The 99 by William Steiskal

The 99

The number 9 in Japanese Culture is a homonym of the word for pain and suffering.

By William Steiskal Ó 2011

When the Twins fell

The 99 rushed to their aid

Into that smoking cement canyon it rained

Both the living and the dead

Some were recovered that day

By those that sacrificed …and prayed



While searching for the missing

Their fate was unknown

They cleared that toxic avalanche

Then grew sick and alone

They asked for assistance as many of them died

Only to be told the nightmare is over

Run along and hide



The 99 now occupy those very same streets

Financial Giants can no longer be ignored

Evicting the continuum of self interest is at stake

America’s business as usual can exist no more

A sweeping revolution has reached the front gate

Are you going to tell them to go eat cake?



Engine rooms of wealth and excess

Hide behind our Representatives doors

Armies of Lobbyists barter for influence

While the 99 clean their floors

Parades of politicians

Concerned about their own fate

Obstruct the system that put them there

Pretending to debate



It’s the 99 who grow and distribute

The food on your table

The clothes on your back

And when young and able



Fight all of your wars

Recycle your waste

Support your lifestyles

With dignity and grace



They teach your children

With dwindling supplies

And yet when they voice their needs

You tell them to run along and hide



Years of empty slogans

Poured from the pitcher of hope

Has watered the fields of cynicism

These are the words that you spoke

“Putting People First”

“Change We Can Believe In”

“Kinder Gentler Nation”

“Compassionate Conservatism”

“Yes We Can!”

But when the 99 express their needs

You refuse to include them in your plans



You quote Reaginomics and Free Trade

Tea Party economics is the way

Let us take you to the austerity ball

Where you can dance for your existence

And have nothing at all



You deny collective bargaining when you can

Accepting the bullion of corporate treasure

To finance your stand

Bonuses in the Millions

Profits in the Billions

The insecurity of the masses

Schools cutting classes

Banks that won’t disclose

Robo-signed homes that are foreclosed



This is the legacy left in your wake

Tattooed generations have accepted their fate

Many turned toward this culture of greed

Hoping once and for all to be freed



They floated their dreams on risky loans

The waters were calm when they walked on its’ surface

Betting their homes, savings and goals

Their dreams sank like stones

Leaving their lives shattered

Nowhere to go



Who are these 99 as if we care

Let them clutter the streets feeling unfair

They all must be addicts, alcoholics, unemployed

Class warfare seems rampant nationwide

They’re gaming the system

Too lazy to work

No dignity or pride

There’s food on their fork

And so goes these dialogs

To assuage your fear

Let’s sing the song of denial

Into next year



Greed

We’ll all pretend

It doesn’t exist

Let’s do it again



(…and repeat)

First of Two Very Special Posts

I am both pleased and honored to present an original work by SoOC Correspondent and fellow Hamster William Steiskal. His ode to the 99% follows these quotes which he uses to provide context for his work.

“Democracy, disciplined and enlightened is the finest thing in the world.”


“The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of the heart.”

“A true and nonviolent combination of labour would act like a magnet attracting to it all the needed capital. Capitalist would then exist only as trustees. When that happy day dawned, there would be no difference between capital and labour. Those who labour will have ample food, good and sanitary dwellings, all the necessary education for their children, ample leisure for self education and proper medical assistance.”

Mahatma Gandhi


“I behold the surest pledges, that as on one side, no local prejudices, or attachments; no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great Assemblage of communities and interests: so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy, will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world.”

Excerpt from George Washington's First Inaugural Address

30 April 1789, Federal Building, Wall Street, New York

“The difficulty is that goodness and fairness are moral issues, not political ones. Government is the human attempt to mandate goodness and ensure fairness. Yet there is only one place where goodness is born, and that is in the human heart. There is only one place where fairness can be conceptualized, and that is in the human mind. There is only one place where love can be experienced truly, and that is in the human soul.”

“The real question is not why do governments impose so many rules and regulations on the people but why do governments have to?”

“If every person on the planet had basic needs met- if the mass of the people could live in dignity and escape the struggle of simple survival- would this not open the way for all of humankind to engage in more noble pursuits? Would individual greatness really be suppressed if individual survival were guaranteed? Must universal dignity be sacrificed to individual glory? What kind of glory is obtained when it is achieved at the expense of another?”

