Proposed Action
 

Proposed action:

Why don't people protest in front of local offices of Senate and Congressmen that we know have been a part of the corruption? City Counsel and other offices as well. This idea isn't limited to one location or your own politicians. It would be very nice to see this go national. This would have to be bi partisan in that we'd want to be willing to protest corruption no matter which party the person belongs to. People responsible for and helping the banks run roughshod over us would be my preferred starting point.

Reasoning:

Unless we bring to light the people in office that facilitate the theft from US citizens nothing will change. Whether they are local, state or Federal they all have ties with their fellow politicians that help protect them from investigation and trial. If we bring the attention of the general public on specific actions and people they will be made ineffective. Even if these actions do not lead to trials and arrests it would make running for office again impossible.

(I have this same proposal in front of Portland OWS now. I honestly think it's the one issue everyone can get behind, and I honestly think now is the time. We need to get out there and shine a bright light on those people that have been screwing the US for so long. We need to get it done before elections in order for it to have a serious effect.

This should appeal to Tea Party and OWS alike because it sets politics aside and instead focuses on the people already in office. We're not trying to get anyone elected, we're trying to make it impossible for someone to get reelected.)

Angie, I know this is a stretch for Current Events. I honestly think if we could get this thing off the ground it would enhance everyones survival aspect though. At least economically. If you feel you really have to move it, I understand. I only posted here because I felt like it would get in front of more people here.

I'm all for protesting particuliar congress critters.

Many of them, on both sides need to go.

I'm not TP or OWS but would go protest with either to out a corrupt polititian.

Do you mean like this?

http://www.cbs42.com/mediacenter/loc...ideoid=3032690

Isn't it funny that this story didn't get traction until CBS ran the story on 60 Minutes, even though it's been being reported for a couple of years by less visible outlets.

I think we not only need to protest/pressure Congress on corruption issues, but the MSM needs the heat turned up on them as well for being slow to report on these types of important issues. For an industry that is losing money, it would certainly boost their revenue, not to mention their standing w/ the public.

But, yes, I think the public should protest at local offices, loudly and in force. Hats off to the Rainy Day Tea Party for their protest. (See, IID. There are some TP chapters that are making noise. ;))

Yep, like that. Except bigger.

They took some time to distinguish themselves as being different then OWS. The lady said, (paraphraseing) "they(OWS) should be here". I agree, OWS should have been there. So I wonder, was OWS invited? Was OWS informed this protest was going to happen? Were they informed of the issue?

Bigger yet, were non TP people informed there was going to be a protest and told what the issue was?

I think more people(I am one) would get involved if they knew about it. Even some dems.

Yep, time nailed it. Bigger so it forces the MSM to pay attention. We can't blame the average joe for not being aware of something that gets very little press. We need to force the press to tell people what we're saying.

What I'm thinking is we take the best ideas from the TP and OWS and combine use them. The TP is good at calm and collected gatherings, OWS is good at getting large groups together and getting attention from it. Get them both together in front on a crooked poitico's office and now we've got something happening. It would make everyone, including the politico's that everyone is upset, not just the left or right.

You mean work together for the good of the country? Rather than sit back, call names and point fingers?
I don't know.
Makes too much sense to me.
I've tried contacting the local TEA party here, but there hasn't been much from them since 2008 or 9. I'll keep trying, but we'll see.
Meanwhile, there is still plenty of space on GC and Politics for the silliness.

It is hard to prosecute a member of congress so that is one way to get your messages out. The timing of this is a little early. You must wait until the campaign and then do this. Even if you caught them with their hands on the cookie jar you can't do anything until they are up for election.

I agree it's a little early, but my hope was that getting the word out now might get some action by elections season. Also, if we could get people starting to make noise running up to the elections, and a big push just before, it might limit the amount of damage these idiots do in the interim. If they know everyone (as in both sides) are watching and angry, they may be less likely to do something stupid over the next year.

