Blog: The 99 Percent of the 99 Percent

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I have been spending as much time as I can at Occupy Philly. Helping where, and when, I can, with finance and messaging, speaking at several General Assemblies, reading everything I can to get a sense of the movement.

I speak for no one but myself; I am not a representative of the Occupy movement. We are all equal in this movement, and I will continue to put forth my proposals and ideas at the General Assembly, and if given the chance, to Regional and National Occupy General Assemblies.

I think the time has come for us to try to define the essence of the movement, and I have drafted a strategic statement. This is my understanding, from listening to many conversations, reading input online, chatting with others and attending the GAs in Philly, here is my draft, and realize this is the beginning of the discussion:

We the 99 percent, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, stand on our convictions that all Americans, and Humans everywhere, have the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that embedded within these rights are the right to education, safety and health.

Our movement was started in recognition of the gross inequality of wealth and services in this country. We will therefore advocate for the following:

• Affordable and Adequate Education for all, including elementary and secondary education
• Balanced and Fair Budget and Tax Policy
• Military and other Public Service Employee Pay Equity and Care
• Main Street Recovery Act
• Immigration Policy that provides for our security while ensuring the safety of those who are immigrating                
• Health and Human Services policy that will provide affordable health care
• Protection for the environment and a halt to all mining, extraction and other processes that are for private profit on public land
• Prison Reform and action to resolve discrimination in criminal proceedings
• Human Rights Protection for LGBT community
• Campaign Finance Reform and definition of corporations as “not individuals”

We will no longer accept the unequal distribution of wealth, awarding millions to billionaires in tax welfare programs and corporate subsidies.

We the 99 percent do therefore intend to form a Community Forum Task Force and Working Groups, to meet with community members, local, state and national government representatives, to discuss and formulate proposals and policies and to petition our government for redress of these grievances even as we insist upon our right to peaceably assemble on our public land.

Our intent is to operate on the principle of Direct Democracy, with proposals and decisions discussed and voted upon at a General Assembly.

This statement is for the 99 percent of us who are part of the 99 percent, but not living at an Occupy camp, or attending General Assemblies on a daily, or even weekly basis. We have an opportunity here to change the political landscape, to draw our line in the sand and say enough, we now demand to be treated as equal and with equal rights to our governance.

The 1 percent has subverted, perverted and inverted our system of government for, by and of the people and we, the 99 percent, have sat by, mostly silently, as this happened.

I am currently working on a piece of legislation that I plan to send to Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), the Balanced Budget Fairness Act. I am going to ask them to sponsor this bill, and find out how we form a citizen lobby group. I don’t believe that it is only money that talks in Washington, I think “we the people” can get pretty loud when we want to.

The Balanced Budget Fairness Act is simple, for every dollar given to a corporation as a subsidy, one dollar must be put into education funding. For every dollar put into the defense budget, one dollar to health, social security and welfare. This is not a perfect solution, but a place to start. Incremental actions lead to monumental changes, or so I believe.

Here is my message to the world: so happy to see you, now let’s Occupy the Polls and take back what is ours. Our money, our farms, our forests, our schools, our pride, our patriotism, and our politicians.

Visit your nearest Occupy camp, attend a General Assembly. Your support is welcomed, whether you bring coats and blankets or your own draft legislation and ideas for change, or both, this is the moment you have been waiting for, don’t let it pass by. Grab it, hang on to it. Occupy it.