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To the moon and beyond.
I haven’t written about what I think the Occupy Wall Street protesters policy demands should or shouldn’t be because I don’t feel it is my place. Yet as I see more and more people tell the Occupy Wall Street people what they should demand, I feel there is simply one piece of advice I must offer: aim big.
I don’t know if the occupy movement will achieve anything. I don’t know if some or any of its eventual demands will be met, but I can say with near 100 percent certainty, our political/financial system will never give the movement more than what they ask for. This is why I was extremely depressed to read writers like Matt Tabbi suggest the movement demand only tiny concessions.
While I agree with Tabbi that things such as a modest financial transaction tax and a ban on lobbying by bailout companies are good ideas, they are very modest tweaks around the edges. They are minor compromises and concessions that even our extremely corrupt Congress almost approved. Even if all five of Tabbi proposals were adopted it would not change the fact that our government system is totally corrupted, they would not provide immediate help with the jobs crisis, nor would they reverse the middle class’s decades long wage stagnation. If you want to fix the destructive fact that all the money and political power is rapidly becoming concentrated with the top 1 percent, major change is needed, not a few small adjustments.
You are a popular movement, not some minor party parliamentary partner in a coalition government. You don’t need to start by accepting pre-compromises. As a popular movement, aim big and bold. Don’t be afraid to lay out a vision for a radically better world and demand what is need to achieve it. Don’t start by asking for something from the limit window of the “possible.” Ask for the ideal. Demand everything that is needed.
I can’t promise you that you will get big change if you demand it, but I can promise you will never get the major reform we need if you don’t first ask for it. The corrupt system will never give up a single inch more than it feels it must.
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Well done and well said Jon.
Excellent advice.
I agree with 99% of this post. Well said.
Great post and advice. Have you attended the events, they need to hear from speakers like you that encourage them to aim big.
Basically, we the people (the 99%) need to be firmly in the driver’s seat when the time comes to move from making a statement to making demands. If Egyptians were able to stand firm long enough to oust their old US backed corrupt dictator, we should be able to stand firm long enough to lay out a vision for a radically better world and demand what is needed to achieve it. Anything less than that will have been a failure, and will result in another decade of the 1% laughing all the way to the bank at the 99%.
Agreed.
Even if all of your faith is in reform through the establishment, you want a popular movement to push the barriers, with popular support, far enough that something actually meaningful has a good chance of becoming policy. If they’re just pushing for “pragmatic” reforms slightly to the left of President 1%, they won’t be doing themselves any favors nor those in the establishment who may sympathize.
I agree with mswinkle. The protesters need to hear from people like you.
You’re absolutely right on – GO BIG!!!
Here is one demand I would to see.. pass a law outlawing all Lobbyists & Corporate donations to Federal elections.
Jon great post “Think BIG” that should be their Mantra!!!
No tax on profit but a tax on all advertisements, campaign contributions and lobbying costs. A tax on all profit not paid to shareholders after legitimate business deductions. A tax on all trades under a second turn around. A return to Glass-Seagull??. A special tax on those financial instruments which caused the problems. A better way to fund medicaid and medicare and open medicare to all over 55. Then all of this:
1. A REVERSE INCOME TAX PROGRAM for lower and middle class wage earners instead of taxes being withheld from paychecks the government would add additional income with the goal to provide additional income to those most likely to spend the income on goods and services thereby reducing poverty and create jobs.
A FULL TIME WORKER EARNING $20,000 A YEAR OR LESS WOULD RECEIVE $20,000 A YEAR IN ADDITIONAL INCOME ONE CITIZENS APPROACH FOR MOVING US FORWARD WHILE REDUCING THE DFICIT
30,000 15,000
40,000 10,000
50,000 5,000
2. INCOME TAX all income from all sources wages, interest, dividends, capital gains, bonuses, funds shall be taxed on a graduated % within each bracket NO DEDUCTIONS..
