US Uncut action reports

Report on Tucson, AZ, Sat Mar 26th 2011

2012-02-05T00:26:05Z

The police were sitting in the next parking lot for some of the day when I drove by....

Although I appreciate your protest, I do consider it misdirected. The elimination of the Glass Steagal act under Clinton in 1999 and complete disregard of the growing subprime mortgage debacle by the Senate Finance Committee (under Frank and Schumer) are considered to be primarily responsible for the housing boom and subsequent meltdown.

The Dodd Frankel act does nothing to eliminate derivatives.

Report on Tucson, AZ, Sat Mar 26th 2011

2012-02-05T00:26:00Z

The police were sitting in the next parking lot for some of the day when I drove by....

The Dodd Frankel act does nothing to eliminated derivatives.

Report on Tucson, AZ, Sat Mar 26th 2011

2012-02-05T00:25:59Z

The police were sitting in the next parking lot for some of the day when I drove by....

The Dodd Frankel act does nothing to eliminated derivatives.

Report on Portland, OR, Fri Oct 28th 2011

2011-11-05T23:06:47Z

Friday, October 28, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM

A small but dedicated group showed up for direct action at the Bank of America branch in downtown Portland, OR, at SW Morrison and SW 1st.

Another B of A action by Occupy Portland was happening at the same time down the street, and, simultaneously, three blocks up the street, Pink Martini and Storm Large were giving a free outdoor concert with the Portland Symphony for Occupy Portland.

We got lots of honks and thumbs up signs.

Report on Buffalo NY, Sat Oct 15th 2011

2011-10-16T01:20:09Z

The protest went well despite the windy, cold rainy conditions.

Report on Seattle, WA , Wed Sep 28th 2011

2011-10-01T03:57:18Z

Photo gallery: Seattle protestors target Chase, BofA
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2011/09/29/seattle-protestors-target-chase-bofa.html?page=all

Report on Washington, DC, Thu Sep 8th 2011

2011-09-09T16:54:41Z

We had an awesome time and the tourists were amused.

We ran up and down the Mall afterwards flying the banner like a giant kite!

Video coming soon...

Report on Portland, OR, Thu Sep 1st 2011

2011-09-06T16:15:11Z

Sing Out for Jobs - Not Cuts!

Thursday, Sept. 1st, 2011

5:00 to 6:00 PM

Portland, OR

Sponsored by SEIU, PDX Uncut, Oregon Action, Jobs with Justice, Alliance for Democracy, and a coalition of other organizations.

About 20 people gathered at Carousel Park near Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s office to thank him for keeping up the fight for good jobs and no cuts to vital services. After security officers told participants to move to a public sidewalk, people complied and sang songs (including “We Shall Overcome”) and listened to a few speakers near the NE 7th Ave MAX transit station.

Report on Pearland, TX, Sat Aug 27th 2011

2011-08-28T02:39:39Z

Rep. Pete Olson is a tall, thin, mealy-mouthed teapublican with a weak handshake, a habit of not making eye contact, and a lot of damn nerve to say and do the things he says and does. Think high school principal.

However, Texas' 22nd District Congressman had an unexpected surprise at his town hall this morning at an area high school, when his 90-minute monologue dubbed a town hall meeting was overrun with angry Texans, shouting things like,

"The Bush tax cuts doubled the unemployment rate! Trickle-down isn't working!"
"Why did you vote to cut NASA jobs from your own district?"
"We want jobs, not cuts!"
"End corporate welfare!"
"Tax the rich!"

Olson's Q&A session was done by requiring all questions to be written out on paper and delivered beforehand, and not answered until after he prefaced the town hall with a 15-question multiple-choice quiz, full of loaded questions, misleading answers, all carefully arranged in a specific order. At the end of the questionnaire, the implication was heavy that those poor, oppressed rich are being taxed into oblivion because all of these poor and middle class moochers want more government. His staff sifted through the questions before handing them to Olson. Some of the more choice questions included-

"Obama is violating the constitution...when are you going to impeach him?"

"When will you vote out Obama's moratorium on oil drilling in the Gulf Coast?"

"Obama is violating the constitution...when are you going to impeach him?"

Yes, he read that question twice. And answered it twice. It wasn't long before the heckling started.

