Report: Occupy LA Costs Taxpayers $4.7 Million; Entire Movement Close to $30 Million

Report: Occupy LA Costs Taxpayers $4.7 Million; Entire Movement Close to $30 Million
Breitbart Story -- by John Sexton
Thread Title from the Article Headline


Some earlier estimates put the OccupyLA cost to taxpayers at around $2.3 million.

A new report now says $4.7 million.

The article has some figures from other localities and have a national estimate at close to $30 million.
(but those are not the entire movement)

Occupy LA turned out to be a lot more costly to the city than originally anticipated. After the park surrounding LA's City Hall was cleared by the LAPD in November, published estimates suggested the total cost of the two month occupation would be about $2.3 million. A new report released Friday by the city puts the total at $4.7 million. The city has said the cost of the occupation will be offset by unspecified budget cuts.

The total cost of occupations last fall hasn't been officially tallied by anyone. However, in most cases, each city that hosted a camp has released some information on the estimated cost for policing and cleanup. A tally based on press reports nationwide puts the total at nearly $30 million:

Occupy Asheville - $170,000
Occupy Atlanta - $652,000
Occupy Austin - $800,000
Occupy Bellingham - $51,000
Occupy Boston - $1,025,000 plus $50,000 to repair park
Occupy Charlotte - $447,000
Occupy Chicago - $49,000
Occupy Cincinnati - $128,000
Occupy DC - $1,640,000
Occupy Denver - $782,689
Occupy DesMoines - $7,800
Occupy Eugene - $130,000
Occupy Fresno - $110,000
Occupy Hartford - $45,000
Occupy Irvine - $23,000
Occupy LA - $4,700,000
Occupy Lansing - $20,000
Occupy Long Beach - $40,000
Occupy Minnesota - $400,000
Occupy Nashville - $4,500
Occupy New Haven - $145,000
Occupy New Orleans - $50,000
Occupy New York - $7,000,000
Occupy Oakland - $3,000,000
Occupy OKC -- $85,000
Occupy Olympia - $252,000
Occupy Palm Desert - $88,786
Occupy Philadelphia - $1,000,000
Occupy Phoenix - $204,162
Occupy Portland - $1,290,000 + $130,000 to repair damaged parks
Occupy Providence - $9,000
Occupy Raleigh - $60, 000
Occupy Richmond - $33,691
Occupy Sacramento - $300,000
Occupy San Diego - $2,400,000
Occupy San Francisco - $950,000 plus $50,000 to restore park
Occupy Santa Cruz - $40,000
Occupy St. Louis - $2,200
Occupy Seattle - $625,999
Occupy Tucson - $170,000

Total: $29,110,827

The above figures are from mostly local stories.
Go to the Breitbart article, and Click on the number to see related stories

Can anyone add some local costs not listed ?

Was it Worth It ?

reply to post by xuenchen


Who's really counting after QE1, QE2, Operation Twist, Light a Fart, and the upcoming QE3?

Ok, one of those is not like the others!

reply to post by xuenchen

Well Obama likes them so much, he can pay for them too. The cities and states can't print money. He seems to, whenever the need arises, so lend a hand I say. The budgets are already cut to the bone and hurting at every level. No one needed this added.

For Los Angeles, I'm guessing they get their money alright. It'll come from everything from parking enforcement to code violations to fines and fees across the board.

I hope the people of the L.A. basin all supported Occupy there. They will all be paying the money for them.

BTW... I couldn't help but notice:

Occupy St. Louis - $2,200

We took care of our plaza. The others could have to, but tore things up and decided a war was preferable to a live-in protest camp.

Each location made their choice for how that went.

What do you mean was it worth it? It's not over. Why would you ask an asinine question like that before you know of the result, which no one does at this point?

Also, why waste time concerning yourself about 30M nation wide in damages, when our government throws away trillions upon trillions in bogus wars, illegal bailouts of companies and corporations both here and abroad, wastes the stimulus package a few years ago on things like painting curbs and building an airport for a tiny town in Alaska, helping support the exact same terrorists financially which we're at war with, sending billions to help the poor of other countries when very little of that actually makes it to the people who need it, wasting law enforcement and government resources on a bogus war on drugs, among many other things?

