Pledge: Medicare

Posted on May 15, 2012 by johnrachel

[ Note: This references and expands on my previous postings . . . Trust No Incumbent, Pledges: Candidate Contracts, How Pledges Can Work, and The October Surprise. ]

This pledge should be presented to any congressman running for re-election this November, who recently voted for either version of what has been termed the Ryan budget. This horrifying piece of legislation is a direct attack on Medicare as we now know it. It’s a sure sign that this member of Congress is either clinically insane, morally bankrupt, or in bed with the imperious elite who want to build even bigger fortified castles for themselves and ultimately turn all of the rest of us into their indentured servants. It’s vile! Profit off of the illness of the elderly. Minimize their coverage. It is class warfare at its worst. Enrich the already filthy rich. Screw the 99%.

The Ryan budget bludgeon to the middle and working class has come up for vote before Congress twice, first at the end of March and more recently in May of this year. The March version was particularly destructive to Medicare, essentially converting it to a voucher program which would have enriched corporate health care providers while severely curtailing coverage to Medicare recipients. Either version represents a callous dismemberment of the most popular piece of social legislation in history.

Here are the congressional representatives who voted in favor of the Ryan budget on either March 29 or May 10, 2012 __ all but four voted for both:

Adams (R, FL), Aderholt (R, AL), Akin (R, MO), Alexander (R, LA), Amash (R, MI), Amodei (R, NV), Austria (R, OH), Bachmann (R, MN), Barletta (R, PA), Bartlett (R, MD), Barton (R, TX), Bass (R, NH), Benishek (R, MI), Berg (R, ND), Biggert (R, IL), Bilbray (R, CA), Bilirakis (R, FL), Bishop (R, UT), Black (R, TN), Blackburn (R, TN), Bonner (R, AL), Bono Mack (R, CA), Boustany (R, LA), Brady (R, TX), Brooks (R, AL), Buchanan (R, FL), Bucshon (R, IN), Buerkle (R, NY), Burgess (R, TX), Burton (R, IN), Calvert (R, CA), Camp (R, MI), Campbell (R, CA), Canseco (R, TX), Cantor (R, VA), Capito (R, WV), Carter (R, TX), Cassidy (R, LA), Chabot (R, OH), Chaffetz (R, UT), Coble (R, NC), Coffman (R, CO), Cole (R, OK), Conaway (R, TX), Cravaack (R, MN), Crawford (R, AR), Crenshaw (R, FL), Culberson (R, TX), Davis (R, KY), Denham (R, CA), Dent (R, PA), DesJarlais (R, TN), Diaz-Balart (R, FL), Dold (R, IL), Dreier (R, CA), Duffy (R, WI), Duncan (R, SC), Duncan (R, TN), Ellmers (R, NC), Emerson (R, MO), Farenthold (R, TX), Fincher (R, TN), Fitzpatrick (R, PA), Flake (R, AZ), Fleischmann (R, TN), Fleming (R, LA), Flores (R, TX), Forbes (R, VA), Fortenberry (R, NE), Foxx (R, NC), Franks (R, AZ), Frelinghuysen (R, NJ), Gallegly (R, CA), Gardner (R, CO), Garrett (R, NJ), Gerlach (R, PA), Gibbs (R, OH), Gibson (R, NY), Gingrey (R, GA), Gohmert (R, TX), Goodlatte (R, VA), Gosar (R, AZ), Gowdy (R, SC), Granger (R, TX), Graves (R, GA), Graves (R, MO), Griffin (R, AR), Griffith (R, VA), Grimm (R, NY), Guinta (R, NH), Guthrie (R, KY), Hall (R, TX), Hanna (R, NY), Harper (R, MS), Harris (R, MD), Hartzler (R, MO), Hastings (R, WA), Hayworth (R, NY), Heck (R, NV), Hensarling (R, TX), Herger (R, CA), Herrera Beutler (R, WA), Huelskamp (R, KS), Huizenga (R, MI), Hultgren (R, IL), Hunter (R, CA), Hurt (R, VA), Issa (R, CA), Jenkins (R, KS), Johnson (R, IL), Johnson (R, OH), Johnson (R, TX), Jones (R, NC), Jordan (R, OH), Kelly (R, PA), King (R, IA), King (R, NY), Kingston (R, GA), Kinzinger (R, IL), Kline (R, MN), Labrador (R, ID), Lamborn (R, CO), Lance (R, NJ), Landry (R, LA), Lankford (R, OK), Latham (R, IA), LaTourette (R, OH), Latta (R, OH), Lewis (R, CA), LoBiondo (R, NJ), Long (R, MO), Lucas (R, OK), Luetkemeyer (R, MO), Lummis (R, WY), Lungren (R, CA), Manzullo (R, IL), Marchant (R, TX), Marino (R, PA), McCarthy (R, CA), McCaul (R, TX), McClintock (R, CA), McCotter (R, MI), McHenry (R, NC), McKeon (R, CA), McKinley (R, WV), McMorris Rodgers (R, WA), Meehan (R, PA), Mica (R, FL), Miller (R, FL), Miller (R, MI), Miller (R, CA), Mulvaney (R, SC), Murphy (R, PA), Myrick (R, NC), Neugebauer (R, TX), Noem (R, SD), Nugent (R, FL), Nunes (R, CA), Nunnelee (R, MS), Olson (R, TX), Palazzo (R, MS), Paulsen (R, MN), Pearce (R, NM), Pence (R, IN), Petri (R, WI), Pitts (R, PA), Platts (R, PA), Poe (R, TX), Pompeo (R, KS), Posey (R, FL), Price (R, GA), Quayle (R, AZ), Reed (R, NY), Rehberg (R, MT), Reichert (R, WA), Renacci (R, OH), Ribble (R, WI), Rigell (R, VA), Rivera (R, FL), Roby (R, AL), Roe (R, TN), Rogers (R, AL), Rogers (R, KY), Rogers (R, MI), Rohrabacher (R, CA), Rokita (R, IN), Rooney (R, FL), Roskam (R, IL), Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL), Ross (R, FL), Royce (R, CA), Runyan (R, NJ), Ryan (R, WI), Scalise (R, LA), Schilling (R, IL), Schmidt (R, OH), Schock (R, IL), Schweikert (R, AZ), Scott (R, SC), Scott (R, GA), Sensenbrenner (R, WI), Sessions (R, TX), Shimkus (R, IL), Shuler (D, NC), Shuster (R, PA), Simpson (R, ID), Smith (R, NE), Smith (R, NJ), Smith (R, TX), Southerland (R, FL), Stearns (R, FL), Stivers (R, OH), Stutzman (R, IN),  Sullivan (R, OK), Terry (R, NE), Thompson (R, PA), Thornberry (R, TX), Tiberi (R, OH), Tipton (R, CO), Turner (R, NY), Turner (R, OH), Upton (R, MI), Walberg (R, MI), Walden (R, OR), Walsh (R, IL), Webster (R, FL), West (R, FL), Westmoreland (R, GA), Whitfield (R, KY), Wilson (R, SC), Wittman (R, VA), Wolf (R, VA), Womack (R, AR), Woodall (R, GA), Yoder (R, KS), Young (R, AK), Young (R, FL), Young (R, IN).

On to the business of confronting these self-serving miscreants with the pledge.

Recall now that an impressive number of voter signatures will have been collected on a petition in favor of leaving Medicare alone.

Further recall that another candidate has signed the pledge, either the incumbent’s major-party opponent, a minor-party opponent, or an independent candidate.

It’s the first week of October. We present the incumbent candidate the pledge . . .

Dear Mr. [name of congressman]:

Find attached copies of petitions bearing the signatures of [number] registered voters in your district who have expressed their clear intentions on Medicare. This declaration of voter intent reads as follows:

I am a registered voter and will only vote for a candidate for public office who will leave Medicare alone. If a candidate guarantees unequivocally to fight for keeping Medicare as it currently stands, I will give that candidate my unqualified support.

The voting public both nationally and here in your congressional district has expressed its wishes on Medicare loud and clear. It wants it completely off the table in any negotiations on future national budgets!

