Here Are Occupy Wall Street's Plans For A National Convention That Could Change The Face Of America

[babsbunny]

http://www.businessinsider.com/occupy-wall-street-has-plans-for-a-coordinated-national-gathering-2011-10

Linette Lopez | Oct. 14, 2011, 1:40 PM |

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/occupy-wall-street-has-plans-for-a-coordinated-national-gathering-2011-10#ixzz1bBU7mdiT


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.

Put aside questions of whether or not the movement will survive that long. Imagine that they do, because they have no doubt.

If only our economy had that kind of confidence.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/occupy-wall-street-has-plans-for-a-coordinated-national-gathering-2011-10#ixzz1bBUGBgED

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[FarLeftFist]

2. NOW we're talking!

[Little Star]

3. Sounds like they are very serious. I read the article and their plan sounds great..

Now lets pray they can make something like that work. k&r

[Donnachaidh]

4. YEAH BABY!

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :toast: :party: :evilgrin: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :wow: :thumbsup: :kick: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[ChandlerJr]

5. Elected reps then elected leaders and committees then pretty soon

you'll have a real third party that will need to raise money to promote it's agenda.

Wonder what it would look like?



National Progressive Convention (Bull Moose Party)
1912, in the Chicago Coliseum



President Theodore Roosevelt
was the founder of the
Bull Moose Progressive Party
and thus is often associated
with the party.

http://bit.ly/osYDBM

[msongs]

6. ummm says who, a small group pf people in,,where is it, new york city> they are NOT the whole nt

[xiamiam]

7. no but in case you haven't been paying attention..the majority are not happy with the status quo

we're going somewhere with this..i am under no illusion that this administration is going to do anything other than campaign in the next 8 or 9 months..nothing is going to change for any of us..congress is going to be as dysfunctional as it has been for the past several years..by june 2012 anything is possible..and you wont have to have a billion dollars in your campaign coffers..anyone who wants re-elected is going to have to stop pretending and do something..mark my words, this will be the game changer

[SomethingFishy]

57. Riiiight.... Yeah just a few people in NYC...

That's how this whole thing started... and got bigger in spite of people saying "it's just a small group of people, they are not the whole". Yeah... keep talking.

[TygrBright]

8. Wow. Interesting plan. I can see three ways this could produce positive outcomes...

...and only one way it could turn negative. That's some serious game-theory level planning.

All righty, New Mexico delegates. Count on me for help with your expenses getting to the Convention. You will, after all, be representing me. And once the EC gets some good, transparent infrastructure in place, they can count on me for additional support.

OWS: If you want any help setting up truly transparent infrastructure, I am happy to put my experience in nonprofit development, management, etc. at your service. But I suspect, from what I'm seeing now, that you have plenty of help in that department already. Just remember: TRANSPARENT. Fortunately Teh Tubes offer us a whole new range of tools for achieving transparency.

fascinatedly,
Bright

[coalition_unwilling]

9. Emphatic K&R. Best news I've had in the past 3 years. - n/t

[Raksha]

10. K & R

[Odin2005]

11. WOOOOOT!!!

And we shall call it the National Assembly of The United States of America! :patriot:

[Luminous Animal]

12. It is the 99% working group. They are supporters of OWS but they are not OWS.

[rhett o rick]

13. Why dont they plan on coopting the Democratic Convention. nm

[red dog 1]

15. K & fucking R

[Odin2005]

22. The 2 corporatist parties are part of the problem.

[rhett o rick]

27. I understand, but it will be much easier to take over the Democratic Party than start a new party.nm

[Better Believe It]

30. It was certainly easy for corporations and Wall Street to take over the Democratic Party.

Progressives have been trying to do that for decades!

How's that going?

[rhett o rick]

31. Maybe progressives have not used enough pressure. We have pressure now.

The Democratic Party has a huge organizational infrastructure and treasury. I believe most of the rank and file are fairly progressive but the leaders of the party are owned by Corp-America. We just need to take over the leadership.

[bvar22]

39. I hope you are correct in your assessment.

I've been an FDR/LBJ Democrat for over 45 years,
but feel my traditional Democratic values haven't been welcome in the new Democrat Centrist Party since 1992.
I would like to believe that reform within the Party is an open avenue,
but the
Party leadership keeps doing things like All Out Support for Blue Dog Blanche Lincoln in the Arkansas Primary that make me feel that that door has been closed for a while.


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone

photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.

Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[abelenkpe]

43. The democratic party has re-made itself in the past

it would be a mistake to not offer them the chance to escape wall street. Of course if they refuse one last offer you can kick them to curb and no one will say they weren't given a chance.

[valerief]

51. And have the military beat them up and put them in Gitmo? Why????? nt

[rhett o rick]

59. Because the Democratic Party belongs to the people. We need to kick the corporatists

out. I am not advocating violence, but make our presence known at the Democratic Convention. Forget the RepubliCons.

