Post by kjlowry on Jul 10, 2012 8:28:47 GMT -5
Greetings compatriots!
Do you all remember this???
“We gather in Philadelphia for a cause larger than ourselves. If we are to succeed in taking back our country we must put aside the petty partisan differences that might divide us. We must recognize that many of those differences have been created and demonstrated by the 1% in their efforts to maintain control and profits at our expense.
We will not agree on everything and that is to be expected. We only need to agree on ONE THING:
American Government cannot continue to be sold to the highest bidder.”
And This???
Here is the way the voting went today:
% of votes on Topic
96 Campaign Finance Reform
90 Election Reform
85 Corporations Are Not People
85 Money is Property Not Speech
82 Government Ethics Reform
80 Tax Reform
76 Protecting Consumers
75 Protecting the Environment
73 Ending Perpetual War for Profit
71 Protection of Civil and Human Rights
65 Employment
64 Ending the Communication Monopolies
63 Healthcare
60 Student Loan Debt
58 Criminal Justice
53 Immigration Reform
53 Veterans Benefits
52 Fiscal Responsibility
50 Puerto Rico and DC
43 Term Limits
Here is MY question for consideration by all my fellow delegates:
Why can’t we take the one BIG thing (American Government cannot continue to be sold to the highest bidder) that we agree on and the two topics that got 90% or more of the vote and turn them into PHASE ONE of the 99% Declaration and Petition for Redress of Grievances and THEN work to present the other issues and grievances that so many of us are devoted to - as a Phase two - Petition for Redress of Grievances (but not to be titled 'from the 99%') to be presented at a later time?
Here is a possibility (just a suggestion) for how that might look:
On behalf of the 99%, the Continental Congress 2.0 petitions the government for redress of this grievance:
The American people have been discouraged from voting and participating in our political system. This is caused by an election system that is unjustly weighted in favor of the two major political parties and has an enormous cost for financing campaigns for office. There has been a demonstrable lack of transparency, consistency, convenience and verifiability in our voting processes and districts. This system has subverted our democracy, has a wide variety of state restrictions, and is organized and regulated in a way that prevents optimal voter turnout and selection of candidates for office.
For redress of this grievance, we propose the following:
1. New federal laws should be enacted requiring that no political party shall be privileged or receive special advantage in any state for their candidates running for congress or the Presidency.
2. Campaigns for sufficiently popular candidates shall be financed by a public campaign fund and radio and TV broadcasters shall provide free and equal air time to those candidates.
3. All election days/polling days, Federal, state, municipal, or otherwise must be holidays and polls should be open for a longer time. Absentee voting process should be simple and convenient.
4. New standardized laws should be enacted to ban all rules in the states that hinder the right to vote. There should be no tests, special ID or fee requirements in one state over another.
5. The Social Security Administration could distribute free voter photo identification to be used for federal elections and create a permanent voting roll.
6. The Electoral College should be abolished in favor of the popular vote in presidential elections in order to more accurately reflect the will of the people.
7. A non-partisan commission or neutral group shall redraw district lines based on geographical borders which are compact, contiguous, and reflective of socio-economic demographics.
8. New election laws or a constitutional amendment should be enacted to provide for a gender balance in the Senate. One Senate seat per state will be reserved for a man and one reserved for a woman.
9. No legal person shall be permitted to contribute more than 100 times the federal minimum hourly wage to federal campaigns or political action committees in any given calendar year.
10. Regulations should be written and enforced to provide transparency in the voting system and a verifiable vote count in every election.
Thanks for your time and consideration. Please respond with your thoughts on this...perhaps we could initiate a poll of the delegates on this idea?? KJ Lowry – Delegate from Texas - 12
Do you all remember this???
“We gather in Philadelphia for a cause larger than ourselves. If we are to succeed in taking back our country we must put aside the petty partisan differences that might divide us. We must recognize that many of those differences have been created and demonstrated by the 1% in their efforts to maintain control and profits at our expense.
We will not agree on everything and that is to be expected. We only need to agree on ONE THING:
American Government cannot continue to be sold to the highest bidder.”
And This???
Here is the way the voting went today:
% of votes on Topic
96 Campaign Finance Reform
90 Election Reform
85 Corporations Are Not People
85 Money is Property Not Speech
82 Government Ethics Reform
80 Tax Reform
76 Protecting Consumers
75 Protecting the Environment
73 Ending Perpetual War for Profit
71 Protection of Civil and Human Rights
65 Employment
64 Ending the Communication Monopolies
63 Healthcare
60 Student Loan Debt
58 Criminal Justice
53 Immigration Reform
53 Veterans Benefits
52 Fiscal Responsibility
50 Puerto Rico and DC
43 Term Limits
Here is MY question for consideration by all my fellow delegates:
Why can’t we take the one BIG thing (American Government cannot continue to be sold to the highest bidder) that we agree on and the two topics that got 90% or more of the vote and turn them into PHASE ONE of the 99% Declaration and Petition for Redress of Grievances and THEN work to present the other issues and grievances that so many of us are devoted to - as a Phase two - Petition for Redress of Grievances (but not to be titled 'from the 99%') to be presented at a later time?
Here is a possibility (just a suggestion) for how that might look:
On behalf of the 99%, the Continental Congress 2.0 petitions the government for redress of this grievance:
The American people have been discouraged from voting and participating in our political system. This is caused by an election system that is unjustly weighted in favor of the two major political parties and has an enormous cost for financing campaigns for office. There has been a demonstrable lack of transparency, consistency, convenience and verifiability in our voting processes and districts. This system has subverted our democracy, has a wide variety of state restrictions, and is organized and regulated in a way that prevents optimal voter turnout and selection of candidates for office.
For redress of this grievance, we propose the following:
1. New federal laws should be enacted requiring that no political party shall be privileged or receive special advantage in any state for their candidates running for congress or the Presidency.
2. Campaigns for sufficiently popular candidates shall be financed by a public campaign fund and radio and TV broadcasters shall provide free and equal air time to those candidates.
3. All election days/polling days, Federal, state, municipal, or otherwise must be holidays and polls should be open for a longer time. Absentee voting process should be simple and convenient.
4. New standardized laws should be enacted to ban all rules in the states that hinder the right to vote. There should be no tests, special ID or fee requirements in one state over another.
5. The Social Security Administration could distribute free voter photo identification to be used for federal elections and create a permanent voting roll.
6. The Electoral College should be abolished in favor of the popular vote in presidential elections in order to more accurately reflect the will of the people.
7. A non-partisan commission or neutral group shall redraw district lines based on geographical borders which are compact, contiguous, and reflective of socio-economic demographics.
8. New election laws or a constitutional amendment should be enacted to provide for a gender balance in the Senate. One Senate seat per state will be reserved for a man and one reserved for a woman.
9. No legal person shall be permitted to contribute more than 100 times the federal minimum hourly wage to federal campaigns or political action committees in any given calendar year.
10. Regulations should be written and enforced to provide transparency in the voting system and a verifiable vote count in every election.
Thanks for your time and consideration. Please respond with your thoughts on this...perhaps we could initiate a poll of the delegates on this idea?? KJ Lowry – Delegate from Texas - 12