We also believe it is fair and proper to inform you that another candidate who is seeking this same office has already signed a commitment in the form of a pledge __ a duplicate of the document we are offering you here today __ to leave Medicare as it now stands.

We respectfully request that you sign the following pledge so that we, your constituents should you are returned to your seat as our senator in the upcoming election, can invest our full confidence in your willingness and ability to perform the duties of that office.

I, [candidate name], if re-elected to my seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, hereby commit to co-sponsor and vote in favor of legislation to establish a 10-year moratorium on any changes to the Medicare program as it is now configured, particularly alterations which could reduce the delivery of or payment for health care to eligible recipients. I will offer no resistance to or in any way put up an impediment to, nor discourage, and will in fact publicly and on the floor of Congress actively promote any and all legislation which supports this measure. If no other legislator comes forward to offer such a moratorium,  I will create and introduce by my own initiative, within 90 days of taking office, such a legislative act.

I further understand and fully agree to the following: If I violate the above-stated terms of this pledge, I will tender on the 91st day after taking an oath of office for my legislative seat, my full and unqualified resignation from this elected position. Moreover, within one year of my resignation, I will refund all contributions made from individual donors in support of my candidacy for this office.

This entire pledge constitutes a legally binding contract between myself and that class of citizens who will be my constituents, should I win the upcoming election. In the event that I fail to perform any of the above-required actions, redress may be sought by those same citizens in the form of a class-action suit in a civil court of law, and I will be liable for a minimum of $10,000,000 damages for breach of contract. If I fail to resign from office due to my failure to fulfill the other requirements of this contract, I may be liable for an additional class-action settlement in the amount of $50,000,000. No portion of these specified settlements may be paid from campaign donations, PACs or SuperPACs.

I take this pledge voluntarily and with full appreciation of my responsibility to those citizens I will be representing in my capacity as elected representative from [name of state]. I accept the terms of this pledge with a thorough and lucid understanding of its requirements and consequences.

Signed: _____________________________  Date: __________________

Maybe the candidate will sign.

Great!

But probably not.

Fine.

Let the sweet talking slime ball try to explain to his constituents why he refuses to support protecting the most popular government program in history, a shining gem as these things go, a legislative work of art which has the rare distinction of garnering a huge majority of thumbs-up and praise across the entire political spectrum throughout the whole nation.

It will be fascinating what nonsensical blathering he or she inserts between the hims and haws on this particular topic.


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Pledge: Social Security

Posted on May 11, 2012 by johnrachel

[ Note: This references and expands on my previous posts . . . Trust No Incumbent, Pledges: Candidate Contracts, How Pledges Can Work, and The October Surprise. ]

This pledge should be presented to any congressman running for re-election this November, who recently voted for what has been termed the Ryan budget. A vote in favor of this horrifying piece of legislation amounts to a war cry for more military aggression and an attack on social security as we now know it. It’s a sure sign that this member of Congress is either clinically insane, morally bankrupt, or in bed with the imperious elite who want to build even bigger fortified castles for themselves and ultimately turn all of the rest of us into their indentured servants. It’s vile! It is class warfare at its worst: Enrich the rich. Bomb the world. Screw the 99%.

Here are the congressman who voted for the Ryan budget on May 10, 2012:

Adams (R, FL), Aderholt (R, AL), Akin (R, MO), Alexander (R, LA), Amash (R, MI), Amodei (R, NV), Bachmann (R, MN), Barletta (R, PA), Bartlett (R, MD), Barton (R, TX), Bass (R, NH), Benishek (R, MI), Berg (R, ND), Biggert (R, IL), Bilbray (R, CA), Bilirakis (R, FL), Bishop (R, UT), Black (R, TN), Blackburn (R, TN), Bonner (R, AL), Bono Mack (R, CA), Boustany (R, LA), Brady (R, TX), Brooks (R, AL), Buchanan (R, FL), Bucshon (R, IN), Buerkle (R, NY), Burton (R, IN), Calvert (R, CA), Camp (R, MI), Campbell (R, CA), Canseco (R, TX), Cantor (R, VA), Capito (R, WV), Carter (R, TX), Cassidy (R, LA), Chabot (R, OH), Chaffetz (R, UT), Coble (R, NC), Coffman (R, CO), Cole (R, OK), Conaway (R, TX), Cravaack (R, MN), Crawford (R, AR), Crenshaw (R, FL), Culberson (R, TX), Davis (R, KY), Denham (R, CA), Dent (R, PA), DesJarlais (R, TN), Diaz-Balart (R, FL), Dold (R, IL), Dreier (R, CA), Duffy (R, WI), Duncan (R, SC), Duncan (R, TN), Ellmers (R, NC), Emerson (R, MO), Farenthold (R, TX), Fincher (R, TN), Fitzpatrick (R, PA), Flake (R, AZ), Fleischmann (R, TN), Fleming (R, LA), Flores (R, TX), Forbes (R, VA), Fortenberry (R, NE), Foxx (R, NC), Franks (R, AZ), Frelinghuysen (R, NJ), Gallegly (R, CA), Gardner (R, CO), Garrett (R, NJ), Gerlach (R, PA), Gibbs (R, OH), Gibson (R, NY), Gingrey (R, GA), Gohmert (R, TX), Goodlatte (R, VA), Gosar (R, AZ), Gowdy (R, SC), Granger (R, TX), Graves (R, GA), Graves (R, MO), Griffin (R, AR), Griffith (R, VA), Grimm (R, NY), Guinta (R, NH), Guthrie (R, KY), Hall (R, TX), Hanna (R, NY), Harper (R, MS), Harris (R, MD), Hartzler (R, MO), Hastings (R, WA), Hayworth (R, NY), Heck (R, NV), Hensarling (R, TX), Herger (R, CA), Herrera Beutler (R, WA), Huelskamp (R, KS), Huizenga (R, MI), Hultgren (R, IL), Hunter (R, CA), Hurt (R, VA), Issa (R, CA), Jenkins (R, KS), Johnson (R, IL), Johnson (R, OH), Johnson (R, TX), Jones (R, NC), Jordan (R, OH), Kelly (R, PA), King (R, IA), King (R, NY), Kingston (R, GA), Kinzinger (R, IL), Kline (R, MN), Labrador (R, ID), Lamborn (R, CO), Lance (R, NJ), Landry (R, LA), Lankford (R, OK), Latham (R, IA), LaTourette (R, OH), Latta (R, OH), Lewis (R, CA), LoBiondo (R, NJ), Long (R, MO), Lucas (R, OK), Luetkemeyer (R, MO), Lummis (R, WY), Lungren (R, CA), Manzullo (R, IL), Marchant (R, TX), Marino (R, PA), McCarthy (R, CA), McCaul (R, TX), McClintock (R, CA), McCotter (R, MI), McHenry (R, NC), McKeon (R, CA), McKinley (R, WV), McMorris Rodgers (R, WA), Meehan (R, PA), Mica (R, FL), Miller (R, FL), Miller (R, MI), Miller (R, CA), Mulvaney (R, SC), Murphy (R, PA), Myrick (R, NC), Neugebauer (R, TX), Nugent (R, FL), Nunes (R, CA), Nunnelee (R, MS), Olson (R, TX), Palazzo (R, MS), Paulsen (R, MN), Pearce (R, NM), Pence (R, IN), Petri (R, WI), Pitts (R, PA), Platts (R, PA), Poe (R, TX), Pompeo (R, KS), Posey (R, FL), Price (R, GA), Quayle (R, AZ), Reed (R, NY), Rehberg (R, MT), Reichert (R, WA), Renacci (R, OH), Ribble (R, WI), Rigell (R, VA), Rivera (R, FL), Roby (R, AL), Roe (R, TN), Rogers (R, AL), Rogers (R, KY), Rogers (R, MI), Rohrabacher (R, CA), Rokita (R, IN), Rooney (R, FL), Roskam (R, IL), Ros-Lehtinen (R, FL), Ross (R, FL), Royce (R, CA), Runyan (R, NJ), Ryan (R, WI), Scalise (R, LA), Schilling (R, IL), Schmidt (R, OH), Schock (R, IL), Schweikert (R, AZ), Scott (R, SC), Scott (R, GA), Sensenbrenner (R, WI), Sessions (R, TX), Shimkus (R, IL), Shuler (D, NC), Shuster (R, PA), Simpson (R, ID), Smith (R, NE), Smith (R, NJ), Smith (R, TX), Southerland (R, FL), Stearns (R, FL), Stivers (R, OH), Sullivan (R, OK), Terry (R, NE), Thompson (R, PA), Thornberry (R, TX), Tiberi (R, OH), Tipton (R, CO), Turner (R, NY), Turner (R, OH), Upton (R, MI), Walberg (R, MI), Walden (R, OR), Walsh (R, IL), Webster (R, FL), West (R, FL), Westmoreland (R, GA), Whitfield (R, KY), Wilson (R, SC), Wittman (R, VA), Wolf (R, VA), Womack (R, AR), Woodall (R, GA), Yoder (R, KS), Young (R, FL), Young (R, IN).

