Download Quality Video File: http://wikiworldorder.org/video/Occupy/Mar16Monsanto-LabelGMOs.org.divx

Filmed at the 2012 Millions Against Monsanto protest/occupation in Davis, CA.
MONSANTO, 1910 5th Street, Davis, CA

JUSTICE FOR CONSUMERS!! JUSTICE FOR WORKERS!! JUSTICE FOR OUR MOTHER EARTH !!

55 minute mix tape with footage from throughout the day…

General Assembly held during the afternoon at the protest/occupation…

MONSANTO, 1910 5th Street, Davis, CA

JUSTICE FOR CONSUMERS!! JUSTICE FOR WORKERS!! JUSTICE FOR OUR MOTHER EARTH !!

Demands To Monsanto:
STOP COMPLETELY !
STOP POLLUTING THE ENVIRONMENT !
STOP POISING OUR DRINKING WATER !
STOP CHOPPING DOWN RAIN FORESTS !
GET OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT !!

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_24800.cfm

The Objective: To bring local awareness to the corporation Monsanto’s control and involvement with the toxins in our food and water supplies and the ties they have in the government. We must start acting locally and thinking globally to bring down this tyrant of the food industry. We are in worldwide solidarity with the Millions Against Monsanto (www.MillionsAgainstMonsanto.org) and several other groups, organizations, foundations, and individuals who feel that something must be done to stop the evil practices of the Monsanto Corporation.

“Corporations are Not People and Money Is not free speech”

The Goal: To unite local communities, as consumers, voters and organizers to continue the push to remove Monsanto and other Corrupt Corporations from our government. Along with other campaigns all over the globe to create a world governed for, of, and by the people, not the corporations. One tactic is to strategize and take action utilizing the power of the Boycott to send a strong message we will not do business with Corrupt Corporations. We are urging for monthly and biweekly protests; Workshops, teach-ins, film showings; Canvassing, flyering, training organizers, and recruiting more people to the peaceful fight.

First ‘Pro-Occupy/99%’ candidates officially announce campaigns for Sacramento County Board of Supervisors

SACRAMENTO — Occupy Sacramento attorney Jeff Kravitz and high school government teacher Gary Blenner officially announced Wednesday that they are running for Sacramento County Board of Supervisors — as the first “pro-Occupy/99%” candidates in the area, and possibly the state of California.

Kravitz, who is a volunteer attorney for Occupy activists arrested at Cesar Chavez Park, is a civil rights lawyer and former constitutional law professor. He is running in District 3.

Blenner is a government teacher at Rio Americano High School, and a former school board member in the Center Unified School District. He is running in District 4.

Both said they will be running “for the 99%,” not corporations, promising to hold a series of “99% community forums” over the next few months to find out what the 99% want them to do if they are elected.

In a joint statement released Wednesday, they said:

“The 99 percent are under-represented in Sacramento. The 1 percent, corporations and the wealthy, are over-represented. We are going to ask the people — the 99 percenters — in our districts what they want. We will hold a series of 99 percent town halls to listen to the people, the 99 percent who are working men and women often ignored and exploited by the very politicians they elect.

“We will not support cuts in our county that harm those already under-represented and who need the safety net that has been shredded in recent years. We will not support cuts in our county that hurt those in need, whether they be the homeless, taxpayers caught in a bind or others, such as the sick and elderly, who must rely upon county funded services.

“We will not support a sell-off of public property to pay for millionaire and billionaire arenas.”

Given by occupier, Dave.

Download Higher Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Feb25-Visions-4.divx
Stream Video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ELdFcHviTE

Recorded with the help of Tayeh and edited by Morgan Lesko for Wiki World Order, We Are Change, and Occupations everywhere.

You should be here. COLLABORATE WITH US! Cesar Chavez Park, every day.

http://OccupySac.com – @OccupySacto – facebook.com/OccupySacramento

Download Higher Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/shorts/WhyRonPaul.divx

Why Ron Paul?

Even though the puppet President position of the United Corporation of America, can do little alone to change the game.

Even though we ALSO need to VOTE OUT AT LEAST 95% OF CONGRESS with millions of simple steps (voting absentee in advance is relatively easy).

I’m registering Republican this election and voting for Ron Paul because he is the ONLY “electable” candidate talking about PEACE!

The ONLY candidate in either party talking about ending our current wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and others…and NOT starting new ones!

Even if Paul doesn’t get elected, we deserve a real challenge to Obama in the general election and NONE of the other candidates have a chance at beating the incumbent.

If nothing else, this Air Force veteran can bring a radical policy of PEACE to a wider audience than the republican “debates”.

Try listening to a Ron Paul highlights reel on YouTube for a debate on one of the Cartoon News Networks,

and even if you don’t agree with all his very consistent positions, SURPRISE!…you will hear rational discourse!

I know his vision of dramatically reduced government may scare many. But since the revolving doors surrounding most regulatory agencies allow them to be used more as a tools FOR the corporate-industrial complex to maintain hegemony…is less of THAT really worse?

Why Ron Paul?

Not just because he is the only mainstream candidate in both parties with any real empathy for the worldwide Occupation of the 99.99%.