Many of the protesters mean well, although there of course are some bad apples. How will it turn out in the end? Who knows, but at least the protesters care enough to get off their butts and do something, although the effectiveness in debatable. But here you are zeroing in on a 30M bill, when our government throws away 100M on unused plane tickets or 750K on a pizza machine as if it's some sort of a serious problem.

These costs are not the fault of the protesters. At many of the occupy locations there was no need for 24/7 police in riot gear being paid overtime. The blame should stay with those who made these ridiculous spending decisions, not with those who assembled in hopes of finally getting the voice of the people heard.

So what is the cost of a lost house, skyrocketing grocery bills, hospital and school closures, personal freedoms and rights, property loss, more laws that say we can't even breathe without paying for it, collect water without being fined or sell lemonade without being taxed...and a loaf of bread that is costing an arm and a leg to feed a family?

I'm betting that those adding up these numbers are forgetting the REAL costs.

But not for long...

I don't care how much it costs them to fight us. The real cost will come if we don't fight back.

Peace

Devils Advocate here...............Don't shoot me for it.



What does this cost,equate to,say secret Military budgets,or plain Government waste ?

Penney's on the Dollar,maybe ?

currently under obama's spending, the deficit has increased over five trillion dollars. around 200,000 years of occupy wallstreet would be needed to equal what obama has done since his election.

i'm not liberal, nor am i conservative, i'm human. all of these wars and the exploitation of the middle and lower classes MUST stop! not only in america, but in ALL countries. we're just higher class slaves here in america afterall.

occupy wallstreet says no to corruption and waste. current policies are not only unsustainable, but immoral.

Report:

Government Bail Outs of major U.S banks cost tax payers 7 BILLION.

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
Report:

Government Bail Outs of major U.S banks cost tax payers 7 BILLION.

Report Update:

It was a hell of a lot more that we'll never know. All from the pockets of people that had no idea the theft was under the trust of a leader that lied.

Am I the only one who sees a problem with all this logic?

The money wasted at the federal level is Trillions.

At the state? Billions.

City level? Millions.

So, we're saying the costs to police the fighting camps like L.A., Oakland, NYC and others are all fine to ignore because the government is wasting more? The protest against the free waste of money, is rationalizing the wasting of it on themselves??

I'd say this is one of the many breaks in logic that separate TPM and Occupy. One pays it's own way, the other justifies why everyone else should. It's real important to note the list there too. In looking closer, St Louis isn't the only camp with low costs and it matches to the ones I recall seeing peaceful vs. fighting the cops. Nashville was a peaceful one, even after numerous arrests. Nothing they did would get that camp to fight and it drove them NUTS.... I loved watching that. Cost? Among the lowest. Go figure...

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by DeadSeraph
Report:

Government Bail Outs of major U.S banks cost tax payers 7 BILLION.

Report Update:

It was a hell of a lot more that we'll never know. All from the pockets of people that had no idea the theft was under the trust of a leader that lied.

$&!@ did I say billion? Some estimates indicate 7 trillion. Oddly enough, the fed isn't responsible for where that money went and a whole bunch of suits are laughing their way to million dollar pay outs while average tax paying americans are struggling to pay their utilities and feed their kids.

Yeah. Those EVIL occupiers. Costing America money. Never mind the federal government or the global bankers $&@^ing them in the $@( every night.

Occupy "had" the potential,in its conception. Problem was that it had No clear leadership,and had No clear message. To top that,those who started it,had their "own" agenda in the works,Starting a new Political party. That's been proven. Now what you have is systematic co-ops,from special interests.

A Few References to above statements..........

“Down the road this movement will have to get some real concrete goals,” Lasn said. “But the real goal is when next spring we form a new political party. I don’t know, maybe it will be called the True Cost Party of America.”

Occupy Wall Street founder hopes to form new political party

A labor union with strong ties to President Obama is helping make the Occupy Wall Street movement a more permanent fixture in the nation's capital, moving Occupy DC into office space the group can use to organize and grow through the presidential election.