On to the business of confronting these notorious individuals with this pledge.

Recall now that an impressive number of voter signatures will have been collected on a petition in favor of leaving social security alone.

Further recall that another candidate has signed the pledge, either the incumbent’s major-party opponent, a minor-party opponent, or an independent candidate.

It’s the first week of October. Preferably in a highly public forum __ town hall meeting, campaign stump speech, photo-op, etc. __ we present the candidate the opportunity to sign the pledge . . .

Dear Mr. [name of incumbent congressman]:

Find attached copies of petitions bearing the signatures of [number] registered voters in your district who have expressed their clear intentions on social security. This declaration of voter intent reads as follows:

I am a registered voter and will only vote for a candidate for public office who will leave social security alone. If a candidate guarantees unequivocally to fight for keeping social security as it currently stands, I will give that candidate my unqualified support.

The voting public both nationally and here in your congressional district has expressed its wishes on social security loud and clear. It wants it completely off the table in upcoming configurations of the national budget!

We also believe it is fair and proper to inform you that another candidate who is seeking this same office has already signed a commitment in the form of a pledge __ a duplicate of the document we are offering you here today __ to leave social security as it now stands.

We respectfully request that you sign the following pledge so that we, your constituents should you are returned to your seat as our senator in the upcoming election, can invest our full confidence in your willingness and ability to perform the duties of that office.

I, [candidate name], if re-elected to my seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, hereby commit to co-sponsor and vote in favor of legislation to establish a 10-year moratorium on any reductions to social security benefits, on increasing the eligibility age, or making any other alteration in the program as it is now configured such as might negatively impact eligible recipients of such benefits. I will not resist, discourage, or in any manner put up an impediment to, and in fact will publicly and on the floor of Congress actively promote any and all legislation in support of this measure. If no other legislator comes forth to offer such a moratorium, I will create and introduce by my own initiative, within 90 days of taking office, such a legislative act.

I further understand and fully agree to the following: If I violate the above-stated terms of this pledge, I will tender on the 91st day after taking an oath of office for my legislative seat, my full and unqualified resignation from this elected position. Moreover, within one year of my resignation, I will refund all contributions made from individual donors in support of my candidacy for this office.

This entire pledge constitutes a legally binding contract between myself and that class of citizens who will be my constituents, should I win the upcoming election. In the event that I fail to perform any of the above-required actions, redress may be sought by those same citizens in the form of a class-action suit in a civil court of law, and I will be liable for a minimum of $10,000,000 damages for breach of contract. If I fail to resign from office due to my failure to fulfill the other requirements of this contract, I may be liable for an additional class-action settlement in the amount of $50,000,000. No portion of these specified settlements may be paid from campaign donations, PACs or SuperPACs.

I take this pledge voluntarily and with full appreciation of my responsibility to those citizens I will be representing in my capacity as elected representative from [name of state]. I accept the terms of this pledge with a thorough and lucid understanding of its requirements and consequences.

Signed: _____________________________  Date: __________________

Regardless of how pernicious some of these legislators have been in the past, I don’t personally harbor any hatred for them. I do believe that we all reap what we sow.

Let them either believe in the America most of us believe in or . . .

. . . impale themselves on their own treachery.


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Pledge: Oil Industry Subsidies

Posted on May 8, 2012 by johnrachel

 

[ Note: This references and expands on my previous posts . . . Trust No Incumbent, Pledges: Candidate Contracts, How Pledges Can Work, and The October Surprise. ]

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

From the comments I’m reading where my “Pledges: Candidate Contracts” idea has been published online, I can see there is a gross misunderstanding of what this strategy entails.

Yes, they are officially called ‘pledges’ for reasons I will get into in a minute.

And yes, they indeed are pledges. But they are not wimpy-ass pretty-please promises to try to do better. They are much more.

Much much more!

These are legally binding contracts between an individual taking public office and the class of citizens who comprise his or her constituents. As you will see in the pledge on oil industry subsidies below, there are severe repercussions if a candidate does not fulfill the requirements of the pledge.

These pledges will leave no wiggle room, no margin for error, and offer no opportunity for misunderstanding or negotiation. They bind a candidate to do what we, the majority of the voting public, want them to do.

So why would an incumbent sign such a pledge?

Frankly, I don’t expect them to. Not at first anyway.

They will refuse because this is not playing the game by their rules. We’re not allowing them to just make more empty campaign promises, then go into the legislature, ignore us __ the gullible voters who elected them __ and vote the way their big buck campaign donors tell them to.

Yes, they will refuse. And for once they’ll actually be being honest. Recall that according to the public record, when a vote came up on the same policy proposed the pledge, they voted against it. Now they are refusing to sign a very unambiguous pledge __ literally a demand __ to do what we’re electing them to do. They are being forced to come clean for once with the voting public and admit they are not willing to represent us.

Which is the point!

We’re calling their bluff.

We have put them in a position where they are refusing to commit to do something the majority of their constituents want __ protect Social Security, leave Medicare alone, end the war and bring home the troops, tax the rich, eliminate big corporate giveaways of our tax dollars in the form of unnecessary subsidies __ and putting their defiance on public display. We are letting them malign themselves!

Halleluja! Some reality into electoral politics.

Okay. We spread the word. We let the voters know where these two-faced puppets of the rich and powerful corporate elite really stand on the issues.

We take it to the media.

We take it to the streets.

We Facebook it.

We Twitter it.

Incumbent [name of toady] will not sign pledge to protect Social Security!

Senator Warmonger refuses to sign a pledge to end war in Afghanistan and immediately bring our troops home!

Congressman Warbucks refuses to sign a pledge for fair taxes on the rich!

This explains why they’re called ‘pledges’. The average voter wouldn’t know what we were talking about if we called them ‘candidate contracts’. Pledges have been in the news, from the Iowa caucuses to the notorious Grover Norquist with his paralyzing anti-tax pledge.

So . . . are we being truthful here?

Absolutely!

We presented a pledge which actually had some teeth, the candidate refused to sign it, and now the candidate must own up to the people he wants to vote for him. Let him wiggle and do his dance with the dictionary. Let him try to explain why he won’t sign a pledge which commits him to positive, decisive action on an issue which has huge popular support.

Remember this: The candidate’s own voting record is why we’ve been forced to this brutal and desperate tactic. We’ve been forced to insult and threaten these elected officials into doing what they are supposed to be doing all along.

So be it.

If these incumbents don’t sign the pledge, they risk losing the election.

If they sign the pledge and violate its terms, they are subject to a huge cash settlement and required under further penalties to resign from office.

Are the penalties too severe? Lawsuits in the millions of dollars? Resignation from office?

I shouldn’t even have to answer these questions but I will. Frankly, I think it’s really very obvious. If a car manufacturer designs a car that injures people, they get sued. If a person does not do their job, they’re either fired or asked to resign.

