BY SHARI JO SORCHYCH | FEBRUARY 22, 2012
Republicans, Independents, Democrats and what?
The subject line ran off the page, but was duplicated as the headline of the article:
The 99% Declaration Working Group announces a "National General Assembly" to convene in Philadelphia the week of July 4, 2012 for the purpose of ratifying a Petition for the Redress of Grievances.
This caught my attention during a quick Friday morning email check before I took off to spend time with family over the weekend.
When I returned to my desk, I did some reading, worthy of our attention.
The 99% Working Group, Ltd. (current entity name) is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization formed under the laws of the State of New York, with board members Michael Pollok, Esq., co-founder, Robert Manning, and Adeline Malone, Esq., “for the sole purpose of funding and facilitating an election of 876 delegates to the National General Assembly or new “Continental Congress” to convene in Philadelphia the week of July 2, 2012.”
The selected corporate entity name as it appears on the NYS Department of State Division of Corporations Entity Information page is E & M Hardwood Flooring Corp. The following statement also appears on the : “A Fictitious name must be used when the Actual name of a foreign entity is unavailable for use in New York State. The entity must use the fictitious name when conducting its activities or business in New York State.” Hmmm….
The 99% Declaration “originated from the 99% Declaration Working Group of Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, founded on October 7, 2011 by a pro bono criminal defense attorney and several college students who he represented after they were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge.”
They formally announced “that a non-partisan “National General Assembly” consisting of 876 delegates elected from all 50 states, The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the four U.S. Territories, will convene in the City of Philadelphia the week of July 2, 2012.” Can some semblance of “We the people” really make a difference?
According to the 99% Declaration (www.the-99-declaration.org), the delegates to the National General Assembly will draft, ratify and sign a Petition for a Redress of Grievances as authorized by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Any U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident who has reached the age of 18 years may run.
Affirmative action rears its ugly head, but their argument is “because women comprise more than 51 percent of the population but only hold about 16 percent of the elected political offices, one man and one woman will be elected … from each of the 435 Congressional voting districts.”
No sitting politicians are eligible.
It’s going to take a gargantuan private effort to generate the level of response necessary to conduct a successful assembly inclusive of men and women from every state in the union. Assuming this group now has or is able to generate the means and get the word out, there will be a secure online election from Friday, June 15 – Sunday, June 17. Millions of dollars in funding will be needed for such an endeavor.
“The 99% Working Group takes no position on what grievances should be included in the Petition for a Redress of Grievances created by the delegates. The 21 grievances and solutions outlined in the 99% Declaration are merely sample issues that are of great concern to most Americans,” said Pollok.
They are listed here for your consideration and if you click on each link, it takes you to an explanation by The 99% Working Group:
Elimination of the Corporate State.
Overturning the “Citizens United” Case.
Elimination of All Private Benefits to Public Servants.
Term Limits.
A Fair Tax Code.
Health Care for All.
When you click on this one, the opening quote is from Article 25 of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948):
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Protection of the Planet.
Debt Reduction.
Jobs for All Americans.
Student Loan Debt Refinancing.
Ending Perpetual War for Profit.
Emergency Reform of Public Education.
End Outsourcing and Currency Manipulation.
Banking and Securities Reform.
Foreclosure Moratorium, Mortgage Refinancing and Principle Write Downs.
Review and Reform of the Federal Reserve Banking System.
Ending the Electoral College and Enactment of Uniform Federal Election Rules.
Ending the War in Afghanistan and Care of Veterans.
No Censorship of the Internet.
Reinstitution of Civil Rights Including the Repeal of the NDAA.
Curtailing the Private Prison Industrial Complex.
Visit www.the99declaration.org to participate in the Petition, register as a delegate candidate and register to vote.
“Upon being ratified and signed by the 876 delegates, the Petition for a Redress of Grievances will be served, like any other legal document authorized by law, upon all three branches of the federal government and the politicians running for federal office in the 2012 general election in November.
“Each politician running for office will then be asked to take a public pledge to redress the grievances and solutions contained in the Petition within the first 100 days after taking office. Those candidates for federal office who take the pledge, regardless of party affiliation, will receive the full financial and organized grassroots support of the delegates and their constituents.”
Under the heading “The Ultimatum,” it states “The “New Continental Congress,” renamed for the 21st century as the National General Assembly, is authorized by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which specifically reserves to the people, not the states nor federal government, the unalienable right to peaceably "assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
“The delegates to the National General Assembly will reconvene and begin working with Occupy and 99% groups across the United States, to run non-partisan independent candidates for all national offices in the 2014 mid-term election and again in 2016” if the government fails to act in 2012-13.
This is just the ticket to motivate young Obama supporters who might otherwise have lost interest in the election process.
Republicans, Independents, Tea Partiers – the gauntlet has been thrown.
