Politicians have begun taking sides on the “Occupy” protests, with Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi believing the movement is worth tapping into, while Republicans, including 2012 candidates, have come down hard, labeling it “ anti-capitalism” and saying it is the “wrong way to go.”

 

Many Republicans have said the ‘protests are nothing like the Tea Party rallies and protests of recent years.

But Rep. James Lankford, R-Okla., views the movement as a foil to America’s conservative right, adding that the protesters in New York, D.C., and other cities across the country are Americans who have every right to protest and communicate their wishes.

“It does create an interesting dichotomy between the energy on the right and energy on the left,” Lankford said on ABC’s ‘ Top Line‘ today.

“One [side] is saying we need to reduce debt and we need to create more jobs in the private sector. The other one’s redistribute wealth and to make sure that we take it from wealthy people and give it to other folks,” he continued. “That dichotomy I think is good for America, to have that kind of a conversation, so more power to them.”

Commenting on Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, the freshman congressman said Herman Cain’s ‘ 9-9-9' plan, which several Republicans have said would never pass Congress, “deserves a good, solid evaluation.”

“Quite frankly, the federal tax code is nine times longer than the bible,” Lankford said. “In all reality, we do need to fix it. We need a large-scale fix.”

Speaking of fixes, Americans are looking to Congress to do something to grow the economy and create jobs. The Senate rejected the president’s jobs plan Tuesday night; lawmakers are now attempting piecemeal approach.

“There are common-ground issues that we can find and get a chance to work through. Now are we going to have 100 percent agreement? No. But can we find some bipartisan support for some things? Yes, we can.”

Lankford said trade agreements and repatriation of U.S. companies’ overseas profits would have bipartisan support. But the Senate recently blasted the idea of repatriation, citing a study that showed the previous repatriation corporate tax break did not create jobs.

Lankford said he has seen the studies, and maintains repatriation would make a difference in a one-year time period. He said the House repatriation proposal would penalize employers if they took the tax break and laid off workers.

“Otherwise, they spend the money the way they choose to spend that money, and it gets back in the economy,” Lankford said.

The freshman congressman emphasized that the federal government  ”is not the creator of jobs.”

“That’s the frustration, to say, ‘Turn the light switch on, dump a bunch of money into the economy, and suddenly we’ll have a bunch of jobs that are created by the federal government and they’ll just be perpetual,’” Lankford said.

“That’s not the way that the real economy works.”