| From: | Jon Lalanne <moelalon2000(at)yahoo.com> |
|---|---|
| Date: | Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:33:57 -0800 (PST) |
| Subject: | Re: [WDDM] Reason for caution - all things are not as they appear. |
Hi Michael,http://www.thisnation.com/library/antifederalist/74.html
You are labouring under a misapprehension,
congressmen have no statutory duty to represent the
people. They are elected to represent a geographical
constituency. They may take notice of their
constituents but they are not obliged to do so. It
is the same with MPs in the UK.
The people of a constituency merely elect a
representative to make decisions on their behalf.
If they were obliged to speak on behalf of their
constituents, they would have to be independant, as
opposed to being members of a party.
It has come to my notice however, that, here in
the UK, at local level, local councils have their
own constitutions, in which councillors have a
stated duty to be an advocate of and for the views
of their constituents, although the ultimate power
to make decisions is theirs alone.
With this in mind, I have formally asked my local
area committee for help in enabling
www.myverdict.net to be used as a tool for allowing
full community participation in the democratic
process, by actually finding out the views of the
community on every issue.
My hope is that, if this can be achieved with any
degree of success at my local level, it can be
refined and used as a model for the rest of the UK
and any other parts of the world that care to use
it.
Success at a local level would also give the lie
to the view that the people are incapable or
unwilling to participate in the democratic process,
as often expressed by objectors to direct democracy.
I should kmow the Council's position within the
next two weeks.
Watch this space.
Michael Stansfield <pure_democracy(at)yahoo.com> wrote:
Reason for caution. It the past years
there have been many organizations without large
amounts on money for lobbying, yet they have
organized with large groups of people using email
chains in a effort to info people of bills going
before congress with unfavorable details. The
solution they devolped was to request their members
email their congressmen when bills go before
congress that they dislike. Many congressmen were
in-indated with emails. As a result congress has
passed legislation that if you want to ask someone
to contact their representative you must register
with congress as a lobbyist. Therefore a lobbyist
is everyone. Or more appropriatily anyone that
stands in the way of the powers of congress. If the
purpose of a representative is to represent the
people in their district, than it is in opposition
to democracy to force the public to register as a
lobbyist to contact their congressman. It is
evident that congress is attempting to increase
their
own power base at the expense of the people and
saddly it was the Democrats who wrote and passed
this legislation. I urge you to user caution with
the term lobbyist, because in washington it is and
can be used like the term communist to silence any
voices from people in opposition to the power they
dominate over us.
Reason for caution, Reason for Democracy,
Michael Stansfield
----- Original Message ----
From: Bruce Eggum <bruceeggum(at)gmail.com>
To: WDDM world wide <wddm@world-wide-democracy.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 6:00:14 AM
Subject: [WDDM] Direct Democracy with Obama
Direct Democracy with people inner-actions see
plan below.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/
Go to issues and Barack has his plan outlined on
all issues. You can see what he will do.
Plan to Change Washington "I am in this race to
tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of
setting the agenda in Washington are over. I have
done more than any other candidate in this race to
take on lobbyists ― and won. They have not funded my
campaign, they will not get a job in my White House,
and they will not drown out the voices of the
American people when I am president." ― Barack
Obama, Speech in Des Moines, IA, November 10, 2007
At a Glance
Shine the Light on Washington Lobbying
Shine the Light on Federal Contracts, Tax
Breaks and Earmarks
Bring Americans Back into their Government
Free the Executive Branch from Special Interest
Influence
Speak your mind and help set the policies that
will guide this campaign and change the country.
Present your ideas
Watch the Video
The Problem Lobbyists Write National Policies:
For example, Vice President Dick Cheney's Energy
Task Force of oil and gas lobbyists met secretly to
develop national energy policy.
Secrecy Dominates Government Actions: The Bush
administration has ignored public disclosure rules
and has invoked a legal tool known as the "state
secrets" privilege more than any other previous
administration to get cases thrown out of civil
court.
Wasteful Spending is Out of Control: The current
administration has abused its power by handing out
contracts without competition to its politically
connected friends and supporters. These abuses cost
taxpayers billions of dollars each year.
Barack Obama's Plan Shine the Light on Washington
Lobbying
Centralize Ethics and Lobbying Information for
Voters: Obama will create a centralized Internet
database of lobbying reports, ethics records, and
campaign finance filings in a searchable, sortable
and downloadable format.
Require Independent Monitoring of Lobbying Laws
and Ethics Rules: Obama will use the power of the
presidency to fight for an independent watchdog
agency to oversee the investigation of congressional
ethics violations so that the public can be assured
that ethics complaints will be investigated.
