Forum Post: voter registration and congress
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 18, 2011, 2:44 p.m. EST by FelixNova
(8)
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I have been thinking alot about why Congress is acting as if this protest movement isn't important. Sure there has been different dialog because of OWS but Congress hasn't changed there votes. Something I read made sence to me in an article written in some investing magazine....Congress doesnot believe OWS votes, and will not turn out for the 2012 election. That OWS is mostly 18-24 and that they arent rregistered or don't turn out to vote. I am not saying this is true but something rang a bell and that was...voters are a threat to them (Congress) not protesters. So I thought it would be a good idea to have some type of voter registration...desk, link from this site, strategy, something that is clear that we are the 99% and we will vote. This is not to commit to one candidate this is to commit to voting and following through with walking the talk. When Congress sees that OWS are registering to vote eventually this will impact them.
Actually my instinct is OWS was construed to ensure all those involved do not vote.
And it wont surprise me if this 'platform' emerges as it gets closer to the election.
A great diversion of sorts. Time will tell.
TO FelixNova:
Well said. Your right.
The solution to the jaundiced perspective of Congress is for every OWS rally to include a voter registration drive. Get as many people registered as possible. Be very visible about it. Get on the TV cameras asking people to vote.
TO iconoclast :
Direct voting requires years of well organized and expensive political activity in all fifty states. And the support of the Democrats and Republicans who benefit from the current corrupt system. They have no reason to want to change it.
We do have direct democracy, with the Write-In option on the ballot. It can be done without any of the billions of Wall Street's corrupt dollars. We simply need to get candidates that we like and promote them vocally and publicly. Creatively use the Internet. Use letters to the papers. Use the forums on newspaper web site. Create web pages using the free home page space that your ISP gives most people.
This is available to us now. Its free and its easy.
Great point! I think it can be effective because it is not directing people who to vote for, but simply to vote. There is a great deal of voter suppression out there right now, so this also is a statement to that. The point you raise about the publicity is essential to its success, 1) more people register 2) Congress and everybody knows about it through the media. Using any and all media to broadcast the fact that droves of people are registering to vote @ OWS around the country will not only cause Congress to "look up" but inspire all kinds of mobilization.
Exactly!
We can take this democracy back from the corrupt parties and their Wall Street duopoly dollars. People power and creative new ways to use the existing system are the answer for the here and now.
OWS has tremendous people power. Those of us who care about the democracy should take it on ourselves to fight past the mass disaffection that is represented by too many OWS supporters by printing out a lot of Voter Registration forms offer them to people at OWS rallies and then get them to the offices where they should go. They have to go to country voting offices so we have to be willing to send them by some mail form that gives us proof back that they received the forms so the Democrats and Republicans can't fuck with the forms.
National Mail Voter Registration Form -- English http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/national%20mail%20voter%20registration%20form%20english%20February%2015%202011.pdf
Formulario nacional de inscripción de votantes -- Spanish http://www.eac.gov/assets/1/Documents/national%20mail%20voter%20registration%20form%20spanish%20january%2031%202011.pdf
Here are PDF's for the National Mail-in Voter Registration Form in English and Spanish. There are other languages also here: http://www.eac.gov/voter_resources/register_to_vote.aspx
The national form is a massive pain in the ass with its unnecessary multi-page bureaucracy. Better is to get forms for the state where you are and any states close by. The best thing when people take one is to ask them to take it to their county elections office. Or you collect them and mail them in to the offices.
Scare the shit out of the Democrats and Republicans, register and vote them out of office. Organize and oppose them with Write-In alternative candidates. All that it takes is a strong desire to take our democracy back from the corrupt Wall Street duopoly dollars that buy the two parties today.
Have you noticed that some states have changed their voting laws? The gob has been busy so that half the 99's won't be able to vote. I think that should be one of ows demands NOW to stop these states from making it harder or even impossible for people to vote.
I agree!
We need direct democracy to bypass the politicians, the banks and Wall Street. "When the government fears the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."
