President Obama to Get Occupied During L.A. Visit Today: Occupy L.A. Takes to Streets Near Hancock Park Fundraisers

I was at the demonstration - no one was arrested and the motorcade went by earlier than expected - around 5:20pm. I was with AIDS Healthcare Foundation opposing Obama's lack of funding for HIV which has resulted in waiting lists for live saving drugs. There have been deaths pf some waiting for access to medications. We displayed a banner that read "Obama on AIDS: Drop Dead" And the fundraising went on....

As a result of an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Government Accountability Office completed its second audit of the Federal Reserve. This report focuses on the enormous conflicts of interest that existed at the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis. Here is what the GAO found:  The affiliations of the Federal Reserve's board of directors with financial firms continue to pose "reputational risks" to the Federal Reserve System. (See page 32 of GAO report)  The policy of the Federal Reserve to give members of the banking industry the power to both elect and serve on the Federal Reserve's board of directors creates "an appearance of a conflict of interest." (See page 32 of GAO report)  The GAO identified 18 former and current members of the Federal Reserve's board affiliated with banks and companies that received emergency loans from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis including General Electric, JP Morgan Chase, and Lehman Brothers. (See page 39 of GAO report)  There are no restrictions on directors of the Federal Reserve Board from communicating concerns about their respective banks to the staff of the Federal Reserve. (See page 36 of GAO report)  Many of the Federal Reserve's board of directors own stock or work directly for banks that are supervised and regulated by the Federal Reserve. These board members oversee the Federal Reserve's operations including salary and personnel decisions. (See page 41 of GAO report)  Under current regulations, Fed directors who are employed by the banking industry or own stock in financial institutions can participate in decisions involving how much interest to charge to financial institutions receiving Fed loans; and the approval or disapproval of Federal Reserve credit to healthy banks and banks in "hazardous" condition. (See pages 41-42 of GAO report)  The Federal Reserve does not publicly disclose its conflict of interest regulations or when it grants waivers to its conflict of interest regulations. (See page 47 and 49 of GAO report) In 2010, the 108 members of the Federal Reserve's board of directors are predominately white men who are senior executives of financial institutions. (See the front page of GAO report)  While Congress has mandated that the Federal Reserve's board of directors consist of experts in labor, consumer protection, agriculture, commerce, and industry, only 11 of the 202 members of the Federal Reserve's board of directors represented labor and consumer interests from 2006-2010. (See page 19 of GAO report)  When choosing who will serve on its board of directors, the Federal Reserve generally focuses its search on senior executives, usually CEOs or presidents in the financial industry. Of the 108 Federal Reserve board directors, 82 were the President or CEO of their company. (See page 28 of GAO report)  The Federal Reserve claims that it is hard to recruit labor and consumer representatives to its board because many are "politically active," and the Federal Reserve has restrictions on a director's "political activity." (See page 30 of GAO report.) Sanders called this "laughable," compared to the political action of CEOs of large financial institutions serving on the Fed's board. For example, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase currently serves on the board of directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Dimon has made over $620,000 in campaign contributions since 1990. http://www.opensecrets.org/new...  21 members of the Federal Reserve's board of directors were involved in making personnel decisions in the division of supervision and regulation at the Fed. (See page 105 of GAO report) The GAO included several instances of specific individuals whose membership on the Fed's board of directors created the appearance of a conflict of interest including: Stephen Friedman, the former chairman of the New York Fed's board of directors. Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, and board director at the New York Fed Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase and board director at the New York Federal Reserve

Let Obama know "We're mad as hell and we're not gonna take it anymore!"