I shouldn’t have to remind you of the kind of damage these legislators have caused to the lives of good people like you and I by toadying to their rich campaign donors and their country club corporate masters. Look at our economy. Look at how many young people have been buried fighting completely pointless wars. Look at the fear we all live in and look at the horrible reputation our once-great, once-respected nation has in the world. Just look at the plans they’re now drawing up to hack to pieces Social Security and put Medicare on the chopping block as well.

Moreover, I certainly shouldn’t have to point out to you that the current crop of so-called legislators aren’t doing their job. Gridlock, divisiveness, polarization, confusion, lies, lies, and more lies. This is practically all they’ve been good at over the past decade.

Severe? I don’t think so.

So let’s move on here to a simple pledge to end the oil industry subsidies, and example of corporate welfare at its worst.

This pledge should be presented to any incumbent senator running for re-election this November, who voted against cloture on March 26th on a bill to end the unnecessary gas and oil industry subsidies. A vote for cloture was a vote for eliminating the oil subsidies, because it was a vote to end the filibuster and bring it up before the full Senate to enact it into law. The 47 votes against cloture that day tossed the bill into the trashcan of history until someone else is courageous enough to introduce it again. Don’t hold your breath.

I’ve done the homework for you. Here are the senators who are running again for election who voted for continuing the giveaway of our tax dollars to oil companies that are making enormous profits right now __ literally the largest profits in recorded history:

John Barrasso (R-WY)
Scott Brown (R-MA)
Bob Corker (R-TN)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Ben Nelson (D-NE)
Jim Webb (D-VA)
Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Recall now that an impressive number of voter signatures will have been collected on a petition in favor of ending oil industry subsidies.

Further recall that another candidate has signed the pledge, either the incumbent’s major-party opponent, a minor-party opponent, or an independent candidate.

It’s the first week of October. Preferably in a highly public forum __ town hall meeting, campaign stump speech, photo-op, etc. __ we present the candidate the opportunity to sign the pledge . . .

Dear Mr. [name of incumbent senator]:

Find attached copies of petitions bearing the signatures of [number] registered voters in this state who have expressed their clear intentions on oil subsidies. This declaration of voter intent reads as follows:

I am a registered voter and will only vote for a candidate for public office who will end the giveaways of our tax dollars to the oil industry. If a candidate in the coming election guarantees unequivocally to end these unnecessary and wasteful subsidies, I will give that candidate my unqualified support.

The voting public both nationally and here in [name of state] has expressed its views on oil industry subsidies loud and clear. It wants them done away with immediately!

We also believe it is fair and proper to inform you that another candidate who is seeking this same office has already signed a commitment in the form of a pledge __ a duplicate of the document we are offering you here today __ to end these oil industry subsidies.

We respectfully request that you sign the following pledge so that we, your constituents should you are returned to your seat as our senator in the upcoming election, can invest our full confidence in your willingness and ability to perform the duties of that office.

I, [candidate name], if re-elected to my seat in the Senate, hereby commit to co-sponsor and vote in favor of legislation to end all existing subsidies to the oil industry, whether they be direct credits, tax incentives, tax rebates, or any form of transfer of public funds to the corporations and individuals who are involved in both the exploration for and processing of petroleum. I will offer no resistance to, put up no impediment to, and in fact will publicly and on the floor of the Senate, actively promote any and all legislation in support of this measure. If no other legislator comes forth to offer such a moratorium, I will create and introduce by my own initiative, within 90 days of taking office, such a legislative act.

I further understand and fully agree to the following: If I violate the above-stated terms of this pledge, I will tender on the 91st day after taking an oath of office for my legislative seat, my full and unqualified resignation from this elected position. Moreover, within one year of my resignation, I will refund all contributions made from individual donors in support of my candidacy for this office.

This entire pledge constitutes a legally binding contract between myself and that class of citizens who will be my constituents, should I win the upcoming election. In the event that I fail to perform any of the above-required actions, redress may be sought by those same citizens in the form of a class-action suit in a civil court of law, and I will be liable for a minimum of $10,000,000 damages for breach of contract. If I fail to resign from office due to my failure to fulfill the other requirements of this contract, I may be liable for an additional class-action settlement in the amount of $50,000,000. No portion of these specified settlements may be paid from campaign donations, PACs or SuperPACs.

I take this pledge voluntarily and with full appreciation of my responsibility to those citizens I will be representing in my capacity as elected representative from [name of state]. I accept the terms of this pledge with a thorough and lucid understanding of its requirements and consequences.

Signed: _____________________________  Date: __________________

If the candidate actually takes the time to read the entire pledge, be gracious and humble. Smile and offer him or her a pen. Maybe we’ll get lucky, eh?

Realistically that probably won’t happen. So be prepared to duck.

The more likely event is that he or she will take a swing at you.

 

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The October Surprise

Posted on May 7, 2012 by johnrachel

[ Note: This references and builds on my previous posts . . . Trust No Incumbent, Pledges: Candidate Contracts, and How Pledges Can Work. ]

They say timing is everything.

It may not be everything but it certainly is critical.

I have so far laid out a strategy of confrontation, one which poses a difficult choice for incumbent candidates. Either they sign a pledge to perform as their constituents instruct them to do on very popular issues, or they face a firestorm of negative publicity and risk losing the election.

This is playing hardball in the game of politics, one which has recently become so rigged, so distorted by money and the disproportionate influence of the rich and powerful, that we no longer even have representative democracy in America.

This is playing their game by their rules but us being the winners this time around.

This is talking to them in the only language these politicians understand . . .

Win or lose.

It’s their choice.

So . . . in congressional district X we have collected voter signatures on three issues where the vast majority of voters have indicated in credible polls what they want their elected representative to do. We have a formidable pile of petitions to show exactly where the public in this district stands on these three issues.

On Social Security, people want it left alone.

On the war in Afghanistan, they want America out and our troops home.

This is a working and middle class district and they think the rich are not paying their fair share. They strongly believe taxes on the rich should be increased.

Congressman Martin Moneybags has voted for the Ryan budget plan, and for continuing appropriations to fight the war in Afghanistan with no conditions for ending it.

He has voted in total opposition to what the majority of his constituents want. His reasons for doing so are not relevant. His excuses are not acceptable. His promises to reconsider these matters are not good enough.

He is presented three pledges __ I will be giving specific wording for all such pledges in subsequent posts __ demanding under legally enforceable terms that he represent his constituents, not kowtow to rich campaign donors, to lobbyists, Grover Norquist, his mistress, or whoever else is urging him to defy the express will of his constituents.

When is the best time to present the pledges?

When should this confrontation take place?

I am recommending the first week of October, one month before the election.

This gives him time to “think about it” but not enough time to mount some nonsensical counter-campaign.

It also gives the candidate sufficient time to have a change of heart, if after initially refusing to sign the pledges, he or she decides it’s best to go along with the program.

Is this blackmail?

Whew! That’s a strong word.

It’s not blackmail but it is coercion. It is forcing a candidate to do what they are supposed to be doing in the first place, which is represent the interests of their constituents, not the big money campaign donors who are bent on only promoting their own selfish agenda at our expense.

Should we feel bad about using coercive tactics? About stooping to their level?

We should feel bad that our beautiful system of democracy has been so corrupted it’s barely recognizable at all any more.

We should feel bad that as good citizens our voice is no longer heard.

We should feel bad that the self-serving rich and powerful are destroying our country, that the American Dream is becoming a memory of some distant past wishful thinking for all but a few privileged rich and powerful elite.

We should feel bad that they have started a class war on us and now, yes, we are forced to take up arms and defend ourselves __ to fire back using the same weapons they use on us.

There’s a lot to feel bad about.

But we shouldn’t feel bad about doing what we need to do to restore real democracy to our government, about doing what has to be done to get this current crop of traitorous puppets out of office so that we can get our country back on course.

The October Surprise.

“Hello, Mr. Crooked Politician. You probably forgot about me. Well, I’m back and I want my country back. Here are a couple pledges I think you should sign. This is what we, the folks who voted you into office, your constituents __ remember us? __ want done.”

The October Surprise.

Everybody loves surprises!


