Occupy San Luis Obispo, CA — OccupySLO

Reposting just to keep thjis at the top.
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About 10 -15 people there.
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I agree with everything "fly" says. I think I made most of the same points in my response that I was composing while he was composing his.

The most important thing I left out, which "fly" included, was that we need to disavow what Oakland did. We need to do this soon. If possible, we need to do this today and in the media, not just in our minutes. If we are "procedurally and structurally unable to speak", which I fear we are, we need to literally fold up our tent & go home.

That's what I think.

What do you think?
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You can listen to Congalton's podcast. May be available tomorrow.

I heard it. Short version - I got no surprises. Josh didn't mention OccupySLO at all, talked about his new website & his Libertarian views, claimed he could be a reporter who doesn't hide his point of view & an activist at the same time. I have a problem with that, bur Fox News(?) doesn't, so why should Josh.

My biggest issue is Congalton let Josh turn his show into a 1 1/2 hour commercial for Josh's views. And I think every Libertarian friend of Josh's called in & praised him. Congrats to Josh for a free commercial & shame on Congalton.
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5 PM today
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I'm curious to see what he has to say.
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Do you know Josh & Friedman are the same person?

Biketom
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See my response under new topic, "Proposed Constitutional amendments"
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I have re-posted this as a new topic because the old topic has morphed into this.

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Mike,

The last time I counted, there were about 12 proposed Constitutional amendments. Most are pretty simple. Here are nine of them.

Congressional proposals

Deutch/ Sanders S.J.RES.33 sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/S.J.Res..pdf
Edwards H.J.RES.74 www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hj111-74
Schrader H.J.RES.72 thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.J.RES.72:
Udall S.J.RES.29 www.scribd.com/doc/71154073/A-Constituti...orm-Campaign-Finance
McGovern H.J.RES.88 mcgovern.house.gov/uploads/Peoples%20Rights%20Amendment.pdf

"Public" proposals

Move to Amend movetoamend.org/
Get money out www.getmoneyout.com
Occupy Wall Street www.nycga.net/2012/01/01/11-resolution-t...orporate-personhood/
99% www.the-99-declaration.org/read-the-99-declaration/

Most seem to aim only to control corporations. None, to my knowledge, try to limit unions or other “Left wing” groups. I think Republicans would rightly feel that their rights were being infringed upon, just as Democrats feel now about Citizens United. Same goes for millionaires & PACs.

Some, like Sanders, refer to “other private entities”. Perhaps they don’t want to limit what they control or they think their vague wording will be sufficient to solve the problem.

Most do not REQUIRE any changes, they only allow them. They just put the foxes back in charge. We need to require that the people be in charge.

I think it’s important that any amendment make ANY political contribution of any sort from ANY source a crime. I haven’t seen that anywhere & I think that’s what we need. Anything less will not solve the problem.

So how do we finance elections? Here’s where I completely agree with you.

We need mandatory publicly funded elections. Not optional.

I don’t think it matters whether corporations are people or money is speech. The problem we’re trying to fix is politicians that are bought

My amendment, without the legalese, would be:

All federal, state & local elections shall be publicly funded. The source and amount of such public funding shall come from Congress. Any other political contribution of any sort from any source is illegal.

I have said for years, “Ronald Reagan ran for Governor with the slogan "Simple solutions to California's Problems". H.L. Menken said "There is always an easy solution to every human problem--neat, plausible, and wrong."“

Some might say my solution is simple. I think getting it passed will be difficult & getting it implemented even more so. But we have no choice.
If the people know they have no chance, the will eventually revolt, the Framers knew this. Why don’t our politicians?

What do you think?
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This is the CORRECTED agenda for an important new committee Biketom tried to get started during the holidays. Let's support him and get it going. Local and national political reform is what it's all about, isn't it?


AGENDA FOR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING 1/14/12 - 10:30 AM at the courthouse

Meeting objective - define possible Political options to enable OSLO to attack “the greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Things we can do

1 - Get the city or county to pass a resolution to get the money out of politics


Please also read this PDF to get an idea of what’s necessary.

(See the link to the PDF on the original post, above)


2 - Work for the election of state & local politicians who will work for US and not the rich.