Support Campaign Finance Reform: Obama supports
public financing of campaigns combined with free
television and radio time as a way to reduce the
influence of moneyed special interests. Obama
introduced public financing legislation in the
Illinois State Senate, and is the only 2008
candidate to have sponsored Senator Russ Feingold's
(D-WI) tough bill to reform the presidential public
financing system.
Shine the Light on Federal Contracts, Tax Breaks
and Earmarks
Create a Public "Contracts and Influence"
Database: As president, Obama will create a
"contracts and influence" database that will
disclose how much federal contractors spend on
lobbying, and what contracts they are getting and
how well they complete them.
Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to Public
Scrutiny: Barack Obama will ensure that any tax
breaks for corporate recipients ― or tax earmarks ―
are also publicly available on the Internet in an
easily searchable format.
End Abuse of No-Bid Contracts: Barack Obama
will end abuse of no-bid contracts by requiring that
nearly all contract orders over $25,000 be
competitively awarded.
Sunlight Before Signing: Too often bills are
rushed through Congress and to the president before
the public has the opportunity to review them. As
president, Obama will not sign any non-emergency
bill without giving the American public an
opportunity to review and comment on the White House
website for five days.
Shine Light on Earmarks and Pork Barrel
Spending: Obama's Transparency and Integrity in
Earmarks Act will shed light on all earmarks by
disclosing the name of the legislator who asked for
each earmark, along with a written justification, 72
hours before they can be approved by the full
Senate.
Bring Americans Back into their Government
Hold 21st Century Fireside Chats: Obama will
bring democracy and policy directly to the people by
requiring his Cabinet officials to have periodic
national broadband townhall meetings to discuss
issues before their agencies.
Make White House Communications Public: Obama
will amend executive orders to ensure that
communications about regulatory policymaking between
persons outside government and all White House staff
are disclosed to the public.
Conduct Regulatory Agency Business in Public:
Obama will require his appointees who lead the
executive branch departments and rulemaking agencies
to conduct the significant business of the agency in
public, so that any citizen can see in person or
watch on the Internet these debates.
Release Presidential Records: Obama will
nullify the Bush attempts to make the timely release
of presidential records more difficult.
Free the Executive Branch from Special Interest
Influence
Close the Revolving Door on Former and Future
Employers: No political appointees in an Obama
administration will be permitted to work on
regulations or contracts directly and substantially
related to their prior employer for two years. And
no political appointee will be able to lobby the
executive branch after leaving government service
during the remainder of the administration.
Free Career Officials from the Influence of
Politics: Obama will issue an executive order asking
all new hires at the agencies to sign a form
affirming that no political appointee offered them
the job solely on the basis of political affiliation
or contribution.
Reform the Political Appointee Process: FEMA
Director Michael Brown was not qualified to head the
agency, and the result was a disaster for the people
of the Gulf Coast. But in an Obama administration,
every official will have to rise to the standard of
proven excellence in the agency's mission.
Barack Obama's Record:
Federal Ethics Reform: Obama and Senator
Feingold (D-WI) took on both parties and proposed
ethics legislation that was described as the "gold
standard" for reform. It was because of their
leadership that ending subsidized corporate jet
travel, mandating disclosure of lobbyists' bundling
of contributions, and enacting strong new
restrictions of lobbyist-sponsored trips became part
of the final ethics bill that was signed into law.
The Washington Post wrote in an editorial, "The
final package is the strongest ethics legislation to
emerge from Congress yet."
Google for Government: Americans have the right
to know how their tax dollars are spent, but that
information has been hidden from public view for too
long. That's why Barack Obama and Senator Tom Coburn
(R-OK) passed a law to create a Google-like search
engine to allow regular people to approximately
track federal grants, contracts, earmarks, and loans
online. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It would
enable the public to see where federal money goes
and how it is spent. It's a brilliant idea."
Illinois Reform: In 1998, Obama joined forces
with former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) to pass the
toughest campaign finance law in Illinois history.
The legislation banned the personal use of campaign
money by Illinois legislators and banned most gifts
from lobbyists. Before the law was passed, one
organization ranked Illinois worst among 50 states
for its campaign finance regulations.
A High Standard: Unlike other candidates
Obama's campaign refuses to accept contributions
from Washington lobbyists and political action
committees.
For More Information about Barack's Plan
Read the Plan
Read and Watch the Speech
--
Bruce Eggum
Gresham Wisconsin, USA
President King
http://www.doinggovernment.com/
Check out my Blog too
http://bruceeggum.blogster.com/