main street moves to wall street as protesters make the financial district their new home but it's not just wall street being occupied protests are now spreading across the country from new york to l.a. this is average americans fight for an overhaul of the financial system but will their voices be heard. and the average joes struggle to put food on the table the u.s. continues to fork over billions trillions of dollars for defense spending and war so even as the country is hemorrhaging jobs how does the u.s. continue to spend so much cash overseas for occupation we'll speak with professor andrew bass of it. that's the that's really true the bobos he was brought in as

a symbol of gold for workers at oprah's people and against racism but of course with the policies the fold the traditional polls is a big business and a tradition obama is keeping up with raising a record amount of money for his campaign it is just by growing unemployment poverty and housing crisis so where are these thirty five thousand dollar a dinner donations coming from exactly. good evening it's tuesday september twenty seventh five pm here in washington d.c. i'm laura lister and you're watching r.t. now the occupy wall street protesters continue to call lower manhattan home and as they continue to stand their ground over grievances such as inequality amidst growing wealth and power of the country's top one percent the movement appears to be spreading in chicago you can see this amateur video shows a group of protesters and part of the federal reserve bank there now this is day

eleven of protests protesters are actually sleeping outside to get their message heard in colorado protesters took to the streets of downtown denver they rallied around the denver. newspaper and eventually ended up outside of the capitol building and finally on the west coast in los angeles once again signs and protests this time to protesters took their message to the overpass to yell as passing cars went by so this is going on all over the country and here now on our show from new york activist christina dulles was actually arrested during the new york protests thanks for being on the show so from what i understand you were arrested for allegedly videotaping i want to talk about if you feel like your rights to freedom of speech freedom of assembly are have been violated i learned well thank you for having me on the show i definitely feel like my rights have been violated you know this country we stand on freedom of speech the end of the free home of the

brave these are some of our sayings and that day i really felt like they were targeting people who are rallying the crowds that they were targeting people who they saw were going to be able to have proof of what they were doing and it really hurt me at one point even cried because i couldn't believe that i was being pushed back with orange nets by cops stepping on us pushing us into each other and you know you have these things going on in other countries but that we have been going on in new york city was astonishing to me but the crowd saw what was happening which was the beautiful thing about the day so you think you were astonished about how your game treated protesting in the united states of america. that's correct i mean we live on slogans about freedom of speech and you know we say look at the freedoms that we have here and that's part of the reason why they say that our troops are overseas fighting for our rights or freedom so how is it that we are out

there taking over the streets to show people to get more recruiters to get people here to join us how is it that they're keeping our silence how is it that the mainstream media is not reporting on these type of things it's very i guess i'm not surprised i'm just i'm a little hurt and to be there firsthand it was really really amazing you know you mention the mainstream media and the mainstream media has really if they've covered this they've focused on just the protests the arrests or they have you know just barely touched it why do you think there is no discussion of why all of these activists are occupying wall street. the question was why was the media not covering it i'm sorry why don't you think the mainstream media is talking about why you guys are out there. i mean because i feel that the media is controlled by the big zag people that we're protesting against you know i've been looking for the for the stories everywhere i'm actually really disappointed with picks eleven you know

i saw them talking about it you're saying it's like will the protesters you know take on the cops again or you know will be confront them and you know they don't really talk about why we're there or they try to make it seem like you know our numbers are dwindling when in fact they're increasing or they try to make it seem like we're dirty hippies or young teenagers who are now the scrunch old because of what's going on when really it's not the case at all instead of coming down there and talking to people and finding out why we're really here they're making it you know this was during the situation and making it seem like we have no idea what we're talking about and actually ours he is one of the first asians that i saw it that's why i was really eager to come down here and talk with you guys because i was really i was really thankful for the way you guys are covering the story well i appreciate your words we appreciate you being on the show one of the things that you talked about you said the coverage by the media has not exactly been spot on and there is some confusion over exactly what protesters like yourself out there

