Some of the campaign finance reform suggestions are off base (I'm neglecting to form a nonprofit for Peacemovies.com precisely so that I may do political advocacy without limits), but also #21 needs revision:
21. A new federal charter to establish a "Green Bank" to fund "Demand Driven Clean Energy" including electric and low emission vehicles, solar, wind, fusion, hydroelectric, geothermal.
Fusion and geothermal should be struck from this list as they are dirtier than advertised.
John Thielking
--- On Fri, 6/22/12, Carol Brouillet <cbrouillet at igc.org> wrote:
From: Carol Brouillet <cbrouillet at igc.org>
Subject: [GPSCC-chat] Continental Congress 2.0
To: sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
Date: Friday, June 22, 2012, 1:56 PM
Dear activists,
This July 4th, there will be a gathering ( http://www.the99declaration.org/ Continental Congress 2.0) in Philadelphia to come up with a list of grievances to present to Congress, the President, the Supreme Court. I'll be going as part of the California Delegation. We are supposed to come up with our top ten grievances. Any input from you would be helpful.
An abbreviated list of proposed grievances is posted at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fde0K2G5XbYRj3FPR8QwP9z0w7APGXoyPRBVOtvc1Nw/edit?pli=1
The gathering is not formally endorsed by the Occupy Movement, who is holding a national gathering, coincidentally in Philadelphia at the same time (See http://www.occupynationalgathering.com/ ).
If you would like to just choose ten of these that you feel are the best for this occasion, and email them to me, that would be helpful. (Send your choices to cbrouillet at igc.org). They can be tweaked/added to/altered, as well in Philadelphia.)
100 Consolidated Proposed Grievances
For Consideration to be Included in a Petition For Redress of Grievances
by The Delegates to Continental Congress 2.0
Convening in Philadelphia From July 2, 2012 to July 4, 2012
1. Corporations, unions, political organizations and all entities created by operation of law are not naturally born human beings and any law, rule, regulation or court decision so holding must be overruled, abrogated, repealed or overturned even if it requires amendment to the United States Constitution.
2. Money is not speech it is property and any law, rule, regulation or court decision so holding must be overruled, abrogated, repealed or overturned even if it requires amendment to the United States Constitution. If money is deemed speech then only wealthy individuals and concentrated sources of wealth such as corporations and unions have a voice in our society.
3. New legislation immediately enacted to impose a 100% public campaign finance system in all federal elections requiring an immediate ban on all direct and indirect private contributions of money, or anything of value (except unpaid time from volunteers), from all sources including individuals and the candidates themselves, to all politicians or political parties in all primaries and general elections. As in other modern democracies, the new system shall utilize a "blind" public trust whereby the taxpayers will fund all federal election campaigns. The funds in the public trust shall be allocated by the Federal Elections Commission in non-partisan equal apportionments to candidates on the ballot based on the level of office sought and the geographic location of the candidates running for office and the cost to by advertising time in specific media markets.
4. Adopting Professor Lawrence Lessig's $50 voucher system with $100 private contribution limits in federal political campaigns.
5. New legislation to impose a $2500 aggregate campaign contributions limit per human being per election cycle including primaries. Legal entities such as corporations, PACS, Super-PACS and unions to be barred from making any direct or indirect contributions to politicians.
6. A total ban on corporate and union political expenditures, directly or indirectly to or in favor of political candidates or political parties.
7. Retaining the current campaign finance system but enacting new laws making all direct and indirect political contributions to politicians and political parties completely transparent and published online and elsewhere. There must be total transparency for any person, corporation, union or other entity including PACS, Super-PACS or not-for-profit organizations that make political contributions or buy advertising time to advocate for any politician, political party or political view because money is property and not speech. If money is deemed speech then only the wealthy have a voice.
8. New laws banning all private expenditures on advertisements endorsing a particular candidate or political party or attacking a candidate or political party.
9. New laws banning foreign money and the use of cash in all federal political campaigns.
10. Public broadcasting licenses granted by the FCC and other regulators must mandate calendar specific dates and specific time slots which are available to candidates for elected federal office at a 90% discounted market rate for the purpose of campaigning whether funded by taxpayers or by private sources.
11. Repeal of prior healthcare laws and immediate enactment of "Medicare for all" or a new single-payer healthcare system.
12. New laws permitting the federal government to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies to set prices for medications.
13. Reintroduction of compulsory exercise programs in all public schools to combat the epidemic of obesity.
14. Passage of a comprehensive jobs and job-training act like the "American Jobs Act" to employ our citizens in jobs that are available with free relocation services, specialized re-training through partnerships between companies seeking employees and community colleges and other educational institutions.
