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01566: Re: [WDDM] Reason for caution - all things are not as they appear.

From: Jon Lalanne <moelalon2000(at)yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:31:28 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: [WDDM] Reason for caution - all things are not as they appear.

Right Mike,

There should be a huge screen at the front of the
chamber keeping track of and showing emails coming
in...
--- 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.thisnation.com/library/antifederalist/74.html
http://www.doinggovernment.com/
Check out my Blog too
http://bruceeggum.blogster.com/

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