The Levy Analogy: Background
“We Don’t Have Free Speech. We Can’t Afford It”
Remember this? Congress
surrounded by a levy – a very high, impenetrable wall made of money – with
those who provide that money on the “protected” inside and all the rest of us
on the outside floundering in the flood. Previously, we reviewed that in the
Great Recession, we’ve lost our homes, our jobs, our retirement funds … When it
comes time for Congress to do the government's work…to create the laws which are supposed to serve and protect the
public, who has access and their ear? Those
who have the money to “pay to play.” Some even call it that in public. And we
decided that this whole process p…es us off big
time – as it should. And we decided that it’s time to do something about
it.
Reviewing, we ask who are
these Big $$$ interests inside the levy? We all know who. They are the Wall
Street brokers who wrote the toxic mortgages, bundled and refinanced them
hiding the fact they were worthless…, paid the trusted ratings agencies to give
them AAA ratings, inflated their prices based on false ratings, took their
money off the top as commissions, sold their holdings at what they knew was the
top of the market and left the rest of us holding the empty bag when their house
of cards collapsed tearing the world economy apart. They are also the ones who
took our bailout tax dollars and then gave themselves $20 billion in bonuses
The people on the inside of the levy
have many faces.
They are the medical establishment who wrote the only form of health insurance which could pass Congress giving us the most expensive care in the world but rated by the World Health Organization as 37th among developed nations for quality of care.
They are the Military Industrial Complex, Big Energy, Big Chemicals, Big Agriculture, Big Banks and Credit Institutions…the handful at the top are making Billions in salaries, benefits, stock options and bonuses while our salaries fall, benefits disappear, jobs get exported, and safety net programs cut. They are heartless, remorseless and have greed that cannot be satisfied.
In the time since the start of the Great Recession, their abusive power has only grown worse as the income gap soars. The list of ways Big $$$ abuses goes on, but you know the rest. Worst of all, they have many of us convinced that everyone except themselves are to blame.
They are the medical establishment who wrote the only form of health insurance which could pass Congress giving us the most expensive care in the world but rated by the World Health Organization as 37th among developed nations for quality of care.
They are the Military Industrial Complex, Big Energy, Big Chemicals, Big Agriculture, Big Banks and Credit Institutions…the handful at the top are making Billions in salaries, benefits, stock options and bonuses while our salaries fall, benefits disappear, jobs get exported, and safety net programs cut. They are heartless, remorseless and have greed that cannot be satisfied.
In the time since the start of the Great Recession, their abusive power has only grown worse as the income gap soars. The list of ways Big $$$ abuses goes on, but you know the rest. Worst of all, they have many of us convinced that everyone except themselves are to blame.
One of Big $$$’s best
investments is the political process. Many companies spend more on “lobbying” than
advertising, research and development or other actions which would have a
direct positive impact on their corporation’s bottom line. Their political
investments works great for both the corporations and corrupt politicians. For
a proportionately tiny investment, laws are passed and contracts awarded whose
value measures in the $ Billions.
The few laws and regulations that were designed to protect public interests have been gutted, enforcement reduced to near zero or repealed altogether. Other regulations often disguised as in the public interest have been passed that protect their own interests from competition, legal liability for their destructive practices, taxes and other ways few know about or can understand.
But best of all, our elected representatives and public employees know when their time in “public service” is done, not only do they walk away with the best retireent plan and health care fully paid by our tax dollars, but also have cushy jobs they can retire to in the industries they treated favorably while in office. It's called the revolving door.
The few laws and regulations that were designed to protect public interests have been gutted, enforcement reduced to near zero or repealed altogether. Other regulations often disguised as in the public interest have been passed that protect their own interests from competition, legal liability for their destructive practices, taxes and other ways few know about or can understand.
But best of all, our elected representatives and public employees know when their time in “public service” is done, not only do they walk away with the best retireent plan and health care fully paid by our tax dollars, but also have cushy jobs they can retire to in the industries they treated favorably while in office. It's called the revolving door.
I want to make it clear at this point that it is not government itself that is the enemy. That’s what Big $$$ wants you to believe. The power elite have been successfully selling that line for at least 35 years. One of the primary functions of properly working government is to act in the public interest and defend against encroachments by those who abuse the public trust. Big $$$ wants small government because it leaves them free of any laws or regulations and/or enforcement that limit their ability to selfishly do exactly as they please.
The problem is not the government. It is government which is owned and controlled by Big $$$ interests, the richest 1%. Please, from right to left wing we need to understand this distinction and unite to remove the powers that distort and abuse us all.