15. Immediate passage of a law, similar to the “Lilly Ledbetter” bill, requiring equal pay for women with stiff financial penalties imposed on employers for violating the law.
16. Re-institution of the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and similar emergency governmental agencies tasked with creating new projects to provide jobs for the families of the 151 million people living in poverty and on low incomes.
17. Tax incentives granted to companies who partner with educational institutions to re-train workers to work in green energy and new sources of American manufacturing to reduce reliance on imported goods, services and natural resources.
18. Tax incentives should also be offered to U.S. companies that invest in reconstructing the manufacturing capacity of the United States and hiring our citizens to produce and innovate.
19. Tax incentives to entice businesses to hire our citizens rather than outsource jobs and a new “outsourcing tax” should be introduced to discourage businesses from sending jobs overseas and companies that continue to outsource will be barred from earning income in U.S. markets.
20. The rights to clean air, water, safe food, and conservation of the planet for future generations shall no longer be infringed by greed-driven corporations and selfish individuals who care for nothing except money and instant gratification.
21. A new federal charter to establish a "Green Bank" to fund "Demand Driven Clean Energy" including electric and low emission vehicles, solar, wind, fusion, hydroelectric, geothermal.
22. Tax incentives to rapidly transition away from poisonous fossil fuels and nuclear energy {those government subsidies should be eliminated immediately} to safe, non-toxic, reusable or carbon neutral sources of energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric.
23. New comprehensive treaties, laws and regulations must be immediately enacted to give the Environmental Protection Agency, and other environmental protection regulators around the world, expanded cross-border powers and resources to shut down corporations, businesses or entities that intentionally or recklessly damage the environment.
24. New federal laws enforcing mandatory recycling programs now in effect in some US cities and many countries must be uniformly adopted in the US in addition to controlling the unchecked dumping of waste into our oceans, air and ground by imposing meaningful fines on violators.
25. A new treaty to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 392 parts per million to below 350 parts per million.
26. No “corporate veil” protection for any employee, officer or director of a corporation that is directly or indirectly engaged in the intentional or reckless decimation of the planet for profit.
27. A Progressive tax on gross income, from a minimum tax rate of X% to a maximum tax rate of 3X%.
28. 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 by removing deductions, subsidies and loopholes regardless of corporate domicile or they will be barred from earning their profits in the United States.
29. The $4 billion per year “hedge fund loophole” which permits certain individuals engaged in financial transactions to evade graduated income tax rates by treating their income as capital gains shall be immediately abolished.
30. Elimination of all tax deductions except: (1) interest paid on mortgages for one's primary residence; (2) Contributions to charitable institutions, up to a total of one-tenth of annual gross income; (3) Interest earned on bonds issued by the governments of any state, municipality or other sub-division of the federal and U.S. domestic government.
31. No household with an income at or below the poverty line (responsibility for making this calculation having been shifted to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) shall be subject to federal income tax action.
32. Abolish the death penalty in all states or lose federal funding for law enforcement.
33. Curtailing the “Private Prison Industrial Complex” by removing all incentives in the legal system set-up to imprison non-violent drug offenders and the mentally ill rather than treat or provide alternatives to incarceration. Non-violent drug offenders who do not engage in drug sales, and those with mental health issues must be treated rather than imprisoned and adjudicated through specialized drug and mental health courts.
34. The federal government and all states must provide a free attorney to every criminal defendants at all stages of every criminal case beginning at arrest and arraignment or lose all federal funding for law enforcement.
35. Legalization of marihuana for recreational and medicinal use in all US Jurisdictions or loss of federal funding for law enforcement to states and municipalities.
36. Require that all prisoners be granted a DNA test at taxpayer expense in their cases if a genetic sample is available in the particular case.
37. Abolishing the Electoral College in favor of the popular vote in presidential elections.
38. Election day shall becomes a federal holiday requiring employees to provide sufficient time for employees to vote on that day.
39. Compulsory voting with fines imposed on voters for failing to vote.
40. New election laws and rules, and amendment of the constitution if necessary, to provide for a gender balance in Congress so that 50% of the seats are reserved for people who identify as women and 50% reserved for people who identify as men.
41. New election laws banning all rules in all states that hinder the right to vote whether it is called a test or requiring the presentation of identification; the federal government shall issue free photo identification cards to all voters.
42. New election laws banning all rules in all states that prevent equal access to the ballot by giving advantages to certain political parties or penalizing independent candidates for office.
43. New federal laws passed authorizing the FEC to impose uniform rules in all states and districts setting forth the criteria for excluding a person from voting and the use of the same verifiable voting systems in all voting precincts; all elections are to be run by employees of the Federal Election Commission only; municipalities will no longer run elections when federal candidates are running for office; the federal government shall pay for this uniform, secure, cost-effective and verifiable voting system.
