Forum Post: Do Not Read This. Stay disenpowered as long as possible!
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 10:03 p.m. EST by LobbyDemocracy
(615)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I am founding a lobbying organization for the exclusive purpose of representing the interests of the majority to their elected leaders on Capitol Hill. We will poll our membership to determine what issues we support. We are starting with no platform and no political association. Our sole purpose is to make sure that the voice of the majority is heard and respected on Capitol Hill. The process will not only guide what issues we pursue, but also provide us with the ammunition that we need to build a strong case. We will have real data related to the constituents of our elected leaders and they can either listen or be voted out. Check it out at www.lobbydemocracy.com.
i am a developer. if you need help with the site(free) hit me up holla@richardkentgates.com [php-php(gd)-javascript-html5-css3]
Do you live on the east coast? We actually just contracted to get the security set up for November 6th. We are looking to hire someone or a company to handle the whole shenangans sometime in mid to late November. The deal we just cut will keep us secure, but be a little limiting of our development.
hit my email for followup. i have questions about the security.
Done and done.
Lobby Democracy stands with our brothers and sisters in New York City. We wish that we could be there with you. You have inspired the nation to action. You have moved the minds and hearts of America. Whatever happens tomorrow, we will still be standing with you and carrying on.
We have added a flow chard to show how the organization is going to work. There is a link for it on the homepage. Check it out.
Agenda for today. We are composing a letter to the United States Senators and representatives to introduce them to the organization. It will be posted on the site in the next couple of hours. We are also drawing up a flow chart to help describe how the process of our organization will work. Please stop by and watch your lobbying organization grow and develop.
I am amased at how Occupy works. Would like to have your input on the movement to understaqnd it better. I am asking you to answer 10 questions and I am happy to share results if you are interested. Please, take some time for it: Thank you! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q3NF7QB
Although I think the surveying idea is helpful, the infrastructure for it needs to be much more intense. Rather than a random sampling, if you can control the data by registering all of the members it gives you statistically significant data that you can use to guide the path forward. That is what we are trying to achieve.
Agree. I am just at the start and this is what I could think of. At this stage trying to get the basics with a free app and 10 questions. Can you advice a better methodology here? Have some time to work on it.
From my understanding as someone who has been working on it for the last couple of months, you need to run a pretty large database to be able to do it. We are contracting a company to handle the secure login and maintain the database for us. Each response needs to be tied to an individual member. Those members need to be registered by address. You need to derive their congressional district from that address and then search the polls by congressional district. We are a little more than three weeks out from full launch. If you want to learn more check out www.lobbydemocracy.com
Thanks, will have a look and please you do my humble questionaire. Thanks!
Done and done. All data is good. Good data is just better.
Also looked at your site, it is not clear from the first site. Hard to believe the bio of the founders...
Completely true. We are just some normal people who wanted to make a change.
We now have our blog up and running. Check it out.
What's to prevent a rabid nutball (like myself) from getting seven or seventy different accounts and screwing up your polling data?
You would have to run around and use different ip addresses. You would also have to sign up using 60 different email accounts. You would have to pay your membership fee 60 times. I am not saying that it is completely impossible, I just think it is unlikely. The rich and powerful can have their voice heard on the hill already. By banding together we can get the same right.
I really, really share you desire to get, basically, a 4th branch of government, which would be direct democracy (or something close) viz social networking or the internet, I just think that the possibility of abuse is very, very high. And I think the rich and powerful would have no problem securing a means to abuse it.
I understand the concern. We will be putting a number of additional security features to guarantee the uniqueness of our members. I certainly understand the concern and we will be doing everything we can to prevent abuse.
For any one who is interested and missed it we have the republican presidential debate from last night up on www.lobbydemocracy.com. We have also posted The Steps to Non-Violent Revolution and the Convening of a National General Assembly that was released by OWS. Even though they released it, it is kind of hard to find the thread, so we thought we would post it publicly.
That's the last thing we need is another lobbyist. Isn't part of the problem?
Lobbyist for big business and special interest overpowering the interests of the majority is part of the problem. Using there methods to put the power back in the hands of the people is priceless.
Priceless for whom? There are thousands of lobbyists who represent "the People" What makes you diffident?
There are thousands of lobbyists that represent businesses and special interests. What makes us different is that we are not entering the process with a predetermined platform. We are letting the majority decide what is important.
But what if the majority is not in the best interest of the minority?
Besides constitutional protections, that is too bad for the minority.
So you are willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. Wow, you are very noble.
