Manifesto
We, the People, hereby invoke our First Amendment Right; the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Having exhausted all of the other tools available within the Constitution of the United States; we have no further regress to consider, beyond our means in keeping with peace and nonviolence, than to amend the Constitution or to consider it completely dissolved.
Knowing full well that changes of the magnitude and reach proposed here will require a unified proletariat engaging in civil disobedience beyond any scale that has ever been seen before in the history of the United States. We, stand united, in our unwavering conviction. Until the legislation presented here is fully enacted we will begin a general strike and then march and rally upon the steps of our own Capitol on the 5th of November 2011 and shall not cease until our grievances are resolved.We cannot expect Congress to reform themselves, so we the people will do it for them.
Our fore fathers knew well that "..power corrupts, and society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.."and so too does the perception of impropriety. This is is what inspired these men, to ensure that American Democracy should be protected from plutocracy when proposing limits on elected public servants lest they be beholden to special interests and not their constituents.
U.S. Constitution - Article 1 Section 9
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State.
The modern world in which we inhabit is for all purposes devoid of vast monarchist rule. Our forebears lived in a dramatically different age and time when wealth and with it power, was concentrated amongst a royal oligarchy. Although our age and time may be different and the role of "titles of nobility" or "royalty" have been effectively dismantled; the concentration of wealth and power still resides within a select few plutocratic oligarchy. Effectively, this new "royalty" exists because of wealth and the concentration of wealth.
Clearly the words were written for their day but the spirit of those words still live and must be defined in a modern world. The modern translation should read, be amended and ratified as follows:
"...no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, MONIES, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, foreign state, Political Action Committee, corporation, firm, union, association, university, charity or any other business entity."
It has become increasingly alarming and quite clear that our elected public servants no longer serve the best interests of their constituents but rather these few plutocratic corporate oligarchs. Although there are some, albeit very few; good, decent and honest public servants; the vast majority of Congressional members serve at the behest of this plutocracy purely for the purposes of re-election.
Reflecting upon this, we, as united citizens, are left with no further recourse than to reign in this plutocratic oligarchy and return this, the grandest of experiments, to the original Democracy our Constitution envisioned. Although the times and age have changed dramatically and many of the sins of our past have been rectified we must still, and forever, continually strive to better, not only ourselves, but also our Democracy and keep with the spirit of those original words and amend our founding document like every generation has before it.
Therefore we demand that the following Bills and Constitutional Amendments be enacted immediately and signed into law:
Congressional Reform -
1. Term Limits - Members of Congress may serve a total of 12 years in any combination of the House and the Senate. If a member of Congress has already served 12 years then he/she is no longer eligible for re-election.
2. Truth Stands Alone - All Members of Congress are certainly entitled to their own opinions but they are not entitled to their own facts. They have a moral obligation to present the truth and facts to their constituents. If any Member of Congress, in any forum, presents false, inaccurate or misleading information as fact, without duly resolving the record in a timely fashion, will be fined 10% of their annual salary and will then be forced to publicly clear the record and present the facts or scientific/academic consensus knowledge as they are known.
3. Congressional members and their staff are hereby banned from discussing any legislation or proposed legislation with lobbyists outside the halls of Congress under transcription. Any correspondence/email/verbal conversation with a lobbyist or their staff will be transcribed and posted online for citizens to review. Any member of Congress or their staff caught in violation of this rule will resign their position immediately and special elections will be held in accordance with F.E.C. regulations
4. Members of Congress are hereby banned from campaigning directly for any office until 6 weeks prior to an election
5. Recess - Members of Congress, when in recess, unless they are on State business, will return to their respective districts to meet with their constituents regularly face-to-face by having Town Halls and Open Forums.
6. Vacation - Members of Congress and their staff are in the employ of their constituents and like their constituents will be required to work throughout the year and are allotted the same amount of vacation time as the constituents that they serve, which is currently 2 weeks with 1 week added for every 3 years of service.
7. Job Training - Members of Congress are required to attend a 6 week Graded course on the United States Constitution and Constitutional Law or to offer academic certificate of graduate or post graduate studies. They are additionally required to pass the United States Citizenship Test
8. Solicitation of Legislation - Members of Congress are banned from soliciting legislation from any body outside the halls of Congress. All legislation will be developed in committee or on the floors of Congress in a clear, open and transparent way.
Campaign Finance Reform -
1. Only United States citizens who are registered voters may contribute funds to campaigns for eligible election participants. Contributions can ONLY be made within the registered voters district.
2. Eligible election participants may use funds from ONLY registered voters within the district they are running in.
3. The total campaign contributions from a registered voter cannot exceed $2500 for any fiscal year.
4. Electioneering Rule - Political Action Committees, corporations, firms, associations, unions, universities, charities and any other business entities are hereby banned from contributing campaign funds or providing any other form of material support to eligible election participants as they are clearly NOT registered voters. These organizations are also banned from any/all campaign activities directly associated with a candidate or political party including advertisements. Any violation of the Electioneering Rule will require that all of the offending business entity's executives be placed in Federal penitentiary for a sentence of no less than 60 days and pay a fine of not less than $1,000,000.
The People's Money Bill -
The United States Federal Reserve Bank will be audited annually and the results of this audit will be made publicly available for all citizens to review. Any information related to National Defense or Foreign Policy may be exempted from public review. Congress shall properly account for this audit by apportioning funds to carry out the audit as required.
Any company, corporation, firm, association, union, university, charity or other business entity using Federal money in the form of subsidies, non-exempt tax breaks, loans, grants or other financial relief shall ensure that NONE of their employees, including subsidiary employees, shall earn, in total compensation, more than the President of the United States minus 10%. This includes direct contractors, executives, board members and officers of the company.