$50,000 to 60,000 7%
60,000 to 100,000 7% to 10%
100,000 to 150,000 10% to 20%
150,000 to 200,000 20% to 30%
200,000 to 250,000 30% to 40%
250,000 to 1,000,000 40% to 50%
1,000,000 to 10,000,000 50% to 60%
Above $10,000,000 straight 70%
3. SOCIAL SECURITY Change the pay roll tax by reducing it from 6 to 5 per cent on the first $100,000 which would be matched by the employer then a graduated upward tax on all earnings (gross income) above that amount. Such a tax could look something like this:
The first $100,000 5%
$100K – 1M +1%
$1M – 5M +2%
$5M – & above +3%
Everything paid above the first $5,000 would be a tax deduction. In other words a person making one million dollars would pay $5,000 on the first $100,000 and $9,000 on the remaining $900,000 for a total of $14,000. Someone fortunate enough to be making $10,000,000 would pay $5,000 plus $9,000 plus $80,000 or 2% on the next $4M and $150,000 or 3% on the final $5M for a total of $244,000 or 2.44% of earnings of which $239,000 would be tax deductable.
4. CORPORATION AND BUSINESS TAXES
A. Eliminate all corporation taxes on profits which are paid out to shareholders but tax dividends as income B. Tax all corporate advertisement at a rate of 50% ie.: for every $1 spent on advertising $.50 goes to government C. Tax all corporate lobbying and campaign contributions at 100% ($1 for $1) D. Tax all bonuses over $10,000 at a rate of 45% E. Tax all penalties, fines and punitive forfeiture at 25% F. Tax all profit not paid out as a dividend to shareholders at a rate of 15% G. All legitimate business expensive can be declared as a deduction except those in items b –e. H. Impose a special tax on the profits of all corporations and businesses which out- source jobs, build manufacturing, research and development facilities abroad and keep all or some financial accounts in foreign nations. I. The following loopholds shall be closed: 1) “active financing” tax deferral for financial firms [this exception for foreign source income allows multinational financial firms to avoid tax on their worldwide income by allowing these firms to establish ‘captive’ foreign financing subsidiaries], 2) dividend deduction on foreign source income earnings from U. S. controlled foreign subsidiary corporations, incorporated overseas [enables firms to avoid repatriating foreign earnings] and 3) the debt tax shield [deductibility of corp. debt interest payments for foreign firms].
5. HEALTH CARE
A. Open Medicare or create some other form(s) of public option for health insurance which must compete with private insurance companies.
B. Allow Federal government to negotiate with PHARMA industry to lower drug prices.
C. Allow VA Hospitals to care for low income non-veterans.
D. Carry out the Medicare/Medicaid cost reductions mandated by the Affordable health Care Act so that the growth can be slowed. Putting these provisions into action fully and as soon as possible is the best way to reign in spending.
6. BUDGET CUTS
A. Cut farm subsidies by 30%.
B. Cut military budget by following the recommendations of the Sustainable Defense Task Force report which targeted cuts in: strategic capabilities, conventional forces, operational expenses, procurement strategies and eliminating unnecessary weapons systems. There is broad agreement that savings can be had without sacrificing national security. Estimated to be $100/yr
C. Eliminate all subsidies for fossil fuels including production credits and charge all petroleum companies full price for all well inspections.
D. Eliminate all subsidies on corn ethanol.
E. Increase fees on all Federal lands used for: lumbering, grazing, mining and other for profit activities. In some cases a percentage of the profit may be negotiated to protect the people’s interests.
7. INFRASTRUCTURE LOAN BANK
The ILB would be funded at $300B to start and added to in increments of $50B to $100B per year until fully funded at $1T. Any elected unit of government may barrow from the ILB. Terms of the loan would be a 10% match to be repaid over a 25 year period if not sooner at 3% interest. Private corporation both for and not for profit may barrow from the bank provided the projects are for public use or benefit of all citizens and are infrastructural in nature. Terms and conditions would vary in accordance with the law. The bank may be use to fund low energy green construction, transportation improvements (highway, rail, airport or port), water and sewage systems, electrical facilities, structures and grids, rural broadband connectivity and mass transportation (buses, mini-buses, light rail and fast rail transportation systems).
8. THE PEOPLE MUST GET CONTROL OVER CORPORATION
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO CONTROL CORPORATIONS
Corporations, companies, businesses, limited liability concerns and any other similar organization organized for profit are to be created by the individual states and can be regulated by all levels of government in accordance with state and federal laws, rules and regulations. Under no circumstances shall they be considered or equated with being a person(s), individual (s) or citizen(s) .
