Forum Post: Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 6, 2011, 12:56 a.m. EST by Philpux
(643)
from Mountain View, AR
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
All of the successful protest movements of the 20th century in the U.S. had a very clear and concise goal. The civil rights movement had integration. The counter culture movement of the 60's wanted to end the Vietnam War. The Women's Suffrage movement wanted women to vote. The Anti-Saloon league wanted prohibition of alcohol.
Wayne Wheeler, of the Anti-Saloon league, was known for insisting on a very clear and singular goal to the exclusion of all else, a constitutional amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol. His model for political influence through demonstration has been replicated over and again. The prohibition movement might have been misguided, but no one could argue that it wasn't successful.
Could it be, that it is time for OWS to focus? I believe many more people would become active, if a singular goal could be devised.
Campaign Finance Reform! Boom.
Many Americans could line up behind getting the big money out of politics, I think.
What I am saying is that, imho, OWS needs a clear goal, complete with a kick ass sound bite!
Any good sound bite is concise, crunchy, and tastes good with ketchup. “BUY BACK the VOTE.” Boom.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
I think it would have worked, if the hippies could have put the drums down, and actually come up with a plan.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Campaign Finance Reform! Boom!
That's all I'm saying.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
It's not too late to cash in on the visibility of OWS. We can drive one single issue firmly into the presidential election cycle, if we act soon.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Yeah, baby! Shabam! There it is again.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
There it is again.
get a to the point petition drawn up, have a legal team look it over, then pass it around. Not just in the parks and streets, get yourself cleaned up and start door to door. This one you'll find 99% American support for.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
I'm not a details guy. There are plenty of good plans out there. I am simply working to help make it an issue. I think it is one that many could support.
I'm just happy to see a reasonably thought out tangible objective Everyone could agree on. save corrupt politicians.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
Right. Those poor politicians need to be saved from themselves. I'm sure it is difficult, if not impossible to not take the money. If we had a better system, I think we might get better politicians.
The focus needs to be more on Monetary Reform. Not just financial. The system with which we create money needs to change. This is first and foremost. It is fundamental.
Private banks control how much money is, and is not, in circulation. This needs a be controlled by the public sector. This is where it all begins.
You are correct. Ending the FED is huge. I just wonder how many regular folks we can get to line up behind that as a starting point.
Education. Probably through a website. I know how to build web sites. But it would require a lot of brainpower to really lay out solid reasons as to why this is necessary. As well as explaining it in an as easy to digest manner as possible.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
I agree. Ending the FED is going to be a tough sell, but it could be done. Many are working on it. I hope they succeed.
Campaign Finance Reform
http://occupywallst.org/forum/forum-topics/#comment-308077
You are exactly correct, dead on. Many people in this forum have been screaming for this, for some focus, organization, leadership etc... around a single issue, the actual root cause, the money in Washington.
Unfortunately sane ideas like this one get drowned out by he multitudes of insane people and anarchists in this forum.
But good luck, I hope you can get through to people, because I've about had it, and this is too important of an issue to just let slip away just because this thing is so disorganized.
Anyway, good luck.
Thanks. Hey, write a post about campaign finance reform. I'll comment on it. If we can get that conversation going, perhaps it will stick. If we all comment on each others posts about campaign finance reform, it will be a dominant topic. It seems people looking for info about OWS come to this site. If you Google Occupy Wall Street, this page is the first thing that comes up. Only if you want to. I don't want to sound like one of these zealots pushing some crazy idea. I am just really fired up about...
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
We've tried it. Unfortunately too many people are posting on this thing, literally seconds after you get a post to the top it drops like a stone out of site. It would take an incredible effort to keep it on top. Trust me, I've tried.
Just remember, always answer your own post, so you have a reminder to refresh over to the lower right. That's how I was able to keep sending it to the top. But like I said, it can only remain there for a few seconds, while anyone and everyone posts some inane crap that has nothing to do with anything.
There is only one issue and everyone needs to get on board and try and get this done. But most people in here are interested in something else.