3 - Work for the approval of ballot initiatives that get the money out of state politics.


4 - Provide documents to the public describing various topics of interest (Miles'C project)

5 - Other ideas
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Jinglechelle can do it. e-mail her
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Reminder - This meeting will be at the courthouse Saturday at 10:30 before the noon march.


AGENDA FOR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING 1/14/12 - 10:30 AM at the courthouse

Meeting objective - define possible Political options to enable OSLO to attack “the greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Things we can do

1 - Get the city or county to pass a resolution to get the money out of politics


Please also read this PDF to get an idea of what’s necessary.

(See the link to the PDF on the original post, above)


2 - Work for the election of state & local politicians who will work for US and not the rich.


3 - Work for the approval of ballot initiatives that get the money out of state politics.


4 - Provide documents to the public describing various topics of interest (Josh's project)

5 - Other ideas
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Andrew (the bearded one, not the Ron Paul supporter) is doing fine.
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Michelle,

I'm with you. Even if the freeslo web site was in total agreement with us, occupyslo has NOT authorized joint participation. Anyone is free to go to whatever they want to, but nobody should be claiming that occupyslo SUPPORTS it. I think Josh should be asked to remove our name from his article that claims we support it.

Tom

PS - I think you already removed it from our calendar, but if not, I think you should.
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Mike-

I agree with you about thr recent topics tab. One other easy thing I do is go to the "home" tab because it usually includes all recent topics & it occasionally contains messages that aren't on any tab.

Other than that, I find navigating the web site too confusing for someone like me who's asymptotically approaching middle age (from the low end)

Tom
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I assume you mean today, Jan. 7.

Also please add discussion of the NYCGA vote to the agenda.

Tom
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On Jan. 3, the NYCGA voted to support a Constitutional amendment. This was widely covered in all the press (NOT)

Anyway, here's the link. It's long & the proposal starts at 107.2.3 & reaches concensus in the middle of 107.2.3.5.1.

www.nycga.net/2012/01/​03/​nyc-general-assembly-minutes-13​2012/#more-7541

Is this what I think it is?

What do you think?
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Politics and Electoral Reform subgroup meeting will be Jan.14 at 10:30 AM at the courthouse. The agenda will include items in the original agenda, plus any other related items.

Hope to see you there.

Tom
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Justin,

"America - love it or leave it” was a popular bumper sticker in the late 1960’s, used by the right wing to try to intimidate & marginalize those of us who opposed the Viet Nam war or who wanted equal rights for women or Blacks or who wanted to legalize marijuana or any number of other “liberal” causes. I always thought we should have an "America - if you don’t love it make it better” bumper sticker.

The point is, the "America - love it or leave it” people wanted everyone who wasn’t like them to leave. America has never been a "love it or leave it” kind of place. America was in fact founded on the concept that everyone was welcome here. We should always remember that & never fall into that trap. If people want to move to Saudi Arabia, of course they should be allowed to do so. But if they want to live here & not be persecuted for their religion, of course they should be allowed to do that too! I think the only people who should not be allowed to be here are those who want to forcefully overthrow the government. But I think even that deserves further thought.

As far as citizens being on public grounds at any time of the day or night, I agree. They should feel as at home as in their own back yard. I think we all agree that we do not have the right to build a house on the land in front of the courthouse. But many of us agree that we have a right to occupy the land as a protest. A more reasonable government might agree.

Many of us laughed loudly at the notices from the county. They may even try to enforce their rules. They may even arrest us & throw us in jail. They may even make us pay for our civil disobedience. But that doesn’t make them right.

We need to love & respect all of our brothers & sisters, no matter what their views.

What do you think?

Biketom
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As you can see from the lack of activity on the web site, maybe there isn't anybody out there yet. Maybe if Pink Floyd was there it would be different.

Anyway, I hope to be there. Judy, see my private message to you.

Tom
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Probably Jan. 7 as Judy suggested.
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I am aware of 8 proposed amendments that purport to reverse Citizens United and/or get the money out of politics. They are:

Move to Amend
The Dylan Ratigan amendment
The 99% "possible amendment that isn't official but has a lot of good ideas" amendment

And 5 amendments proposed by congress members

The Edwards proposal
The Schrader proposal
The Udall proposal
The Mcgovern proposal
The Deutch/Sanders proposal

All of the above seem to be legitimate proposals to solve the problem. I remember seeing one more but I had already quit counting. There may be fake proposals out there too that seem to solve the problem but actually would exacerbate it.

