The fourth week of Occupy Wall Street begins today. It has grown so big that it can no longer contain the ten thousand or more people that come to the park regularly each evening. The “people’s mic” or “human mic” has become much more difficult as lines of speeches have to be echoed three and four times so all in the park can hear what people have said. The occupation also needs to keep raising the stakes and escalating the situation to keep up the energy and momentum. And so, today at 3 pm ET part of the encampment will relocate to Washington Square Park.

The occupation has rapidly picked up union support in the past few days. The latest indication that big unions are willing to encourage their members to participate in Occupy Wall Street comes from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who The Nation‘s John Nichols reports has said it is “a valid tactic to call attention to a problem. Wall Street is out of control.”

According to a very cool map up at the LIPA storm center page, we already have power outages in Hempstead. Levittown, Long Beach and on the north fork.

The loud sound of the first deluge woke me at 4 AM and I can’t get back to sleep, so I thought I would start a liveblog.

When my power goes out–any we’re pretty certain it will, I’m gonna lose internet. We are expecting to lose cell service if the winds are bad –no wind here so far– because out repeaters are on the watertower on the top of an exposed hill and–wait for it–at the beach.

Here’s the text of the Reid deal voted on in the House yesterday, which calls for the creation of a Catfood II Super Congress they will all hand their power over to so they can insulate themselves from political retribution for cutting Social Security and Medicare. And a bunch of giveaways to AT&T too.

The Senate vote for cloture on the Reid bill is scheduled for 1am on Sunday morning. The House will vote on the Reid bill at 2:30 today, prior to the Senate vote. It will be on the suspension calendar which means that it can have no amendments and would need 2/3 vote to pass.

The Senate vote for cloture on the Reid bill is scheduled for 1am on Sunday morning. The House will vote on the Reid bill at 2:30 today, prior to the Senate vote. It will be on the suspension calendar which means that it can have no amendments and would need 2/3 vote to pass.

Obama spoke for less than five minutes; took no questions.

And now, the moment I have been both anticipating and dreading: Michele Bachmann’s State Of The Union rebuttal… or possibly State Of The Union rebuttal rebuttal. Because Tea is apparently A Party Unto Itself now, and Michele Bachmann is their leader. Mainly by virtue of being the craziest of the crazy.

Jared Loughner is due to appear at a hearing today before a magistrate in Phoenix at 4pm ET.

Liveblogging the oral arguments in the appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Perry v. Schwarzenegger.