Change Congress with a postage stamp

[nonlinear]

Pat sent a message using the contact form at http://occupychi.org/contact.

The focus of OWS is incredibly complicated with a long list of grievences. It needs a FOCUS - complete one success then go on to the next.
Standing in the street and yelling won't do it.
Need ACTION all voters can take and a FOCUS for the action. Focused action is very strong.

CHANGE CONGRESS
WITH
A STAMP
Bury them in mail

Give voters
- sample letters
- stamped pre adressed envelopes
- names and all contact inf. on their representatives (state & fed)
- focus on one issue - public funded campaigns
- get local newspapers to put on their front page how local representatives vote on every issue

If you FOCUS on campaign financing and fix it other issues will be more easily dealt with. Don't let the super rich and big corporation buy our congress.

Next focus - lobbyists. Easier to fix once congress is independent of big money.

Once there is a success voters will give more support and probably chart their own course - with a postage stamp or email. Voters can be very powerful once they know how to do it and that IT WORKS.

Use the word VOTERS, not "people". People need to know they must be VOTERS to change things.

Thanks for all your work!
Pat

[Q Mike]

NEW VOTERS put Obama in office, and inspired new hope.

Tea party folks vote consistantly, and get a paid attention to a LOT.
Influence our congressional process and decisions A LOT.

Now is the time to register folks for the Illinois primary.
THAT is a significant direct positive action.

MARCH 20 is the time to get folks out to the polling places.
A straighforward, one day, simple & direct action.

[BenBurton]

You're absolutely correct. Right now Occupy Chicago has a lot of smaller issues they're trying to address, but we don't see to focus on the long term goal.

“Occupy Chicago is here to fight corporate abuse of American democracy in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world.”

What issue should we (and by we, I mean all of us) focus on and use to start a campaign?

[marymcmahon@clear.net]

Can we start with a phone call campaign?

Call Attorney General Lisa Madigan at 312-814-3000. Ask her as an Illinois resident to reject the 50 state Attorney General Settlement that will absolve the banks for their roll in the Mortgage Crisis.

New York and California already have, Illinois should be the next. And demand a full investigation of the mortgage industry fraud before any settlement!

[BenBurton]

Can we start with a phone call campaign?

Call Attorney General Lisa Madigan at 312-814-3000. Ask her as an Illinois resident to reject the 50 state Attorney General Settlement that will absolve the banks for their roll in the Mortgage Crisis.

New York and California already have, Illinois should be the next. And demand a full investigation of the mortgage industry fraud before any settlement!

Although it's not directly related to campaign financing I personally want to help do this but we need more info first.

[marymcmahon@clear.net]

This is part of the Occupy the Dream week initiatives that were presented at the People's Church MLK Day Celebration and Public Meeting. That meeting was hosted by IIRON, SOUL, Northside POWER, Northwest Indiana Federation with the support of Occupy Chicago.

It's pretty well summarized enough for most to make a decision about whether or not they want to do more research, or feel they know enough, or trust the research of the organizations initiating it to participate.

I'll quote from their literature:

After "robosigning" fraud was discovered in the mortgage industry, AGs from all 50 states entered negotiations for a settlement designed to be a slap on the wrist. Due to the fundamental inadequacy of this process, a number of state AGs have since pulled out of the negotiations, including New York and California. Illinois Lisa Madigan must do likewise. We call for her to support a full investigation into fraud in the mortgage industry, and a settlement that addresses the full $700 billion of underwater mortgage debt.

Their script reads
"M name is____________and I am an Illinois voter. I am urging that you pull out of the 50 State Attorney General settlement unless the big banks pay the $700 billion they cost defrauded homeowners and are only absolved of liability for robosigning and nothing else. Do not let Wall Street banks off the hook."

We can pass along opportunities for people to act on. This is not an endorsement. We don't have the volunteer manpower to originate supporting documentation for all of the problems and issues we face. We can however connect people to ways of exercising their voices on issues that matter. It's meant to accompany a basic awareness of government and current events.

Information is difficult to come by and timing is everything.

[marymcmahon@clear.net]

This is not meant to replace the other issue. I devoted endless hours over a couple of years to get the McCain Feingold Finance Reform Bill passed. It was my lesson in how Congress works and how little we matter.

[BenBurton]

I was speaking to someone offline about this and got a little more info:

I would suggest that people contacting Lisa Madigan ask her to:

-support/insist on a full investigation before any settlement is reached
-insist on a settlement/action that adequately compensates former homeowners
-insist on a settlement/action that actually punishes the banks
-limit the immunity granted to the banks to those issues actually
addressed in the settlement

Her phone number is 312-814-3000; there is an online petition at
http://iironblog.org/petition-to-lisa-madigan/

I think we should clarify a few of those bullet points, maybe with some details. Ideally we'd have a lawyer write up the settlement we prefer but in lieu of that we should at least agree on the points.

Ultimately then get approval from a GA (if we don't already have it), start a thread with a nice, concise version of the action and blast it via social media and get people energized on the topic.

[marymcmahon@clear.net]

People need to know that they needn't go into that much detail in order to express their views, which is the point of this initiative.

Lisa was one of the first AG to come out on this issue. I expect people will have a positive reception so it is a good experience to begin with.

I encourage people to voice themselves, even if it is to say, "I don't understand this. It doesn't seem to go far enough".
"You need to get out and explain this to us. I expect it to be done in language I understand. I will be watching and listening."
"You represent my interests and I want to hear you are doing this!"

Keep is that simple. The experts are there to language it up. That shouldn't prevent us from laying it down in the simplest of terms. As Ralph Nader would, Robert Reich, Chris Hedges, people who know the games played. How details are used by opponents as ammunition, they use them to control the population and keep us inert. This is exactly the paradigm that needs to be blasted open.

So our voice has the most power when it is clear and simple. And calls out in large numbers.

I say this as a member of the political team; because the voice of OC can't replace the power of a thousand phone calls; because we should be abot empowering individuals.

Of course the legal team, or press could elaborate and get it on the agenda and get a vote. Politics and the OC is an unresolved issue and one that's been incendiary. And shouldn't we consider being an informal source for issues of concern?

Regarding Financial Reform in politics, there are several groups spearheading initiatives as well as several congress people calling for a constitutional amendment. This is an area for action.

SOPA, progressives are delivering 117,000 signatures from a single petition drive.
Voices can be channelled until OC determines to act, or adopt this strategy of disseminating information.

My point is there is a load of issues being worked and a load of people who want to do something. Is it a good idea to connect the two?