I’ve tried to figure out what the best one is & I see significant problems with all except the 99% proposal.

None except the 99% proposal include “Elimination of All Private Benefits and "Perks" to Politicians” which I think is important but might never pass the Amendment process

Most don’t specifically reverse Citizens United

Most don’t require that elections are paid for by Federal government funding, they only propose that Congress provide funding. Can we say “fox” & “henhouse” in the same sentence?

There are other problems I see & likely more that I don’t

My point is there’s a lot of stuff out there & we need to get it right the first time. And that will take lots of analysis by lots of smart people.

Patience

What do you think?
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Thanks Mike,

Lots of food for thought here.

Tom
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I sent this to President Obama Friday, Dec.16. I think he would like to do the right thing but doesn't know how. Maybe he should join "Occupy"
------------------------------​------------------------------​-----------
70% of us support taxing the top 1%.

70% of us don't want the Keystone pipeline.

70% of us know the Republicans are owned by the big corporations & you guys aren't much better.

Yet you continue to cave in to the bastards.

Tell them to shut down the corporately owned government. If they do, stand up like a man & tell all of us who shut it down & why.

GROW A PAIR!

I am a member of the Occupy movement & I hope we're successful in peacefully converting the government back to a government of "We the people" because the government that YOU are running is drowning & you don't know it. The alternative to peaceful return of the government to the people is unthinkable & I don't want to be here if it happens.

Please don't contact me, you make me sick.
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I to will post any reply I might get. Hopefully not from an NDAA camp.

Tom "I'm in the book" Roberts
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"What if they gave a meeting and nobody came"

OK, it's almost Christmas & people are more interested in parties, presents, & food. I get that.

I'm disappointed but not surprised that nobody wants to talk about political action right now. I guess I'll try again after the new year.

Tom
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Kim,

I didn’t mean to imply that we should take money from the 1% because it was immoral that they have it. Taxing the 1% has become the issue de jour because they seem to be the only people who have money & lots of people think we need money to balance the budget or whatever reason. I DO believe some people have become rich on the backs of the poor, but I don’t suggest we even try to fix that for many of the reasons you suggest.

Some sociological studies have demonstrated that countries with less income disparity are happier, but even if that were true, I would not necessarily support trying to balance wealth or income. The only way things can be changed is if a broad base of the population wants to change it badly enough. The Arab Spring didn’t happen because a bunch of people thought their rulers were immoral, it happened because a REALLY BIG bunch of people wanted it to change, even at the risk of their lives.

What I do suggest, & I think you agree, is that “Occupy” needs to focus on 1 goal, one that most people agree on & that is possible to achieve. If the right goal is chosen & defined properly, chosen by a really big bunch of people, & implemented, many good things could happen.

For example, if money was removed from politics & our politicians were free to do what we pay them to do, the following might happen.

Corporations couldn’t buy politicians
We might get a fair tax code
Our politicians might come up with real banking reform
Our politicians would do things that create real jobs
Our politicians might figure out how to forgive or minimize student loans
Our politicians might come up with real solutions for the foreclosure problem.
Plus several other important goals could be accomplished.

This would almost surely require a Constitutional amendment. In fact, anything less than a Constitutional amendment reversing Citizens United AND providing for public financing would almost not be worth bothering with.

What do you think?
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Kim,

I was typing at the same time as you.

I agree that OWS needs 1 major goal. I think that needs to be gettingf the money out.

Equalizing income or freeing Tibet might or might not flow from achieving that goal, but I think 1 properly expressed & publicized goal is pretty much imperative.

Tom
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AGENDA FOR POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE MEETING 12/24/11

Meeting objective - define possible Political options to enable OSLO attack “the greed and corruption of the 1%.”

Things we can do

1 - Get the city or county to pass a resolution to get the money out of politics


Please also read this PDF to get an idea of what’s necessary.