I am completely aware of the fact that the majority will not agree with me on everything that I think should be done. That is one of the drawbacks of a democracy. I would much rather have my ideas squashed by the majority than by the top 1% though.
This may be a good Idea. Not sure something as common as lobbying will work for us though, we are not rich. Instead of begging politicians to change I think WE should take their jobs and get up off our knees.
The vote is the ultimate weapon, but we must have a method to keep our elected leaders committed to their constituents between elections. That is the goal of our organization.
I wish you much luck. I hope that your experience and perspective enable your efforts to be of optimum impact to the shared cause of the 99%
Actually, as it turns out, that's what #OWS is doing. But hey, go for it. Saying "Stay disenpowered (sic--it's diseMpowered) as long as possible!" sounds pretty condescending. And you might wanna get a copyeditor, too...
Here's what #OWS is doing:
Here are the details:
"It is time to start the process of organizing and legitimizing this movement. This plan will include everyone but it needs to start somewhere and we propose OWS NYC on 10-15-12.* That is why the election of delegates and holding of a national general assembly or convention on July 4, 2012 must be organized. No calls for violence. No calls for the violent overthrow of the government.
For this to work, it must be a peaceful, legal, non-violent demand for change of the government by organizing and legitimizing our movement. Once organized and the delegates have been elected by direct ballot in all 435 districts. they must demand that our elected leaders take action. If they do not take action within one year of the demand, we will demand their mass resignations and that new elections be held so we can take back our democracy from the corporations and those who BUY power and influence with MONEY. Yes this includes unions and lobbyists." (source: http://occupywallst.org/forum/come-to-the-nyc-general-assembly-on-10-15-12-to-st/)
Draft petition for grievance (https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration)
WE, THE NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in order to form a more perfect Union, by, for and of the PEOPLE, shall elect and convene a NATIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY to meet beginning on July 4, 2012 in the City Of Philadelphia.
If I had any complaints about #OWS, it's that this agenda and plan of action isn't posted as official "News" and is posted by a lawyer who's working with them on drafting proposals.
I agree with you that the agenda should be posted. It is now up on my site at http://www.lobbydemocracy.com/OccupyNonViolentRevolution.html
Thank you for letting me know about the process, and your copy editing. The difference between what I am proposing and putting together a assembly is that I hope to keep the full electorate involved in the issues. We already have a governing body in this country. The problem is not that we are lacking representatives, it is that they are not listening to the American people. I wish you luck in the process and hope that you can be effective in your attempts. I apologize for the condescending nature of the post. Unfortunately, productive titles are not drawing participation, and this one has. I would love to get a copy editor, and as soon as I can afford one we will do so. I am currently attempting to tend to all of the needs of a budding organization, and clearly will have some failings along the way.
Well, I appreciate your civil tone (now). So, why not try to work with the #OWS rather than try to do something completely separate?
I do agree with your goals. I worked in Congress for many years and one thing that they need to do is to create "plain English" versions of legislation.
good luck.
www.groobiecat.blogspot.com
My site has been in development for ten months. I am not trying to undermine what occupy wall street is attempting to achieve. I think it has the possibility of leading to great things. I would happily work with OWS, but do not want to make my organization represent only people who associate themselves with the OWS. We embrace everyone who would like to have their voices heard. I posted on the feed that you linked to. I do think it is strange that information is not available on the news page of the organization. I also wrote to contact the organizers of both OWS and Occupy Together to see how we could help each other succeed. I wish you the best, and hope that one of our visions leads to great progress for our country.
So basically they took the idea of www.theOnlineGovernment.org that has been thought of for over a year?
By the way they is me, and I had no idea about your website or your ideas. We have been up and running since the beginning of January. We are well into the process of establishing ourselves. I am sorry that you feel that your toes have been stepped on, but we should be pulling together to fight together. I am glad that you think that it is a good idea, and hope you will get involved.
Just use the power for good and not evil please. I just create the idea, that was my only mission - my mission statement has been up for over a year. I don't have the resources to develop all the tools. You need a lot of development to do this right.
I am well aware of that. My partner and I have put in over 2000 man hours already. The direction that the organization goes is not in my control. I am simply here to create and maintain an infrastructure that will bring the voices of the people to their elected officials. If you would like to be involved in the process as we move forward please let me know. We are still a couple of months from hiring, but if you are interested, it is always good to have people who believe in the mission and would be happy to consider a place for you in the organization.
