Posted on 10/19/2011 6:09:31 AM PDT by randita
An OWS Working Group Committed to Elect a Non-Partisan National General Assembly
BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
WE, THE NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in order to form a more perfect Union, by, for and of the PEOPLE, shall elect and convene a NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY beginning on July 4, 2012 in the City Of Philadelphia.
1. Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts, to all politicians in federal office, from Individuals, Corporations, Political Action Committees, Super Political Action Committees, Lobbyists, Unions and all other private sources of money to be replaced by the fair and equal public financing of all federal political campaigns. We categorically REJECT the concept that money is equal to free speech because if that were so, then only the wealthiest would have a voice. These actions must be taken because it has become clear that politicians in the United States cannot regulate themselves and have become the exclusive representatives of corporations, unions and the very wealthy who spend vast sums of money on political campaigns to influence the candidates’ decisions and ensure their reelection year after year.
2. The immediate reversal, even if it requires a Constitutional Amendment, of the outrageous and anti-democratic holding in the "Citizens United" case by the Supreme Court, which equates the payment of money by corporations, wealthy individuals and unions to politicians with free speech. We, the People, demand that institutional bribery and corruption not be deemed protected speech.
3. Prohibiting all federal public officials and their immediate family members, whether elected or appointed, from EVER being employed by any corporation they regulate while in office and/or holding any stock or shares in any corporation they regulate while in office until a full 5 years after their term is completed.
4. A complete lifetime ban on accepting all gifts, services, money, directly or indirectly, to any elected or appointed federal officials or their immediate family members, from any person, corporation, union or other entity that the public official was charged to regulate while in office.
5. A complete reformation of the United States Tax Code to require ALL citizens to pay a fair share of a progressive, graduated income tax by eliminating loopholes, unfair tax breaks, exemptions and deductions, subsidies (e.g. oil, gas and farm) and ending all other methods of evading taxes. The current system of taxation favors the wealthiest Americans, many of whom, pay fewer taxes to the United States Treasury than citizens who earn much less and pay a much higher percentage of income in taxes to the United States Treasury. We, like Warren Buffet, find this income tax disparity to be fundamentally unjust.
6. Medicare for all American citizens or other single-payer healthcare system, adjusted by a means test (i.e. citizens who can afford it may opt-out and pay their own health insurance or opt-in and pay a means tested premium). The Medicaid program, fraught with corruption and fraud, will be eliminated except for the purpose of providing emergency room care to indigent non-citizens who will not be covered by the single-payer program.
7. New comprehensive regulations to give the Environmental Protection Agency expanded powers to shut down corporations, businesses or any entities that intentionally or recklessly damage the environment and/or criminally prosecute individuals who intentionally damage the environment. We also demand the immediate adoption of the most recent international protocols, including the "Washington Declaration" to cap carbon emissions and implement new and existing programs to transition away from fossil fuels to reusable or carbon neutral sources of power.
8. Adoption of an immediate plan to reduce the national debt to a sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020. Reduction of the national debt to be achieved by BOTH a cut in spending to corporations engaged in perpetual war for profit, the "healthcare" industry, the pharmaceutical industry and all other sectors that use the federal budget as their income stream AND a truly progressive income tax code that does not allow the wealthy and corporations to evade taxes through excessive deductions, subsidies and loopholes. We agree that spending cuts are necessary but those cuts must be made to facilitate what is best for the People of the United States of America, not multinational and domestic corporations.
9. Passage of a comprehensive job and job-training act like the American Jobs Act to employ our citizens in jobs that are available with specialized training and by putting People to work now by repairing America's crumbling infrastructure. We also recommend the establishment of an online international job exchange to match employers with skilled workers or employers willing to train workers in 21st century skills.
10. Student loan debt relief. Our young People and students are more than $830 billion in debt from education loans alone. Payment and interest on these debts should be deferred for periods of unemployment and the principal on these loans reduced using a corporate tax surcharge.
11. Immediate passage of the Dream Act and comprehensive immigration and border security reform including offering visas, lawful permanent resident status and citizenship to the world’s brightest People to stay and work in our industries and schools after they obtain their education and training in the United States.
12. Recalling all military personnel at all non-essential bases and refocusing national defense goals to address threats posed by the geopolitics of the 21st century, including terrorism and limiting the large scale deployment of military forces to instances where Congressional approval has been granted to counter the Military Industrial Complex's goal of perpetual war for profit.
13. Mandating new educational goals to train the American public to perform jobs in a 21st Century economy, [particularly in the areas of technology and green energy, taking into consideration the redundancy caused by technology and the inexpensive cost of labor in China, India and other countries and paying our teachers a salary that is competitive with the private sector. Paying our teachers a competitive salary commensurate with the salaries of People in the private sector with similar skills.
14. Subject to the elimination of corporate tax loopholes and exploited exemptions and deductions stated above, offering tax incentives to businesses to remain in the United States and hire its citizens rather than outsource jobs and reconstruct the manufacturing capacity of the United States. In conjunction with a new jobs act, reinstitution of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps and a similar emergency governmental agency tasked with creating new public works projects to provide jobs to the 46 million People living in poverty, the 9.1% unemployed and 10% underemployed.
15. Implementing of immediate legislation to encourage China and our other trading partners to end currency manipulation and reduce the trade deficit.
16. Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act and increased regulation of Wall Street and the financial industry by the SEC, FINRA and the other financial regulators, and the commencement of a Justice Department criminal investigations into the Securities and Banking industries practices that led to the collapse of markets, $700 billion bail-out, and financial firm failures in 2007-2008.
17. Adoption of a plan similar to President Clinton’s proposal to end the mortgage crisis and instead of the Federal Reserve continuing to lower interest rates for loans to banks who are refusing to loan to small businesses and consumers, the Federal Reserve shall buy all underwater or foreclosed mortgages and refinance these debts at 1% or less to be managed by the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and foreclosure task force described below) because 1% or less is the interest rate the Federal Reserve loans to the banks directly who hoard the cash rather than loan it to the People and small businesses.
18. An immediate one year freeze on all foreclosures to be reviewed by an independent foreclosure task force appointed by Congress and the Executive Branch to (in conjunction with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ) determine, on a case by case basis, whether foreclosure proceedings should continue based on the circumstances of each homeowner and propriety of the financial institution's conduct.
19. Subject to the above ban on all private money and gifts in politics, to enact additional campaign finance reform requiring free air time and public campaign finances to all candidates who obtain sufficient petition signatures and/or votes to participate in the primaries and/or electoral process, to shorten the campaign season and to allow voting on weekends and holidays.
20. An immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and a substantial increase in the amount of funding needed for veteran job placement and the treatment of the physical and emotional injuries sustained by veterans in these wars. Our veterans are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate and we must help now.
I like #6. Put everyone in Medicare and then eliminate it because it’s corrupt.
More on this at the above link. They want a national convention in Philadelphia next year. I DON’T.
The after debate discussion last night talked a bit about OWS. And Ari Fleischer spoke well on this...and his concerns reflect my own. He thought the protests will wane somewhat when the weather turns colder...but warned that next summer, the groups (Especially the radical fringes attaching themselves) will reconstitute next summer..whether ows realizes it or not, they are being co-opted by radicals) And those groups don’t care about solutions, they want revolution. I am not hopeful at this point that this is going to end well.
Agreed, the first four sounded reasonable...then they go off into looneyville.
Here is the idea for all them unhappy hippies:
Screw America and escape to Cuba, China or other “paradise” of their choice.
Things are so peachy good there already, no need to protest and pee in the streets of filthy America.
Mabee they can even get elected commietsars and rule the paradise for the better tomorrow!
I want a pony!
http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/
12,600 people at this moment willing to go out and proclaim to all the world “I Am a Victim!”
For every one who is actually willing to snap his own photograph and submit to this indignity there are surely thousands more. It’s got all the red flags waving in my head.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
This sounds familiar. Hey, maybe we can turn it into a Con-Con. What a great idea! /major sarcasm
And see http://www.enemiesforeignanddomestic.com
Go ahead and spend $160,000 to get a useless degree in Latin American Studies, and then wonder why the only job you can get pays $23,000. If you can get a job. Dopes.
"OK, Cassandra, Clive and you, Katelyn... you guys have, what, in order a Women's Studies major from Brown, a Music and Art History major from Rutgers, and a Masters in Comparative Studies from Georgetown.
Well, each of you, go form up that storm grate and drive apron, because we need to be able to tie that curbing into the ramping over on Dungess Ave."
(all with blank stares) "Seriously?"
As the group becomes more radicalized, middle of the road, reasonable people will be marginalized and drop out.
Until or unless the group decides to work within the confines of a political party structure (probably Democrat) and recruit or support candidates who adhere to their agenda, they are voices crying in the wilderness.
They are heading toward the fatal mistake of instituting a heads down organization. Once they do that, they become a huge bull’s eye.
There have been calls for the Tea Party to elect leaders, but fortunately that view has not taken hold. So even though there are hundreds of local Tea Party groups, the operate independently and the Tea Party is really a mindset, not a movement.
The first amendment (along with the second, while we are talking about it!) are antiquated notions of a simpler time. In our complicated world today, we need to refine our political system to better conform to the needs of the people. That means discarding a few things. So be it.
They talk one way (that this is good for you) while laying out a plan of action that if taken will do the opposite (and ignore that part).
We should be using their 20 theses as a psychiatric test. if you agree with more than 10 of their points then you are hopelessly insane.
We can create our own 99% group and publish “other” platforms.
There are many of the "99%ers" who chose to pursue a lofty degree but which renders the recipient thereof unemployable....like for example, a masters degree in minority women's studies. These students run up tens of thousands of dollars in student loans without ever thinking of the consequences of their decisions. They have to know that their job prospects are slim to none, but forge ahead anyway, like they are in some kind of drug induced trance.
I would speculate that there are few in none medical or engineering students etc calling for relief from their loans.
...heck, even the students of the "trades" can pay their loans...
...the bottom line here is : get trained to do something useful where there are jobs to be had before you go after the lofty, but jobless degree...
Subject to change without notice.
19. requiring free air time and public campaign finances to all candidates who obtain sufficient petition signatures and/or votes to participate in the primaries and/or electoral process, to shorten the campaign season and to allow voting on weekends and holidays.
Could you imagine 10 million people running for office?
Even in the East openings in nursing are few and far between.
So what happens when Michael Moore makes a moronic speech at an awards ceromony? Is he frog marched out? People seem to think these plans are good but what happens if me and a few friends take out an advertisement promoting a particular political view point. Are we arrested? Fined?
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