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How Pledges Can Work

Posted on May 1, 2012 by johnrachel

“Don’t hear me, I can shout!”

[ Note: This references and builds on my previous posts . . . Trust No Incumbent and Pledges: Candidate Contracts. ]

How will candidate pledges for progressive positions on key issues be effective?

How will this work?

Intimidation!

That’s right. The same tactics that have been used by the extreme right to turn our Congress into a gallery of sniveling sycophants, toadying to the every wish of their moneybag campaign donors will work for us.

Granted, some of the legislators may even mean well. But intimidation has turned too many of them into drooling lapdogs. The form this intimidation takes is always the same: Fear of losing the next election.

If we play our cards right, we can lose the election for them just as effectively as any SuperPAC or lobbyist. Or at least hang that prospect in front of their sallow faces.

Either they sign our pledges, legally-binding contracts with their constituents which reflect the explicitly stated desires of a vast majority of Americans __ we only ask for pledges on those issues where there is clear and overwhelming support from the voting public __ or they face a shit storm of bad publicity!

We will call them out one-by-one on their duplicity. We show loyal voters who have previously supported them that their campaign speeches mean nothing. Either they sign on the dotted line and offer real commitment to the laws and policies a huge majority of Americans want or . . .

We harrass, frustrate, obfuscate.

We yell, scream, demonstrate.

We demean, decry, humiliate.

We mock, shame, intimidate.

We call them out on their hypocrisy and their blatant disservice to the nation!

Until they do the right thing.

Until they start representing us, the people who elected them.

Until they put the interests of the majority of Americans first and tell their rich corporate sponsors to take a hike.

Oh yes, they’re going to be upset. Very upset! I’m fine with that.

In fact . . . fantastic!

Let them whine about how hard they’ve been trying.

Let them promise to do better next time.

Let them plead for just one more chance.

We’ve heard it all before.

Sure, we’ll give them one more chance.

Sign the pledge!

There’s your one more chance!

If they refuse?

Intimidation!

Most of this won’t cost a penny.

We go to the local and regional papers . . .

“Local Citizens Group Claims [candidate’s name] Refuses to Sign Pledge to Protect Social Security”

“[Candidate’s name] Refuses to Sign Pledge to End War and Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan”

We Facebook it. We Twitter it. We Tumbler it.

We call it into radio talk shows. We get ourselves on TV.

We carry signs at rallies, in mall parking lots, on busy street corners . . .

Millionaire Senator [name] won’t sign pledge for fair taxes on the rich!

Congressman [name] won’t pledge support for affordable health care!

Let me emphasize an important point: It doesn’t have to and shouldn’t wherever possible revolve around a single issue. Each voting district has its hotbuttons. It has some set of issues which are threshold issues, matters of public policy which a majority of voters have strong feelings about. These are wedge issues. Each one equates to a pledge. Refusal to sign any or all of the pledges results in the offensive I am proposing, a campaign to educate the public. To force the candidate to comply.

What if after a couple weeks of this, in the middle of the night the candidate is visited by the Angel of Political Enlightenment? His survival instincts kick in as he sees he’s losing public support. He reconsiders. Here he comes. Look at that sagging tail!

Mr. Butthead candidate has thought things over. He’s reconsidered.

He signs the pledge! He signs the pledges! All of them!

Alright! Great! Wonderful!

This is not about humiliating the guy or gal, even if he or she has so far been a traitorous butthead. It’s about getting our way. It’s about putting law and order, real representative democracy back in government. It’s about getting laws passed that will benefit us and not just the tiny elite club of the super rich who already have so much they couldn’t spend it all in a hundred lifetimes.

It is about getting the country back on track!

We want affordable health care, not more money wasted in a system that stuffs the pockets of the health insurance industry, bankrupts individuals and is undermining our economy.

We want to keep social security from being swallowed up by more tax cuts for the rich.

We want our men and women in uniform home safely, not in body bags from fighting the pointless wars to protect corporate interests, wars that are making Americans less safe and more the targets of terrorist attacks.

We want first-rate education and top-of-the-line schools, not hollow institutions run by corporations fighting for market share.

We want the rich to pay their fair share of taxes and stop bleeding every dime they can extort from the rest of us.

Practically everyone wants this stuff! Look at the polling on many of these issues. Read my earlier post “Trust No Incumbent“. Americans aren’t confused about what needs to be done. The politicians are. Or pretend to be, to cover their money-lined tracks.

Intimidation!

Demanding that a these pledges be signed will put legislators on notice that we the voting public have had it, that we are tired of them screwing around, that we are fed up with them putting big money campaign donors ahead of us.

It’s extremely likely that only a handful of these voter ultimatums need to attract some serious media attention. District by district we concentrate on incumbents who have voted against legislation which is hugely popular. Once it becomes national news that in certain key campaigns voters have expressed their outrage using these pledges, that there is a showdown underway, that there is a voter rebellion which might possibly spread across the country, it will cause massive fear and trembling in every vulnerable incumbent.

Hey! They may end up coming to us begging to sign our pledges.

Intimidation!

Is it blackmail? Maybe. It’s definitely coercive. But not any more than Überfuehrer Grover Norquist’s demonic methods. Anyway, who cares? It’s the New American Way, the way politics is done these days. American democracy has devolved into gangland tactics, brutal threats, cage fighting, and bullying. We didn’t start it. Surely this is not democracy as we were taught in civics class. But it’s the way it is.

Which means . . . using the very same tactics the enemies of democracy are using to destroy a once-great system seems to be the only means we have of rescuing it.

Let me take this a step further. If we need a further justification for being so ornery, in many cases, these pledges are actually doing a candidate a favor!

Let’s give the benefit of the doubt to some legislators. Maybe they want to do the right thing but are afraid to. They have been threatened by their big money corporate donors.

Signing these pledges gives them cover.

Picture it! When the bags-of-bullion bullies say, “Hey, Mr. Hotshot Legislator. What’s the deal? Why didn’t you vote the way we told you to, when we gave you that $25,000 for your campaign?”, the noble congressman can say, “I had to sign a pledge. Otherwise, your generosity notwithstanding, I would have lost the election.” When the Machiavellian will-work-for-anyone-with-the-bucks lobbyists ask their lapdog play-for-pay politician why he is actually doing something good for the American people, he can say, “I signed a damn pledge. If I hadn’t introduced that bill, I would have been forced to resign. You don’t expect me to throw myself out of my job, do you?”

Intimidation!

Let’s stick it to them!

Let’s put the corrupt politicians on notice.

“Your days are numbered, toadies. Either start working for us . . .

. . . or you better start looking for a new job!”


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Pledges: Candidate Contracts

Posted on April 28, 2012 by johnrachel

“Just sign the pledge and no one will get hurt.”

Grover Norquist notoriously turned the no-new-taxes pledge he demanded of conservative legislators into a weapon of mass destruction. The American economy now suffers from the burden of unsustainable cumulative debt and the likely shredding of the social contract Americans have traditionally observed towards sharing responsibility for the quality of life in our once-great nation. All because the fiscal terrorists of the right refuse to require the rich to pay their fair share of the cost of sustaining a viable, compassionate, humane society.

In addition to the imposed fiscal conservatism of the Norquist blackmail, big money now trumps voter preferences in determining national policy. The deluge of dollars flowing into Washington via lobbyists, campaign contributions, and PACs, has drown out the legitimate voice of the common citizen. Consequently, this is now also the era of the “silent pledge”, paid-for unspoken commitments to the rich and powerful, the result being that on a great number of key issues our elected representatives and the laws they pass are directly at odds with a majority of the American public.

I believe this same weapon, the candidate pledge, now deployed to such grossly destructive ends, can be used to an opposite effect, that is, as a means of restoring some sanity to what comes out of the U. S. Senate and Congress. Candidate pledges can result in legislation on a host of crucial issues and pull the country out of the death spiral we currently find it in. I’m referring to familiar measures supported by large majorities that reflect the stated values and express wishes of the American people.

This coming election provides the necessary and pivotal opportunity to confront our representatives and deliver an ultimatum, an ultimatum in the form of a new kind of pledge, one that hasn’t been seen in a while __ a pledge to do the right thing.

