These Occupy Wall Street protesters have a message
CANDICE CHOI - AP - Fri Oct 14, 4:47PM CDT
ThisOct. 7, 2011 photo, shows Meropi Peponides, 27, left, and John Smith,31, of Brooklyn, N.Y., who joined in the Occupy Wall Street protest atZuccotti Park in Manhattan. Peponides is a...NEW YORK (AP) — The Occupy Wall Street protests are hitting a nerve.
A dearth of jobs, overwhelming student loans and soaring health-carecosts are just three major issues protesters have targeted. Andregardless of politics, economic data suggests they're not alone intheir frustrations.
It may be why the protests have spread to other cities — includingBoston, Cincinnati, Seattle and Washington, D.C. — after taking root indowntown New York nearly a month ago.
Take for example the unemployment rate, which has been stuck near 9percent since the recession officially ended more than two years ago.When counting those who settle for part-time work or have quit looking,that rate rises to about 16.5 percent.
A crippled labor market also shifts bargaining power to employers,giving workers less leverage to seek raises. That could help explain whypay was nearly 2 percent less in August than it was a year earlier whenadjusted for inflation.
Student loans are another common rallying point for protesters — asexpressed in one sign that read "Want demands? How about student loanbailouts?"
The struggle to keep up with payments is clear; about 320,000borrowers who entered repayment in 2009 defaulted on their student loansby the end of 2010, according to the Institute for College Access &Success. That's up about 33 percent from the previous year.
Meanwhile, the cost of annual health insurance premiums for familycoverage rose 9 percent this year and surpassed $15,000 for the firsttime, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Researchand Educational Trust. Some don't have to worry about the uptick; anestimated 16 percent of the population does not have health insurance.
It's that economic backdrop that has driven a diversity of protesters to the streets
While a few hundred have been camping out in Manhattan's ZuccottiPark, many more join in for a few hours or a day to add their voices.Here's a look at some of the protesters who ventured by in the pastweek, and the financial issues they're dealing with:
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John Smith, 31, of Brooklyn, N.Y., works part time at Trader Joe'sbecause he hasn't been able to find work in his field for over a year,despite having a master's degree. He has about $45,000 in student loandebt. His girlfriend, Meropi Peponides, 27, a graduate student atColumbia University, will have about $50,000 by the time she graduates.
"I don't know in the end what exactly this will achieve, if anything.But if it makes people wake up just a little bit, it's worth it,"Peponides said. "The potential is huge. That's why I'm here. I felt thepotential somehow."
Smith said he has sent out about 200 resumes in his search. He'slooking mainly for work with non-profit organizations. "The jobs thatI've been applying for are all entry level jobs in my career field. Idon't think I'm shooting for the stars trying to get those jobs." Smithsaid, noting that five years ago, before grad school, he was able to getwork at that level.
He was carrying a sign that said, "I am the 99 percent," a sloganthat resonated with him. "It's true. I am one of the many people thatare having a lot of trouble finding ways to make it through things rightnow."
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Tracy Blevins, 41-year-old Manhattan resident, has a doctorate inbiomedical science but lost her job as an adjunct professor at TouroCollege this spring. She's since been getting by on odd jobs; mostrecently, she acted as a cross-country driver for $2,000.
"I'm earning money off a license I got when I was 16, and stillpaying off the loans I had to take out to get my degree," she said.
Even after nine years of paying down her loans, Blevins said she owes$10,000. She's current on payments now, but said the loans havecrippled her credit score and even prevented her from getting work inthe past.
"I have paid and paid and paid and I still owe $10,000. It's the interest that keeps me in debt," she said.
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Steve and Barbara Diamond traveled nearly 100 miles to take part inthe protest. They were motivated mainly by what they see as adisappearance of the middle class; and a connection between the economicproblems of recent years and the amount of influence money has onpolitics. He held a sign criticizing the 2010 Supreme Court ruling knownas Citizens United, which overturned a previous ban on corporatespending in federal elections.
"Our government is being bought by wealthy people and corporations,"said Steve Diamond, a physician. "Unless you get the money out of theelections, you'll end up with an oligarchy in this country."
"My father used to say when he came to here from Europe that this wasthe 'Golden Land,'" he said. But he's not telling that to his ownchildren: "This is what's happened inside two generations."
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Joe Foley, a 48-year-old freelance cinematographer living inManhattan, finished paying off his $45,000 in student loans just fiveyears ago. His girlfriend has $120,000 in student loans.
Foley said work has been fairly steady in recent years, but heworries that he doesn't have any retirement savings or health insurance.He rents an inexpensive apartment and doesn't carry a big credit cardbalance, but realizes he's one broken leg away from being in seriousdebt.
"I was really hoping there was going to be a public option," he saidof the federal health care reforms. "It was pretty disappointing that itdidn't happen."
For now, he considers himself lucky that he's never had any healthissues. His approach has been to "drink lots of water and miso soup anddo yoga."
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Ben Bear, 56, a San Francisco resident visiting his daughter in New York, works at a food bank and feels his job is secure.
"Unfortunately I'm doing well because I'm in a growth industry," Bearsaid. "The demand for food keeps going up. Everyone's got this image ofwho accesses a food bank as a homeless person. But it's families andthe working poor."
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Susan Knauss, 55, from upstate Livingston, N.Y., worked in thetelecommunications industry for the past 25 years. But she was laid off afew weeks ago from the New York State Department of Transportation. Sheplans to get by on unemployment checks for the time being.
"But in two weeks, I won't have health insurance," she said.
She's also worried about her retirement savings. Even after makingmaximum contributions for most of her career, she worries that shehasn't saved enough and that the volatile market could eat away at thevalue of her 401(k).
"Where can you put your money where it doesn't go away?"
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Maureen McMahon, 62, of Manhattan, a former school teacher, workspart time by choice at a museum. She pointed to problems like the highnumber of uninsured as among the concerns that brought her out toprotest; noting that the disparity in health care reflects that theeconomic system doesn't treat everyone equally.
"I'm an investor, I have stock," she said with some irony, as she held a sign that said "Tax Wall Street."
"I believe that corporations can be very useful and verycompassionate," she said, adding that unfortunately, that kind ofcorporate responsibility seems to have diminished lately.
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Katy Ryan, 35, of Jersey City, N.J., made a good living for years as amakeup artist, but since the downturn has struggled to make ends meet.She's getting fewer clients and having to cut her rates. These days sheeven has to take some work as a bartender so she and her 8-year-olddaughter can get by. "I didn't have to do that for years."
Her main concern is that the widening gulf between the rich and poor,and the notion that a better life is slipping out of reach for thosewho aren't wealthy. She noted that her mother was a long time member ofthe United Auto Workers, and that she saw her benefits and wageschiseled away over the years.
