Mitt Romney gives Occupy Philly the slip at fund-raiser
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney slipped into a fund-raiser at the Rittenhouse Hotel this afternoon for his presidential campaign while protesters from Occupy Philly were on the wrong side of the building. About 100 protesters had gathered in front of the hotel, which faces Rittenhouse Square, to greet Romney when they heard he was due to come in through an entrance on 20th Street. With a heavy police escort, which had followed the group from City Hall, they moved to the other entrance. And that's when Romney walked through the front door.
Mitt Romney gives Occupy Philly the slip at fund-raiser
Chris Brennan
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney slipped into a fund-raiser at the Rittenhouse Hotel this afternoon for his presidential campaign while protesters from Occupy Philly were on the wrong side of the building. About 100 protesters had gathered in front of the hotel, which faces Rittenhouse Square, to greet Romney when they heard he was due to come in through an entrance on 20th Street. With a heavy police escort, which had followed the group from City Hall, they moved to the other entrance. And that's when Romney walked through the front door.
The protesters said they oppose the power of money in political campaigns and mocked Romney for raising $10,000 per table at the event and $2,500 for pictures with the candidate. The brought a slightly-less-than-life-size photo of Romney and took a group picture with it.
"They call it contributions, we call for revolution," the crowd chanted at one point while hotel workers peered through windows at the commotion. The protest was at times a little profane but peaceful. There did not appear to be any arrests.
Using the "human microphone" method, where one person speaks and the crowd repeats the words, Joshua Hupp of West Philly praised Romney for pushing through a universal health care plan for Massachusetts residents when he was governor.
"Mitt Romney signed off on that," Hupp said and the crowd repeated. "Now that he is running for president, he has turned his back on that idea of taking care of people who can't take care of themselves. That is morally bankrupt."
The protest lasted about an hour. The group, having missed Romney, decided to march to a Wells Fargo branch office at 15th and Market streets to join another protest going on there.
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
What does this have to do with Herman Cain?
And what do the Koch Bros. have to do with Herman Cain?
If you're insinuating some monetary connection, you may wish to consider George Soros' influence on your mob of rabble.
Any honest person would do that- before trying such a cheap attempt at bringing Herman Cain into it. I guess we know who you fear!— Darth Bacon- George Soros, George Soros, George Soros ... you whack jobs sound like a broken record. You neglect to mention that Soros funds causes based on what is good for the country, not what is good for his pocketbook. But as we all know, you folks are from the party that has no message and does nothing but attack the messengers of the people who stand up for the people instead of for the money.
What does Herman Cain have to do with Romney? Nothing, aside from the fact that Cain is a certifiable loon, yet that flip flopper Romney can't seem to get any significant lead on him in the polls.
Romney is so weak, a nutcase like Cain is able to compete for the role of last clown out of the GOP VW. What a sad sack party you folks are.
— Mr. Baseball - Don't even bother. The Fascists refuse to believe that anyone can be motivated by anything other than greed. "I got mine" is their motto, they don't understand that their success isn't nearly as selfmade as they think, and no matter their station they have hugely benefited from public funding of schools, roads, transit, sewers, electric, telecommunications, health, and virtually everything else our taxes pays for. They believe that because they took a good hand and won, anyone should be able to do the same with whatever hand they are dealt. They must think our nation runs on pixie dust, because they clearly don't want to know where their money really goes.
— Pelti - Yes campaign spending is out of control. But of course they protest the Republicans and not the Dems.— bobbyd24
- hahaha...what a pack of idiots. If they are serious about getting money out of politics, they should go shout & protest in front of the union headquarters. Start w/ Johnny Doc and his band of thugs & theives electricians. Will that march & protest be on Monday???— kelprod2
- Soros funds causes that are good for the country, and not his pocketbook?
Your cluelessness would be funny, if it weren't a symptom of the intellectual laziness that characterizes the left.
Soros is invested heavily in seeing our currency devalued- which is why he spends heavily on leftist agitator groups like this. He's planning on 'shorting' the dollar- it's what he does. He's made his billions on breaking currencies, like the British Pound. He's literally taken the retirements of millions of people.
Your Mr. Obama has given billions of taxpayer dollars to PetroBras, in which Soros hold billions in equity, to explore for oil on our continental shelf- while practically shutting down American exploration. Any wonder why?
So don't you *dare* tell me that unscrupulous swine Soros spends his money on things 'that benefit society instead of his pocketbook'. If you actually believe that okey-doke, perhaps I can interest you in some Carbon Credits. Or a solar panel maker called "Solyndra". Or perhaps you'd like to buy a Chevy Volt. Or a Fiskers EV.
Or maybe just a tinfoil hat and some more Kool Aid.— Darth Bacon - Curious that they're not protesting at Obama fundraisers.— pschulze
- Of COURSE they aren't protesting Obama...
They live in an inverse reality, where they're 'fighting the man', only 'the man' is the group they've been marching in support of since 2000. Remember, Pelosi and Reid have more or less controlled our budget since 2006.— Darth Bacon - Comment removed.
Support a billionaire and a global corporation near you, vote republicretin!- Comment removed.
- Well if Newt were in Philly, he would have arrested the Bama-OWS-SEIU-CAIR-ACORN thugs and sent them to Gitmo, where they belong. LOL The Leftist Dems are as inane as one can get. Hating America, the Const., free enterprise they rather rant about their own sensitivities than the needs of the entire citizenry which needs private sector jobs, domestic energy now, an end to socialist baloney and border protection. The OWS is a sad reminder of the failure of our public schools and university brainwashing by progressive too-expensive profs.— Koons
- Your right on how they protest others but ignore the same actions by obama... solandra? Where is the news report on that... Cost tax payers money and jobs... I will take it even further to say that the words and protests they use come from Obamas language and speeches... He is a very dangerous person for the US. The only proof in histroy for the creation of jobs long term is economic growth that comes from private investments. The only way to get private investment is to have some people have more money than others. If everyone has equal wealth there will be no invesment in growth but you would have a strong government.— JL68
- Another point - had lunch the other day with someone who is a major fundraiser for Obama.. A good portion of his contributions come from the same dinners and the same people that the occupiers are protesting... But obama is cool to them so he gets a free pass from them and the press as well. Anybody read Steve Jobs Biography where he went from supporting Obama to telling him over lunch he made some huge mistakes around alienating business leaders, over regulating business in US and not addressing issues with teachers union to help us become more competitve in the future. What does Steve Jobs know its not like he has done anything successful in his life vs Obama who has done sooo much...— JL68
- what a bad article they are so slated towarded the occupiers, they thought they could outsmart romney so they waited at the back door so mitt walked right thru the front door!!!! how is that giving them the slip!!!!!!— joe painter
- George Soros Sucks!— Street Sense13
- Occupy Philadelphia really sucks!— Street Sense13
- Occupy [anywhere] = Obamaville.— BlairW
- Comment removed.
- Not one pro-Republican comment in this string is based on verifiable facts. That's why the GOP is a joke that can only run joke candidates.— Jeff West
- No need for a "pro-Republican" message there Jeffrey. The comments are in reaction to the hypocrisy that the Occupy crowd regularly displays. Wise up!— camtheman
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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