[RainDog]

14. k&r n/t

[Better Believe It]

16. Why are they so critical of workers mass organizations, labor unions?

From the suggested list of grievances submitted by OWS Working Group as part of the 99% Declaration:

1. Implementing an immediate ban on all private contributions of money and gifts, to all politicians in federal office, from Individuals, Corporations, Political Action Committees, Super Political Action Committees, Lobbyists, Unions and all other private sources of money to be replaced by the fair and equal public financing of all federal political campaigns. We categorically REJECT the concept that money is equal to free speech because if that were so, then only the wealthiest would have a voice. These actions must be taken because it has become clear that politicians in the United States cannot regulate themselves and have become the exclusive representatives of corporations, unions and the very wealthy who spend vast sums of money on political campaigns to influence the candidates’ decisions and ensure their reelection year after year.


2. The immediate reversal, even if it requires a Constitutional Amendment, of the outrageous and anti-democratic holding in the "Citizens United" case by the Supreme Court, which equates the payment of money by corporations, wealthy individuals and unions to politicians with free speech. We, the People, demand that institutional bribery and corruption not be deemed protected speech.



-------------------------------------------


Why are they lumping in labor unions with corporations, Wall Street and billionaires for bribery and corruption?

Part of this may be due to the fact that "This project began as a collaboration between college students and the pro bono lawyers who went to represent the students when they got arrested in NYC during an Occupy Wall Street demonstration." Perhaps these college students hastily wrote their declaration without the benefit of discussions with working class and labor union participants in the OWS protest. Had such democratic discussions taken place with other forces involved in OWS I'm sure their attack on labor unions would not have been included in the declaration.

I think they need to reconsider and rewrite this section of their declaration soon .... like tomorrow .... in order to involve broader sections of the OWS movement.
The OWS movement is not directed against workers and their unions. On the contrary, the labor movement and OWS movement embrace each other and have similiar goals, including the removal of corporate/Wall Street money from politics.

Just my initial thoughts on the 99% Declaration. BBI

[Amonester]

17. Maybe because they've been harrassed, punched, beaten down,

pepper-sprayed needlessly by NYPD's UNION MEMBERS??

Just sayin...

[Better Believe It]

20. That's divisive crap that has nothing to do with reality of union support for OWS

The various fraternal orders of police outfits have always been in the vanguard of union busting and strike breaking.

Labor union members understand that so don't try to turn progressives and OWS participants against labor unions by suggesting that cops are really good union members who hate OWS along with the genuine labor movement. That crap won't fly among knowledgable participants in OWS.

Are you trying to read the labor movement out of OWS or are you simply uninformed on the labor movements support to and participation in the OWS movement?

Go to the AFL-CIO website regarding the protests. Perhaps you'll learn something.

I certainly hope so.

http://aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/jobs/teachin_webcast.cfm

[Amonester]

25. I understand that, and I hope the police unions all over the country

would just refuse orders to act violently against the peaceful protesters.

It's getting late...

[Better Believe It]

29. I have absolutely no confidence nor trust in police "unions" based upon their past practice.

[Luminous Animal]

19. So I looked and there is no such working group within the NYC General Assembly.

Here is a link to the working groups.

http://nycga.cc/groups/

[Better Believe It]

21. That's what they claim to be. Here's a link to their website.

https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/home

[Luminous Animal]

24. Anyone can claim anything that they want. Their only history is 1)

they sought to impose a working structure on the NYC General Assembly on Oct. 15th. Apparently that failed. 2) they are calling for a National General Assembly and ALREADY IMPOSING THE LIMITS TO THE DISCUSSION TO LAUNCH THAT ASSEMBLY without bringing it to consensus discussion to the NYCGA, and 3) they claim to be a working group of the General Assembly when there is ZERO evidence of that.

[Better Believe It]

28. Do you have any information on their politics which might explain their attack on labor unions?

[Luminous Animal]

34. No, I don't. But they do have a forum now if you'd like to ask them.

http://the99delegation.forumotion.com/

[bvar22]

40. I didn't read it as an atttack on Unions, but rather....

...and attack on Money in Politics.
I support the policy of banning money in politics,
whether it comes from Unions or anyone else.



Solidarity99!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Better Believe It]

54. What's wrong with union money going for candidates who support working people?

So you think it should be made illegal for working class organizations to form and fund their own candidates and political party?

I see nothing wrong with the labor movement campaigning for and helping to fund pro-working class candidates.

[unkachuck]

18. K&R....I love it....n/t

[Luminous Animal]

23. Unrec. This is not from the NYC General Assembly but from some group that

claims they are a working group of the General Assembly but they do not appear anywhere on the working group list.

http://nycga.cc/groups/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2143683

[Islandlife]

44. Clearly...good job

[Remember Me]

26. Hmph. Well THIS ought to be an answer to the critics who

complain that they don't seem to know what they want.

LOL.

