To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Restore Our Democracy
RESTORE OUR DEMOCRACY
PLEASE CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING PLEDGE TO HELP RESTORE OUR DEMOCRACY:
It is reasonable to believe that those who drafted the first amendment to the Constitution intended that the freedom of speech should protect those who express their views verbally in public. The Supreme Court has interpreted freedom of speech to protect private, back room arrangements to use money to bribe our public officials. This interpretation has transformed our democracy into a plutocracy controlled by a wealthy elite. We need a new amendment to the Constitution.
One way that the 1% was able to take advantage of us in the subprime mortgage crisis was by withholding from us the information we needed to negotiate in our self-interests. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set up by the Dodd Frank bill was intended to assure that we would have the information necessary to negotiate in our own self-interest.
Now the moneyed interests are attempting to get Congress to emasculate that Bill.
Our only remaining power over our government is still our vote for our public representatives. But after we elect them, money can take control over what these representatives do. So we need to exercise our power by informing our current representatives prior to the election next November that we will pledge not to vote to reelect them unless they demonstrate their willingness to represent our interests rather than the moneyed interests.
Therefore, I sign this pledge and forward it to you that I will not vote for your reelection unless you show evidence prior to the November 2012 election that you have done everything within your power to:
1: Support a constitutional amendment that interprets the freedom of speech so that it protects those who express their views verbally in public and does not allow speech to be interpreted as the use of back room dealing to provide money to bribe Congress.
2: Support the Dodd Frank bill and particularly the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and prevent it from being emasculated by Congress.
3: Support the passage of a law to limit the use of undisclosed money to finance Congressional campaigns, and preferably to limit campaigns strictly to government financing.
My name is ______________________________________ (Not required)
and my 9 digit zip code is _________________ *(Required)
Please forward this pledge to your representative in the House and your two Senators. Then also forward this pledge to everyone who you believe might send it to their representatives and senators. Thank you.
Perhaps we can restore our democracy so that our representatives represent us rather than the moneyed interests!
NOTE TO SIGNON: It would be desirable to have a widget as part of the pledge whereby the one making the pledge would enter his or her zip code and the pledge would automatically be sent to his or her representative in the House and two senators in the Senate and to an email address whereby it would be tallied to see how many people take the pledge in each voting district.
SHORTER ALTERNATIVE PLEDGE
Pledge to your representative and two senators that we will not vote to reelected them in November 2012 unless they do what they can to promote a new Constitutional Amendment to restrict freedom of speech to publically aired speech and to promote the integrigy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so that those who take out mortgages and loans will not be cheated by not knowing the particulars of the mortgage.
PLEASE CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING PLEDGE TO HELP RESTORE OUR DEMOCRACY:
It is reasonable to believe that those who drafted the first amendment to the Constitution intended that the freedom of speech should protect those who express their views verbally in public. The Supreme Court has interpreted freedom of speech to protect private, back room arrangements to use money to bribe our public officials. This interpretation has transformed our democracy into a plutocracy controlled by a wealthy elite. We need a new amendment to the Constitution.
One way that the 1% was able to take advantage of us in the subprime mortgage crisis was by withholding from us the information we needed to negotiate in our self-interests. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau set up by the Dodd Frank bill was intended to assure that we would have the information necessary to negotiate in our own self-interest.
Now the moneyed interests are attempting to get Congress to emasculate that Bill.
Our only remaining power over our government is still our vote for our public representatives. But after we elect them, money can take control over what these representatives do. So we need to exercise our power by informing our current representatives prior to the election next November that we will pledge not to vote to reelect them unless they demonstrate their willingness to represent our interests rather than the moneyed interests.
Therefore, I sign this pledge and forward it to you that I will not vote for your reelection unless you show evidence prior to the November 2012 election that you have done everything within your power to:
1: Support a constitutional amendment that interprets the freedom of speech so that it protects those who express their views verbally in public and does not allow speech to be interpreted as the use of back room dealing to provide money to bribe Congress.
2: Support the Dodd Frank bill and particularly the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and prevent it from being emasculated by Congress.
3: Support the passage of a law to limit the use of undisclosed money to finance Congressional campaigns, and preferably to limit campaigns strictly to government financing.
My name is ______________________________________ (Not required)
and my 9 digit zip code is _________________ *(Required)
Please forward this pledge to your representative in the House and your two Senators. Then also forward this pledge to everyone who you believe might send it to their representatives and senators. Thank you.
Perhaps we can restore our democracy so that our representatives represent us rather than the moneyed interests!
NOTE TO SIGNON: It would be desirable to have a widget as part of the pledge whereby the one making the pledge would enter his or her zip code and the pledge would automatically be sent to his or her representative in the House and two senators in the Senate and to an email address whereby it would be tallied to see how many people take the pledge in each voting district.
SHORTER ALTERNATIVE PLEDGE
Pledge to your representative and two senators that we will not vote to reelected them in November 2012 unless they do what they can to promote a new Constitutional Amendment to restrict freedom of speech to publically aired speech and to promote the integrigy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so that those who take out mortgages and loans will not be cheated by not knowing the particulars of the mortgage.
Why is this important?
Pledge to our representative and two senators that we will not vote to reelected them in November 2012 unless they do what they can to promote a new Constitutional Amendment to restrict freedom of speech to publically aired speech and to promote the integrigy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so that those who take out mortgages and loans will not be cheated by not knowing the particulars of the mortgage.