Or more to the point: Do the right thing or suffer the consequences!

The Idea:

Here in broad strokes is the concept. Immediately following are the specific steps we take. Stay with this. It’s not more moaning about the problem. It’s a strategy for a solution.

We begin with a specific demand on a critical issue. We put it in writing. The document takes the form of a candidate pledge, a binding contract to unambiguously and decisively perform certain actions in the Senate or House of Representatives, in order to implement a policy now supported by a large majority of American voters on the issue. Included as you will soon see are very specific directions.

We force candidates to sign the pledge. If they do, we’re done. We get the legislation we want. If they refuse, we go after them! We humiliate them, mock and taunt them, harass them, stigmatize them, jeopardize their support, and do everything we can to defeat them. We brook no compromise. We accept no excuses. We leave no room for equivocation.

The salient point is that for once we will have the tools to do this.

For this to work, the pledges must embrace those issues where the voting public by vast majorities have indicated precisely what they want done: Social Security, taxes on the rich, the war in Afghanistan, oil industry subsidies, Medicare. Frankly, it’s appalling how many important issues the public has clearly and unambiguously indicated in credible polls, exactly where they stand, only to have our politicians defy them. Please refer to my previous post: “Trust No Incumbent” to get a perspective on this.

In a perfect world, every candidate should be required to sign the pledges. This would put the control of voting on these critical items directly in the hands of voters.

Realistically this is impossible. There simply is not enough time. Plus we can get done what needs to be done without unanimity.

For now, it is more important to target incumbents, specifically those incumbents who have voted against enormously popular measures. Conveniently via their voting records they have handed us gift-wrapped the ammunition we need to force their hands. Bear in mind, these are the arrogant scoundrels who have brazenly sold the American public and their constituents down the river. They have curtsied to their rich campaign donors and blown off the rest of us as irrelevant. Until now they’ve paid no price for their arrogance and irresponsibility.

These are the ones we go after.

These are the ones we will either turn around or send packing.

Let me point out that this kind of precise targeting is exactly the way the right wing goes about decimating the ranks of progressives. It obviously works. Time to turn the tables.

Step 1:  Petitions

The process starts with petitions, i. e. canvassing within a particular voting district, or entire state if the targeted incumbent is a senator. We do this in order to collect hard numbers on the level of support there is for the initiatives we want passed.

Here is a sample petition, the suggested format for canvassing on any issue:

I am a registered voter and will only vote for a candidate for public office who will leave social security alone. If a candidate guarantees unequivocally to fight for keeping social security as it currently stands, I will give that candidate my unqualified support.

Obviously, the petition is more of an endorsement of a specific policy position than an actual petition for some action. But it accomplishes precisely what is needed here.

In fact, the petitions are the linchpin for the assault on these scoundrels. They provide the leverage needed to get their attention and then make them an offer they can’t refuse.

Undoubtedly, it would be ideal to get a majority of the voters in a district to sign these petitions. But that is a daunting, time-consuming task, even on issues which have large majority support. I frankly don’t think it’s necessary.

All that needs to be achieved is convincing a candidate that if he or she doesn’t sign the pledge, they risk losing election. It must appear either rationally or fearfully in their best interest to sign on the dotted line.

Let’s say local polls show that a candidate in a given target district of 20,000 voters has a comfortable lead of 2,000 votes. It seems to me that if only two to three times this number of petition signatures are gathered, that’s going to certainly make a candidate take pause. Are these 4,000 to 6,000 voters who are demanding specific action on a particular issue __ “I will only vote for a candidate who …” __ the ones who will tank the election? Without these voters is it even remotely possible to win?

I predict some cold sweats and sleepless nights.

Petitioning is no fun and people are often shy about signing them. But getting 4,000 to 6,000 people out of 20,000 to sign a petition telling the government to bring our troops back home from Afghanistan or to stop screwing around with Medicare, seems pretty doable. Even starting first week of June, we have five months until the election.

Polls indicate there are a number of issues where a large majority of Americans, from left, right, and center of the political spectrum, overwhelmingly agree. The size of that majority will vary from district to district. The point is that within each local political environment it is possible to identify at least one if not several issues where constituents are distressed, if not completely outraged, about the vote that was cast by an incumbent politician.

It’s time to put his or her feet to the fire!

Step 2:  Getting Another Candidate To Sign

As leverage, it is essential to have another individual in the race sign the pledge.

Ideally it should be the incumbent’s major-party opponent. If it is, it’s a done deal. He or she will sign. No candidate in their right mind is going to hand their primary opponent that kind of advantage by refusing to match the stakes.

But it could be any minor-party candidate, or even an independent. This candidate is a very different kind of threat __ the wild card! __ the ‘spoiler candidate’.

First let’s remind ourselves of this: Besides the Democrats and Republicans, there are three political parties which have active, aggressive, structured organizations at both the state and national levels: the Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, and the Green Party of the United States. The Green Party, for example, is registered and functioning in every state of the union, and Washington DC.

Additionally, there are 37 minor parties, some national, some local or regional, and they regularly put candidates on the ballot.

It seems reasonable to assume that in any congressional race, it would be possible to find at least one candidate from this profusion of parties willing to sign the pledge. Minor-party candidates always need all the help they can get for their usually doomed efforts to win a seat. Many such candidates are already running on populist platforms in support of the very initiatives we would be promoting. These causes are typically their raison d’être for even tackling the thankless and typically futile ordeal of running against the big guns of the major parties. We can expect them to gleefully sign the pledge.

As a final resort, someone could volunteer to be a write-in candidate, where local election laws permit, and sign the pledge.

The important thing is to be able to honestly claim that another candidate in the race __ even just a “spoiler”, wild-card minor-party or independent candidate __ has already signed the pledge.

Step 3: Confronting the Targeted Candidate

The candidate is shown the petition signatures. The candidate is asked to sign the pledge.

Here is a sample pledge for leaving social security alone, which depending on how the polling question is framed, nationally registers from 64% to 80% voter support. It offers a template for demands on a host of other issues:

I, [candidate name], if re-elected to my seat in the [Senate/House of Representatives], hereby commit to co-sponsor and vote in favor of legislation to establish a 10-year moratorium on any reductions to social security benefits, on increasing the eligibility age, or making any other alteration in the program as it is now configured such as might negatively impact eligible recipients of such benefits. I will offer no resistance to, put up no impediment to, and in fact will publicly and on the floor of Congress actively promote any and all legislation in support of this measure. If no other legislator comes forth to offer such a moratorium, I will create and introduce by my own initiative, within 90 days of taking office, such a legislative act.

I further understand and fully agree to the following: If I violate the above-stated terms of this pledge, I will tender on the 91st day after taking an oath of office for my legislative seat, my full and unqualified resignation from this elected position. Moreover, within one year of my resignation, I will refund all contributions made from individual donors in support of my candidacy for this office.

This entire pledge constitutes a legally binding contract between myself and that class of citizens who will be my constituents, should I win the upcoming election. In the event that I fail to perform any of the above-required actions, redress may be sought by those same citizens in the form of a class-action suit in a civil court of law, and I will be liable for a minimum of $10,000,000 damages for breach of contract. If I fail to resign from office due to my failure to fulfill the other requirements of this contract, I may be liable for an additional class-action settlement in the amount of $50,000,000. No portion of these specified settlements may be paid from campaign donations, PACs or SuperPACs.

I take this pledge voluntarily and with full appreciation of my responsibility to those citizens I will be representing in my capacity as elected representative from [name of state]. I accept the terms of this pledge with a thorough and lucid understanding of its requirements and consequences.

Signed: _____________________________  Date: __________________

Predictably, he laughs. He huffs. He puffs. He stalls.

Now we point out that another candidate has already signed the pledge.

If the other candidate is the major-party opponent, this should be stated loud and clear.

If it’s a minor-party or an independent, there’s no point in volunteering who it is.

