A former college student who calls himself "The Master of Degrees" and says like millions of other superheroes he is drowning in debt.
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- The Occupy Wall Street movement has hit DC in a big way.
Thousands of protestors are "occupying" Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue. They say they won't leave until there are more jobs, less corporate greed, an end to the wars, and more taxes on the rich. And they plan to stay day and night until they change the world.
There are tents, tamborines, drums, banjos, rap music and protest signs.
The protestors marched out of the plaza, past the White House and up to the headquarters of the US Chamber of Commerce on Lafayette Park. They waved resumes and demanded jobs.
Many are demanding the government quit spending so much in Iraq and Afghanistan and spend more on jobs and infrastructure in the United States.
PHOTOS: Occupy Protestors In DC
Activists on the left think this may be their Tea Party moment, their chance to reshape the political and financial system to help the 99 percent of Americans they think have been dispossessed by a power structure they say favors the rich and the big corporations.
"We are going to non-violently interfere with the work of the Chamber of Commerce, the Pentagon, of K Street, of Congress, of the White House," says David Swanson, an organizer from OccupyWashingtonDC.org. "These are people who are not working for me."
There are fearful retirees: "We would lose our house definitely," said Joe Boston, a former postal worker.
Indebted students: "I don't think a psychology degree is going to help me find a job." said Adara Scarlet, a community college student who drove out from Denver.
Angry veterans: "This is a small step. Taking the nation back for the people of this country. For the middle class," said Jim Goodnow, a Vietnam-era vet from Teorlingua, Texas.
And mothers of dead soldiers: "He died for no good reason.... The world is not a better place because Sherrod is dead," said Celeste Zappala, whose son, Sgt. Sherwood Baker, was killed in Baghdad in 2004.
Into the middle waded four Tea Party counter-demonstrators chanting "Capitalism is sexy." "Thanks for joining the uprising," Medea Benjamin of the anti-war group Code Pink told them. "I just hope our uprising is bigger than your uprising."
Many of the Occupy activists are pledging to Occupy DC indefinitely. "Everyone of these hotels around here costs 300 dollars," said organizer Swanson. "We're offering free accommodations." "In sleeping bags?" "In a sleeping bag, but with food and drink and solidarity."
Many of the protestors think the President is doing far too little to help. And they are hoping to pressure him with a populist movement on the left. Just as the populist Tea Party has pressured Republicans from the right.
Written and Reported by Bruce Leshan
9News Now & wusa9.com