Alec Baldwin Visits Occupy Wall Street, Talks Federal Reserve

A longtime political commentator and potential candidate himself, Alec Baldwin paid a visit to Occupy Wall Street on Tuesday night.

The "30 Rock" star and newly minted podcaster, Baldwin has, during the protesters' occupation of Wall Street, advocated for tighter bank regulations and more strict enforcement of those regulations. Arriving around midnight, he tweeted at 1:37, "My thanks 2 Aaron from Brooklyn and Sean from Winnipeg for this evening's OWS tutorial. My first. A lot of dedicated people at #ZuccottiPark."

He sent out a series of tweets following his departure, saying, "OWS needs to coalesce around some legislative policy. The 'occupy' strategy may be an effective one. But what can each entity agree on?" and "Campaign finance reform remains the linchpin of our democracy's many problems."

Baldwin was greeted by both fans and detractors, who cited his work as a spokesperson for Capital One Bank. He tweeted on the issue, writing, "I donated all of my fee from Capital One 2 arts charities. They have been gr8 partners in my support of the arts." The star then followed that defense of banks' existence, saying, "We need a healthy banking system in this country. We need strong capital markets. What is missing are regulations with teeth."

At the event, he was greeted by a Ron Paul supporter who grilled him on the Federal Reserve, asking Baldwin whether he'd like to see it eliminated. The actor handled the questions deftly, as you can see below.