But remember, this is still very bad news for the candidate we are confronting. It’s not going to be as frightening or urgent but it still applies the pressure. You have just shown several thousand signatures of people who have said they will only vote for a candidate who supports the position. And you’ve got another candidate who has signed the pledge. All the targeted candidate needs to think is that there is a “spoiler vote” out there, just enough angry voters that it could cost the election.

Ask Al Gore about spoiler votes.

The ball is now in the candidate’s court.

If he signs, we’ve got him or her exactly where we want. Like it or not he is aligned with us, at least on the particular legislative matter covered by the pledge.

If he doesn’t sign, he is setting himself up for a firestorm of bad publicity, hopefully some serious public outrage, and voter backlash. I can see the local headlines now . . .

[Name of candidate] Refuses To Sign Pledge Protecting Social Security

It’s definitely going to get his attention, especially if we work the media effectively. If the media won’t cover it, we’ve still got the streets, the internet, and word-of-mouth. We can definitely cause some pain.

We Facebook it. We Twitter it.

We post it on Tumblr, Pinterest and Digg.

We call it into radio talk shows. We get ourselves on TV.

We carry signs at rallies, in mall parking lots, on busy street corners . . .

Millionaire Senator [name] won’t sign pledge for fair taxes on the rich!

Congressman [name] won’t pledge support for affordable health care!

And though I shouldn’t have to say it, let me make this very clear. I know this is tough talk. But this is not about causing random mayhem or inciting a campaign of vindictiveness or character assassination. It’s about taking our country back and having “representative government” represent us __ something it hasn’t done for quite some time.

The idea is simply to force the incumbent’s hand and accomplish one of two things. Either he comes around under the pressure and signs the pledge, or we run the SOB out of office.

Reward good behavior. Punish bad behavior.

It’s that simple.

These guys are acting like spoiled little children, so we’ll treat them as such.

Let me add this: This tactic doesn’t have to and shouldn’t wherever possible revolve around a single issue. Each voting district has its hotbuttons. It has some set of issues which are threshold issues, matters of public policy which a majority of voters have strong feelings about. Each of those hotbutton issues equates to a pledge. Refusal to sign any or all of the pledges results in the campaign I am proposing, a campaign to educate the public. To force the candidate to comply.

It’s their choice. Either they sign the pledges and start working for us or they go bye-bye.

Confrontation, Coercion, Bullying

It’s unfortunate it has come to this. Politics has always been a rough-and-tumble game. But the game is now so rigged, we have no choice but to give these creeps some of their own medicine. Fight fire with fire. We will get what we demand. Because it is under our Constitution, rightfully ours in the first place.

The important thing is to show these sell-outs that we are fed up with the way our voice has been silenced by big money corporate donors, by the military-industrial complex, by the banksters, by the thieves that have looted the U.S. Treasury and now are coming for even more of our money.

This offensive if properly orchestrated, even only concentrating on a few dozen of these turncoat legislators, is going to be big news. It’s going to put on notice all of the politicians who have been for too long sliding by on empty promises.

I strongly believe that if the above-outlined strategy of petitions and pledges is brutally deployed across the entire country against the political puppets erroneously posing as the people’s representatives, it has a good chance of changing the way business is done in our corrupted legislature.

It’s time to take back our country.

Immediately!

 

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Gridlock or Lockstep?

Posted on April 28, 2012 by johnrachel

They’re wearing us down.

That’s exactly what they want.

We’re constantly beating our heads against a wall to get anything done.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Anything at all!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

And not even that gets done.

They know we’ll either tire out completely or knock ourselves silly. It’s the old Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope trick.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Finally, exhausted, dispirited, defeated, we get in line and march like good little soldiers. We stop all the fussing and whining and do what we’re told to do.

There’s no real gridlock in government.

We’re just being trained. We’re being taught that all of our childish aspirations, our silly idealistic dreams for an egalitarian society, a humane society, a compassionate society, especially those foolish high-sounding phrases in the Constitution . . . are unachievable.

Freedom? Opportunity? Equality? Justice? Hah!

Pipe dreams.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Down down down go our expectations. Nothing gets done. We have gridlock, you know.

‘Tenhut! . . .  right face! . . . harch!  ‘Hut two three four . . . ‘hut two three four . . .

Bam! Bam! Bam! . . . go our feet on the pavement.

Bam! Bam! Bam! . . . go dreams ground to dust.

Bam! Bam! Bam! . . . yo! ‘hut two three four.

“Hey! Wudja look at them! They sure know how to march real pretty, huh?”

But you know what?

THERE IS A WAY TO FIGHT BACK!

Sure, the the U.S. Congress and Senate are full of traitors who have turned their backs on the American people, who ignore us and toady up to big money, big banks, the corporate elite, the bags-of-bullion bullies who fill their campaign coffers and line their pockets.

But there is a way to put a stop to it.

There is a way to make these miscreants either shape up or ship out.

Start with my previous post . . . Trust No Incumbent!

Then look at the posts which follow, outlining a plan that will take any incumbent down who insists that his rich friends with big check books are more important than you and I.

This offensive on corrupt politicians unfolds in the following blog posts . . .

Pledges: Candidate Contracts
How Pledges Can Work
The October Surprise
Pledge: Oil Industry Subsidies
Pledge: Social Security
Pledge: Medicare

Stay with me

Let’s work together.

Let’s take our country back!

Let’s restore a future for America!

______________________________________________________________

I am doing what I can to address the destruction of our democratic system.

Without taking back our government, nothing will change.

In my new book, An Unlikely Truth, I offer the electoral strategy referred to in this post in the context of what I believe is an informative and inspiring story.

I sincerely believe this approach can effectively remove the crooks and liars from office, and begin to restore representative democracy to America.

An Unlikely Truth (Literary Vagabond Books) is now available worldwide in every popular ebook format and as a deluxe edition paperback.

An Unlikely Truth is a critical read for anyone who shares the progressive vision of a more peaceful, more humane, more democratic America.

______________________________________________________________

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Trust No Incumbent!

Posted on April 22, 2012 by johnrachel

 

“The folks we democratically elect to be the lapdogs of the rich and powerful.”

Polls indicate that 74% of Americans are in favor of ending oil subsidies to companies like Exxon-Mobil and Chevron, oil industry giants who are reporting record profits as the price of gasoline soars. Yet on May 17, 2011 and then again on March 29 of 2012, the Senate rejected a bill which would have accomplished just that.

A CNN poll in 2012 on what was termed the Buffett Rule showed that 72% of Americans favored its passage. The Buffett Rule raised the prospects of a more equitable tax rate on the rich. Yet it also was defeated in the Senate.

Poll after poll all suggest that a minimum of 66% of the voting public believe the tax rates on the rich should be increased. With the deficit looming larger and larger, and threats that many of the fundamental components of the American Way of Life — Social Security, Medicare, education, unemployment insurance — must face drastic budgetary cuts, if not outright elimination, the public more and more supports significant increased taxation of the wealthiest in our nation. Yet it has been twelve years since taxes on the wealthy have seen any increase. On the contrary, they have been slashed and slashed to the point that the rich pay less than ever before in history and the federal government is tottering on the brink of bankruptcy.

In June 2009 during the intense national health care reform debates, 72% of Americans favored the inclusion of the public option. Mysteriously — or not so mysteriously — it dropped off the radar and was never included.

In a poll commissioned by the National Employment Law Project Action Fund just this past August, 80% of Americans said they are for raising the minimum wage to more than $10 per hour.

Polls also indicate that 76% of Americans are sick of the Pentagon spending tax dollars on military systems it doesn’t need. The bloated defense budget, the ongoing ground wars all over the globe, the vaporous war on terror, and vast untold sums spent of surveillance and intelligence gathering, now suck up over 50% of all of the money the government receives from taxpayers and borrows from countries all over the world. Yet there is no end in sight to out-of-control defense spending.

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll on the war in Afghanistan shows 76% of the public opposes it and favors immediate withdrawal. Have we seen any serious signs that we are pulling out in the foreseeable future? The most recent proposals by the White House suggest American troops will be in Afghanistan for ten more years. Till 2024!

