Forum Post: NO to The99PercentDeclaration

While the 99Percent Declaration has good intent, there are too many political requests thrown in there that make it no longer a representation of the majority of the 99%. We HAVE to keep such a declaration ONLY to items that can be agreed on by at least 80% of the 99%. I would suggest amendment to something like...

1. POLITICAL SYSTEM –

a) Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts to all politicians in federal office from Corporations, Political Action Committees, Super Political Action Committees, Lobbyists, Unions and other private sources of money to be replaced by the fair and equal public financing of all political campaigns. It has become clear that politicians in the United States cannot regulate themselves and have become the exclusive representatives of corporations and the very wealthy who spend vast sums of money on their campaigns and ensure their reelection.

b) Prohibiting all public officials, whether elected or appointed from EVER being employed by any corporation they regulate while in office.

c) A complete lifetime ban on accepting all gifts, services, money, directly or indirectly, to any elected or appointed officials from any person, corporation, union or other entity that the public official was charged to regulate while in office.

d) The immediate reversal of the "Citizens United" case by the Supreme Court which equates the payment of money by corporations to politicians with free speech.

1. TAXES AND JOBS –

a) A complete reformation of the United States Tax Code to require all citizens to pay a fair share of a progressive, graduated income tax by eliminating loopholes, unfair tax breaks, exemptions and deductions, subsidies (e.g. oil, gas and farm) and ending all other methods of evading taxes.

b) IMPLEMENTATION OF A MAXIMUM WAGE LAW LIMITING THE MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE WAGE TO BE TIED TO A MULTIPLE OF THE MINIMUM WAGE.

c) Tax incentives to businesses to reconstruct the manufacturing capacity of the United States and

d) Reinstitution of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps and other emergency governmental agencies required to create new public works projects to provide jobs to the 46 million people living in poverty, the 9.1% unemployed and 10% underemployed.

1. NATIONAL BUDGET –

a) Passage of a balanced budget amendment to the United States Constitution even if it requires a federal consumption tax, extension of the social security retirement age and/or reduction in social security benefits to individuals who can afford a reduction based upon means testing.

b) Adoption of an immediate plan to reduce the national debt to a sustainable percentage of GDP by 2020.

1. MILITARY –

a) REDUCTION OF THE NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL U.S. MILITARY BASES TO 6 and recalling all military personnel at all non-essential bases created at the end of World War Two and during the Cold War

b) Refocusing national defense goals to address threats posed by the geopolitics of the 21st century, terrorism and the large scale deployment of military forces with Congressional approval to counter the Military Industrial Complex's goal of perpetual war for profit.

c) An immediate withdrawal of all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and a substantial increase in the amount of funding needed for veteran job placement and to treat the physical and emotional injuries sustained by veterans in these wars who are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate.

1. INTERNATIONAL TRADE –

a) Implementing immediate legislation to FORCE China and our other trading partners to end currency manipulation or impose a consumption tax on goods that those countries export to the United States calculated by comparing the fair market value of the currency to the manipulated valuation.

1. FINIANCIAL REFORM –

a) Immediate reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932 and the commencement of criminal investigations into the Securities and Banking industries pertaining to the collapse of markets and financial firm failures in 2007-2008.