Union with Obama ties rents offices for Occupy DC

CNN bailout tracker

I truthfully don't consider it safe to believe a single word that comes out of the government's mouth, where Occupy are concerned. I believe that the government will say whatever it has to, in order to discredit the movement in the eyes of the public. Granted, some of the movement's own behaviour does not help matters, but the government will do this regardless.

I also do not believe at this point, in Obama's desire to personal army the movement. If that were true, I do not believe that the police would have engaged the movement as brutally as they have.

Originally posted by petrus4


I also do not believe at this point, in Obama's desire to personal army the movement. If that were true, I do not believe that the police would have engaged the movement as brutally as they have.

I beg to differ.

As Occupy protesters hit the streets for a nationwide general strike on Tuesday, some in the movement fear the emergence of two new activist outfits made up of "old left" advocacy groups and unions is an attempt to turn them into a "pet" for the Democratic Party and President Obama’s reelection effort. The new groups, 99% Power and 99% Spring, include backers such as MoveOn.org, Rebuild The Dream, AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, and The Ruckus Society. The groups bring money with them – something in short supply for Occupy – but their efforts are being eyed warily by those who helped launch the Occupy movement. Adbusters, the Canadian magazine that made the initial call for people to Occupy Wall Street on Sept. 17 of last year, has been running a blog series on their website, "Battle for the Soul of Occupy," in the last few weeks. In it, the publication has decried attempts to "neutralize our insurgency with an insidious campaign of donor money and co-optation."

'Battle for the soul of Occupy': Activists fear being 'pulled to the right,' becoming Democratic 'pet'

Originally posted by petrus4
I truthfully don't consider it safe to believe a single word that comes out of the government's mouth, where Occupy are concerned. I believe that the government will say whatever it has to, in order to discredit the movement in the eyes of the public. Granted, some of the movement's own behaviour does not help matters, but the government will do this regardless.

I also do not believe at this point, in Obama's desire to personal army the movement. If that were true, I do not believe that the police would have engaged the movement as brutally as they have.

I respect your opinions highly petrus4. I think you are hinting at the idea the occupy movement was co-opted a long time ago, and I would agree. I merely find it hilarious that anyone would start a thread listing the amount of money the movement has cost American taxpayers given the daytime robbery they were subject to at the hands of the federal reserve and their banker accomplices.

I was floored that the american people didn't revolt in the face of such bold robbery and fraud. But I guess when your only concern is niki minaj and how to pay your cell phone bill, it all adds up. Sad state of affairs, and I hope my true american friends down south make it through all this nonsense in one piece.

Originally posted by sonnny1
'Battle for the soul of Occupy': Activists fear being 'pulled to the right,' becoming Democratic 'pet'

There will be various hijacking attempts, yes. Depending on who you ask, some of them have probably already been successful, to varying degrees.

Whether or not Occupy were at the beginning, at this point, they are not a bipartisan movement, but can very safely be regarded radical Left. I have often made that observation, and I don't have any serious problem. Except for a very brief period at the movement's beginning, Occupy have very consistently been the Marxist answer to the Tea Party, and that is fairly obvious to anyone who's been paying attention.

Saying that, however, is very different to saying that Obama necessarily has interest in hijacking it. Being associated with extreme Leftist groups would most likely not be in his best interests. He might be able to manipulate Code Pink, perhaps, but that is not surprising, or particularly newsworthy.

Such groups tend to consist far more highly of emotion than logic, in terms of the attitude of their membership; and can thus be led around by the nose fairly easily, by anyone who looks as though they have similar goals. To be fair to Code Pink, however, Anonymous are probably their primarily male equivalent, in terms of the proverbial useful idiots.

reply to post by xuenchen
Yay! Stickin' it to the er. . . . um . . . 99%?

This may be a drop in the metaphorical bucket, but local governments will cancel school programs, starve tiny kittens, close orphanages in order to pay for it.

Occupy needs to "occupy" a PR firm.

Originally posted by petrus4


Saying that, however, is very different to saying that Obama necessarily has interest in hijacking it. Being associated with extreme Leftist groups would most likely not be in his best interests.

Sorry,Petrus,but that funny..............................