Taibbi, whom I like, is way off base with his recommendations.
Nice post John.An OWS speaker was on Charley Rose,and his petty demands seem to reflect a fear-driven timidity.If this underwhelming and misguided response to royalist corruption is a product of the general assembly,then they would be better get Chris Hedges or some other GA choice to convey a message worthy of OWS resistance.Or,just say nothing and let your presence be a far more powerful message .
Totally agree!
Your so right John! Look at our illustrious President as an example of what compromising with these thugs gets you! Do the Bazaar barker number ask for 500% more then you ever dream of getting and bargain up from there!
I want:
Cheney and the rest of BushCo in the dock, Nuremberg style
I concur.
When I saw this list my response was (and is), “It works for me.”
I was also puzzled and disappointed by Taibbi’s weak fixes, and I agree we need to aim big.
We don’t don’t need minor tweaks, we need an overhaul.
We don’t need to gently reform the system: we need a new system.
When the inevitable next systemic crisis occurs, and Washington predictably rushes in to bail out the sociopaths on Wall St, thousands of bodies will already be in place to storm the Bastille (metaphorically speaking, of course).
The kleptocrats won’t compromise and allow even mild and easily-achievable reforms which would increase good-paying middle- and working-class jobs, provide affordable health care, keep people in their homes, and reduce student debt.
The piratocracy won’t yield. If we back down, they’ll grind their boot heels even harder into our necks.
This is class war, and, by the rules of engagement the bankocrats are playing by, there can only be one victor. If we don’t play to win, we will lose, and be even worse off than we are now.
If you think I’m being strident and melodramatic, I encourage you to read Ian Welsh’s recent posts.
This is a pretty good policy outline. One thing you left out, which many like me think is very important, is funding for the Arts and Arts/Music in Education. If you call for “no tax deductions”, then all private funding of the Arts will cease. The only substitute at that point would be government funding, which is currently tiny. Continuing to grow and refine our culture is every bit as important as competing economically.
I always agree w/ mswinkle
I kind of like everyone deciding on their tax forms a distribution of how the tax they pay is actually spent…
What they don’t allocate get allocated proportionately to what was allocated by the tax payers.
Let the people’s money be spent on what they want it spent on.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers comes to mind.
If I don’t see the word “fuck” in a Taibbi piece, I reach for my imaginary gun.
OWS is almost certainly doomed, unless it does think big, but it won’t. Perhaps it’s a good thing. The battle must be joined and, make no mistake, the Bloombergs of the world know this, as do the police – they are chomping at the bit. I hope that non-violence triumphs; it did in the Civil Rights movement. But the blacks sought no more than equal seating in the bus. This is much bigger – we want control of the bus. And that scares the hell out of the Bloombergs, and the Mellons and the rest of them.
If you do, have some Vodka — or your favorite alcoholic beverage — handy. You’ll need it.
Agree overall, and don’t mean to nitpick, but #1 is huge.
Breaking up the Too-Big-Too-Fail Banks is not a “tiny” concession. That’s his #1 point and that alone would be huge.
Two suggestions
1. Campaign Finance – Outlaw any political contribution from any entity not eligible to vote. (Eligible, not registered). If you aren’t eligible to vote then why would you have the right to influence an election or issue???
2. Penny a share financial tax. (Think 1% for the 1% !!). Financial transaction tax of 1 cent for every share, option, bond, derivative, FOREX, etc. traded, every day. For the month of August 2011, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index combined daily average volume was 4,308 million. At 23 trading days, and at 1cent per share, that would have raised almost 991 million dollars for the month – just for stocks. And 1 cent a share is peanuts. It won’t actually matter to the traders (except for their natural greed)
OWS need numbers… if it can grow then the violent clamp down becomes impossible and demands will emerge and will have to be addressed.
I don’t see the 1% walking away without a fight of some sort… but 1 to 99 is rather intimidating odds…
Ian Welsh:
Welsh is, unfortunately, right.
Ian’s correct.
Great post, Jon.
We’ve been so inured to the pre-compromised request/demand (thanks, Barack!) that even the revolutionaires among us are being counseled to keep their asks small. This IS sad.