Sure I'll send you a private message on here with my email address. I will eventually be developing some tools that you could use. Right now I'm in the studying & review stage. Oh and your answer is exactly right - the role digital democracy should be only to accurately determine the opinion of it's constituents and represent them.
I smell co-option
That is the governments job. To hear the voice of the majority of it's people. "Of the people, by the people and for the people". I will not support outsourcing of our governments duty to it's citizens.
I will fight to make the government do its job!
I agree that it is the government's job. The government, however, has been failing to do their job. I am not trying to overturn or supersede the government in any way. I am simply trying to keep them true to the responsibilities that you mention.
I understand you are trying to help. And it may be very well intended. But I do not think this is the answer.
That is what we need, our own lobbyists. That is the only real way to get "face time" from the political class. http://sibob.org/wordpress/
Thanks for your support Bob.
You got it.
Stop calling them leaders, it only strokes their ego. They are OUR public servants.
I understand the sentiment there, I just hope for more out of our elected officials I know that I have not been given a lot of reason to do so, but leadership is possible and boy do we need some now.
Bumping this topic for great justice, and bookmarked. I'll take a real look in the morning, but even the idea of this is something I like.
Thank you for your support. We are getting pretty excited. We have put in over 2000 man hours getting ready for the membership launch November 6th. Both exciting and nerve racking to almost be off and running. Let me know if you have any questions. We are always looking for feedback.
Let me know more about your organization! I may be interested in doing an article on your group for my site! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Saturday-Night-Politics/194650163906116
Although you can find a lot of details about it via our website, I would be happy to chat with you about it sometime if that would be easier for you. We are working towards our big launch on November 6th. We have a conference call with the firm that will be handling our secure login and database today. Although it would be nice to have the site up in full force now we wanted to make sure that everyone's data is safe and secure.
That would be great. Is there someplace I can contact you?
contact me at evankendallbabcock@lobbydemocracy.com. I will give you my phone number there. Just don't want to post it here.
great thank you and I look forward to talking with you!
Just touching base with you. I have not heard from you by email, and wanted to let you know that I am available all day today if you would like to chat at some point.
Well I am actually a little busy today but I will send you an email latter to set something up.
Awesome. Just making sure that you knew I was accessible.
Thanks so much
We appreciate all of the activity that you have brought to our site. Lots of you have come to visit, but we would like to hear what you think. Does anyone have advice for us as we move through our last couple of weeks before the full launch?
This is a game that we can beat them at. Votes are the ultimate currency. In the wise words of Barney Frank "People are rightly upset about the role of big money in politics. And it’s true that big money will win if it’s got the field to itself. But if you get the average voter involved and engage the collective weight of public opinion you will kick big money’s ass."
For a very sad reality check, please take a look at how poorly my suggestion about voting was received:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/vote-or-else-this-will-all-be-a-pointless-exercise/
The responses are mostly creative rationalizations for not bothering to take the time to vote.
I think it is funny that my first thread that gained any activity was the one in which I told everyone not to read it. There is a lot of useless chatter on here, but in the midst of the chatter I think that we can find some serious solutions.
My thread on voting got zero attention too at first. I've been pasting the link around like a pamphlet and that's the only reason anybody even bothered to read it. The word "vote" doesn't interest most of the people around here. Nor does participating in our democracy, in general. Lobbying congress, for example. The mind-set around here is more focused on "demands", like union strikers, or hijackers.
I commented on your thread as well. I know that the conversation can be depressing. Yesterday I was concerned that this was all just a big show for nothing. Then you run across a couple of people who actually care, and actually want to change the way things work. I try to remember not to be discouraged by those who do not want to act and encouraged by those who do.
Yes, very good advice. Thank you.
Lets find all the people that do care, band together, and make this movement mean something.
I can't support this movement until it figures out what it stands for. I came here to find out what this movement is all about, and I've seen a lot of crackpot ideas that I could never support. 'Abolish money!' 'Move the US capitol to somewhere else!' 'Free education through college for all!' 'The government should guarantee everybody a job!' I'm waiting to see what issues this movement condenses around, if any. So far I don't see any movement toward anything substantial, and I see a lot of resistance to simply participating in the democratic process. I can't support stupidity.
You do not need to align yourself with the outrageous arguments. The part of the movement that I completely agree with and respect is the argument that the majority is being underrepresented. It is time that we stood up and made our voices heard. I was told recently in relation to the Republican argument that the Buffett Tax is class warfare, "Yes, it is. We already have class warfare though. It is not a new war. The majority finally decided to join the fight."
