Was Obama’s State of the Union Address a shout-out to Occupy?

Almost as soon as the first Occupy protesters descended on Wall Street last September 17 and immediately exploded as the most dominant meme of 2011, people started asking the inevitable, defining question: What are your demands?

As revealed in a New Yorker profile this fall, Adbusters founder Kalle Lasn, who had been instrumental in sparking the movement, considered issuing a charter of demands. But the movement had taken on a life of its own and decided in a General Assembly that it would not make specific demands, ostensibly so as not to limit the scope of its purpose.

Last night, Obama’s State of the Union Address seemed at its core to be an acknowledgement of the economic unfairness brought under a scrutinizing spotlight by Occupy. But Obama went where the movement hasn’t, and won’t: he issued a list of specific demands to address the problem.

His demands included an end to the tax system that allows the richest Americans to pay less than middle class workers. Potently seating Warren Buffett’s secretary Debbie Bosanek (who Buffett has famously pointed out pays a higher tax rate than he does) right next to the First Lady, Obama called for a new rule that would require those earning over $1 million per year to pay a minimum of 30% tax rate, even if they made their money through capital gains.

This specific demand even has a catchy nickname—the Buffett Rule— and is probably as close to a presidential answer to Occupy’s grievances over the unfair advantages of the 1% as we’re likely to see. The president even echoed the language of Occupy and its critics to shoot down the arguments against it: “You can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.”

Of course, with Mitt Romney having just disclosed that he paid a measly 13.9% tax rate, Obama’s Buffett Rule is also a reelection campaign strategy. But it’s a smart one: He seems to be trying to appeal to the 99%, and 99% is a pretty large voting bloc.

Another of Obama’s specific demands also appears to be a shout-out to Occupy: He announced a federal investigation into Wall Street. “I am asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of federal prosecutors and leading state attorneys general to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans,” Obama said.

Noting that “hundreds of thousands” have been calling on the Obama Administration for just such an investigation, MoveOn.org celebrated the announcement in an email this morning, saying, “This is truly a huge victory for the 99% movement.”

The State of the Union included more specific demands in the charter for economic fairness, including new rules for homeowners to more easily refinance their mortgages if they’re paying higher than current market rates, and a plan to use the savings from drawing down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on domestic infrastructure spending and paying down the national deficit.

Occupy DC issued its own formal rebuttal to the State of the Union last night. Predictably, it was absent any specific policy demands of its own and didn’t address any of Obama’s. But it did offer an upbeat affirmation of the Occupy spirit, which seems to have successfully moved the needle on cultural conversation in the last year: “We are the 99%. We are here to create the democracy we have all been promised. We are the 99%. Our finances are weak, but our spirit is strong,” they said.

As far back as September, Occupiers have argued that it should be policymakers’ job to translate their message into specific policy solutions. It appears that’s exactly what’s happening.