are calling for how would you describe the movement and your demands. i guess it's really hard to put it all into one sentence you know i have my own reasons i was actually a victim of domestic violence i had a man who had me for several years and when i went to the cops and the courts they basically ignored me or demeaned me and i had cases dismissed and things like that that's one of my personal reasons and then seeing how the cops acted the other day when i saw how violent they were towards the women i realize that it's no surprise that they weren't there to protect me because it seems as though they're targeting women as well. i guess i would say that our message is that people come before profit money is just a piece of paper that you hold in your hand but the human race we are amazing humans are amazing creatures why are we not doing more to save our society to save our culture it seems as though we put money over everything else and i guess we're

out there to say that listen we need more transpires transparency we want to be told the truth and we feel that our lives are more important than the almighty dollar and that's what studds would sky and i am so so confused people out there they don't understand that and and the cops are out there doing their jobs we understand but once again they're there to make money so here they are. peaceful peaceful protesters when really they should be there to defend us because we're there we're there to defend them that's the whole reason why they're there so i can't speak on behalf of anybody else but i was saying that the the main focus of our of our war right now and there is to say hey listen we're more important than that dollar bill please hear us our voice is not more important than the money i mean i know money talks but you don't know what it's saying right now it's not saying what you want really good but you don't have time if there was just one demand. that you guys are calling for could you pinpoint one. i would

say that we need some accountability there are people out there who have done a lot of harm to not only this country but the entire planet itself and i'm calling i personally i'm calling for some accountability there are there people have gotten away with so much they've robbed polluted the environment there are people who are buying politicians i need to have some accountability that's what i want all right well thank you for coming on our show and telling us you heard what professor christina gonzales wants in our new york studio and we want you to see how many of your voices are going to be heard thanks for being on the show thank you lauren. those preservation grows during a time of record economic inequality and poverty in the u.s. and persistent high unemployment continues the was at the same time continues to pour billions of dollars into wars abroad adding up to estimates of trillions of dollars for iraq and afghanistan that's according to some economists now the payoff though is pretty unclear and to talk about how this is all possible even earlier i

spoke with andrew bass of it cheese and international relations professor at boston university he's also author of this book washington rules have been written extensively about president obama embracing bush era foreign policy i asked him in his view how has obama been able to continue bush's war on terror despite his past promises not to mention economic struggles that america faces at home here's what he said. the fact of the matter is that the american people continue to be fairly passive and deferential. to washington and this is particularly the case with regard to anything that relates to military policy the mantra of supporting the troops takes precedent over asking the most fundamental questions such as what are we getting for our money what about the president's role the president of the united states has a lot of authority over foreign policy we saw obama pretty much single handedly

greenlight a new war and libya and you've described its foreign policy as in some ways connected at the hip with bush what do you mean by that what i mean is that if you take a broad view of u.s. policy the continuity between it ministrations tend to be much greater than the discontinuity even when there is a change in the party in power and i think that's true in spades with president obama but it's not simply obama it was true when clinton replaced the elder bush it was it was been consistently true. and i think that one needs to be very careful about overstating how much authority the president him has no people fell into this notion that the president of the united states is the most powerful man in the world and back in two thousand and eight many americans believe that if we just got the right guy in the oval office all would be well well we did get the right guy i

mean in the sense that president obama is an exceedingly able and talented individual but the reality is that his power his of forty his ability to do things are far more limited than some people seem to believe well then how is it that you know if you say it's not about obama then what is it that allows you now to give the example of libya an expansion of obama how is it that with fifteen trillion dollars in debt now happy. discretionary spending going on defense and a president that promised to wind down u.s. wars how is it possible that these military solutions are still the u.s. response to a lot of the foreign policy issues the country has well i think i take issue with your premise i mean the president didn't this president did not promise to wind down wars he promised to wind down the iraq war if you remember when he was running he actually promised to expand the afghanistan war and that's exactly that's exactly what he's done but why why do we keep doing the things we do well partially

