Forum Post: FOCUS. The Laws Enable the Banks and Wall Streeters to Perpetuate the Problem . Fix the Laws, Fix the Cuase!
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 17, 2011, 4:40 p.m. EST by tesn1
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Fix the Laws, Fix the Cuase!
There are many misguided efforts, and it seems that the OWS movement has become a platform for just about any concern. A movement needs to focus and be very clear on what it seeks to accomplish.
I have spent nearly 4 years researching and educating myself on the laws and rules that make up the basis on how business is financed and how the rules affect business and the individuals who own them and work for them.
First let me say that this problem is not liberal or conservative, democrat or republican but it is a common problem we all share. One key point must be stressed we are all affected by the issue at hand.
Now, let’s look at the laws. If you look at the fall of the exchange in 1929, its cause and the reaction by the government you will find most of the problem. In 1929 only ~10% of all businesses were public and the remainder was private. ~2% of the population were involved in trading stocks and most of the individuals we very heavily leveraged (They bought on credit).
Next the market dropped, individuals lost their ability to pay off their margin accounts and wiped out the capital overnight in the banking system, Couple that with the hysteria of the people running on the banks to get there gold out and you have a recipe for disaster.
For most they were not initially affected by the falls of the exchange in 1929 but when banks failed they felt it. Businesses lost credit to operate, accounts were wiped out and small private business failed. No fault of their own but the fault of the overzealous banks. Individuals found there savings wiped out alongside the private businesses and the world plunged into the abyss.
The reaction to this was FDR. and the 1933 securities act and the 1934 securities and exchange act. What these two pieces of legislation did was strip the ability of the small private business (who did not cause the market collapse) to raise capital in a traditional form, Bonds. Direct investment was for many years the mainstay of the entrepreneur. It put the restrictions on who could invest (Qualified institutional investor) and how the investments could be sold. It stripped the ability of the individual to invest and make the high returns they became accustomed to and placed all of it into the hands of the very few 1%.
Today if you are a business owner there is a glass ceiling of about $3 million dollars where a business could potentially get debt to expand, retool, or modernize. The Wall Street and Banks prefer an Equity offering. How often do small business owners sell the majority share of the company they own under a public offering or private sale (sale to high net worth’s) to raise the capital they need. The horror stories of this arrangement are very clear. They give up control, get voted out of the company and the new share holders shut them down move the product manufacture to China to maximize the return to the High Net Worth investor (new owner).
The laws perpetuate the problem. Now remove the Glass-Steagall Act and it becomes a high net worth orgy.
Focus, access the laws, and fix the system that perpetuates the behavior.
FIX THE LAWS
I Reversed the Letters in Cause for a Reason. OWS is a Cause with no focus and the Cause of our problems is a reversal of what should be.
1. END THE FEDERAL RESERVE.
Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution gives power to Congress to “coin money and regulate the value thereof.” John F. Kennedy was the last President that attempted to restore this power back to where it belonged. The Federal Reserve is a private bank that is owned by powerful international banking families. The “Federal Reserve” is as “Federal” as is “Federal Express.”
2. END THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX AND THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.
Adopt a Federal value added tax (VAT) OR a flat tax that is fair to all.
A VAT would fairly tax all individuals and corporations based on consumption with unprepared food and medicines being exempted from taxation. Those who can afford to purchase a luxury yacht, a private jet, a mansion with an ocean view and lavish dining at an exquisite restaurant would pay a much higher amount in consumption taxes whereas those who can only afford a picture of a yacht, a round-trip airline ticket to go to visit grandma for Christmas, a studio apartment with a parking lot view and an occasional meal at McDonalds would pay much lower taxes for their consumption. It would take very few federal employees to administer this form of taxation.
A flat tax would tax all individuals and corporations at the same percentage of their income with no deductions and no exemptions, regardless of how the income is derived. A federal tax return, regardless of the amount of income should be no longer than one page and the corresponding regulations should be no longer than 25 to 30 pages.
Either one of these forms of taxation would serve to eliminate lobbyists and corrupt politicians.
3. END ALL WARS AND ALL FOREIGN OCCUPATIONS THAT UTILIZE OUR MILITARY.
Our military should continue to be the best and most well equipped in the world but should be utilized to protect our borders from illegal invaders. Bring the troops home and see how quickly we can begin to reduce our federal debt.
4. IMPOSE SUBSTANTIAL TARIFFS ON GOODS AND SERVICES THAT ARE PRODUCED BY U.S. CORPORATIONS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES.
The United States is still the biggest market in the world. U.S. Corporations that have manufacturing operations in China, Mexico, India and other countries so as to exploit lower labor costs should be required to pay high tariffs to sell their products in the United States. I have no doubt that most of those manufacturing jobs would move back to the United States if those high tariffs were to be imposed! Let’s once again be proud of the “MADE IN THE U.S.A.” label on products that we use!
Destruction of the two party stranglehold on our government should be the PRE-EMINENT FOCUS of Occupy Wall St.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Occupy Wall Street should be dedicated to destroying BOTH the Republican and Democratic parties' subversion and usurpation of our government. It is clear, from decades of corruption, that those who wish to subvert this country can easily do so by corrupting and controlling the two political parties. You can't conquer the United States, but you CAN corrupt the two parties. That is the secret of the subversion and its core. The parties then act as gatekeepers to keep all but the corrupt and crooked out of politics. That is how this country was screwed over.
Once these two parties' hidden monopoly is exposed, punished and destroyed, Americans should never again let so few parties control the Congress. The more parties or individuals in Congress, the better. It may be messy and confusing, but no one can buy every single politician the way they can two political parties.
Anarchy is not where you want to go. Detroy the parties, ok but unsurp the government and you have rule by the gun. Think about your choice. Fix the law is clear, and applies to many areas. I agree with allowing other parties access to the ballot process, but ultimately we need and orgainized effort, and clear defined thought and focus.
The Usurpation has already taken place. That is what the Republicans and Democrats have done...got it? I am not suggesting Anarchy either, but adherence to the Constitution - the way it was meant to be practiced. Elections should be free and open, not controlled by two political parties. Let each congressional district in this country vote for whomever shows themself to be honest and politically astute within the district.