Forum Post: Here's where you can effect REAL change !
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 2 p.m. EST by Rico
(3027)
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You're not going to change ANYTHING hanging out around Wall Street! If you want to be effective at CHANGING something, try and get the money out of politics.
Below are the top 20 Political Donors from 1989-2012 ( http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?order=A ). Put these figures on big signs and stick them in front of every television camera you see. Next, figure out WHO is getting all this money (also at opensecrets.com) and park yourselves in their district come election time !
ActBlue $55,093,735
Am Fedn of State, Cty & Mun Employees $45,820,853
AT&T Inc $41,660,404
National Assn of Realtors $40,020,510
Service Employees International Union $37,151,289
National Education Assn $36,433,925
American Assn for Justice $34,328,421
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $33,824,355
Laborers Union $31,640,067
American Federation of Teachers $31,342,403
Teamsters Union $30,858,309
Carpenters & Joiners Union $30,629,437
Communications Workers of America $29,952,424
American Medical Assn $27,490,855
United Auto Workers $27,344,832
United Food & Commercial Workers Union $27,094,834
National Auto Dealers Assn $26,762,492
Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union $26,747,874
United Parcel Service $24,667,293
American Bankers Assn $24,510,714
Interesting selection...where's the chamber of commerce and other non union?? As long as corporations put in money, I think it is justified for unions to do so as well...
Go to the link for the full list, I just grabbed the top 20.
It IS interesting that so many of the big ones are unions. I expected to see nothing but big corporations at the top of the list ! It doesn't matter. It's our VOTES that are supposed to guide Congress's actions, not the influence of these special interests.
They're all asking for SOMETHING, and they're using money to gain disproportionate influence over our Government. We can't start picking and choosing who we think can and can't try to influence the process based on whether we agree or disagree with them, It's ALL got to stop if the want Government to be responsive to US. If they have a CASE to make, let them make it to US, not try and influence things through backroom politics and money!
Agreed. But, I think that it would be suicidal to cut off the unions without cutting off business. All money should only come from individuals, and every donation should be limited to $100 per person. Including every method of fundraising from direct donations to dinners. Any individual who donates more pays a fine. The candidate who accepts pays a fine. Accepting more than three double donations get a huge fine, more than 10 gets the candidate disqualified.
How about federal election funding... period? If we make it so that $100 is OK, there ARE folks who will coerce GROUPS of people to contribute $100 each. Besides, there are a good number of folks who can't AFFORD $100, and they'd be a bit disenfranchised wouldn't they? It seems more fair to simply set up a Federal Election Fund. It would also be interesting to see candidates all have to compete with equal funding and COMPLETELY remove money from the mix.
Up point!
I think getting corporate influence out of government should be the #1 demand. I think we should seek consensus on this and announce it to the msm.
Man, if you guys can make THAT your focus, you've got MY support, and I'm not usually a "JOINER"
working on it... there are lots of voices... turns out pure democracy is a messy, time-consuming process
Really, you're working via undiluted democracy? That's got to be messy ! You're a better man than I !
consensus in the GAs. I'm working on this in Los Angeles.
My name is Anne. I am a 40 year old business owner and mother of three. I have things to say to the organizers of the Occupy Wallstreet Protests to keep the momentum going but I don't know how or who to contact. If you find the following of interest, please do what you can to spread the word. Thanks.
MY WORRY: when it gets cold, this important protest will fizzle. MY IDEA: that we organize via facebook/twitter and choose a date where we completely evacuate wall street....in otherwords, one day we are there, the next we're not...all over country, the protests stop on purpose. that would make a serious impact.
THEN: we stage targeted "boycotts" that are announced, again, via facebook/twitter. for instance, the entire 99% does not shop for only one day at a different place and this place changes every single day. (after all we are not trying to put anyone out of business or do harm but make a point and show our power.) for instance, monday no amazon NOT ONE DIME...tuesday no starbucks...wednesday no arco...etc. Again, the company does not matter. All companies are culpable, even the good ones, because they are all part of the Wallstreet Machine. Our goal is not to shut down the country, after all we want to employ people. But we will no longer feel like helpless consumers that have no choice but to buy the "company stores" product no matter what the price. We have a choice...let’s choose!
AND THEN, TO EXPLAIN OUR PURPOSE: we will calculate the amount of money a company lost by losing 99% of the country's business and say... "hey, that's a lot of money in just one day." Now let's compare that to the modest and FAIR amount of tax we'd like you to pay...or “how much is that compared to the insane bonuses you give your CEO” etc etc etc.
BECAUSE: we are not trying to screw anyone, we just demand fairness.
AND: the best way to achieve fairness is to REGULATE Wallstreet and modify the tax code (i.e. add a tax bracket for millionaires, scrap overseas tax havens, introduce a modest financial transaction tax, revamp the estate tax, end preferential treatment on capital gains tax)
AND IN THE END: this is a relatively painless thing for all. the rich will still be rich. the free market will still be free (just not allowed to be as corrupt) and ALL OF US will enjoy our American citizenry without so much contempt for each other.
AND TO END WITH A SLOGAN THAT MATTERS: "when we all do better, we all do better."
(duh)
PS If you think this could work please forward to as many people necessary and feel free to use any or all of my ideas to make this protest lead to positive policy change.