"the old enemies of peace — biz and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking...war profiteering...consider (gov) a mere
appendage to their own affairs" - Franklin D Roosevelt
"corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow ... money power of the country will endeavor
to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands" - Abraham Lincoln
|
 |
|
Our last President increased our debt 89% with tax cuts for the rich, bank bailouts, and as much defense spending as the rest of the world combined. The U.S. fell into a recession. The current Administration and Congress doubled that debt by extending the bank bailouts, tax cuts for the rich, and overseas wars. The majority of Americans wanted none of those actions and continued to struggle while the rich got richer. In the 1970s, the average CEO took home 40 times more than the average worker. Today, they take home 350 times more! Yet 2 out of 3 U.S. corporations pay zero tax, including GE who made 14 billion in profit and cut U.S. jobs by 20% while shipping jobs overseas. Today the top 1% of Americans are richer than the bottom 95% combined and the disparity will keep getting worse. Why? Because our democracy has become a plutocracy -- dominated, manipulated and corrupted by money. The rich fund elections, the politicians pay them back with legislation that favors the interests of the 1% over the other 99. Big Biz spent over 3 billion dollars lobbying Congress in 2009. How much did you spend? How much could you spend?
The politicians currently in office create excuses for not changing the rules, because they are the winners of the corrupted game. It is up to us. Despite what the corporate vampire's "familiars" would have us believe, we, the people, are the rightful owners of this country. We, the 99% are the JOB CREATORS. The politicians are employees we hire to work for us. We can hire or fire anyone in the media by tuning in or out. The success or failure of every business and every job in that business depends upon our purchasing power -- they supply -- we DEMAND. When we don't have enough work or income to trickle up, our economy does exactly what it has done over the past 10 years. |
|
Average Americans are under pressure and are taking to the streets. While movements such as the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street may not agree on what the role of government should be, they agree that it is corrupt and that it needs to be fixed.
POL Proposals for Occupying Government, starting with Presidential Elections:
1: Amend the Constitution to make the Presidential race contingent on who wins the popular vote.
Why? It will end candidates pandering to swing states and officials redistricting their state to their party's advantage. Too often, candidates pledge to do what is in the interest of key state rather what is best for the country. They know they can lose the popular vote and still win the election. It has already happened 4 times.
2. Make national elections a holiday.Why? Work requirements limit voting opportunities for some. The more citizens who vote, the stronger our democracy is. How? Drop Columbus Day or President's Day. They would agree that strengthening democracy is the best way to honor them and our country.
3: Secure, password protected online voting at home or at public libraries. If it is secure enough to use for banking and tax returns it is secure enough for voting. Voters can log in and verify their recorded vote for up to a year after the election. Alternately, voters can mail-in their votes (which can still be verified online). Why? The current voting system is subject to a wide assortment of inequities, manipulation and fraud. Current voting machines are too easily hacked and votes are not verifiable.
4: Public financing of elections with a reasonable, conservative allotment of campaign funds divided equally among candidates over a period of 6 months or less.
Why? Democracy is based on one vote per citizen. If citizens with more money can amplify their voice over other citizens and also duplicate their voice through their company, organization, or union it introduces inequities and corrupts democracy. Elections should be about ideas, not about which candidate can afford the best ad and speech writers, producers, and marketing schemes. And if you don't want to directly or indirectly finance the campaign of a Primary winner like Obama, Perry, or Romney, then George Soros and the Unions, the oil and banking industry, or the Mormon Church will be happy to. They'll get paid back with legislation that favors them and you wont! How much has that cost you the past ten years? (53% of your taxes on military alone)
contribute to this discussion here |
|