The National Initiative empowers us to check and balance representatives, similar to ballot initiatives in 24 States, but at all levels from local to national and with major improvements. It gives us a "Plan B" whenever representatives don't represent us. Torture, perpetual wars and debt, domestic spying and bailouts for the rich do not represent us. People tried to get this power from Congress, both in 1907 and 1977, with no success. Rather than beg the existing 13 Legislatures to ratify the Constitution, the Founders had delegates of The People ratify the Constitution at the Constitutional Conventions. James Madison said "The people were in fact, the fountain of all power, and by resorting to them, all difficulties were got over." Please spread the word: http://vote.org/
do u mean a federal ballot initiative? or a state or both? I am very interested in the notion of amending the constitution to limit campain finance and create public finance of elections.
Dear FelixNova, Both of those are great ideas. When i say go around, I mean both ... vote.org has a good notion of how to do this, and so do the Young Turks ... in Colorado a referendum passed limiting the rights of corporations ... notice how the media censored this very important news!!!! Power to the people and fuck fascist oppression! This referendum denies free speech rights to corporations, thereby limiting campaign finance from corporations ... even sensible libertarians would likely agree that corporations should have no legal rights or the right to limit liability. Limiting liability creates moral hazard (in economic speak). If a national referendum method were adopted and this question came up again, the majority of Americans tired of getting pillaged would say a big fuck you to corporatism: http://current.com/1i7aikc
I used to think the struggle should be waged from the outside ... but the truth is that the fight must be waged on all fronts ... it is not just that we are marginalized outside of the establishment, but war is waged on us on numerous fronts: ideologically, economically, educationally, socially, institutionally, psychologically, militarily, through devaluation of the dollar, through monopolies like the AMA (the US Supreme Court ruled that AMA violated Sherman Anti-trust law, of which health insurance companies are exempt from), etc. Thus why should we choose only path to respond?
www.umich.edu/~umforum/Issue2/Issue2-p11.pdf
One question every citizen in the world must ask oneself, what is our goal? Consider Karl Marx, who took up the question of human emancipation. It was the question of human emancipation as distinct from political emancipation on which Karl Marx distinguished himself from Bauer and other radical Hegelians:
"Marx makes one of the most enduring arguments from his early writings, by means of introducing a distinction between political emancipation — essentially the grant of liberal rights and liberties — and human emancipation. Marx's reply to Bauer is that political emancipation is perfectly compatible with the continued existence of religion, as the contemporary example of the United States demonstrates. However, pushing matters deeper, in an argument reinvented by innumerable critics of liberalism, Marx argues that not only is political emancipation insufficient to bring about human emancipation, it is in some sense also a barrier. Liberal rights and ideas of justice are premised on the idea that each of us needs protection from other human beings. Therefore liberal rights are rights of separation, designed to protect us from such perceived threats. Freedom on such a view, is freedom from interference. What this view overlooks is the possibility — for Marx, the fact — that real freedom is to be found positively in our relations with other people. It is to be found in human community, not in isolation. So insisting on a regime of rights encourages us to view each other in ways which undermine the possibility of the real freedom we may find in human emancipation. Now we should be clear that Marx does not oppose political emancipation, for he sees that liberalism is a great improvement on the systems of prejudice and discrimination which existed in the Germany of his day. Nevertheless, such politically emancipated liberalism must be transcended on the route to genuine human emancipation. Unfortunately, Marx never tells us what human emancipation is, although it is clear that it is closely related to the idea of non-alienated labour" http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
sorry linked my reply wrong....what about an amendment to the constitution about campain finance? Is it similar to ballot initiative approach? what do you think?
thanx for your post, I really appreciate the Marx. I do agreee we need all the help we can get and that corporations have too much power. I do not think I am ready for Marx's vision, I need laws to limit corporate power, I need laws to protect myself and others, and create boundaries. The human race is not ready for self regulation that is what I think you were describing Marx as saying. Defending oneself is showing self love, I think that is what the 99ers are doing to. Perhaps we are speaking of the same thing...so as 4 ballot initiative, I have to admit I do not understand the process enough to make an informed decision that is why I asked you the questions I did.
ps thanx 4 the citing, do you think we can spread this through enough states to change the supreme court ruling, and maybe pass an amendment concerning campaign finance?