Upon signing into law the People's Money Bill any company, corporation, firm, association, union, university, charity or other business entity using Federal money will have exactly 1 year to divest themselves of Federal relief and repay all outstanding monies back to the Federal Reserve lest they are prepared to follow the law as prescribed.
Any legal agreement related to compensation of employees for any company, corporation, firm, association, union, university, charity or other business entity using Federal money is considered null and void by the United States government and any legal costs associated with resolving said contracts will be borne directly by the principal of the agreement.
Subsidy and Financial Aid Reform -
Financial Aid in any form, including subsidies, to wealthy Nations or Nations in violation of United Nations charters is hereby prohibited unless said nation is experiencing the effects of a natural or man made disaster or other catastrophe.
Solicitation of Legislation -
It is hereby ordered that ALL Lobbyists, Political Action Committees, corporations, firms, associations, unions, universities, charities and any other business entities are hereby banned from submitting, either written or verbally, any form of legislation to any House or branch of the government including the States.
Any/all legislation and whip bills will be produced in committee, as amendments or as floor amendments in a clear open and transparent way.
Any lobbyist or their staff caught in violation of this order will immediately lose their license and be banned from the House & Senate, including States, unless they are seeing their own Representatives. The firm represented by the lobbyist will also lose their license to lobby accordingly. The penalty for such a violation will be not less than a 5 Year Federal Sentence and a $1,000,000 fine.
Lobbying Reform -
1. All lobbyists and their staff are hereby banned from campaigning and fund raising activities for any candidate outside of their own district.
2. The Sergeant-at-Arms will ensure that the individual standing in line or cue for committee meetings will be the only individuals admitted to the committee meeting.
3. All lobbyists and their staff are hereby ordered to refrain from discussing any form of legislation outside of committee without a Congressional appointed recorder/transcriber. Violation of this rule will result in their license being revoked for both the lobbyist and the firm they represent for a term of one year from the date of the violation. A second violation will be a lifetime ban on lobbying activities for both the lobbyist and the firm that they represent.
4. All lobbyists and their staff are hereby instructed to formally submit any correspondence/email to Congress members or their staff to the Sergeant-at-Arms so that it may be posted for public review
Political Contributions and Donations -
Corporate donations - In view of the recent Supreme Court ruling known as Citizen's United, which was a clear violation of the US Constitution. It is hereby ordered that any corporations, firms, associations, unions, universities, charities and any other business entities are prohibited from donating more money than a registered voter. The sum total amount of donations for a given year cannot exceed $2500. This includes donations to political action committees, political parties, individual campaigns and lobbying firms. All political donations will be made public.
Personal donations - Only US Citizens who are registered voters can make political donations. The sum total amount of donations for a given year cannot exceed $2500. This includes donations to political action committees, campaigns and lobbying firms. All political donations will be made public.
General Strike & Rally
If you, as a citizen of the United States, support the previous legislation, then We ask that you stand united and unwavering with your fellow Americans for as long as it takes for this legislation to become law. On the 5th of November, 2011 we will begin a General Strike where no one will go to work or school. No business will be conducted in any form until our grievances are heard and acted upon. No one will return to work or school or will conduct any business of any form for the duration of the strike.
We also ask that each American travel to Washington DC to march and rally upon our Capitol and to meet face-to-face with your elected Congress members. If you are unable to travel to Washington then we ask that you march and rally on your local state house or city hall.
This will take a tremendous sacrifice on all of our behalves. We may lose money and even our jobs but that is little compared to what we continually lose every day Congress is not reformed. We must look to the brave people of the middle east who lost their lives; many were beaten and lost all that they possess but they stood firm and received the greatest gift of all....Freedom.
We have, for far too long, taken our Freedom for granted and it's time we took it back.
Remember, remember the fifth of November
Congress' Treason and Plot
I see no reason why Congress' Treason
Should ever be forgot...
EDIT: This is a rough draft and first try at an interpretation between 2 friends on far ends of the political spectrum. A far-left liberal and a far-right libertarian arguing our thoughts, for over a year, over beer and bbq. Just like you and your friends.
But these words are no longer my own. If WE, want this then WE have to agree and finish crafting the words together.
These should be OUR words.
Some of you may be angry at some of the ideas here. That's good; you should be angry. Some things you disagree with. Excellent, now we're actually talking to each other. But channel that into something positive that you can stand behind.
If you're like me then you've had enough with how things are going in this country and you want it to change.This isn't a Right movement or a Left movement. We have common ground here.
It is an imperfect document and it needs much refinement. But this is how everything great has ever started.
Forget the messenger, forget the date, we'll decide the best date soon enough. Don't put the cart before the horse. We're barely at square one.
Friends and volunteers are coming in and we're setting up a web site and tools, we're going to get this organized and really make this happen. We need more volunteers we need help with everything. Artists, authors, advertising, web developers, lawyers, you name it....any help we can get to help build this thing.
But this cannot happen without you. Spread the word, help build the momentum.
Expect an update soon.
Peace.
"New forms are beginning to take shape
Once-occupied minds are activating
People are waking up
The insurgency is alive and well
We are building up a new world
Do not sit idly by
Do not remain neutral
Do not rely on this broadcast alone
We are only as strong as our signal
There is a war going on for your mind
If you are thinking you are winning
Resistance is victory
Defeat is impossible
Your weapons are already in hand
Reach within you and find the means by which to gain your freedom
Fight with tools
Your fate and that of everyone you know depends on it"
-Flobots