Olson attempted to control the crowd several times, shushing us over the microphone, comparing us to his 14 year-old daughter, and shouting bumper-sticker slogans at the end of sentences in hopes of drowning us out with applause. The tea partiers had all but dissipated by the end of the town hall, as Olson stood away from the microphone, reading hurriedly and incoherently through constituents' questions he didn't agree with.

The hecklers had grown more bold as the town hall continued on, and some of the questions they submitted included-

"Why is it the harder I work and put in, the harder it is to get by in this country?"

"Why are you for raising the payroll tax, while protecting trillions in tax handouts to billionaires, big oil and corporate jet owners?"

"When are you going to tax corporations?"

"Did you vote for Paul Ryan's plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system?"

Olson danced around each question after reading it haphazardly, spouting off one-liner platitudes like "We don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem," or the classic "We can't raise taxes on our job creators in a recession."

We waited for him outside of the high school when it was over. The police told us he was done answering questions. So we went to his next town hall that day to catch up with him...

Report on Chicago, IL, Sat Aug 27th 2011

2011-08-27T21:12:50Z

Our summer of discontent with Apple has come to an end. Wow, I can't believe it's been three months already. Twelve Saturdays in a row in the same location. When we started I still had to wear a jacket because it was cold out and now the leaves will be changing soon.

So what do we have to show for our efforts?

120,000+ people have read our signage while waiting for the light to change.

3,000+ flyers were handed out.

Hundreds of conversations, one on one, with pedestrians passing by.

And we did it with an average turn out of 3 protesters each week.

I personally want to thank my fellow Uncutters. Emma, Kira, Dorothy, Jules, Julian, Dave, Amanda, Carlos, Keith, Eric, Nick, Cody and many others who came out because they heard about us on WCPT or Citizens Radio.

When it ended today some one asked me what we were going to do next.

Still in a daze over what we had accomplished over the last three months, I looked around and said "What the hell...there's a Verizon store across the street..."

Report on Chicago IL, Sat Aug 20th 2011

2011-08-23T20:43:34Z

We canceled our protest Saturday not because we fear the rain but because all of our signs are made of paper. We were out last weekend in gale force winds so no one can call us light weights.

We are already rescheduled for this next weekend August 27th same place and time.

Report on Pasadena, TX, Thu Aug 18th 2011

2011-08-23T00:01:59Z

Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) reiterated his support for sensible revenue increases, told us of his endorsement of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act and agreed that Texas needs JOBS, not CUTS, while an Uncutter reminded him of the plight of his constituents, dollar bill in hand.

A tea partier gave him some lip about not supporting a balanced budget amendment, then when Green flipped the question and asked him what he would cut, he started in on social security, medicare, "entitlements," and other discretionary spending. The same Uncutter cut him off and said,

"Or we could end the Bush tax cuts for the rich and save $5 trillion in ten years. Or close corporate tax loopholes for another trillion. Or tax Wall Street speculators. Or create a new income tax bracket for million-dollar households. Or reinstate the estate tax. Any of those? any of those? Any of those?"

The teabagger shut up real quick after everyone had a good laugh at his expense.

Looking forward to doing more of this at Brady and Olson's town halls this month!

Report on Chicago, IL., Sat Aug 13th 2011

2011-08-17T00:03:54Z

Another Saturday and another Action Against Apple. That's 11 notches on the handle of my favorite protest sign. "We don't have a Deficit Crisis! We have a Corporate Tax Avoidance Problem!"

You can tell the Populace is coming around to our point of view because of the serious drop off in people giving us the bird. I haven't been called a "greedy union teacher" or a "loser" for a couple of weeks now.

The strongest reaction I had this Saturday was someone passing by and shaking his head all disgusted. I challenged him by saying "Like you've got a better idea?" He didn't even turn around to fight back. What's happening when even the tea party crazies won't argue against us? Maybe they're coming around to our side? Or maybe we're on the side that's winning...

Report on Madison, WI, Sat Aug 13th 2011

2011-08-14T22:11:00Z

Excellent! Around 20 people showed up. A few of us went inside to tell the workers why we were there, but the manager said he'd already called the police and told us to get out. The police officer came, but just asked us not to block the entrance or the sidewalk. There were around 5 people working there and, as far as I could tell, no customers. So, we walked around in a circle outside chanting slogans such as "Solidarity -- from -- Wis-con-sin!
Strike -- strike -- strike until we win!", "When union busting comes to town,
Verizon workers shut it down!", "From Madison to Burlington,
workers fight until we win!", "Verizon workers, on strike!
Union busters, take a hike!", "Chop, chop, chop from the top!
Make the bosses take the losses!", and "Verizon got bailed out, workers got sold out!" We stayed for around an hour and got lots of good feedback from passersby. There will be a meeting to plan further solidarity on Friday.