72%. 76%. 80%. These are not marginal percentages. These are huge majorities!

While polling is not 100% accurate, as the above examples demonstrate, it’s patently clear what the American people are thinking. Yet our elected officials defiantly vote against the overwhelming tide of public opinion.

It is quite obvious our political representatives are not listening. They don’t represent us. Across the board on too many key issues, their voting records do not reflect the stated will of the people.

In a representative democracy, there should be some discernible correlation between what the people want and what comes out of the legislative and judicial bodies. There should be some parallel between what citizens demand with their collective voice and the leadership proffered by their chosen chief executive in the White House and their democratically elected legislative bodies.

It’s certainly no secret what is happening. Citizen voting is being made irrelevant by bullying monied interests — by the rich and powerful elite — as our elected officials consistently cave in to the might of the almighty dollar.

Sometimes it is an outright buy. Money pours into the campaign coffers and the favor is returned on the floor of the Congress, or with the manner in which laws are enforced, or not enforced, by the President and the executive branch.

Sometimes it is a defensive measure. A candidate up for election fears that if he or she does not vote the “right way”, a massive campaign will be funded by the monied interests to defeat them in the coming election, either by support of their opponent or by using the nefarious Super PACS to malign and discredit them.

This bribery and blackmail has destroyed any semblance of representative government in contemporary America.

I believe there is a solution to this.  I also think that there is time to apply this remedy to the coming election. Nothing less than the survival of American democracy depends on it. It will require the immediate and total commitment by well-organized, motivated teams of community activists who want to decisively halt the stealing of our democracy by the rich and powerful. It will require mounting a campaign unlike any seen in recent history to mobilize and inform the voting public about what is going on and what can be done.

The bottom line on this solution is straightforward. It is time to draw a line in the sand. Every elected official must be put on notice. Here’s what we tell them . . .

“Either you vote in the interests of the people — not corporations, banks and Wall Street — or you get a pink slip.”

To avoid division and bickering, a focused campaign must be built around the core of critical issues the vast majority of Americans – left, right, independent, Republican, Democrat, Tea, liberal, progressive, conservative — nearly unanimously agree on.

A number of posts follow which outline in specific detail the strategy I am proposing here. This is the list . . .

  • Pledges: Candidate Contracts
  • How Pledges Can Work
  • The October Surprise
  • Pledge: Oil Industry Subsidies
  • Pledge: Social Security
  • Pledge: Medicare

We’ve learned our lesson. The faith both in our democratic system and the politicians we entrusted with the future of our nation and the quality of our lives was misplaced.  The system has been corrupted by money and the trustworthiness of our “representatives” in public office been sabotaged.

No more apologies.

No more excuses.

No more bullshit.

Trust no incumbent!


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Leave It To The Experts?

Posted on April 19, 2012 by johnrachel

“The whole world is a stage … we’re just reading our lines.”

As just living life becomes more complex and challenging, as our world offers seemingly infinitely possibilities and more rigorous demands, we have found ourselves outsourcing more and more activities. We hire a gardener, someone to clean our house or apartment, a professional to paint the trim. We go to a barber or hair stylist. An accountant does our tax returns. Who would think of changing the oil or tuning up their automobile themselves?

Despite the proliferation of specialists and experts, however, the past couple decades have seen a retreat from such blanket trust in others handling critical aspects of our lives. For example, many individuals have “taken back” responsibility for their health. They do their own research and ask their doctors tough questions, instead of nodding dumbly at every bit of medical advice he or she offers. Some parents have become increasingly involved in the education of their children, no longer having full confidence in public or even private schools. Within many communities, food co-ops and local markets are replacing the big box chain stores, as confidence in the food that is sold by corporate suppliers has fallen.

So why is it that we have found it so easy to outsource the running of our country to a small elite coterie of self-proclaimed experts?

I guess the question provides the answer. “They” have made it easy. The experts, our lovely professional politicians, have told us: ‘This is very difficult, complicated stuff. It’s better to just leave it to us. We know what’s good for you.’

We believed them.

At the outset of the war on Iraq, President Bush told us all (paraphrasing), ‘Don’t worry. We got it covered. Just go shopping or go to Disneyland.’

Go shopping? Go to Disneyland?

That’s precisely the kind of easy promises, the soothing reassurances, we are hearing now in the thick of this election year. We have candidates with photogenic smiles, prepped by their handlers to say the right thing just the way we want to hear it, kissing babies, waving, leading the charge at staged rallies of unquestioning loyalists, telling us, “Hey, don’t worry. We got it covered. Vote for me. Then just kick back, watch Jersey Shore. Go shopping. Hey! Go to Disneyland!”

Sounds good. Sound bites usually do.

But is running a democratic country ever easy? Has it ever been? Isn’t it by definition a difficult __ if noble __ task, that requires hard work and active participation by each and every one of its citizens?

In a monarchy, we know who the “expert” is. By definition it’s the king.

In a dictatorship, we know who the “expert” is. It’s the dictator.

Who are the experts in a democracy?

Surely it’s not these spit-shined, Photoshopped, say-anything-to-get-elected, millionaire robot-mannikins __ both Democrat and Republican __ running for office in the beauty contests we call elections.

No . . . it’s you and I!

We’re the experts.

It’s time to face reality. There is no easy way for a democracy to run. It can’t be outsourced. It’s not something we can trust to some professional class who will get the job done for us.

If America is to survive, we have to do the work. It’s up to us. No more outsourcing.

Some jobs are too important to be left to the experts. Like they say . . .

Sometimes the only way to get something done right is to do it yourself.

“Occupy America: Sowing the Seeds of a Second American Revolution” . . . http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Occupying-America-Sowing-by-Lori-Spencer-111019-246.html

“The Occupy Movement: How we reclaim our country” . . . http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/02/the_occupy_movement_how_we_rec.html

“Chris Hedges’ Endgame Strategy: Why the revolution must start in America” . . . http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/96/chris-hedges-revolution-in-america.html

Posted in Political Analysis, Political Rant | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Open Mind Surgery

Posted on March 14, 2012 by johnrachel

Sometimes we need something to cut through the noise and nonsense we are constantly bombarded with, something which puts things in a new perspective. This short video with commentary by the astronomer-philosopher, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, is something I think does just that and which I hope we can all appreciate on some level.

Ultimately, our world will come to an end.

The sun will cool, expand to twenty times its current size and become a red giant. Early in this process, the Earth will become uninhabitable. This is billions of years into the future.

The real question is: Will humankind itself put an end to its supreme reign over the planet long before this?

It doesn’t look good.

In what is the thinnest imaginable slice of history representing human ascendancy and tyranny over Earth and every other species on it, we see an unflattering and unpromising story of careless plunder, destruction, waste, and extermination. We see a history which shows no regard for other living creatures, except as they have practical value to the only life form which apparently deserves the plentiful resources of the Earth. We see within our own species utter disregard for those humans which become inconvenient or are deemed expendable. Humankind has even distinguished itself as the only species to create the means of completely destroying itself and probably every other living thing __ which by tragic hapless accident is forced to cohabit Earth __ with just the mere press of a button. Recently we see him overheating the planet but inexplicably refusing to remove the kettle from the stove. His numbers unchecked by the typical processes of natural selection and competition, continue to increase exponentially. Probably the food and water will run out and the air will become unbreatheable.

No, it sure doesn’t look good.

Humans are a deeply, perhaps fatally flawed species. But there are splendid stories of hope within the grander themes of annihilation. In these we euphorically hurl ourselves to fly among imagined gods and soar with Pollyannaish abandon in the sunny heavens above the yawning abyss which will in the end claim us.

It may be its limitless capacity for frivolous optimism coupled with its unmatched devotion to self-aggrandizement which ultimately drives humankind to its unceremonious self-destruction.

The road to annihilation is paved with the best intentions and a smiley face.

So it has been … and so it always will be.

Unless something changes.

Unless we change.

[ This in part is excerpted from my novel “12-12-12” which was published March 18, 2012 both in print and as an ebook. ]


Posted in Philosophy, Science, Spiritual | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments