It has
been estimated that 94% of all federal political campaigns are won by the
candidate who spends the most money on the campaign. As a result, our elected
representatives spend far too much time fundraising for the next election
rather than doing the People's business. This constant need for more and more
money causes our politicians to labor under obscene conflicts of interest that
make it impossible for them to act in the best interests of the American
People. Indeed, the current system's propagation of legalized bribery and
conflicts of interests has reduced our democracy to a greed driven
corporatocracy run by oligarchs who represent .05 to 1% of the population but
own 38% to 40% of the wealth. Through their exclusive control of politicians,
the incomes of the top 1% have increased 275% since 1979 while most other
salaries have remained virtually flat or declined.
2. Abrogation
of the "Citizens United" Case. The immediate abrogation, even if
it requires a Constitutional Amendment (e.g. the Sanders-Deutch Amendment), of
the outrageous and anti-democratic Supreme Court holding in Citizens United v.
Federal Election Commission and its progeny. This heinous decision
proclaimed by the United States Supreme Court in 2010 equates the direct and
indirect payment of money to politicians by political action committees,
corporations, wealthy individuals and unions with the exercise of protected
free speech. We, the 99% of the American People, demand that this institutional
bribery never be deemed protected free speech and all direct and indirect
private payments to politicians end immediately and replaced with a 100%
publicly financed political system.
3. Elimination
of All Private Benefits and "Perks" to Public Servants. The 99%
of the American People demand the immediate prohibition of special benefits to
all federal elected officials, public employees, officers, public servants,
officials or their immediate family members including a corrupt “revolving
door” in and out of our government. Elected and unelected public officials and
their immediate families shall be banned from ever being employed by any
corporation, lobbying firm, individual or business that the public official
specifically regulated while in office. No public employee, officer,
official or their immediate family members shall own or hold any stock or
shares in any corporation or other entity that the elected or unelected public
official specifically regulated while in office until a full 5 years after
their term or employment is completed. There shall be a complete lifetime ban
on the acceptance of all gifts, services, money or thing of value, directly or
indirectly, by any elected or appointed public official or their immediate
family members, from any person, corporation, union or any other entity that
the public official was charged to specifically regulate while he or she was in
office.
The term
"specifically regulate" shall mean service or employment on a
committee or sub-committee or service within any agency or department of the
federal government responsible for the regulation of the person, union,
corporation or entity in question. To root out corruption and restore integrity
to our political system, all elected politicians and public employees must ONLY
collect their salary, generous healthcare benefits and pension. To enforce
these policies, Congress shall immediately pass new criminal laws banning the
aforementioned private benefits to politicians and public officials. Any
person, including individuals connected directly or indirectly to corporations,
lobbyists, or unions who violate these new criminal laws shall be sentenced to
a term of mandatory imprisonment of no less than two years and not more than
ten years. Special benefits shall include the use of insider information by
elected and unelected public officials to profit in financial markets or
investments.
4. Term
Limits. Members of the United States House of Representatives shall be
limited to serving no more than four two-year terms in their lifetime. Members
of the United States Senate shall be limited to serving no more than two
six-year terms in their lifetime. The two-term limit for President shall
remain unchanged. Serving as a member of Congress or as the President of the
United States is one of the highest honors and privileges our culture can
bestow. These positions of prominence in our society should be sought to serve
one's country and not provide a lifetime career designed to increase personal
wealth and accumulate power for the sake of vanity and hubris. The lengths that
today's politicians will go to for the sake of clinging to power demonstrate
the critical need for term limits and making career politicians the exception
rather than the rule.
5. A
Fair Tax Code. A complete reformation and simplification of the United
States Tax Code to require ALL individuals and corporations to pay a fair share
of a progressive, graduated income tax by eliminating loopholes, unfair tax
breaks, exemptions and unfair deductions, subsidies and ending all other
methods of evading taxes. The current system of taxation unjustly 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
their incomes in taxes. Any corporation or entity that does business in the
United States and generates income from that business in the United States
shall be fully taxed on that income regardless of corporate domicile or they
will be barred from earning their profits in the United States. This will allow
honest companies and individuals who pay their fair share in taxes to take over
those markets in the United States economy. Businesses that pay taxes in other
countries will no longer be permitted to use that excuse to justify their
failure to pay federal income tax in the United States.
