send small groups to seek out and “occupy” the offices of their representatives.  As to be expected, most of the elected representatives were unavailable to the 99%ers.  But in a few (two that I know of as  of the writing) elected representatives that did agree to see their 99% constituents.  One was Rep Sean P Duffy of Wisconsin.  When asked about bill BR 459 (#202 in the Senate) the aid that was present in the office and talked with the 99%ers showed interest as Rep Duffy is a co-sponsor of the bill.  The bill requires an abbreviated audit of the loans handed out to Wall Street during the bail outs of 2008.  Shortly afterword it was announced to the group that was assigned to him that he would indeed meet with the members of the group that were direct constituents.  This change in tactic,  from simple protest to actually lobbying may prove to actually show results . 
As I was in the office with the group, it seemed quite unlikely they would be able to meet at first, but as it was displayed to his staff that some of the group were actually informed and educated in bills he was co-sponsoring, as well as many of the issues at hand, there was a sudden change  of hart.   It will remain unlikely that the likes of Congressman Paul Ryan would with to speak to those who are quite opposite of this policies of placing corporate and big money interests in front of the average man.
I am not having very good luck getting any stories out but I will continue to try, so please be patient.   As I am not really being classified as a media person, it adds a bit of hardship to my efforts.  I also do not have a personal computer of my own on the ground and I am writing this report from one of the laptops in the media tent.  I will try to bring the most relevant and important developments of this phase of the movement to you as they occur here in Washington DC.