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01568: Re: [WDDM] Direct Democracy with Obama

From: Jon Lalanne <moelalon2000(at)yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:36:37 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: [WDDM] Direct Democracy with Obama

Let's hope that BO can win the fight against the
status quo and not be chewed up and swallowed like our
last honest president, Jimmy Carter
--- Annette and Martin <ajackson123(at)bigpond.com>
wrote:

Bruce, he is the best thing that has happened to
America since JFK,
Regards Martin
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce Eggum
To: WDDM world wide
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2008 12:30 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
a.. Shine the Light on Washington Lobbying

b.. Shine the Light on Federal Contracts, Tax
Breaks and Earmarks

c.. Bring Americans Back into their Government

d.. 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.

a.. 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
a.. 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.

b.. 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.

c.. 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
a.. 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.

b.. 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.

c.. 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.

d.. 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.

e.. 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
a.. 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.

b.. 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.

c.. 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.

d.. 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
a.. 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.

b.. 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.

c.. 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:
a.. 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."

b.. 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."

c.. 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.

d.. 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.thisnation.com/library/antifederalist/74.html
http://www.doinggovernment.com/
Check out my Blog too
http://bruceeggum.blogster.com/

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