We are making progress:
It's in the works. A massive Occupy Wall Street gathering with delegates from all over the country. And if these plans are carried out, Occupy Wall Street will be a major force to be reckoned with on Election Day 2012.
The date? July 4, 2012.
1. The Occupy Wall Street movement, through the local general assembly, should elect an executive committee comprised of 11 people or some other odd number of people that is manageable for meetings. Ideally this committee should represent each city in the U.S. that is being occupied.
2. The executive committee will then attend to local issues such as obtaining permits, paying for public sanitation and dealing with the media. More important, the executive committee shall plan and organize the election of the 870 delegates to a National General Assembly between now and July 4, 2012.
3. As stated in the 99% declaration, each of the 435 congressional districts will form an election committee to prepare ballots and invite citizens in those districts to run as delegates to a National General Assembly in Philadelphia beginning on July 4, 2012 and convening until October 2012.
4. Each of the 435 congressional districts will elect one man and one woman to attend the National General Assembly. The vote will be by direct democratic ballot regardless of voter registration status as long as the voter has reached the age of 18 and is a US citizen. This is not a sexist provision. Women are dramatically under-represented in politics even though they comprise more than 50% of the U.S. population.
5. The executive committee will act as a central point to solve problems, raise money to pay for the expenses of the election of the National General Assembly and make sure all 870 delegates are elected prior to the meeting on July 4th.
6. The executive committee would also arrange a venue in Philadelphia to accommodate the delegates attending the National General Assembly where the declaration of values, petition of grievances and platform would be proposed, debated, voted on and approved. The delegates would also elect a chair from their own ranks to run the meetings of the congress and break any tie votes. We will also need the expertise of a gifted parliamentarian to keep the meetings moving smoothly and efficiently.
7. The final declaration, platform and petition of grievances, after being voted upon by the 870 delegates to the National General Assembly would be formally presented by the 870 delegates to all three branches of government and all candidates running for federal public office in November 2012. Thus, the delegates would meet from July 4, 2012 to sometime in early to late October 2012.
8. The delegates to the National General Assembly would then vote on a time period, presently suggested as one year, to give the newly elected government in November an opportunity to redress the petition of grievances. This is our right as a People under the First Amendment.
9. If the government fails to redress the petition of grievances and drastically change the path this country is on, the delegates will demand the resignation and recall of all members of congress, the president and even the Supreme Court and call for new elections by, of and for the PEOPLE with 99 days of the resignation demand.
10. There will NEVER be any call for violence by the delegates even if the government refuses to redress the grievances and new elections are called for by the delegates. Nor will any delegate agree to take any money, job promise, or gifts from corporations, unions or any other private source. Any money donated or raised by the executive committee may only be used for publicizing the vote, the National General Assembly, and for travel expenses and accommodation at the National General Assembly ONLY. All books and records will be published openly online so that everyone may see how much money is raised and how the money is spent each month. There will be no money allowed to "purchase" delegate votes as we have in the current government. No corporate "sponsorship".
How to join the working group:
We announced our first "live" meeting at the General Assembly in NYC on 10-15-11 and convened the Working Group meeting that evening immediately following the GA.
If you would like to join this Working Group to assist us in completing this declaration/petition and, more importantly, organizing an election of the 870 delegates, please email us at THE99DECLARATION@GMAIL.COM and include the following:
Your first name
Your city or town (and the OWS meeting you can attend)
Your gender
Your computer operating system (MacOS, Windows Version or Linux)
Your areas of interest (e.g. campaign finance reform, student loan debt relief, protecting the environment, health care, etc)
Your areas of expertise
Any special skills you may have to offer the Working Group
How many hours per week you can devote to this project
Best days and times to participate in online meetings
We will then compile a list of options for meeting electronically and we will vote on that method.
We will also circulate a spreadsheet with everyone's contact information so if you give us your last name, be sure to indicate whether you wish to have it appear on the contact list.
AND BE SURE TO PUT VOLUNTEER FOR WORKING GROUP IN THE SUBJECT because we get a great deal of emails with suggestions that we read through.
Michael Parsons, Facilitator of the OWS Working Group on the 99% Declaration the99declaration@gmail.com
Who is doing this:
Many people have asked, who is behind this declaration and plan of action? We are a group of college students and pro bono lawyers who met when the students got arrested in NYC. Since then, we have established an Occupy Wall Street "Working Group" to prepare a proposal to elect an Executive Committee for the purpose of organizing an election of a National General Assembly to vote on a formal petition of grievances. This is only a proposal and sample list of just demands on the government. Only a duly elected body can legitimize a list of demands from the People.
The Constitution provides for a petition of a list of grievances to present to the government. It is our opinion that such a petition needs to be presented well BEFORE the 2012 election. That is why we call for a National General Assembly attended by 870 delegates in Philadelphia on July 4, 2012.
In short, we believe that the time has come to harness the momentum of this movement and direct it at constructive goals to make change; the foremost of which is getting money out of federal politics once and for all. All politicians in this country should immediately take a pledge to refuse all sources of private campaign contributions which we view as legalized bribery.
It is clear that Congress and the President cannot regulate themselves so WE THE PEOPLE must demand that they stop taking money in exchange for votes and influence.