6. Healthcare
for All. Medicare for all or adoption of a universal single-payer
healthcare system. The broken Medicaid program will be eliminated as redundant.
Affordable healthcare shall be a human right.
7. Protection
of the Planet. Human greed, exponentially magnified by corporations, is
destroying the only habitable planet known to humanity. Multinational
corporations have purchased so much influence in Congress (and other
governments in the world) that they can secure the passage or blockage of
regulations to maximize profits and minimize conservation of the environment.
The evidence of climate change due to human activity can no longer be denied by
rational people. New comprehensive laws and regulations must be immediately
enacted to give the Environmental Protection Agency, and other environmental
protection regulators, expanded powers and resources to shut down corporations,
businesses or any entities that intentionally or recklessly damage the
environment, and to criminally prosecute individuals who intentionally or
recklessly damage the environment. No corporate veil should protect any
employee, officer or director of a corporation who is directly or indirectly
engaged in the intentional or reckless decimation of the planet for profit. The
amount of profit a corporation can make must be balanced (by conflict-free
regulators) with the inevitable damage that human activity inflicts on the
environment. The 99% of the American People demand the immediate implementation
of new and existing programs to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels to
reusable or carbon neutral sources of energy and higher greenhouse gas emission
standards so that something will be left for our children and
grandchildren. The rights to clean air, water, and conservation of the
planet for future generations shall no longer be infringed by greed-driven
corporations and selfish individuals.
8. Debt
Reduction. Adoption of an immediate plan to reduce the national debt to a
sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020. Reduction of the $15 trillion national
debt to be achieved by BOTH fair progressive taxation and cuts in spending that
benefit corporations engaged in perpetual war for profit, inefficient
healthcare, pharmaceutical exploitation, over-prescribing medications for
profit, the communications industry, the prison and military industrial
complexes, banking and finance, the oil and gas industry, and all other
entities that have used the federal budget as a private income stream resulting
in our $15 trillion debt. 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 corporations who care for nothing except profit.
9. Jobs
for All Americans. 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. The American People must be put to work now by repairing
America's crumbling infrastructure and building other needed public works
projects. In conjunction with a new jobs act, reinstitution of the Works
Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and similar emergency
governmental agencies tasked with creating new projects to provide jobs to the
46 million People living in poverty, the 8.6% unemployed and 16.2% who are
underemployed.
10. Student
Loan Debt Relief and Refinancing. Our students are more than $1 trillion in
debt from education loans and have fewer employment prospects due to the
financial collapse directly caused by the unbridled and unregulated greed of
Wall Street. Ensuring a higher education, particularly in the fields of
science, engineering, technology, green energy and mathematics, is no longer a
luxury for the few and must now be viewed as a national security issue. Banks
receive virtually interest free loans from the Federal Reserve Bank and then
charge upwards of 6% interest to our students for profit. Because education is
the only way to ensure our future success as a nation, interest on student
debts must be immediately reduced to 2% or less and repayments deferred for
periods of unemployment. Subject to the provisions of point five herein, the
tax code will be amended so that employers will receive a student loan
repayment tax deduction for paying off the loans of their employees. Outright
grants should be provided to those students who pursue and obtain degrees in
the sciences, green energy, mathematics, technology and engineering.
Moreover, to reduce the principal on all outstanding
student loans, a financial transaction surcharge, similar to those fees charged
by banks on consumers, will be introduced to banks and securities firms. This
surcharge will serve as restitution and reparations for Wall Street's
intentional and reckless conduct leading to widespread unemployment after the
economic collapse in 2007-2008. This economic crisis, the worst since the Great
Depression, resulted in the $1.5 trillion dollar bail out of Wall Street,
secret Federal Reserve loans, and unknown losses to the economy estimated to be
in the trillions of dollars. While the truth of what happened in
2007-2009 is still slowly being uncovered, banks and the financial institutions
they are permitted to own (see point 16 infra) have caused the current
worldwide recession, debt crisis and ongoing turmoil in the international
markets purely due to shortsightedness and unregulated greed.
11. Ending
of Perpetual War for Profit. Recalling all military personnel at all
non-essential bases including but not limited to Europe, South Korea, Japan,
Australia and Cuba 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 those instances where
Congressional approval has been granted. New laws must be enacted to counter
the Military Industrial Complex's mission of perpetual war for profit. The
United States has engaged in war after war only to later to discover that the
pretexts relied upon to enter these wars were false or exaggerated to generate
profits for the Military Industrial Complex and other corporations and
individuals. The annual savings created by updating our military posture and
ending perpetual war will be applied to the social programs outlined herein to
improve the quality of life for human beings rather than facilitating and
assisting corporations engaged in mass-murder for profits distributed to the
top 1% of wealth owners.
12. Emergency
Reform of Public Education. The education system in the United States
is a resounding failure. New educational goals to train the American public to
perform jobs in a 21st century economy, particularly in the areas of
technology, infrastructure repair, water and resource conservation and green
energy must be mandated as national security issue. These reforms must be
accomplished by taking into consideration the redundancy caused by technology
and the inexpensive cost of labor in China, India and other developing
countries. Scientist and other professionals should be recruited to teach and
bonuses granted for merit performance. Teachers must be paid a competitive
salary commensurate with salaries in the private sector. These salaries must be
based upon similar skills and education found in the private sector because
without highly-skilled teachers, there will never be a highly-skilled workforce
and the United States will fall further and further behind its competitors.
13. End
Outsourcing and Currency Manipulation. Subject to the elimination of
corporate tax loopholes and exploited exemptions and deductions as stated in
point five, limited tax incentives will be permitted to entice businesses to
hire our citizens rather than outsource jobs. Conversely, an "outsourcing
tax" should be introduced to discourage businesses from sending jobs
overseas and tax incentives should be offered to companies that invest in
reconstructing the manufacturing capacity of the United States. This country must
again competitively produce everyday products in the United States rather than
importing them from countries like China and India. To do business in the
United States, corporations must make slightly less profit by hiring American
workers and paying them a living wage rather than maximizing every penny of
profit to the detriment of our society. Implementing immediate legislation
(see e.g. H.R. 639) to encourage China (which undervalues its currency by an
estimated 25% to 40%) and our other trading partners to end currency
manipulation, reduce the trade deficit and end clearly identified unfair trade
practices.
14. Banking
and Securities Reform. Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act and
increased regulation of Wall Street and the financial industry by the SEC,
FINRA, CFTC, the Justice Department and the other financial regulators
including the recently established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We
further demand an immediate investigation by the Justice Department into the
potential criminal practices of the Securities and Banking industry that
directly led to the collapse of markets, bank bail-out and firm failures in
2007-2008. To facilitate the aforementioned student loan debt relief, banks and
securities firms shall pay a small financial transaction fee, also known as the
"Robin Hood Tax", on each and every stock trade and other financial
transactions without passing these costs onto consumers. Uniform regulations
will be enacted to specifically limit what banks may charge consumers for ATM
fees and/or the use of debit cards and other so-called miscellaneous fees.
There will be an end to the $4 billion a year "hedge fund loophole"
which permits certain individuals engaged in financial transactions to evade
graduated income tax rates by treating their income as long-term capital gains
which are taxed at a much lower rate (approximately 15%) than income tax.
