Forum Post: Central Goal of Protests should be to GET THE MONEY OUT of our politics!!!!
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 22, 2011, 9:57 p.m. EST by LSN45
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For decades now the corporations and special interests have had our "representatives" bought and paid for (both on the right and the left). Don't get distracted by the symptoms - we need to address the root cause. Concentrating our efforts on getting the money out of our politics is the best way we can create an environment in which further reforms can be realized. Until we end the current system of legalized bribery (campaign donations) and paid lobbying our politicians will continue to be the LAP DOGS of the corporations and special interests. What we need first and foremost is real, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!! If the corruption is not dealt with first, the chance of any other meaningful reforms becoming a reality is almost zero - the special interests will just use their money to buy votes and put forward bills that create loop-holes or otherwise twist the law in their favor. If we want our children to live in a country where there vote matters, we need to get the money out of our politics, otherwise they will increasingly become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." Spread the word - End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!! This is the core issue that can unite people from the left, right and center to form the kind of massive, unstoppable, majority-supported movement that will be needed to change such a powerful, deeply entrenched system of corruption, graft and greed. Even those on the far right, such as Palin & Bachman, are now using the term "crony capitalism" as a pejorative. This is truly an opportunity for unity and change. Lets join with those from the right and center and re-unite Americans from all ends of the political spectrum to demand the change that we all agree is needed. A "left wing only" movement is not large enough to defeat the extremely powerful forces of the political-financial status quo. Only a huge majority of unified citizens can win this one. We can argue our ideological differences AFTER we purge the corruption, graft and influence peddling from the system. Then, and only then, will we have a level playing field where ordinary citizens (the 99%) can once again have a voice in the political process. Most Americans agree on this central theme, regardless of our other ideological differences We need to seize this opportunity NOW and not blow it by forfeiting our collective power just because we may disagree on other issues.
Spread the word to all you come into contact with. If OWS would adopt this as one of the main messages of the protests it would be unstoppable. On a side note - I have no problem with people making lots and lots of money as long as they don't subvert our democracy and disenfranchise the American voter in the process. For the sake our our children and future generations of Americans, we need to take back our democracy from the rich and powerful who are using their vast sums of money to "speak" as if they represent millions of Americans. They are twisting our laws and manipulating our policies in their favor at the expense of the average American. The $50 or $100 a normal American may give to a political campaign becomes meaningless when corporations or other special interests are handing our millions to buy political access to the decision making process. We don't need "Wealth distribution," what we need is "Political Influence Redistribution" and that is what real CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM can bring about (that said, some wealth redistribution would happen automatically as the special interests lose their ability to pervert our laws in their favor).