Yes, this is an important site, because it's sort of the official site. But just like the movement, it's disorganized, leaderless, formless and out of control.
Yes, it is quite an effort to stay on top of it. We do what we can. At least the site being so disorganized allows us to do this. lol
Jack Abramoff: The lobbyist's playbook
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHiicN0Kg10
Have you seen the documentary about Abramhoff? What a nut.
The ultimate question is whether the current system can be reformed or if we have to start over. Seeing that we would require those in power to reform themselves, I am of the opinion that starting over is the only possible solution.
We can't fix the system because it already is.
I believe that reform is possible, if there is a strong base of people calling for it. Many did not think that prohibition was possible?
I'm not sure that prohibition is a good example in relation to government reform.
Prohibition was the result of a religious movement. It was repealed because of the crime it caused and for generation of tax revenue. Government corruption and reform was not the issue.
Prohibition was an issue just like government reform. Wayne Wheeler proved that focusing on one very specific goal could be very successful in dealing with government. At this point OWS seems to be like a religious movement. lol If enough people get passionate about an issue, it can be forced onto the politicians.
The fox is guarding the hen house.
I know. We need to put that fox out, and build a bigger fence around the hens.
Demand elections be national and state holidays
.
Functioning democracy requires the people's thought out consent.
The right to vote should not be impeded.
People need time to consider their vote
and discuss that vote with confidants.
Daily worries should be set aside to focus on social issues.
..
I propose that
Elections be made State and National Holidays.
Conscious voting measures the people's desire.
The workweek routine must halt for people to consider their power.
.
If voting day is a holiday, everyone will know that it is voting day.
The routine of work must be suspended for people to consider their government.
.
"To a certain extent we shouldn't take an 'all or nothing' approach. I'm a proponent of gradualism, if for no other reason, it gets us moving in the right direction, resets our trajectory, and it can compliment bottom up societal change." -francismjenkins
If elections are national holidays, a greater number of people will take the time to vote.
When more people vote, more people care about the actions of their government.
"That government, of the people, for the people, and by the people, shall not perish from the earth" -Abraham Lincoln . http://forums.nodoubt.com/forums/2475369/ShowPost.aspx
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
That is the issue. All other issues are centered around this issue. If we cannot cleans our political system of undue influence by large powerful industries, we are forever screwed.
Yes, but campaign finance reform is only half the job. Campaign finance reform will affect who gets ellected to office, but will do nothing about what they do when they get there. Patronage is how politicians enrich themselves and drives many, if not most, activities once they are in office. Without patronage reform, campaign reform will not accomplish very much.
Campaign Finance reform is not even half the job. It is actually a tiny fraction of the job at hand. There are many problems that need to be addressed. I simply believe that getting big$$'s undue influence out of our political process is a good starting point.
Certainly, removing the ability of the corporatists to purchase elected seats at will is a good thing of itself, and will at least improve the process.
I can't imagine it could hurt anything. Also limiting "unrelated expenses" that PACs use would help, I think.
I think that any reform will have to radical, and not simply look to tidy up individual processes. Something along the lines of greatly limiting overall expenditure coupled with public financing as the sole source of all funding. And I think it will also be necessary to limit the time in which campaigning can be conducted by any group, and any means to perhaps something like 6 weeks, compared to the current multi-year campaigns. Would that result in very different office holders? You bet! But I ask sincerely if such a system could have worse results than the one under which we currently suffer.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom!
I like all those ideas. Cheers. Let's do it.
We also have another urgent problem that cannot wait, joblessness.
Undoubtedly.
I am seeing it all over this forum. People of many political backgrounds want it. It seems to be the key to starting the reform process. Politicians don't want to talk about it.
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Supreme Court rulings have killed most important reforms -
meet us 60 Wall St Nov 16 6PM - Restore Democracy -
There are a large number of great, COMPLICATED ideas that will require a huge amount of "selling" and “explanation" and will garner GREAT OPPOSITION.