And if they feel like they aren't going to get reelected anyway maybe they'll self destruct, and make it easy to remove them.

I wrote a response but decided against posting. It seems any response I might make belongs in the political forum.

I'm looking for real feedback so if you think it's relevant feel free to PM me.

Well i approve of this more than the occupy movement, and wish you luck, one day i will be able to protest, but i am thinking int he mean time I gotta get my house in order while I am still employed.

I'm all for this idea, but I don't know much about which politicians need this form of accountability. Maybe everybody should just look into those closest to them looking for corruption. If it was up to me, we'd just vote them all out and start with a clean slate to get rid of some of the corrupt institutional memory. Anyway, I'm assuming this is intended to be a grass roots effort, but are you looking to start some kind of organization (or at least a website) to get the word out about local protests? I would be willing to help support it financially if you can come up with a plan that sounds good.

What if you brought in a scoreboard like they use in little league, and have the "protesters" flip the numbers to represent how much money they are spending?? Or how much the debt is racking up?? Or both, the spending could be the "home" team and the deficit spending the "guest" team on the scoreboard. Set up at the capitol building and remind everyone who goes in, out or passes by what they are doing to us? It wouldn't take too many people, could have shifts to keep it manned. Would that have any impact? Would it attract media attention?

Ryan, I was hoping to pass the idea off to my local Tea Party and OWS people and possibly act as a go between if needed. If it worked out here I would have tried to get more people to do the same.

I've gotten a fair reception from the local OWS people. Enough of them think it's a good idea that I could likely get a decent protest going. The Tea Party thus far has been mum, but it's the weekend and a holiday so I'm going to wait a little longer before I write them off.

I have to admit I do like your idea of just taking the lead and doing it ourselves. It would require a lot more time and thought though. We would need to be able to get support, which I'm not 100% sure how to do.

Mo cows, I like that idea too. It's pretty interesting.

If you will remember, this was the first question I asked you when I realized you supported the OWS protests. Nothing will change until we change the way our politicians act.

Yep, which is why I've decided to see if I can make it happen. No one else is doing it, so why don't we?

There are hearings coming up in DC about insider trading. Perfect place. I'll look for you on TV!

I don't think DC is the place to protest at all. But the opening day of the hearings might be a good time to do local protests at the offices of folks who deserve the attention.

I'm kind of hoping someone will spearhead efforts to get out the information about the shady politicians because I really don't know, except for the few that have been big news since the 60 Minutes thing on insider trading. I haven't even watched that yet. Maybe I need to start doing the research myself. Not my idea of fun, but I do have extra time these days now that I'm limiting my contribution to the federal budget.

I've held off posting this for several days, because some will take it as political. I will try to present it as simply informational.

Peter Schweizer has been on many news programs discussing his book "Throw Them All Out" which was the basis for the 60 Minutes story and the Newsweek article. Schweizer is a fellow at the Hoover Institute. Congress has scheduled hearings on insider trading and guess who has not been asked to testify? You've got it, Peter Schweizer.

Two others that are major players in exposing this scandal are Peter Bannon, a film maker, and Andrew Breitbart, publisher of the Breitbart web sites. All 3 of them are working together to expose the crony capitalism going on in DC.

To go any farther, it's best if I move the discussion to Politics. I will start a thread there with the above info plus what some may take as political. I will post a link after I have posted the thread.

Thread title is Insider Trading and Crony Capitalism.

Perhaps a place to start is to ask our extreme right and left members about who is corrupt? Each side would only likely put up the corruption from the other side, but it would give us a place to start right?

Most all politicians are as crooked as a barrel of snakes. I can think of 1 that isn't but I am not sure about him. There are more than inside trading here and I think that is small stuff for most of them. Finding stuff about congressmen and proving it are two things. They wright most laws with loopholes in it for them. I am for term limits no matter if they prove to be good. That way they don't owe anybody for the first term and the second they will probity vote for their constituents instead of what the lobbyist want them to.