The only way to move the Overton Window is by having a loud, raucus, attention-seeking group asking for things they really want but may never get. Pre-compromising is stupid at this point: a transaction tax? You’ve got to be kidding.
Break up the banks, yes. Limit cross-state-line banking, sure. Return Glass-Steagall, okay. But we’ll never get any of this without public campaign financing.
That’s where we need to start: 100% public campaign financing. No private expenditure on campaigns.
Break up banks? Get rid of them completely as private for profit institutions.
Make them heavily regulated utilities.
Right on Jon Walker.
OCCUPY BIG!!!
Oh, n fuck Leon Podesta too, the fucking fuck..
OCCUPY THE MIC!!!
What can OWS use as a hostage? You can’t play nice with these people.
Saul Alinsky never, ever tried to appeal to the “better natures” of the business leaders he fought. Instead, he made war on their exchequers. He never said “Do this because it’s the right thing to do”. Instead, he said “Do this or we will make you suffer financially”.
Also, he always did the big ask, knowing, as does Jon, that to get anything at all requires a big ask. He’d go into an action knowing that he might have to compromise and get only 10% of his original ask, so he always made it a huge ask. Obama, on the other hand, never does the big ask — at least not when he’s pretending to work on our behalf. He only does the big ask for big business, whose campaign cash he courts.
They have numbers.
Mario Savio
Easy for me to post, from the comfort and safety of my home office.
Yes. Bad weather and a bad mayor are going to test that.
If we can just buy time, time for more and more people to join their local Occupy’s…..
Can you just imagine living in a country that embraced those principles? It’s a start! EDIT, of course, now I need to calm down and carefully read and think :)
Aim big, yes, but figure out what you’re aiming at before you shoot. Jon, you are being short-sighted. This is not the time to be formulating specific demands. The movement is not yet big enough. The only demand at this point should be to “fix the system”. That means that our elected reps should get off their asses, educate themselves about reality, and do something more than just try to get themselves re-elected. I see that demand as being a warning shot across the bow. The threat is that if they don’t heed the warning, the movement is going to grow with results that are largely unpredictable except that they will be major and a lot of Americans are going to get hurt in the process.
I disagree. OWS should only ask for a little bit. Then Obama will compromise with them and they’ll get more than they ever dreamed of.
What PhilS said… grow big and lets these slackers know that the 1% and the government they bought need to change their corrupt self serving ways.
“Fixing the system” at this point is like patching a tire with multiple blow-outs.
We need new tires.
deductions to non profit organizations are always tax deductions did not think it was even necessary to point it out
Teddy you are so right.Can’t jump over publicly financed elections,its the plunger that unplugs this government toilet of corruption that sustains corporate rule.
We need a new engine.
Agree there are multiple blowouts. That’s my point. No simple patch will accomplish anything, Hell, voting no longer even accomplishes anything, at least at the national level. The entire system is broken. The bottom line is that we have lost and we need to start over from the bottom and beginning.
I do however agree tentatively with Teddy that 100% public financing for elections might be one very good place to start. But it won’t happen until the revolution grows stronger.
The situation in NY tonight may well tip us a little farther toward a real flash point. Stay tuned.
And, FWIW, FDL was unreachable for about 5 minutes. I tracked it down to the Rackspace server company in San Antonio. But it’s obviously back up.
And in response to the comment about “we just need to hang in there a little longer” I wouldn’t worry. Weather may drive almost all out of NY, even w/o Bloomberg’s storm troopers. But pleasant weather will continue in many cities, both atmospheric weather and social/political climate.
My heart goes out to all in the “City” tonight. We’re all proud of you.
Naomi Klein has been really and truly telling it right about this movement and the imperative need for it to Aim Big. Do not let this pass. Do not let this be compromised.
Naomi in San Francisco speaking to the Occupy Wall Street (San Francisco) crowd.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVsrAO5tDK0&feature=related
Repeal of Gramm Leach Bliley is a big first step. If we need to do things one at a time that’s a great first demand, imo.