15. Foreclosure
Moratorium. Adoption of a plan similar to President Clinton’s proposal to
end the mortgage crisis. The privately owned Federal Reserve Bank shall not
continue to lower interest rates for loans to banks that are refusing to loan
to small businesses and consumers. Instead, the federal government shall buy
all mortgages in foreclosure and refinance these debts at an interest rate of
1% or less because that is the interest rate the Federal Reserve charges the
banks who hoard the cash despite ample liquidity. These re-financed debts will
be managed by the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and an
independent foreclosure task force appointed and overseen by Congress and the
Executive Branch to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether foreclosure
proceedings should continue based on the circumstances of each homeowner and
the propriety of the financial institution's conduct when originating the loan
16. Ending
the Fed. The immediate formation of a non-partisan commission, overseen by
Congress, to audit and investigate the short-term and long-term economic risks
in eliminating the privately-owned Federal Reserve Bank and transferring all
its functions to the United States Treasury Department.
17. Abolish
the Electoral College and Enact Uniform Election Rules. The 99% demand the
abolishment of the Electoral College in favor of the Popular Vote in
presidential elections to avoid situations where the Electoral College elects a
candidate who does not receive a majority of the popular vote. Subject to
the above-referenced ban on all private money and gifts in politics, Congress
shall immediately enact additional campaign finance reform requiring the
Federal Communications Commission to grant free air-time to all federal
candidates; total public campaign financing to all candidates who obtain
sufficient petition signatures and/or votes to get on the ballot and
participate in the primaries and/or general election; implementation of
nationwide uniform election rules applied to all voting districts requiring
equal access to third parties to appear on ballots; abolition of
"gerrymandering" by utilizing non-partisan public commissions so that
third parties may fairly compete in elections, shortening the campaign season
to three months; allowing voting on weekends and holidays; issuance of free
voter registration cards to all citizens who are eligible to vote so that they
cannot be turned away at a polling station because they do not have a driver's
license or other form of identification; a review of the exclusion of voters
with non-violent criminal records, and expanding the option of mail-in ballots
and verifiable internet voting.
18. Ending
the War in Afghanistan and Care of Veterans. An immediate withdrawal of all
combat troops from Afghanistan and a substantial increase in the amount of
funding for veteran job training and placement. New programs dedicated to the
treatment of the emotional and physical injuries sustained by veterans of Iraq
and Afghanistan. Our veterans are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate
of one person every 80 minutes and we must help now.
19. No
Censorship of the Internet. The Internet and its related technologies
foster free speech, innovation, and a global human consciousness. We believe
that the Internet and its related technologies are the joint property of
humanity, and as such, it must not be censored or regulated in any manner
without the consent of the people who utilize and contribute to its vitality.
We therefore demand the immediate withdrawal of the Stop Online Piracy Act or
"SOPA" (H.R. 3261) and the Protect IP Act (S. 968). These bills, if
enacted into law, would grant the government broad new powers to curtail speech
on the internet, block domain names, track internet protocol ("IP")
addresses, dramatically increase the cost of using content on the internet, chill
innovation and creativity of web entrepreneurs in favor of media corporations
that already own or control most online content. Furthermore, any future action
by the government to censor, dismantle or interfere with, any other future
technology that promotes communication between human beings, will be deemed by
the people as a violation of the First Amendment and the universal human right
to free speech and assembly. We also call upon the United States government to
vociferously condemn any country that represses the speech of its people
including the censorship of the Internet and related technologies.
20. Reinstitution
of Civil Rights. Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001,
legislation has been enacted to curtail the privacy and civil rights of
American citizens. Foremost among these laws is the Patriot Act of 2001 and
more recently, the National Defense Authorization Act wherein the
government may or may not require the indefinite detention of U.S.
citizens suspected of planning or assisting "belligerent" acts. The
Patriot Act allows for the increased surveillance of American citizens and CIA
access to confidential credit reports, school records, communication records,
and other personal information, without consent or notification. We call upon
the United States government to repeal those portions of the Patriot Act that
limit the civil rights of American citizens, withdraw sections 1031 & 1032
of the National Defense Authorization Act and immediately stop all abuses
of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act which allows extrajudicial
eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without oversight.
On December 12th, Occupy Ogden gathered for a protest to call out on Orrin Hatch for his support of the National Defense Authorization Act, ...
0 comments:
Post a Comment