Erick Erickson: GOP should not dismiss 'Occupy' protests

Erick Erickson, CNN contributor and founder of RedState.org, said Friday that the Republican Party should not completely dismiss the ongoing "Occupy Wall Street" protests in lower Manhattan and other cities.

He noted that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement and the tea party movement were both opposed to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Bush administration’s $700 billion response to the mortgage crisis.

"We on the right should not be as dismissive of what is happening in this movement the way the left, to their determine, wholly dismissed the tea party movement," Erickson wrote in a column.

"The point to all of this is that a Republican candidate can run against Wall Street," he added

But Erickson is no supporter of the demonstrations. He still believes the "Occupy" movement is comprised of "damn dirty communists" who think the "government should pick the winners and losers."

Erickson and Josh Trevino of the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation created the “We are the 53 percent” website last week, which says it is for “those of us who pay for those of you who whine.”

The website features stories from "the 53 percent” -- in reference to the 53 percent of Americans who pay federal income taxes. The other 47 percent don’t pay federal income taxes because their incomes are too low or because of tax breaks, but still pay other federal taxes and state taxes.

“Suck it up you whiners,” Erickson wrote at the site. “I am the 53 percent subsidizing you so you can hang out on Wall Street and complain.”

In response, supporters of the "Occupy" movement created the "Actually, You're the 47 percent" website.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore