Let’s Take Our Government Back From the Corruption and Greed

The corruption and greed has so overrun Washington that our elected officials are favoring corporate interests over what is right or good for the people at every opportunity. No real reform will be possible until we can clean house in Washington, D.C.

Our most powerful weapon to fight the corruption is the vote. But to be effective, we must unify enough of us to create a large, unified grass roots movement.

We can unify a hundred million of us by formulating a new platform of reform that brings great benefits to the masses. With our huge numbers united behind a reform agenda, we will have the power to vote out a majority of the corrupt politicians in Congress.

This petition explains how we can organize and unify enough of us to vote in our own and clean house in our government.

The Petition:

We the people, with this petition, hereby call upon American Civil Liberties Union, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Amnesty International to join their resources and personnel to form the board of directors of a new organization. I’ll propose that this new organization be called VOTER, for Voice Of Thoughtful and Ethical Reform. These organizations have the resources to each donate staff, office space and equipment. If they join us in this endeavor instead of fighting their own battles, then everyone’s needs are met by a unified and focused effort to address the corruption in our government.

VOTER will form an organization whose job it is to give us a unified voice and providing a platform that we can vote on. VOTER can put surveys on the internet to let us vote on issues that we care about. VOTER will ask the questions that no one else is asking. “Do we want all special interest money out of politics?” “Do we want federally-funded elections?” “Should we fund these elections through a new tax on wealthy corporations?” “Should we have a national voting box standard that always has a paper audit trail?”

VOTER will help us to identify the many new Congressional candidates who have a proven track record of reform or fighting the good fight for a better government, or a cleaner environment, or improved food safety; people who have been working to bring out the truth - these are the people that we should be voting for to replace the dirty dogs and fat cats of Congress.

VOTER candidates will be asked to answer survey questions that will help people know where each candidate stands on pertinent issues. Attention will be drawn to politically expedient answers or answers that are vague or lacking in specific details. Candidates will be asked if they are willing to commit to the VOTER platform.

The VOTER Platform – A Starting Point

1) Substantially increase taxes on the wealthy and large corporations and substantially reduce taxes on everyone else. Eliminate offshore tax loopholes. Raise the minimum wage to a living wage.

2) Limit all loans, including payday loans, home mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, etc, to 9% or lower.

Demand that the companies who sold the subprime mortgages refinance those who are now under water so their total debt does not exceed the current value of their house.

3) Corporations are not people. Eliminate "corporate personhood". Make all elections - federal, state, and local - funded by the new higher taxes on the rich and on wealthy corporations so all candidates will have the same air time, with no one being allowed to outspend anyone else. The average American must be on an equal footing with the wealthy so our government is not overtaken by the wealthy. The first amendment gives everyone an equal voice - not the wealthy having total exposure while the common man and woman has none.

4) Inform corporations that provide essential goods and services, (such as water, electric, home heating oil, food, health, and auto fuel,) that they cannot charge such high prices that they are making billions of dollars in profit while people are freezing in the winter, and becoming homeless. Businesses that sell non-essentials and luxury items can charge what they choose.

5) Protect small family farms, the organic standard, and health supplements to protect American’s rights to decent and healthy foods and health freedom of choice.

6) Subsidize clean energy technologies, such as wind and solar, instead of the coal, nuclear, oil and gas industries.

7) NAFTA, GATT, and all agreements with the World Trade Organization (WTO) should be rescinded.

8) Eliminate as much corporate and elite influence on our government as possible. Corporate needs should be considered when drafting legislation - just not with undue influence. All meetings with lobbyists will be shown on CSPAN and on a public record. No more partying and gifting the Senators.

9) Hands off Social Security and Medicare. Rather, boost the amounts paid out to an amount in keeping with real cost of living increases so people can afford to live in their homes and not end up on the street homeless.

10) The constitut...