Report on Chicago, IL., Wed Aug 10th 2011

2011-08-11T19:05:21Z

US uncut & Move On joined forces again today for TWO rallies today.

The first was a press conference held by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (author of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act)for the unveiling of her new bill "The Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act". This bill, if enacted, will create 2.2 million jobs in communities that need them the most.

OMG it was such a treat to rally and CHEER for something!

When Jan's rally was over we quickly collected our signs and ran across town for our second rally at Rep. Quigley's office. 35 protesters held a flash mob for an hour outside the congressman's office to show how we feel about his signing the Debt Ceiling Bill (aka "Satan's Sandwich"). We also explained how we feel it should be a focus on "Jobs not Cuts". People are hurting while Washington "fiddles" away.

One scary detail of note: When I showed up and started unloading the "Mobile Command Anarchy Van" the Police Sargent on site already knew my name. If you're from Chicago you remember "The Red Squad", the police department's internal squad that would spy on citizen activists. I thought that was disbanded.

Report on Chicago, IL., Sat Aug 6th 2011

2011-08-09T00:11:46Z

After 10 Weeks in a row I'm running out of Apple Puns to use in my reports but the action itself just keeps getting better!

I can't think of another issue (and I could list them all) that makes MORE people MORE disgusted than Apple's Tax Cheating and what it does to screw American Taxpayers.

One thing for sure People are getting PISSED OFF about getting PISSED ON!

Report on Los Angeles, California, Sat Jul 30th 2011

2011-08-05T19:22:21Z

From 12 PM, when the LA Memorial Coliseum gates opened, to 10 PM, when the "re-education camp" was closed, we literally talked to festivalgoers non-stop about tax dodgers, cuts, and how we can organize to fight back. We spoke to thousands, and had folks from Los Angeles Uncut and San Diego Uncut to help Steve and I manage the US Uncut tent/table. They even showed video of a US Uncut action on the jumbotron to thousands in the coliseum in between bands. US Uncut represented hard last weekend, much respect, props and big ups to everyone involved!

Report on Chicago, IL., Tue Aug 2nd 2011

2011-08-04T19:48:52Z

US Uncut joined the 5th District Move On Malcontents for a lunchtime Protest outside Sen. Mark Kirk's office in downtown Chicago (Sen. Durbin's office is in the same building also...so we got a two for one). We gathered over 160 signatures for our petition asking both Senators to ignore the extreme minority in the Congress that is driving the CRAZY debate.

We drew quite a crowd and several speakers received standing ovations. Well...OK, the crowd was already standing so when they began clapping it LOOKED like a standing ovation but the crowd was REALLY into what we were talking about. Many people believe THIS SUMMER is going to become THE SUMMER we take back OUR Democracy..

Report on Chicago, Il., Sat Jul 30th 2011

2011-08-02T19:35:28Z

Usuncut and Move On joined forces this week for 4 protests in 7 days all over Chicago regarding Corporate Tax Cheats and the revenue problems they have caused. They say "Deficit Crisis"...We say "Corporate Tax Avoidance Problem". Two separate rallies with 80+ protesters each outside Republican Sen. Kirk's office downtown (Can you hear us now?) and one rally with 40+ supporters to thank Rep. Quigley for his standing strong against those who would gut OUR social safety net to coddle their wealthy backers. And of course the last protest was at the USuncut kiosk in front of the Apple store, our 9th straight Saturday protest! What a week! What a summer!

Report on Omaha, NE, Sat Jul 30th 2011

2011-07-31T02:59:22Z

Me and my friend walked in the door at Verizon and an employee immediately attacked us. I had given a flyer to a customer by the door and the employee swiped it out of her hands as she was trying to read it. She was literally screaming at us and was trying to grab me so we left as she followed us out the door yelling at us. It was one of the weirdest experiences I have ever had because that woman was crazy mad for no apparent reason. I wish I had started my camera but I had no idea their would be drama. It was an exciting day.