44. The practice of "gerrymandering" shall be ended and replaced with a non-partisan commission to redraw all voting district lines using a and equal distribution system calculated with an objective mathematical formula or algorithm that does not take into consideration the wealth, party affiliation, race, religion or other demographics of voters.
45. New federal laws requiring that no political party shall be privileged or receive special advantage in any state for their candidates running for Congress or the Presidency.
46. New election laws to ban all publically reported polling two weeks before election day and completely ending the practice of so-called "exit polling" and early return reporting by the media which contaminates the democratic process.
47. Open primaries in all states for all parties in all races for federal office so that all voters may vote in any primary.
48. Reinstatement of the "equal time" rules so that each candidate for office is given equal free air time on television, radio, cable, or any other medium licensed and regulated by the federal government.
49. Passage of a law to reduce the $15 trillion national debt to a sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020 by re-implementing the Clinton era income tax rates, increasing the capital gains tax rate, ending the hedge fund loophole, no oil and gas subsidies, and mandatory cuts in defense and entitlement spending.
50. Congress must pass immediate legislation (see e.g. H.R. 639) to encourage China (which undervalues its currency by up to 40%) to end currency manipulation and take additional steps to reduce our massive trade deficit.
51. Passage of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.
52. The immediate formation of a non-partisan commission to audit and investigate the short-term and long-term economic risks and benefits in eliminating the Federal Reserve Bank and transferring all its functions to the United States Treasury Department
53. Passage of the line item veto amendment to the Constitution.
54. The United States government shall begin to measure economic growth by the GPI (Genuine Progress Indicator) rather than GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
55. 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.
56. After leaving government service, no federal elected or unelected official shall receive anything of value, for a period of five years, or work in any capacity to influence the actions of the federal government, with the sole exception of exercising their own personal First Amendment right to speak and publish.
57. All federal employees, politicians and officials are entitled to their salary, benefits, pension and nothing else. Any gift or thing of value given or promised to a politician or federal employee or immediate family valued at more than $5 will be deemed a bribe and punished under the criminal laws.
58. The revolving door between the federal government and the private lobbying sector must be closed and no federal employee, official or politicians may ever work as a lobbyist upon leaving office.
59. It shall be a crime, punishable by at least two years in prison, for any member of congress or the president, to provide preferential treatment to any lobbyist or representative of any industry or union. All natural born persons shall have equal access to their elected representatives.
60. No person employed in the private sector, shall accept or pursue employment in the federal government or run for public office in the federal government, in exchange for anything of value, including bonuses, gifts or promises of future employment. The quid pro quos between the private sectors and those who enter government service will end and all public servants must represent the best overall interests of the country not particular special interest groups. It shall be a crime, punishable by at least two years in prison, for engaging in this corrupt practice.
61. New laws to fund and immediately establish a 23 member Citizen’s Ethics Panel comprised of ordinary citizens and experts on ethics to investigate and hear cases of alleged ethics violations by members and employees of Congress, Supreme Court and the Executive Branch. This panel shall operate like a grand jury and have subpoena power enforced by the contempt power of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Upon making a finding, the Panel shall refer any evidence of criminality to the Justice Department and/or relevant States Attorney General and further make specific recommendations for sanction to the House, Senate or President. In cases of ethics violations by the Supreme Court, the panel may file an ethics complaint with the appropriate disciplinary authority or bar association where the judge is admitted or recommendation for impeachment to be served upon Congress.
62. Amend the constitution to establish an elected "General Public Assembly" as a fourth branch of government to oversee the two houses of Congress in all matters particularly ethics.
63. Immediate passage of laws stating that the trading of inside information shall be a crime for all elected and unelected officials and government employees just as it is a crime for all other Americans. No politician or government employee is above the law.
64. New laws to require mandatory minimum prison sentences for anyone convicted, upon plea or after trial, of public corruption or bribery involving any public official or employee.
65. New laws enacted to end the so-called “filibuster rule” in the Senate, which requires a supermajority of votes to pass virtually any legislation.
66. No elected or unelected official or their immediate family members may hold stocks of any public company while in office or five years after leaving office unless said stocks are held in a blind investment trust.
67. No member of the military shall own or hold any stock or share in any corporation or other entity that the official specifically regulates while in service and shall last five years after the term of military service ends.
68. Recognition of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as full states of the union entitled to all rights and responsibilities of states.
69. Tax reforms to treat the citizens of Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia as if they were citizens of any other state.
70. All Veterans and their dependents must have access to the consolidated military health care system just as active duty dependents have access.
