Ron Paul Joins George Soros In Supporting “Occupy Wall Street” Protests

October 3rd, 2011
Posted By Pat Dollard

The Hill:

Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) offered support for some of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have built up in lower Manhattan over the weekend in an interview Friday with Reason magazine, where he also denounced the “militarization of our police forces.”

“If they were demonstrating peacefully, and making a point, and arguing our case, and drawing attention to the Fed — I would say, good!” Paul said following a town-hall meeting in New Hampshire.

Paul has long been an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve, which he says manipulates American currency and is excessively secretive.

Paul was asked by Reason about a report from last weekend in which an NYPD officer was caught on camera pepper-spraying protesters.

“I hadn’t heard that, since I have to admit I didn’t keep up on all the details of it,” Paul said. “I didn’t read the stories about it. But that means government doesn’t like to be receiving any criticism at all. And my argument is, government should be in the open — the people’s privacy ought to be protected. So I don’t like it.”

During the town hall, Paul denounced the “militarization” of police forces, specifically reports that the NYPD had obtained a weapon that would allow them to shoot down an airplane involved in a terrorist attack.

“Yeah, I have concern about that,” Paul said. “That’s not exactly your friendly policeman on the block to go to when you’re in trouble. The militarization of our police force — the SWAT teams and all — I think it’s a bad sign.”

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Billionaire financier George Soros says he sympathizes with protesters speaking out against corporate greed in ongoing protests on Wall Street.

Soros answered a question about the protests During a Monday news conference at U.N. headquarters about his participation in a large-scale development project in rural Africa.

Soros says he understands the frustrations of small business owners, for instance those who have seen credit card charges soar during the current crisis.

Soros founded the Open Society Foundations. He and Earth Institute at Columbia University director Jeffrey Sachs are announcing the newest phase of the Millennium Villages Project, which works closely with several U.N. agencies.