Put link here


2 - Work for the election of state & local politicians who will work for US and not the rich.


3 - Work for the approval of ballot initiatives that get the money out of state politics.


4 - Other ideas
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Meeting Friday will be at SLO Grind across the stret from Costco.

Tom
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Perhaps we can vary locations, arrange carpools, even comment by phone, or maybe someone has ideas on how to get more people involved. Failing in that, you can post ideas here. I hope to keep all folks appraised of what's happening in a timely manner.

What do you think?

Tom
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Andrew, Duffman1, Sunshine*, future alter egos-

I can ignore you whatever new account you use. I am only answering this to suggest that EVERYONE ignore you until you make sense. I am ignoring you in all of your reincarnations starting 5...4...3...2...1...NOW

Yes, we really do love you.
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I would like the Politics and Electoral Reform subgroup on Occupyslo.org to become more active. Currently there are only 3 people in the group & only 5 topics with 16 replies.

The main direction of OWS is to “no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.” There are a limited number of things we can do locally to influence the national political status. A couple of these are to pass a city or county resolution to get the money out of politics and to work for the election of state & local politicians who will work for US and not the rich. There are certainly other things we can do locally, & I would like anyone to make such suggestions here.

Please also read this PDF to get an idea of what’s necessary.

s3.amazonaws.com/media.unitedrepublic.or...merica/AAA-Guide.pdf

I would like to propose a meeting of this committee next Friday, Dec. 23, at 5:30 at the SLO Grind OR the Nautical Bean, both on LOVR near Madonna. This is an easier place to get to for our AG & Los Osos people, plus I can walk from home.



occupyslo.org/resources/files-downloads/...itics?category_id=13

What do you think?
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Nate

Thanks for thr download from Trina. I'm going to start a separare thread.
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These minutes are only a draft, please add to or correct as needed.

1- recap from last GA, included the county draft permit, NDAA, exclusion policy, others

2- announcements

Poultergeist presented an NDAA memo stating that protesters should be treated as low level terrorists.

Rascal reminded everyone of the 12/31 NDAA protest march in SF

3- group reports

Bebe - logistics - reported on needs at the courthouse. The biggest need is for people to just be there & answer questions & maintain a credible presence.

12/21 - 3PM There will be a winter solstice party. Needed for that are mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes & other food. Contact Bebe or Miles.

Starting tomorrow, there will be a working groups meeting Sundays at 1:30. Meet at courthouse & walk to an indoor venue.

Jim suggested that each of our working group meetings should also be used for the initial formulation of ideas to be presented to the Saturday GA for final approval. Everyone seemed to agree.

Rascal suggested there should be some function at tha courthouse every day.

Miles announced that the first Wednesday presentation of 2 relevant topics went well last Wed, & that 2 more will be presented next Wed., 12/28.

Danamite talked about the pamphlet that she, Candia & others were working on.

Miles suggested we get business cards printed that could be handed to people that told about OSLO.

Bebe suggested we have a financial report before we spend money.

Biketom reported that the coffin committee hoped to have the coffin for the “Death of the Middle Class” completed in the next week or 2. Rascal & others said they found this concept offensive. Rascal suggested it be called “Funeral for America”, several others had problems with it. Some suggested it be placed at tha courthouse rather than used in the march.

Biketom said he is going to try to increase the activity of the political action committee with an eye toward things like getting city & county governments to ask congress to support a constitutional amendment like Move to Amend & support & elect local & State politicians who agree to support the goals of OWS.

4 - proposals (statements, events, actions)

Sina said we need people for direct action

Nate reviewed his handout entitled “Occupy SLO communications overview”

There was a lot of discussion about maintaining the occupation through the winter the general opinion was that a presence was important, but that we needed to deal with the times when there was no responsible member there. Bebe suggested a canopy with a zipper, But Mike M said the authorities wouldn’t like that, & with good justification. Someone else suggested clear plastic sides. There was no decision made at this time. Sina again asked for volunteers at the courthouse, there are only currently 4 people in attendance who are signed up.

The GA was closed & there was a public comment/open forum time
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These minutes are only a draft, please add to or correct as needed.

1- recap from last GA, included the county draft permit, NDAA, exclusion policy, others

2- announcements
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