I’ve studied so many of this country’s systems and institutions over the years, because my life mission is to try and understand how everything works. I can honestly say that I have found severe dysfunction and corruption virtually everywhere I have looked. There may be some things that work as they should, but, if so, they are rare. Right now, OWS may not even have the levereage to demand not being evicted in the morning. BUT, if this thing can continue to grow as it has, ther will be a point where it can demand big and get big. And, if and when we are fortunate enough to see that point reached, I would suggest that the demand should be for a compete overhaul of whatever cannot easily be shown to be corrupt and dysfunctional. Believe me, the list of things that can withstand even casual scrutiny will be astonishingly short. If that seems too grandiose, let me just say that I think that obliterating the prevalent attitude is the key, once the bad attitude people are removed, resistance to positive change will be removed as well, to a very great extent. I think we all know who the “bad attitude” people are; if not, learning to identify them would be an easy learning curve. BUT, first we need truly overwhelming numbers, and so far, it’s just a drop in the bucket. An encouraging drop, but still just a drop.
I hope that all of the ‘baggers are aware that we are having to fight Obama’s policies and the appointees who are implementing them, just like we had to fight the same things from George Bush.
Oh, Obama is just as much the enemy now as Cheney/Rumsfeld were before. As someone said, let Obama tell everyone how he’s now supporting the occupation. Then one of its first demands can be impeach Obama.
It’s tweaking. I think that’s Jon’s point.
Look, FDR reformed the corrupt system in ’30s. He saved the aristocracy from their own greedy nature, by imposing limits on their sociopathic rapaciousness, and by providing a floor (pun intended) for the 99% with Social Security.
This was intolerable for the 1%. They never forgave FDR, and they’ve been clawing back ever since. Reagan/Bush/Clinton/BushJr/Obama cast off their chains, and now the 1% are free! free! free!
We gave them a chance to play nicely: let us eke out our lives with a basic social safety net, reasonable opportunity, hope for our children, etc., and we’ll let them live like gods.
BUT THAT WASN’T ENOUGH FOR THEM!
Restoring Glass-Steagall, or revoking the Commodities Modernization Act is meaningless at this point, and Wall St probably won’t stand for it anyways.
This is war. This is a battle for our lives.
I don’t advocate violence, but I agree with Ian Welsh: if the aristocrats don’t fear for their lives, nothing will really change.
Soylent Greed is Rich People! (and it’s really not that bad when you get used to it. Tender. Lots of marbling.)
Hear hear. And really, if these guys are allowed to continue with the wars, environmental exploitation and destruction, will there be anything left for THEIR grandchildren? We have to save them from themselves. (Save the hoi polloi first, of course). I really can’t see a political solution anymore, without at least the possibility of a mass uprising and soiled silk underwear.
I stand with Anonymous in their call for the formation of a new political party with the Occupy Wall Street movement at its core. The only way to change our system will be to take over from within that system. With the broad support being expressed across the political spectrum, a new party could be viable and effective.
http://www.businessinsider.com/anonymous-is-against-a-revolution-and-wants-a-new-political-party-2011-10
Agreed Jon. The time for crumbs again is over. It’s time we take over the entire loaf. No more punk concessions.
Think Big: Reverse Corporate Personhood.
I don’t know if OWS can muster sufficient agreement on specific issues to form a political party (the movement consists of Ron Paul and Green Part types–two groups whose agreement on political issues likely ends with”the system is corrupt and needs to be replaced”). Even if there were such agreement, I think it would be less effective than using whatever influence and attention is gained to make much bigger structural changes, such as by making a concerted effort to enact Proportional Representation and other big electoral changes.
I could not agree more with Jon Walker.
However, how can OWS ‘go big’ if they seemingly do not understand the big picture? We have had a fake economy for decades. Our economy is was not/is not sustainable. It was based 70% on debt based consumption, based on fake asset valuation rise. This could not go on forever, and it hasn’t. It’s coming to an end right now.
Unless they understand the fundementals of what our economy was based on, I don’t see how they can propose BIG changes to it.
Sure, getting rid of fraud and corruption (and government complicity in same) is always a noble goal as those are always factors in any system. But as near as I can tell, OWS is demanding minor reforms to a fundementally unsound, unsustainable economic system … an entirely debt based consumerist system.
In relation to the protests, and the subsequent actions: Solidarity: #Occupy Wall Street – Everywhere
“Stand like Jesus and Gandhi. Speak like MLK. Walk Like An Egyptian.”