Not just because the mainstream still insists that nobody predicted the “Great Recession.”

I’m voting for Ron Paul because he is the ONLY candidate in either party talking about the FEDERAL RESERVE.

Because he tried to prevent this extra radical consolidation of wealth and the “Great Recession”…at least ten years ago.

I don’t agree with him on every single issue, but he nails all the ones that matter most [urgently].

Not just because all the other “electable” candidates support the continued expansion of the war on drugs, war on terror, and cybersecurity.

I’m voting for Ron Paul because he was one of the few who voted AGAINST THE USA PATRIOT ACT and the recent treasonous National Defense Authorization Act!

I’m voting “Blue Republican” without expectations or HOPE for CHANGE by replacing one seat in corrupt government.

But if nothing else, it will send a message to the world that WE THE PEOPLE of America want PEACE!

Not because paperless electronic voting machines are intended to be rigged, and our votes don’t matter as much as they used to.

I’m voting for Ron Paul AND TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT IT, because he really could win as a Constitutionalist right now in this year of 1776 — I mean 2012.

Why Ron Paul?

I’m voting for Ron Paul because when he speaks, he almost always speaks from the heart…unlike most politicians.

You can feel him telling you what he truly believes, instead of just what his polls or handlers say.

So who should he choose for Vice President?

Who else speaks from principled and good positions?

I would LOVE to see him run with Dennis Kucinich

…or Cynthia McKinney, another of my few heroes in Congress.

…or maybe Buddy Roemer, who is running on the single issue of campaign finance reform and backs Occupy Wall Street.

I would trust most compromises found with such a team of “rivals” in the White House…

at least wildly more than any other “electable” options presented in any election in my lifetime.

I would LOVE to vote for such a team of allies for PEACE in 2012.

Even though we must also outgrow the octopus, and occupy the world.

Even though we must also apply critical thinking to more of our thoughts and daily dollar votes.

Even though we must also spread love and solidarity for our fellow humans around the world.

Not to immediately realize the world we want..

But to at least help shift the consciousness towards PEACE.

That’s Why Ron Paul.

Download Higher Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Feb18-Visions-3.divx
Stream Video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itpeWqwfBPc

Recorded with the help of Tayeh and edited by Morgan Lesko for Wiki World Order, We Are Change, and Occupations everywhere.

You should be here. COLLABORATE WITH US! Cesar Chavez Park, every day.

http://OccupySac.com – @OccupySacto – facebook.com/OccupySacramento

Download Higher Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Feb11-Visions-2.divx
Stream Video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlKSI7FSMnE

Recorded with the help of Tayeh and edited by Morgan Lesko for Wiki World Order, We Are Change, and Occupations everywhere.

You should be here. COLLABORATE WITH US! Cesar Chavez Park, every day.

http://OccupySac.com – @OccupySacto – facebook.com/OccupySacramento

Download Higher Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Feb4-Visions-1.divx
Stream Video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuOPBQrK0JI

Recorded with the help of Tayeh and edited by Morgan Lesko for Wiki World Order, We Are Change, and Occupations everywhere.

You should be here. COLLABORATE WITH US! Cesar Chavez Park, every day.

http://OccupySac.com – @OccupySacto – facebook.com/OccupySacramento

Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/calls/Wiki_World_Order-Calling_CA-Jan25-AJR22.divx
Stream On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80JSCUO6MLg

Tell the California Legislature to Get Corporate Money Out of Elections
http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9261

California Assembly Joint Resolution 22 (2012)

AJR 22, as introduced, Wieckowski. Campaign finance reform.
This measure would memorialize the Legislature’s disagreement with the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and would call upon the United States Congress to propose and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and to restore constitutional rights and fair elections to the people. campaign finance reform is an absolutely vital step in restoring the people’s power to our governments, at all levels.

Full text: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/ajr_22_bill_20120105_introduced.html

I just want to share that Senator Wolk’s support for Assembly Joint Resolution 22 is quite frankly one of the requirements for my vote in November. AJR 22 calls for Congress to propose a Constitutional Amendment to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling.

Radical campaign finance reform is an absolutely vital step in restoring the people’s power to our governments…at all levels. Our elections were bought and paid for long before Citizens United, and more work must be done beyond just overturning it, but a Constitutional Amendment would send the right message and garner appropriate support for this issue. So please support AJR 22 and any attempts to clean up elections within California as well.

Thank you so much for this wonderful report from your experience with Occupy San Francisco, Chris! You might be giving me more credit than I’m due, wish I could spend more time in the park and will probably get there once we’re finally allowed to camp (occupy).

Chris and I worked together under the We Are Change umbrella in the bay area and have done many truth actions on the street together. You and Manny do ROCK at the bullhorn wit, so glad you are appropriately well received. I love you, you are an amazing citizen activist. Miss you brother, see you next time I’m in town.

Download m4a file (copy of original, WWO mirror)
Download mp3 file

Please check out more from Flash Gordon:

http://web.me.com/guitarman/FlashGordon/Wonder_Pod/Entries/2011/10/25_Inside_Occupy_SF-_Enter_Weekend_Warrior.html

On October 11^th, at 6pm, Occupy Sacramento officially made it’s presence known to the City Council during its regularly scheduled meeting. First rallying outside, occupation supporters flooded the meeting, and many gave testimony to share their perspectives on the record. But even after opening this dialogue with our elected officials, we continue to be arrested for staying in the park after the extended hours (11pm on weekdays, midnight on weekends).