According to a Washington
Post-ABC News poll taken shortly after the 2010 Citizens United Sulpreme Court decision, 76% of Republicans, 81% of independents, and 84% of Democrats
opposed this ruling. We were angry then, but we forgot and went back to sleep
never having taken the necessary steps to end this situation. How long are we
going to continue to be that irresponsible? Yes, that’s you and me and everyone who is
not in the top 1%. Potentially this is the one issue that can unite us all from
hard right wing to hard left against our common enemy who own and abuse both
our body politic and our economy. This strong opposition needs to be rekindled
so that we can fundamentally change
the way our government works.
If the public can be
energized to insert this issue at the center of every office and issue in every election and then vote accordingly, we can totally break the power of Big
$$$ over our government this election cycle. If they can’t frighten us…if they
can’t fool us…if they can’t buy our vote, we can do this. You in? Or do you doubt it can be done? It’s OK to be
a bit skeptical at this point. I would be if I were you. Just don’t let your
skepticism turn you off before you have examined the proposals and decided for
yourself.
In our next installment
we will begin to describe the fundamentals of how we can most easily and
completely remove this blight upon the American political process. In the mean
time, I have a few questions for you. Are you p…sed about what Big $$$ is doing
to us? Are you ready to do your own small part in the process of changing this
completely? OK, so did you do your homework assignment and repost, email your
friends and public service organizations, talked to friends and family? If not,
I ask again, please, we can do this, but only if we can awaken a majority of
American voters and get them engaged. So please make sure you have sent out the
first position paper with the links for the rest of the series.
Thank you.
Richard S. Galloway
WeDontHaveFreeSpeech@outlook.com
p.s. If you want to read or share our complete introductory series and other blog posts about this and other issues, follow this link to our We Don’t Have FreeSpeech blogsite. Or if you have questions or comments, email us.
WeDontHaveFreeSpeech@outlook.com
p.s. If you want to read or share our complete introductory series and other blog posts about this and other issues, follow this link to our We Don’t Have FreeSpeech blogsite. Or if you have questions or comments, email us.
Annotated Table of Contents
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/sign-the-pledge-big-out?source=c.em&r_by=14960502
Insist candidates vote for a single act of Congress
stating: “There is no relationship between speech and money stated or implied
in the US Constitution and therefore no such relationship exists” as the basis
of further reforms to limit the abuses of Big Money interests.
Best summary of the proposed “Recover our Democracy Act;”
its Constitutional basis; removing purported legal objections, public financing
of elections, limits on campaign contributions, public funding of federal
elections, preprogrammed campaign website, redefining a bribe and much more
Cut and paste text to share by electronic media to spread
the word on our plan
Our appointment being ignored while lobbyists immediately enter
our Congressman’s office
Being on the outside: Explaining the meaning of our logo…the
corrupting influence of Big Money
Political contributions, Citizens United Supreme Court
Decision, “We don’t
have free speech. We can’t afford it,” our
solution is an act of Congress,
“Backdoor money in politics, quid pro quo, “anything of material value
offered or given to, or received and accepted by any candidate, incumbent or
governmental employee under any circumstance shall be defined as a bribe,” penalties defined for candidates and government
employees.
Our early commentaries: Free speech is fundamental to
democracy, different views, uses and limitations of free speech, public
financing of elections, fair and balanced media coverage
Original free speech: freedom to speak our mind, power
to “buy” both the “content” and the “delivery” of “free” speech, "personhood" of corporations,
Supreme Court and Citizens United,
ownership of the media, points of view, political advertising, educational content,
bought speech,…
Trickle down economics, tax reductions, income disparity,
deregulation, power by changing belief systems, abuses, distortions and lies, is
it regulation or just bad regulation?, affording governmental programs and high
taxes, millennia of struggle by the rich to retain control vs. democracy,
85% of Democrats, 81% of Independents, and 76% of Republicans opposed
Citizens United
Humans speaking their mind
without fear, means of extending the reach of speech [meida], bought speech,
literally “free” speech decoupled from money, power of the media, corporate personhood,
limitations of free speech, campaigns and political speech, alternative communications
for elections: public financing, freedom of the Internet….
Figures on campaign
contributions given by largest lobbying corporations [6+ years old = pre Supepr
PACs]
One of our earliest posts:We don't have free speech
that has meaningful access to our own representatives. Our logo, our slogan, our chants, young adults, spreading
the word on the Internet, Obama’s election, making videos,
Largely unedited, free associated ideas on framing the legislation
Free public website designed
and formatted to conduct campaigns for office and public issues , FEC provided
bank account, and credit cards , campaign accounting system and
regulations, partial design specifications, real time public review access…
…the most logical
public space to allow the free flow of information on issues of public interest
“understanding the
power of corporations as a means of amassing power and money, the founding
fathers originally rejected the existence of corporations,” corporations
are not mentioned in the Constitution and have no protected rights; therefore,
Congress may limit or abolish corporations as deemed necessary for the public
good. Growth of corporate power, personhood of corporations and personal rights
attributed to corporations , theory of 14th amendment [due process]
applies to corporations,
No comments:
Post a Comment