71. Funding must be increased to assist veterans returning to civilian life to pursue their education goals and become gainfully employed.
72. An immediate freeze on all primary residential home foreclosures.
73. All lending institutions shall be barred from the mortgage origination in favor of direct federal home loans at the discount window interest rate (currently 0-.25%).
74. Creation and proper funding of a non-partisan task force specifically designed to work with existing regulators who are supposed to be regulating mortgage-backed securities and other speculative financial instruments but are failing to adequately do so.
75. Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act; immediate implementation of the regulations required under the Dodd-Franks Act; immediate and vigorous enforcement of the “Volcker Rule” and new funding to allow enforcement of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act in all industries, especially the corporate media, airlines, oil and gas, healthcare, drug and medical device manufacturers, insurance, and many others to enhance competition, protect our democracy from the undue influence of money, and to protect the free speech of human beings.
76. Increased funding for the SEC, FINRA, CFTC, CFPB, and to the Justice Department and State Attorneys General to investigate potential criminal practices of the Securities and Banking industries especially in the areas of mortgage backed securities, hedge funds and speculation
77. Because education is the only way to secure our future success as a nation, interest on student debts must be immediately reduced to 2% or less (plus the discount window rate currently 0.0 to 0.25%) and repayments deferred for periods of unemployment or illness or disability. Employers will receive a student loan repayment tax deduction for paying off the student loans of their employees.
78. Outright federal grants to forgive loans provided to those students who pursue and obtain degrees in the physical sciences of physics, chemistry, green energy, environmental sustainability, mathematics, or advanced technology and engineering.
79. Public and private universities and colleges that do not reduce tuition to affordable levels so that middle class-families (defined here as $100,000 in annual family income or less) can again afford to send their children to obtain a higher education shall lose all federal funding including grants and loans.
80. Broadcast television, cable television, radio and print communications are controlled by too few corporations and individuals. New laws and regulations must be passed to fund, authorize and mandate the Anti-Trust Division of the U.S. Justice Department to break-up the 6-10 massive media conglomerates that control virtually all media content. This highly concentrated control of speech is an existential threat to the security of the United States.
81. The immediate passage of “The Dream Act” by Congress.
82. New legislation to secure our borders while streamlining the path to US citizenship especially for those qualified to work in high demand industries or skills required in the United States.
83. Non-citizens who obtain their education in the United States in highly demand fields should be provided an accelerated path to citizenship so the investments made in these students remain in the United States.
84. New treaties, laws and regulations must be passed to ensure that the Internet will remain free for all people in the world to use and express themselves without government or corporate interference.
85. The immediate ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
86. Repeal those portions of the Patriot Act that limit civil rights and repeal of those sections of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that permit indefinite detention of US Citizens.
87. The so-called Defense Of Marriage Act must be repealed for the reasons recently stated by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
88. Immediately recalling all combat troops from Afghanistan and the allocation of no less than $25 billion to assist these veterans to re-acclimate to civilian life, job placement assistance and specialized psychiatric treatment for those veterans and their family members suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress disorders and other mental illnesses.
89. Reinstitution of the draft or mandatory public service for males and females without any deferments or exceptions so that the wealthy and privileged who profit from war will be required to send their children to die with the children of the poor and middle class should that grave decision be made again.
90. New laws to counter the Military Industrial Complex’s mission of perpetual war for profit, particularly in the Middle East, which dramatically benefits the Oil and Gas Industrial Complex due to fluctuations and speculation in the price of oil caused by incessant and unwarranted military intervention motivated by profit rather than policy.
91. A new treaty with Russia, China, India, North Korea, Pakistan, Israel and the other countries with nuclear weapons or plans to make nuclear weapons, to reduce the number of nuclear weapons so complete nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation may be achieved by 2020 or sooner.
92. Arrest and extradition to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court for war crimes, of any person properly charged upon probable cause as defined by U.S. legal standards, with intentionally and knowingly engaging in warfare based upon a false premise or pretext or engaging in conduct that violates the Geneva convention.
93. New laws to reinvigorate the War Powers Resolution to limit the deployment of military forces to only those instances where Congressional approval has been granted.
94. No new term limits should be imposed but new laws should be enacted so that Senators will not serve consecutive (six-year) terms and Representatives shall not serve more than two (two-year) terms consecutively.
95. Term limits: 4 years for house; 6 years for senate
96. Term limits: 8 years for house; 12 years for senate
97. Term limits: 12 years for house; 18 years for senate
98. Term limits: 16 years for house; 24 years for senate
99. Term limits: 10 years for the Supreme Court of the United States
100. Term limits: 20 years for the Supreme Court of the United States
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