“The evolution of a society is measured by how well it treats the least among its members.”

“What is needed is a growth in consciousness, not a growth of government.”

Excerpts from “Conversations with God” Book 2

The "New" Party from the last post...

Well, our fellow Hamster who told me about it sent me a link to a Facebook page for the American Moderate Political Party, which hasn't had a new post in over a year. I also checked out the website listed on their page and found nothing. So, apparently the seeds are there, but there is no tree yet.

I still think it needs to happen.

It's the right time for the right reasons.

HP

The Rest of What He Said...

OLBERMANN: But — but one thing you wrote about — in the post, in the letter — was that this — your adherence to this — comes from — what? Sunday school and bible class and the little fundamental golden rule things. Isn’t it — that what it is?




MOORE: Yes. That we were taught that — we’re gonna be judged by how we treat the least among us. And that if you do have the good fortune smile upon you — you have to do even more. So, you have a greater responsibility to stand up for those who are the have-nots. And — and — I knew the folk singer Harry Chapin in the final years in his life — I don’t know if — do you remember Harry?



OLBERMANN: Of course.



MOORE: And he did 200 concerts a year. One hundred of them were benefits. And I said, “How do you do that?” And he said, “Well, I just — my philosophy is, one for me, one for the other guy.” And I — that kind of stuck with me, you know, my whole life and I just thought, “Boy, what a great way to live, if I ever get lucky enough to do that.”



And so, right away, with “Roger and Me” — my first film — I just — I gave away half the money, and uh — and proudly paid my taxes and told my guy — the tax guy –



OLBERMANN: Accountant?



MOORE: The accountant dude — H&R Block — oh no, no commercials — I said “No deductions, other than the mortgage. No deductions. I want to pay my full share here because I am proud to be an American, and I’m proud to spend that money as a citizen of this country.” And right now, if any conservative is watching that, that just made their head explode because –



OLBERMANN: What? You can’t money make money off that without those deductions. What are you, crazy?



MOORE: And they hate having to pay for and fund this great country.



OLBERMANN: Exactly — except for them. Except for the parts they use.



MOORE: Except for the parts that they use. Right, and the parts that protect them. The parts that are not investigating them. The parts that are not regulating their Wall Street. Oh, yeah — no. They are all for that.


Michael Moore and Keith Olbermann 10/27/11

What He Said...

"You’ve got these nine Republicans running, all right? And, of course, we all laugh, and there’s the joke about — you can make about each one of them. And we know that our fellow Americans, at the end of the day — they’re not going to go in the voting booth and vote for crazy. Even though they might be upset at Obama, they’re not going to go crazy.




So, it begs the question then. If this is the party of the rich — the Republicans — if this is the party of wealth and Wall Street, the party that brought about the crash of ’08, why don’t the wealthy — why aren’t the wealthy — making sure they have a Republican that’s running that’s gonna win?



It doesn’t look like they’re concerned at all about making sure they’ve their man on the Republican ticket unless — unless they believe they’ve got their man on the Democratic Party ticket?"


Michael Moore
From Keith Olbermann's Countdown show 10/28/11
 
Does make ya wonder, huh? I have said all along that we only have Republicans running and that Obama is the one who's closest to the middle...the only one in the middle. But he was only a little left of center when he had both houses. Now that he has to really fight, he plays to the right. Astounding how the party not in power has all the power. Or is it?
 
A fellow Hamster sent me an email that there is a new party forming to the center and I have asked him to provide sources so that I can check it out. I am also looking into the 2 executive orders regarding mortgages and college loans and will report what I find a little later.
 
It's the right time for the right reasons.
 
Hamster Prez

“The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people...

 

 

The Essentials of an Independent Party

Editor's Note: Last week, I posited the formation of a third party to counter the dysfunctional current system. Then, while watching Bill Maher's show this weekend, author Thomas Friedman is already promoting this concept. I knew nothing of Mr. Friedman's proposal when I made my declaration. It's good to know that there are people out there with a bigger megaphone than me espousing this idea. But, like OWS, it also takes us to make it happen. I am gratefult that the conversation is starting. As promised, I am still moving forward with the premise because I believe it is important. Discuss.

Due to the sheer number of issues facing the country right now, I am not going to attempt to list the platform agenda in order of importance. All of them are important, but I also think that the only way to solve the biggest issues is to first address the flaws in the system that prevent us from making the necessary changes. Senate reform has to be at the top of that agenda.