I don't know if it's going to be possible for me to support this if I fundamentally disagree with the underlying premise of all of it, which is to blame "them" for all of "our" problems. That's just not how I live my life.
You are talking to a life long liberal who is a big fan of Ayn Rand. I believe in a serious work ethic and making things better for yourself. That does not mean that you need to accept the current structure and inequalities. A slave might have a great work ethic, but that does not mean he should not fight for his freedom.
I fit that description as well and those are valid points. I'm waiting to see if this condenses around anything that I can support. From my point of view it's really not promising that I showed up here with suggestions for free job training for jobs that I currently have available, thinking that maybe somebody here might be interested in a job. Nope. And not only was nobody interested, they reacted by branding me as the enemy. I think that I can see now why so many of the people involved in this are unemployed.
I completely understand those frustrations. I think the involvement of the unemployed has more to do with the amount of free time that they have and their feelings of desperation than it does their inability or lack of desire to become employed. There is a certain distaste for businessmen and business women that is part of the organization that I also do not care for. What everyone needs to understand is that the small business owner is also in the 99%. The movement will gain power and strength if we can convince the rest of the top ten percent that the current policies are a disservice to them as much as they are a disservice to the bottom ten percent. What sense does it make for a small business owner to actually pay 35% when GE pays 0%. This is not just a movement about the unemployed and underemployed. It is a movement of the disenfranchised. Hopefully the nation will realize that term encompasses most of us.
This is a movement of people who are largely disenfranchising themselves, by boycotting democracy. And if you demographically filter a group down so that only the unemployed remain, people with a lot of time to accomplish nothing, then you end up with a group that's heavily slanted toward ineffective whining instead of effective action. Because if they were capable of effective action then they wouldn't be unemployed and camping out in a park for weeks like homeless people.
Have you ever had a homeless person ask you for a handout, and you offer them some food, and they turn you down? Something a lot like that happened to me here when I showed up with the idea that I might offer somebody here a job.
Once again, search for the positive and embrace that which works. I don't think either one of us needs to be reminded that a large segment of our society is under educated and uninformed. There are people who are smart, well spoken and thoughtful involved with this movement as well. If we take the energy and drive of those people we should be able to foment great change. I hope you do not give up hope on this movement or on our country. We need people like you to stay involved and help drive the direction of this movement.
I'm here because I haven't given up on my country, but I have largely given up on this movement to accomplish anything. But yes, you're a very effective positivity coach because you're very rational and realistic. You're right. I'm trying to remember to keep repeating the positivity mantra...
It would be a lot simpler to just vote:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/vote-or-else-this-will-all-be-a-pointless-exercise/
Voting is the ultimate weapon. If, however, we elect a senator who kowtowing to the interests of the 1% should we just wait six years and vote him out. I would like to make him responsible to his constituents every day, not just every 6 years.
I disagree. Lobbying is the problem, not the answer. That isn't a game that we the common people are going to be able to beat them at.
I think it is a game that we the people can and will beat them at. No one has ever tried to overcome the money of Capitol Hill with votes. Until now, the logistics of it was overbearing. But with all of the technological advances that we have we can collect great data and put together an agenda.
AmericanElect.org has already done this. What we need is a comprehensive strategy, and related candidate, that implements all our demands at the same time, and although I'm all in favor of taking down today's ineffective and inefficient Top 10% Management system of Business & Government, there's only one way to do it – by fighting bankers as bankers ourselves. Consequently, I have posted a 1-page Summary of the Strategic Legal Policies, Organizational Operating Structures, and Tactical Investment Procedures necessary to do this at:
http://getsatisfaction.com/americanselect/topics/on_strategic_legal_policy_organizational_operational_structures_tactical_investment_procedures
Join
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StrategicInternationalSystems/
if you want to be 1 of 100,000 people needed to support a Presidential Candidate – such as myself – at AmericansElect.org in support of the above bank-focused platform.
It is an interesting site, but its relation to Lobby Democracy is tangential. They are focused on the election. I am focused on conveying the perspectives of the majority to their elected leaders between elections.
Oh, my apologies then.
No worries. AmericanSelect, not AmericanElect is an interesting site and should be noticed. Check us out for between elections when you get a chance. Either that, or you can hear from us after you get elected.
In that case, if you will join my site personally (in the 2nd link above), then I promise to join yours when you open -- that is, if you agree with the strategy in my link. I'll likewise encourage my people to join with your people as well as AmericanSelect.
I will check out the strategy and see what I think.