It’s actually very simple; we want the influence of money removed from the political process so that the 99 percent who are not in a position to grease the hands or our legislators feel that we are getting our voices heard in Congress, and we want to have our sense of confidence in our government restored — to know that they are working for the benefit of society as a whole, and not just to enrich themselves and the corporations and major donors to their reelection campaigns.
Aside from "Sleep-Ins" and street-takeovers, how are we going to actually see any changes to the status quo happen in Washington? Any of the below actions would be a great place to start.
We have a lot of fiscal housecleaning to do! So let's get to it. ...
Action Items
► Support an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to expressly exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons.
What is this? Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has introduced House Resolution 90 in an effort to begin the process of banning corporate money in politics and end corporate personhood via an Amendment to the United States Constitution. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Senate version (as yet unnumbered). Both Amendment Resolutions read:
SECTION 1.What can you do? Call Representative Deutch at (202) 225-3001, and Senator Bernie Sanders at (202) 224-5141, and thank them for introducing these Resolutions and offer your support. Then contact your Representatives in the House and Senate and tell them to sign on as co-sponsors of these Resolutions.
The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state.
SECTION 2.
Such corporate and other private entities established under law are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of the press.
SECTION 3.
Such corporate and other private entities shall be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.
SECTION 4.
Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.
Congressman Deutch and Senator Sanders have also set up websites with petitions to show your support for this amendment: House Amendment petition: theoccupiedamendment.org. Senate Amendment petition: Saving American Democracy Amendment. Please add your name to them both and share them with everyone you know!
► Contact your Representatives in the House and Senate
► Click Here to return to the list of Action Items.
► The STOCK Act—Make H.R.1148 and S.2038 the law
What are H.R.1148 and S.2038? The Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, aka the STOCK Act of 2012, "prohibit[s] commodities and securities trading based on nonpublic information relating to Congress, to require additional reporting by Members and employees of Congress of securities transactions, and for other purposes."
The intent of these bills is to hold those we elect to Congress to the exact same standards as every other citizen of the United States and make the "insider trading" that they've been getting away with for years now, a criminal offense, exactly as it is for everyone else.
Democrats Louise Slaughter of New York and Tim Walz of Minnesota have introduced the House version of this bill every year for the past 4 years, but until the 99 percent were clued in to the shenanigans Congress has been getting away with behind our backs in a "60 Minutes" exposé, no more than 14 out of 435 members of Congress were willing to step up and do the right thing and not enrich themselves with insider information the rest of us weren't privy to. That needs to end now.
What can you do? Check the links above to see if your representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of these bills. If they have not, call them and tell them you expect them to do so right away. Or at the very least agree to a 'Yes' vote when it comes to the floor.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is introducing legislation that would, in addition to enabling the Securities and Exchange Commission to prosecute cases of insider trading by members of Congress, also make such trading a violation of the House and Senate rules. Watch this space for an update to the bill number and other related information.
UPDATE 01/31/2012: The Senate voted 93-2 today for cloture to proceed with debate on this bill.
Senators Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., voted against the motion. Five senators did not vote: Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Mark Kirk, R-Ill., Mary Landrieu, D-La., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
Keep the pressure on ...
► Contact your Representatives in the House and Senate
► Click Here to return to the list of Action Items.
► End Subsidies For The Rich & Famous
What subsidies would those be? Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) released a report this week that outlines billions of lost revenue for the United States in the form of subsidies and giveaways to the super-wealthy in this country. He writes (emphasis mine):
The government safety net has been cast far and wide, with almost half of all American households now receiving some form of government assistance. But most taxpayers will be asking why when they learn who is receiving what.What are we subsidizing exactly, and at what cost?
From tax write-offs for gambling losses, vacation homes, and luxury yachts to subsidies for their ranches and estates, the government is subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Multimillionaires are even receiving government checks for not working. This welfare for the well-off – costing billions of dollars a year – is being paid for with the taxes of the less fortunate, many who are working two jobs just to make ends meet, and IOUs to be paid off by future generations.
This is not an accidental loophole in the law. To the contrary, this reverse Robin Hood style of wealth redistribution is an intentional effort to get all Americans bought into a system where everyone appears to benefit. ...
We should never demonize those who are successful. [aside: that is not what Occupy or the 99% are doing. G-d love the rich; more power to 'em. But ...] Nor should we pamper them with unnecessary welfare to create an appearance everyone is benefiting from federal programs. ...
The government’s social safety net, which has long existed to catch those who are down and help them get back up, is now being used as a hammock by some millionaires, some who are paying less taxes than average middle class families. Comprehensive information on the full range of government benefits enjoyed by millionaires has never been collected previously. This report provides the first such compilation. What it reveals is sheer Washington stupidity with government policies pampering the wealthy costing taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
- $74 million in unemployment checks.
- $21 billion in gambling losses.
- $9 billion in Social Security Retirement Benefits.
- $316 million in farm subsidies.
- $89 million for preservation of ranches and estates.
- $75.6 million in residential energy tax credits.
- $18.15 million in child care tax credits.
- $16 million in government backed education loans to attend college.
- $7.5 million to compensate for damages caused by emergencies to property that should have been insured.
"On average, each year, this report found that millionaires enjoy benefits from tax giveaways and federal grant programs totaling $30 billion."
Read the full list at the link above. It will astound you.
What can you do? Call your legislators and tell them you want to see an end to tax subsidies for millionaires and billionaires who do not need them to survive. They can afford child care without government assistance. They can afford periods of unemployment without government assistance. They can afford private insurance on their property to cover damages caused by disasters. These and many other expenses are out of the reach of many families in the 99 percent. These types of credits and deductions were not designed with millionaires and billionaires in mind, but for those truly in need. Save them for the truly needy and stop lining the pockets of the already wealthy with government money they do not need.
► Tell your Representatives in the House and Senate that above a certain threshold, these credits and deductions should be disallowed.
► Click Here to return to the list of Action Items.
► Demand the repeal of Gramm-Leach-Bliley and the return of the rules contained in Glass-Steagall.
What are Gramm-Leach-Bliley and Glass-Steagall (the Banking Act of 1933)? First, a little history:
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, bankers and brokers were sometimes indistinguishable. Then, in the Great Depression after 1929, Congress examined the mixing of the "commercial" and "investment" banking industries that occurred in the 1920s. Hearings revealed conflicts of interest and fraud in some banking institutions' securities activities.Sound familiar?
Basically speaking, Glass-Steagall (for Senator Carter Glass (D–VA) and Congressman Henry B. Steagall (D–Ala.-3)) effectively put a wall of separation between investment banking institutions that issued securities, and commercial banks that accepted deposits. Why is that important? Prior to its repeal, a bank that loaned you money to buy a house in the form of a mortgage, could not bundle that mortgage up with other mortgages, some of which were safe and some of which were not, turn them into securities and sell them to investors who would hold those investments in vehicles such as 401k plans and pension plans.
Gramm-Leach-Bliley (for Phil Gramm (R-TX), Jim Leach (R-IA), and Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. (R-VA)), was the legislation signed into law in 1999 by President Clinton that repealed Glass-Steagall. We all know what happened next.
Reinstating the rules that existed under Glass-Steagall would go a long way towards ridding this country of banks and financial institutions that are "too big to fail," and would prevent the kind of underhanded trickery they played with the market that led to the collapse and recession of 2008.
What can you do? CALL your Representatives in Congress and demand that they support H.R. 1489, the "Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011, introduced by Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and currently languishing in committee. If your Representative is one of the 55 current co-sponsors, call them and thank them for their support.
► Contact your Representatives in the House and Senate
► Click Here to return to the list of Action Items.
► Oppose granting Civil and Criminal Immunity to Banks and Wall Street.
What is this? There is currently a deal being brokered between the Department of Justice and all 50 states' Attorneys General, to agree to accept monetary compensation in exchange for granting immunity from further investigation, charges or penalties to the financial institutions whose reckless behavior caused the financial collapse of 2008.
To date, Attorneys General in Delaware, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, California and Kentucky have all come out in opposition of this "grand bargain."
What can you do? There are currently two actions that are being undertaken; a petition presented by the above-mentioned Attorneys General that they will present to the remaining states' Attorneys General, and a petition to support a House Resolution in Congress, sponsored by Wisconsin Democrat, Tammy Baldwin.
The AGs' statement:
"Today's economic crisis was caused by Wall Street acting improperly. Every American has paid the price -- with families losing their homes, investors losing their money, and many Americans losing their jobs. There should be absolutely no criminal or civil immunity given to banks for activity that has not yet been investigated."Click Here to sign the petition.