Operational Deficiencies

This may seem simplistic, but the single greatest deterrent to progress is obstruction. I have been writing to Vice President Biden to tell him that, as President of the Senate he is presiding over an unconstitutional assembly. The Constitution clearly states that the Senate operate under majority rule, therefore making the Super Majority now necessary to pass any legislation fundamentally illegal. I have not heard back from Mr. Biden, as shocking as that may seem. In order for change to occur, the mechanism to implement that change must work. The current system simply does not and none of the people who control that body have the nerve to fix it.

Our political structure is a nightmare of corruption. Citizens United merely codified what was already going on. Lobbying groups and political action committees have been perverting the political discourse in this country for years, but prior to the Roberts' court it still had to disclose just how much influence it was pedalling and where that influence was coming from. None of that is true now, of course, and it is to the detriment of our nation.

Therefore, the  candidates must refuse money from corporations, the banks, Wall Street, lobbyists, pacs, and super pacs. Instead, we campaign the old-fashioned way. Public speeches, personal contact, and broadcast appearances. Add in the new tools available like social media and the rest of the internet and a non-establishment candidate can still win. Simply by not taking money from the 1% and even the next 2% will get you the 57% that agree with OWS. And in our elections, unlike our Senate, the majority still wins. They may have all the money, but we have the ballot boxes.

What I am talking about is true campaign finance reform. The new party must be willing to take on and legislatively overturn Citizens United, eliminate the lobbyists (like England did), and close the loopholes that allow campaign contributions from undisclosed sources to be funneled to candidates. If someone wants to spend millions of dollars on an issue, so be it. But the money has to stop flowing to the politicians.

Campaign finance reform must also include a candidates own resources. No candidate can be allowed to "self fund" their campaign. What I propose is that a candidate can only give as much to their coffers as the current law allows anyone else to donate. Self-funding by multi-millionaires unevens the playing field by preventing less well funded potential candidates from even entering the race. Meg Whitman spent a crapload of money to lose to Jerry Brown, and lost to him for a variety of reasons not the least of which is that Californians routinely reject these types of people. However, if this reform had been in place, we might have Gavin Newsom as Governor right now instead of Mr. Brown. We might even have Ms. Whitman if she hadn't flaunted her money. Who knows?


There are a dozen more structural issues to be reformed, but they are of lesser priority. The system is broken and those in charge of operating the system have a vested interest in keeping it that way. Our elected representatives are not representing, they're campaigning non-stop. Legislation has come to a virtual standstill as these folks sell their principles to the highest bidder. Which underscores the basic problem: They have no principles.

Yes, there are a few exceptions and those brave people are to be commended. I can't actually name one right now, but I'm sure there have to a couple somewhere in DC. Pollyanna, is that you?

The Issues

I think we are all pretty well informed on the issues. We know what the problems are. Our government has insulated itself from us and they have this notion that they have all the power. That notion was well-founded because for quite awhile, we let them take it. We took their shiny objects of distraction and largely turned our backs, or at least a blind eye, to what they were doing.

What they fail to realize, apparently, is that we have the ballot boxes. We have the votes that allow them to keep their positions of power...or, hopefully, not keep them. We also have the power to take back the controls if we collectively choose to. And in my humble opinion, that is exactly what we need to do and the best way to do it is to create this new party that will challenge the old notions of who the government is supposed to represent. It is not and cannot be the lobbyists, banks, Wall Street, corporations, or special interests.

On every major policy issue and/or problem that has been polled, the majority of the respondents are against what they are doing. Time was once where that made a difference in how they behaved. Now, they just completely ignore those numbers and do what they want. This has got to change. What I cannot stress enough here is that they will not change it. At least not without a compelling reason to do so.

That compulsion may be aided by the introduction of a strong, grassroots, and real threat from the outside. Let's not forget that the majority of the voting public is now listed as "independent" by slightly over half. The two parties share the remainder with the Democrats holding the larger of that minority stake. So, it stands to reason, an independent party already has more than half the electorate by definition, and would certainly attract the disenchanted folks who still cling to the parties. Couple that with the 57% (and growing) of Americans who support OWS, it's completely doable.

The time is right for the right reasons.

Hamster Prez

Whether you agree or not, please share and participate. Thanks.