out of habit partially because the things that we do serve powerful interests and institutions president eisenhower some considerable time ago now referred to a military industrial complex that certainly exists and it also i think we do we do in part because of our exaggerated sense as a people and as a nation of somehow we are called upon to accomplish in history americans going back to the founding of this country to somehow believe that we are the chosen people well we're not and the sooner we give up on that notion that we are chosen to transform the world in our own image the better it will be for us and the better it will be for the rest of the world now along those lines something that is not a military industrial complex that is foreign policy but is an issue that the united states has not gone to war over at this point and palestine and israel i

want to play a little bit of what obama said recently at the u.n. g.a. just earlier and i want to get your response to one year ago i stood at this podium and i called for an independent palestine i believed then and i believe now that the palestinian people deserve a state of their own but what i also said. it's been a genuine peace can only be realized between. the israelis and the palestinians themselves. i'm curious if that's the case why the u.s. left scrambling behind the scenes to avoid policy time statehood going for a vote at the u.n. well because the president. this president like most presidents want to have it both ways the president wants to be seen in the arab world more

broadly the islamic world as someone who is sympathetic to muslims and specifically sympathetic to the cause of the palestinians at the same time and you understand this i understand this the country is already basically into election mode and therefore the president needs to be very careful about doing anything which will seem to be at odds with the security interests of israel because that can have very negative consequences for him in terms of domestic politics so he's trying to. thread this needle and getting the palestinian. nutritive in the u.n. to go away would certainly serve his political interest so you're saying this is about bartering the support of pro israel constituents in the united states. i'm

saying that foreign policy is always to some degree about domestic policy and that that is true in spades as you begin to approach an election cycle and that's exactly where we are today ok i want to keep on that subject of the u.n. for the note and i want to get your thoughts can we have our country come out saying that the u.s. nato went beyond the u.n. mandate in libya and here is what the russian foreign minister if they're going to federally or i want to play a little bit. so we've pneumonia so they looked at celestial attention as it touched a little as an arab russia condemns the use of violence against civilians and supports the aspirations of arab peoples for a revival of their states and their democratic development and social and economic prosperity at the same time options i know its forces must be based on full respect for international law and to be instrumental to the search for a political settlement between the authorities now position at times to go beyond the un security council mandate from acceptable since they undermine its authority

and multiply the suffering of innocent civilians my family professor both of edge do you think that the u.s. and nato went beyond the u.n. mandate in libya. well of course it did but i mean the kid ourselves that somehow to think that the russian government defers to the united nations or is particularly concerned about. imposing its will when it when it when it wishes to but i think. going beyond the mandate was inevitable once nato intervened whether whether the rationale of preventing genocide was genuine or whether it was a pretext and i'm not sure which is true once the u.s. and. nato intervened under those auspices i think it was enough interval that the campaign was going to continue until the removal of khadafi had been achieved and that's basically just about where we are now and then my question because you

mentioned russia am i said the united states not following by all of us policy is the u.n. undermined by my friends doing that. well i think the u.n. is. a fairly toothless organization i don't know very many people who would argue that the u.n. today lives up to the hopes that people had back in one nine hundred forty five or so and one explanation among many for why the u.n. is there is weak as it is is that great powers to include the united states to include russia and very much to include the soviet union in former days disregarded the u.n. when it's when they felt that the un's purposes were inconsistent with their own that's the reality of great power politics ok and then i just want to touch upon earlier because you were talking about the military industrial complex i'm curious with now that we hear politicians being

a ground war in some regards for pakistan and we hear talking about the haqqani network and regard to the attack in pakistan do you see that is a real threat or as a new book the man to justify war with the boogie man i mean i think the u.s. pakistani relations are so fraught with contradictions. it's almost comic to describe our relationship as friendly or that we are one another's allies said i think that the hawks who are promoting the notion that the united states should use force against pakistan. that's an absurd proposition so that are both of us professor of international relations at boston university and author of the book washington rules. now despite record breaking inequality and poverty in this country that i was talking about earlier in the show you wouldn't know it exists when you look at the free flow of cash and glitz pouring into politics take