Representative Baldwin's Resolution is H. CON. RES. 85, and is "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the proposed settlement between the Department of Justice, the State attorneys general, and mortgage servicers regarding mortgage fraud and the economic crisis."
It currently sits in Committee with only
29 co-sponsors
43 co-sponsors now (this is what community action can accomplish!). Check the list of co-sponsors and call your Representative in Congress and either ask them to sign onto this Resolution or thank them if they already have.
And Click Here to be a citizen co-signer of the Resolution, stating:
"Congressional Resolution: Banks "who engaged in fraudulent behavior should not be granted criminal or civil immunity for potential wrongdoing related to illegal mortgage and foreclosure practices...the Federal Government and State attorneys general should proceed with full investigations into claims of fraudulent behavior by the banks"► Click Here to return to the list of Action Items.
► Demand Workplace Safety, Worker Protection & Labor Law Compliance
Currently, legal compliance with U.S. labor laws may as well be optional for all the good they do. There is extremely insufficient protection for employees who use apropriate channels to report noncompliance and violations of EEO, OSHA, public safety, ADA, fraud and corruption in both government and corporate workplaces.
These are not rare occurrences and can often have serious consequences. For instance, the AFL-CIO reports:
Every day, 16 workers go to work and don’t come home. They are killed on the job. But far too often, employers that have created or ignored dangerous workplace conditions are not held accountable. Civil penalties are weak and criminal prosecutions rare.At a House Hearing this past spring, Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO director of health and safety, testified:
The maximum penalty for a serious violation that injures or even kills a worker is $7,000, and $70,000 for willful and repeated violations. But those are rarely assessed. The average penalty for a serious OSHA violation is less than $1,000, and the average penalty when a worker is killed is $11,300.And only employees who can afford lawyers have a chance of recourse. Most lawyers will not take cases on contingency, even if complaining employees can prove employer noncompliance with labor and other laws. When there is rare justice, it comes years later - often after retaliatory unlawful termination and great damage to health, families, and finances.
What can you do? Together with the AFL-CIO, Brave New Films has created a website, 16deathsperday.com, in support of H.R. 190, The Protecting America’s Worker’s Act.
Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 190)Visit their site to view their video, learn more about the legislation and why it’s necessary, and donate to help them continue the fight to see this bill become law.
This law will modernize with composite “best practices” the Occupational Safety and Health Act – an extremely weak law that governs more cases than all other whistleblower statutes combined. The Act has been introduced in the House, and GAP will continue to work with the House Education and Labor Committee to include a strong and thorough whistleblower protections. This legislation has not been introduced in the Senate.
Check the status at opencongress.org to see if your Representative is one of this bill’s 40 co-sponsors. If they are, call and thank them. If they are not, call and ask them to add their support.
Please also add your name to the petition below, demanding swift action, enforcement of retaliation and whistleblower protections, and classification of violations of these laws as prosecutable crimes.
► Sign the Demand Legal Compliance in U.S. Workplaces petition!
► Contact your Representatives in the House and Senate
► Click Here to return to the list of Action Items.
Thanks go out to Denise Romano for the addition of this Action Item. You can follow Denise on Twitter at @deniseromano
These are just the first Action Items in what will become a fuller list of concrete steps you can take to start making a real difference in our fight for the 99 percent and the future of the country. Please let us know in the comments section what else you would like to see included here.
Be sure to come back for updates and additions.
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~ Anne Frank
#Gratitude and thanks to @A_ThinkingGirl for her contributions to this page.
SOURCES AND RECOMMENDED READING
▶ Senators introduce "STOCK Act" to stop "insider trading" in Congress ~ By Stephanie Condon at CBSNews
▶ Text and Information on H.R.1148 ~at opencongress.org
▶ Subsidies For The Rich & Famous ~ By Senator Tom Coburn
▶ Nevada AG Targets Robo-Signers in 606 Count Indictment ~ By Caroline Bleakley at 8NewsNow.com
▶ Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail? ~ By Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone Magazine
Your LINK to Bernie Sanders proposed Constitutional Amendment to get money out of politics does not seem to work. I am trying to find a working title for it so I can ask my senators to co-sponsor it.
ReplyDeleteGREAT WORK | Super BLOG!