We need to be realistic & pick an issue that is simple – and that is popular -
that 83% of Americans already agree on -
that 76% of Republicans already agree on -
that 56% of TP already agree on -
that will bring together the people in OWS with the people outside of OWS.
Everybody wins!
Our only goal should be to pass a constitutional amendment to counter Supreme Court decisions Citizens United (2010) & Buckley v. Valeo (1976), that enable unlimited amounts of anonymous money to flood into our political system.
“Corporations and organizations are not a persons & have no personhood rights”
and
“money is not free speech”.
We don’t have to explain or persuade people to accept our position – we have to persuade them to ACT based on their own position. Pursuing this goal will prove to the world that we, at OWS, are a serious realistic Movement, with serious realistic goals. Achieving this goal will make virtually every other goal – jobs, taxes, infrastructure, Medicare – much easier to achieve –
by disarming our greatest enemy – GREED.
THE SUCCESS STORY OF THE AMENDING PROCESS The Prohibition movement started as a disjointed effort by conservative teetotalers who thought the consumption of alcohol was immoral. They ransacked saloons and garnered press coverage here and there for a few years. Then they began to gain support from the liberals because many considered alcohol partially responsible for spousal and child abuse, among other social ills. This odd alliance, after many years of failing to influence change consistently across jurisdictions, decided to concentrate on one issue nationally—a constitutional amendment. They pressured all politicians on every level to sign a pledge to support the amendment. Any who did not, they defeated easily at the ballot box since they controlled a huge number of liberal, and conservative and independent swing votes in every election. By being a single-issue constituency attacking from all sides of the political spectrum, they very quickly amassed enough votes (2/3) to pass the amendment in Congress. And, within just 17 months, they were successful in getting ¾ of the state legislatures to ratify the constitutional amendment into law. (Others were ratified even faster: Eight —took less than a year. The 26th, granting 18-year-olds the right to vote, took just 99 days.)
If they could tie the left and right into a success -
If Ohio won. If Arizona won. If Maine won. If Mississippi won - WHY CAN'T WE ??????????
I feel that we should stay with this simple text to overturn CU:
”corporations are not people” and “money is not free speech”
for four simple reasons and one – not so simple:
1
83% of Americans have already opposed CU in the ABC/Washington post poll and the above
IS THEIR POSITION ALREADY.
2
We don’t have to work to convince people on the validity of our position.
3
Simple is almost always better.
4
This simple Amendment is REQUIRED to overturn CU.
And all other electoral reform can be passed through the normal legislative process.
5
OWS and these pages are chock full of ( mostly ) excellent ideas to improve our country.
All of them have strong advocates – and some have strong opposition.
None of them has been “pre-approved” by 83% of Americans !
Pursuing this goal – without additional specifics is exactly what Americans want.
What do we want? Look at that almost endless list of demands – goals - aims.
Tax the rich. End the Fed. Jobs for all, Medicare for all. So easy to state! Can you imagine how hard it would be to formulate a “sales pitch” for any of these to convince your Republican friends to vote for any of them?
83% of Americans have ALREADY “voted” against CU. And 76% of the Rs did too.
All we have to do ask Americans is to pressure their representatives – by letters - emails – petitions.
Wanna take your family on vacation?
Convince your 7 year old to go to Mt Rushmore.
Then try to convince her to go to Disneyland.
Prioritizing this goal will introduce us to the world – not as a bunch of hippie radical anarchist socialist commie rabblerousers – but as a responsible, mature movement that is fighting for what America wants.
Ohio won. Arizona won. Maine won. Mississippi won -
I feel that using their tactics, and the tactics of the NRA, the AARP an the TP – who all represent a minority – who have successfully used their voting power to achieve their minority goals - plus the Prohibition Amendment tactics – bringing all sides together - is a straight path for us to success that cannot fail to enable us to create and complete one MAJORITY task. Read more: http://bit.ly/vK2pGI
Campaign Finance Reform. Boom.
Exactly. Hit 'em where it hurts. Take their influence out of our political system.