Trying to do my part to help from afar. Here's a draft of a Demand Platform
SO WHAT ARE OUR DEMANDS? Some brainstorming ideas.
1. FINANCE: PASS new Glass-Steagal law in the same form it originally was written. Break up the Too Big to Fail (sure, right) financial institutions. Congressional review of Mergers for the past decade, enforcement of Anti-Trust regulations with a keen eye on private equity firms buyingprivate armiesand weapons/bullet manufacturing.
2. ELECTIONS: Constitutional Amendment limiting political campaigns to publically financed elections. Equal time for candidates on the media. REPEAL Citizens United SCOTUS ruling.
3. HOUSING: Either limit cost of housing to 25% of income, or legislate a Fair Pay for workers that is tied to the cost of housing in the workers area. Outlaw the aggregious, usury policy of Apartment Complexes of charging non-refundable application fees which are a burden on families in need of housing. Outlaw foreclosures for laid off or chronically injured/ill workers. Create new terms to be included in mortgages to protect homeowners out-of-pocket investments in their homes tied to an affordable Federal Mortgage Insurance program.
4. MEDICAL: Medicare for all. Providers to charge income-based, sliding scale co-pays for medically necessary procedures to allieviate chronic physical pain, meds, intervention mental health care, wellness check ups, eye care and glasses, bi-annual dental care and necessary treatment, and treatments for chronic diseases.
5. TAXES: The US is in worse financial shape than it was after WWII, if politicians are to be believed. It is necessary to right this ship. Reinstate the tax rates Eisenhower used to eliminate the Post WWII Deficit for those earning $500,000 or more per year.
6. PROFITS: As an incentive to reinvest in the American workers, tax them highly until unemployment and poverty are greatly reduced. Tax companies with huge cash reserves that are refusing to hire and/or loan to small businesses 99% of their profits and no bonus payments for anyone until unemployment is below 4%. Regulate Private so-called Colleges and Universities.
7. UNENDING WAR: End them and pass laws that will NEVER allow deployment to war without the consent of the people via referendum. One vote per citizen. Use internet to gather votes.
8. US BUDGET: End DOD private contractors. The waste and abuse is clearly documented. Limit DOD spending to a percent of budget. Fund public education K-Bachelors degree, don't allow cities and states to underfund education anymore.
9. SOCIAL SAFETY NET: Improve it, don't cut it.
10. EMPLOYMENT: Abolish all "Right to Work" laws throughout the country. Employees deserve security and loyalty from their employers. Provide mechanisms for long-term unemployed to serve their communities/country for a wage. Don't just cut them off and hope they and their families will somehow survive.
We are not going to get MORE than we demand.
Just some suggestions for start-the-conversion platform for the 99% to demand before they will end their fight in this Economic War on the American People.
END THE TREASONOUS ECONOMIC WAR AGAINST THE AMERICAN 99%!
Join the movement. We have numbers on our side.
We must all stand up and demand the changes necessary to return this nation to the Republic it is supposed to be, to eliminate the deficit, and provide workers with the same fairness, security and enjoyment of life workers of the 1950s, 1960s, and even thhe 1970s* were given when the government and judiciary actually represented the people.
________________
*
1)What did President Nixon do to try to halt the inflation plaguing the country?
a. He increased his federal spending to provide jobs.
b. He imposed an embargo on oil shipped from OPEC countries.
c. He imposed a short-term freeze on wages, prices, and rents.
d. He balanced the budget.
Thanks to Amy Goodman for catching this heartfelt story about this 72 year old, classy Grandma forced back to work full-time to help save her kids from homelessness.
Hers is a perfect example depicting the treasonous crimes committed against the hard-working American people.
Also, included: Proof that the Sacramento Tent city, composed mostly of middle-class Americans who were laid off, has been up and running for 5 FREAKING YEARS now!
Sorry to say it but: Bush/Obama/Congress/Treasury/Judiciary FAIL!
From here, I will make the case that the American people are the victims of treason.
Economic War was declared on Americans. THIS is a TREASONOUS OFFENSE!
What a brilliant Coup d'état waged by THE ENEMY:
Depress wages for 30 years
Ship good jobs overseas,
Inflate home values and rental costs,
Lay off work force,
Take their homes, then drop values, have ghost buyers buy them up, then remortgage and start the whole ball rolling again. Or, and this should really arouse anger: Town governments were enrolled in the fraud by this mostly unknown gem: "HUD's Buy Foreclosed Homes for $1.00 profit bonanza". Which will, of course, create more mortgages for Wall Street to trade
Defund/erode K-12 education so students will have to take 6 years or more to graduate college.
Inflate cost of higher education,
Disallow standard lending protections for student loans, compounding interest so the debt will be life-long
Refuse to hire those without a higher education regardless of work experience
Brilliantly evil.