a look at the donors going to a fundraiser for president obama in l.a. last night now despite the tough economy supporters still shelled out for recent obama events from seattle to san diego over two days worth of five million dollars supporters paying up to the legal limit of close to thirty six grand to hear obama speak or have dinner or whatever now it's on that many americans right at that fundraiser could never envision affording take a listen to a protester outside you see that restaurant he's charging thirty five thousand dollars for people who can be part of this our community you can make thousand dollars a year. and talk to the community . and it's not just the communities of those press protesters that you saw

a new report shows that city budgets are getting crushed forcing them to cut more workers and services and at the same time corporate chiefs are saying that china is more business friendly than the u.s. peter schiff is here to tell me how all of this is possible. i pad thanks for being on the show so i like our questions and during these tough economic times a bomb of approval ratings are forty two percent who say selling out thirty six grand for an obama fundraiser and why well who are the forty two percent that is still approve of president obama and these guys have got to wake up and see the reality as far as my other price and who's selling out all that dough for this campaign but there are obviously some people that are able to make money off of this system unfortunately not nearly enough that that's the problem and there are you know there are people with money in the country to you know don't understand what's going on and so they believe that obama is actually going to help the country and there are other people that know that he's not that they're they have

a vested interest in the programs that he's perpetuating and many of those programs are responsible for impoverishing the majority of americans but they and rich is that contributors like what in the one example that you think is the best example of what you're saying i think there's a lot of policies that are perpetuating the financial bubble that are perpetuating a wall street and so i think a lot of finance fears are benefiting from the reckless policies certainly a lot of the industries that government drives money towards education health care those those sectors are bloated and there's a lot of money that's being spent there in a very wasteful matter but obviously there are people who benefit from that wasteful spending because that's that's the source of of their income so there is it is higher in states you would see that is feeding off the public trough and you know rock obama is there to fill it up and so there are plenty of people that benefit from it and they helped reelect them in the course you know you've got. the

drug companies i've a pharmaceutical companies benefit large programs for arms of benefit there are a number of companies that i think are direct beneficiaries of a lot of these government. programs a lot of regulations that stifle competition benefit the companies that are being protected by competition but i think the fire coverage suffers from these big government calls so if you know you run for office do you think that this is why obama's campaign election apparatus have not been as impacted by the economy as one would believe is that we're talking about now i think there are in fact i did a lot of people are becoming disillusioned with the president that's why his support is is falling and i expect his supporters to continue to fall but that's not a good image is ability to raise money you still going to raise money from the people who profit from the status quo unit status both is undermining the strength of the

u.s. economy and of course you know as we've got going to be able to help through the economy and create and see people who become dependent on government checks are now more likely to look at the people who are signing those checks they don't connect the dots are they don't understand that big government is responsible for their plight but they buy into the rhetoric that the government will solve the problem which is why you know the government want to perpetuate poverty because it's easy to get the votes of the impoverished when you're the one that is provided funds thinking of poverty p.r.c. finances are just getting totally crushed by the economic downturn is just a new report that came out from the national league of cities today says that cities ended their two thousand and ten that's going here with the largest nearer year reductions in revenues and spending in the history of the survey why are cities getting creamed now. why are they what why are they getting cranes now why are they getting why their finances getting crushed right now all countries get

across them in the cities aren't going to be immune from that member of the city's withdrawing their revenues from their tax base their tax base is being eroded property values are falling people are paying property taxes incomes are diminish you're getting less sales tax revenue they've all sorts of ways that cities and states are going to get squeezed from this recession the real problem is going to be when interest rates start to rise because a lot of these this apologist space for surviving by borrowing and with the cost of borrowing goes up it hasn't happened yet but eventually it is going to happen and then you're going to have a double whammy because it's going to cost the cities a lot more to borrow money but they're also going to have to borrow a lot more because higher interest rates are also good at least in the short run further undermine this consumer debt base the bubble economy that we're living in i mean right now the impact of the economy on the cities means that they're continuing to cut personnel they can't invest in infrastructure they're cutting

services so are you saying that this is just going to get worse if and if interest rates go up. it is going to get worse i mean interest rates need to go up but not for the reason that they're going to go up the real reason they're going to go up now is because inflation drives them up because the government is destroying our money savings i mean it would be better if we could have higher real interest rates where the fed gets ahead of the cover and we can have more state investment but still that is going to pressure the debtors and to the extent that to suck too much debt higher interest rates are going to be problematic that is why the cure is going to be so painful for service segments of the of the economy but ultimately if we can cure the economy we can have much more robust economic growth which ultimately will benefit the states even if in the short run they are negatively impacted by the increased cost of services or debt which is also why some of these

this valley's are states are to end up falling on some of that that in order for it to be manageable i mean if it just doesn't seem like everybody how much worse could it get it's already felt bad i mean what you're calling for sure you get a lot to get a lot of hours i mean we really see not that ye be yeah big things are bad people are having a hard time getting jobs but the people that still have jobs i mean yeah they are getting squeezed a little bit but nothing like it's gonna be so i think it's going to get a lot worse when you really see a persepolis decline in the guide a dollar that's will you keep it in because that's going to lead to big big increases in consumer prices on basic that that is what you're really get across american families and when you see a big increase in interest rates i mean this is this is going to get much much worse i mean it's really still the calm before the storm when do you think that storm will have because we've seen so much international turmoil what for example what's going on in europe that the dollar people have ran to the dollar and recent times i mean that's what's buying up some extra sawing because people are more

worried about europe right now than america and so our day of reckoning is being postponed is. all of that but ultimately by a lot of us economy if you go deeper into bed it's me our day of reckoning is going to be that much more dramatic when he comes and you know i think that one of the catalysts to be some sort of resolution to the european situation or the world can read the file of relief and decided ok the worst is behind europe and babies are getting through because then they're going to focus their attention back on to us because you've done nothing to improve our situation our fiscal imbalances continue to deteriorate that was better for europe or the worse for the us a kind of course for the u.s. not a public sector is hemorrhaging employees with these cities and states being really impacted by the economy the private sector isn't exactly picking up the slack and we just heard the c.e.o. of coke saying that the u.s. is less business friendly than china because of the u.s.

political gridlock and the tax structure which he says an antiquated there isn't even to do business in china than the u.s. i would say that for years that's why we're investing more money over there that we are in the u.s. you know i feel i often joke that you know if the government would simply get out of the way of capitalism a chance that i know will work because you know it's working pretty good communist china so i think it would work in america we gave it a try and you know so we want need to get rid of a lot of these government sector jobs may not that's part of the solution the government jobs are a drain on the job you can't afford the so a lot of government employees need to lose their jobs but a lot of them to get productive jobs in the private sector the reason they're not is because the government has directed so many barriers to employment that govern has made it so much more difficult for businesses to grow and expand and hire people i mean the regulations many of the regulations that have been written

specifically punish employers who hire there are all sorts of taxes and fees that are directly tied diary people. and probably you start looking you have all sorts of litigation risk when you hire somebody it is very easy to sue your employer if you get fired it's going to use it as soon as so all businesses want to mitigate the cost of litigation and the way that you do that is limit the number of people they hire so it's kind of a catch twenty two because people are getting laid off but there's not time for them that you say dead businesses don't have the necessary you know way to get through regulations in order to hire more people and tax holidays that the government is talking about have been shown to not actually create jobs but we're going to leave the discussion there for now but there are several resident i'm sorry peter we're totally out of time the president of euro pacific capital thanks for being on the south and that's going to do it for now for more on the stories we cover go to our t. dot com slash usa you can check out our you tube page at youtube dot com slash r t america you can follow me on twitter.