I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with it, but -- wow, they sure seem to mean business! Ask for a (peaceful) revolution and you just might get one!

[Luminous Animal]

33. Please note that this does not come from OWS. This comes from the 99% Working Group.

A group that claims to be affiliated with the NYC General Assembly but is NOT listed as a working group on the NYCGA website.

[Remember Me]

35. Thanks for ponting that out -- that may mean some form of co-optation

may be in the works.

[kctim]

32. Predictions for Election Year 2012

1 - The Tea Party will include "We are the 53%" and "The US is capitalist, not socialist," into its agenda.
2 - Tea Party support will rise.
3 - We the People will be more divided than ever.
4 - 2012 will be the ugliest and most dangerous election year on record.

[abelenkpe]

42. Seen economists predicting western banking system going down beg 2012

with trillions in assets disappearing and mass layoffs in FIRE sector. 2012 could definitely be a bumpy year. Hope teaparty doesn't make gains because they and the policies they support are dangerous and hideous.

[kctim]

45. I also have heard that

The problem is that I have been hearing it from the right for decades and it is NOT the banks where they place the blame.

IF OWS becomes huge, the Tea Party will become the anit-OWS group and it will only gain more support.

[abelenkpe]

46. scary

So do you have right wing relatives too then? Or just friends?

[kctim]

49. Both. But only a few are of the extreme

[MilesColtrane]

36. There is no mechanism for recalling a member of Congress outlined in the Constitution.

Only Congress itself may expel individual members. (barring a Constitutional amendment, of course)

[wiggs]

37. Convention should open with this GWB clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn4daYJzyls

Outrageous admission from a sitting president that his base is not the 99%, but is the 1%. Explains a lot and should help motivate left and right alike to focus on the real issues. This shouldn't be about progressive vs conservatives, DUrs vs freepers, employed vs unemployed, ethnic minorities vs majority, gay vs straight, union vs non-union.

The clip says what the battle should be about and could be a unifying spark. Let's see it in newspapers as full page ads...as a DNC commercial in prime time...as a new viral youtube video linking from all progressive websites...as a clip on Bill Mahrer and Rachel everynight just because it's that important

It's not a hard case to make...there are hundreds of puzzle pieces like this that explain gop/elite behavior and someone needs to put it all together and shape the big picture. It's there and obvious. I hope OWS can help with this, but it's got to be done with help from others.

Typically, the PTB will try to narrow the issue into a gray area and just debate that as if the whole argument comes down to one legitimately debatable point such as "they are hippies protesting capitalism" ("is waterboarding three people torture" became the only topic in a larger much more expansive issue). But this big picture case against the undemocratic concentration of wealth and power HAS to be multi-faceted, comprehensive, and complete....and it can be if we resist attempts at fear, hate, polarization, deception, distraction,and apathy.

[itsallhappening]

38. Maybe the first president to admit it.

They're all owned by big corporations and Wall St.

[Uncle Joe]

41. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, babsbunny.

[chill_wind]

47. Some caution, FWIW

Update at 10:50 a.m.: As mentioned above, the working group's suggestions and website have not been adopted by the movement as a whole, or approved by the NYC General Assembly as a whole. The debate over whether or not to even have "demands" within the Occupy Wall Street movement has continued.

One person involved, Andy Stepanian, told HuffPost that this particular declaration has not been approved by the General Assembly in New York and so it can't be said this reflects the movement's feelings as a whole.

"Everyone is entitled to make their own blog or website to post their opinions about how OWS should operate or what they think the OWS demands should be, this 99% group is no different," Stepanian said in an email. "However, all of OWS's official statements are agreed upon by way of consensus-based general assemblies. This matter was not submitted or agreed upon by the NYC general assembly, and therefore by-passed the process all OWS plans have been made through."

(snip)

"There is a 'demands working group' out there right now," Hoffman said, adding that the way they met in secret with The New York Times infuriated many members of the General Assembly. "There is a lot of internal dissent due to the manner in which this group was created and conducted its meetings."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/18/occupy-wall-street-planning-convention_n_1018570.html

[RegieRocker]

48. We may not have very much time to do this before the shit hits the fan.

[dajoki]

50. K&R

[Firebrand Gary]

52. AWESOME! K&R

[Kip Humphrey]

53. We the peoples require real alternatives beyond the corporatist candidates offered up

by the oligarchy parties.

[tavalon]

55. I wonder if Lawrence Lessig is involved with this.

I'm thrilled that the scholars who are helping with this movement decline to stand out. That said, it makes it hard to see who is doing what. They aren't calling this a constitutional convention (which I wholeheartedly support) but it is nonetheless, great.

[mia]

56. As long as they take no donations from corporations or special interest groups.

Campaign finance reform must also be part of the platform. Without these items I wouldn't believe anything they propose.

[Luminous Animal]

58. 124 recs for something that is not even true. This is not OWS people. And it is shite.