This is how PISS-POOR they have made hard working citizens. 50% Earn less than $26.5 a year. Wages have been flat for 30 years! Housing costs are through the roof (no pun intended).:
SOME FACTS TO BACK UP DEMANDS FOUND IN LINKS, which are in color print:
The lack of REAL action by State and Federal Politicians and the Judiciary, on behalf of the American people, has and is destroying lives and our country. What Wall Street, Financial Institutions, and Corporations have been allowed to do to Americans borders on treason by our very own Town, County, State and Federal Politicians as well as most of the Judiciary from SCOTUS on down, who enable them, even take political contributions from them.
The bleeding on the streets began hemoraging after the slow erosion, begun during the Reagan years, and ultimate repeal of Glass-Steagal.
In this Treasonous War on the Financial Security of the Citizens of America, Congress has been complicit for 30 years! And the media is their tool to misinform and divide the 99% of us. Stop being divided. UNITE in the FIGHT:
It's time to collectively form our battle lines. Stop feeding the criminals protected by Congress. Limit your purchases to the bare necessities. Last years clothes are just fine. Form hand-me-down cooperatives for kids. Cook your own food, starve the chains. Yes, we will pay a price. But this is WAR! We have to unite, help to feed, clothe, shelter each other and wage our own defens(c)es and that means STARVE THE ENEMY and put your State and Federal "representatives" on notice!
Why Treason?
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
I think we can easily garner two or more witnesses.
Casualties of Economic War on the American People.
2009 is the lastest year reported by the CDC. There were over 35,000 suicides. There is no cause history, but many were caused by financial stress.
Google "shot his family and then himself" and you will find 154,000,000 hits. One more time, that's One Hundred Fifty Four Million "shot his family and then himself" hits.
OK, let's limit the parameters of the Google Search to
"shot his family and then himself" financial
What? About 1,480,000,000 results (0.06 seconds) hits. Google is messed up it appears. I have heard many stories of this happening in my state, but it seems this news might be somewhat censored or, more likely, not being crawled after. But some of the stories are there none-the-less.
Sadly, because of the costly co-pays and limited coverage for mental health in America, there is little recourse for those who are newly impoverished.
Over 39,000,000+ are living in poverty in the US. Over 14,000,000 are unemployed. Millions of families lost their investments in their homes due to layoffs and foreclosure.
Casualties of the Economic War waged against the American people, and for that matter, people around the world.
The World Hunger Organization has issued a scathing report and, quite frankly an indictment of the Corporate and Political blame, for the steadily increasing levels of Poverty and Hunger in the United States. What next? Charities overseas collecting donations to help American citizens?
Poverty in the United States
In 2008, 39.8 million people were in poverty, up from 37.3 million in 2007 -- the second consecutive annual increase in the number of people in poverty (Census Bureau 2010).
The 2008 poverty rate (13.2 percent) was the highest since 1997 (Census Bureau 2010).
In 2008, the family poverty rate and the number of families in poverty were 10.3 percent and 8.1 million, respectively, up from 9.8 percent and 7.6 million in 2007 (Census Bureau 2010).
15.4 million Americans live in extreme poverty. This means their family’s cash income is less than half of the poverty line, or less than about $10,000 a year for a family of four (CBPP 2007).
16 million low-income households either paid more for rent and utilities than the federal government says is affordable or lived in overcrowded or substandard housing (CBPP 2007).
46 million Americans — more than one in every seven — do not have medical insurance (USBC 2009 p. 20).
Causes of hunger and poverty
The operation of the US economic system The operation of the US economic and political system has led to certain people/groups being relatively disenfranchised.
The operation of the US political system, The US political system, which should address the major problems of its citizens, is to a great extent not focused on fundamental concerns of poor people, but on other concerns.
Unlike most wars the weapons aren't bullets and machetes.
In the movie, Wall Street, Gordon Gekko is clear: Economic Weapons of Mass Destruction have been deployed against the American people. WMDs
The weapons in the treasonous Economic War against citizens are interest rates on debt, inflated housing, utility, usury Pay Day Loans, student loans needed for tuitions/books that cost hundreds of dollars each and that seem to always cost more than Pell Grants, transportation costs, medical co-pays even though they pay through the nose for health insurance.
States and the Federal governments are complicit. Therefore, they are also guilty of Treason against the American People. If they are enabling all of the above to continue, they have taken the wrong side in this agregious econimic war against the 99% (and the peoples of the world for that matter).
The newly impoverished are forced to pay higher interest payments.
People get laid off, fall behind on payments, have homes and cars repossesed and are then forced to pay higher interest rates because their credit score declines.
The War is most fiercely waged against those who most need protection from the Economic Predators! In my state, the Economic enemies of the people charge 25% for a car loan for cars that have to be quite new. There is no protection. No limits of usury. And no loans for an affordable vehicle are available.
SO WHAT ARE OUR DEMANDS? Some brainstorming ideas.
1. FINANCE: PASS new Glass-Steagal law in the same form it originally was written. Break up the Too Big to Fail (sure, right) financial institutions. Congressional review of Mergers for the past decade, enforcement of Anti-Trust regulations with a keen eye on private equity firms buyingprivate armiesand weapons/bullet manufacturing.