While our occupation continued to grow, organize, and evolve over the next week, Occupy Sacramento continues to have the extra daily tasks of setting up and breaking down our entire infrastructure, and taking turns spending nights in the jail three blocks away from Cesar Chavez Park. Activist hero Cindy Sheehan, of nearby Vacaville, has also joined Occupy Sacramento and was arrested alongside fellow occupiers last Saturday night (Oct 15-16, night 10).

Occupier Testimonies:

You can watch entire city council meetings, as published by the city, via their web site:

http://sacramento.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=22

October 18^th, 6pm: With around 250 Occupy Sacramento participants present for the meeting, 40 citizen speakers shared their perspective with the Sacramento City Council. Here are just a few minutes worth of highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA2mgDoyk7I
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct18-Day13-Part1-Short.divx

And in the spirit of our new experiments in direct democracy, here are highlights from every single occupier who gave testimony on the 18^th:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgpxfhA3RBo
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct18-Day13-Part1-Long.divx

Responses By Elected Officials:

Here is the uncut, unsatisfactory response given by our elected representatives. These representatives may face tough re-elections should they continue on the wrong side of history, and continue to arrest us during our nonviolent assemblies in OUR public park.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdTv2MrNjh0
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct18-Day13-Part2.divx

Oct 18th Arrests After Second City Council Meeting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe20BFavH5o
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct18-Night13.divx

On October 18^th, Occupy Sacramento spent it’s second Tuesday night in another very disappointing Sacramento City Council meeting. During this meeting dozens of occupiers thoughtfully presented our shared positions, but this seemed to fall on largely deaf ears. Mayor Kevin Johnson did offer to expand our level of discussion, and possibly work with us on a resolution he could take to Washington DC in November.

Representatives Steve Cohn and Angelique Ashby came closest to supporting us, maybe leaning towards a compromise allowing us to keep only our primary infrastructure tents and key volunteers overnight. While this pledge for enhanced collaboration could be positive, no one on the council defended our right to fully occupy Cesar Chavez Park and camp there 24/7. Citizens who remain at the park past its hours will continue to be arrested for being at a place of riot.

This limit and persecution on our right to assembly during this time of potential revolution is completely unacceptable…so we the people will continue to be peacefully arrested in OUR park.

In our current corporatocracy, you too, are likely part of the 99%. Please join us in this experiment in 21st century democracy!

Corbett Report: “Morgan Lesko of WikiWorldOrder joins us to discuss his attendance at Occupy Sacramento and the significance of the greater Occupy movement.”

http://www.corbettreport.com/interview-393-morgan-lesko/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXU7xYSDrpM

Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/Corbett_Interview_393-Morgan_Lesko.divx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzKJBkMMgNk
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct7-10-Days2-5.mp4

On October 3rd, when I first heard about the plans to Occupy Sacramento, I had also been thinking about going from Davis to San Francisco to participate in the Occupy The FED to focus on ending (or nationalizing) the privately-owned Federal Reserve. I knew I wanted to participate heavily in one of these two local occupations, and decided to go with Sacramento so I could spend more time there and simultaneously focus on local and other issues.

The first day, Thursday, October 6th, I mostly just participated in marches, enjoyed the self-chosen speakers, had some individual discussions, and did my best to record the event as a citizen journalist. But this weekend, I took less video footage and got more involved.

I didn’t get to Cesar Chavez Park until around 7pm after I finishing my day’s work, but it sounds like it was another great day, with a bit less attendence than Thursday. Our standard formula continued, with regular general assemblies to decide the nature of our occupation, open forums where anyone can share their views over a bullhorn, workshops, and periodic mid-town marches.

Friday night, when the park closed at midnight, many people began to occupy the public park after hours but most left after the first warning to disperse. This left one brave soul, Patrick Riordan, to hold down the occupation for the night. He was arrested alone that night, and although he is fine, he faced a rougher night in jail than any of the rest of us have had. Thank you so much Patrick, we love you!

On Saturday morning, I asked one of our amazing Resource coordinators, Laura, how I could help. And so I began the creation of an official information booth for Occupy Sacramento, so the Media team could focus their energy on all their publication and online presence. This was a great deal of fun and aside from the general information and daily schedules we post there to inform attendees, we had a tarp — and now a real table — for informative materials free for the taking.

About half of the table is dedicated to more “official” materials generated by the group like the Occupy Sacramento Newsletter, flyers, and the first official statement from Occupy Wall Street. The other half of the table is reserved for ANYONE to leave ANY materials they wish to share. I like to call it, “Need some info? Take some info. Have some info? Leave some info.” And¬†given our big tent of 99%, you can find anything from Tea Party magazines, to socialist flyers.

Throughout the day, Occupy Sacramento continued to hold general assemblies, open forums, workshops, art and music sessions, and marches. At midnight, around 30 of us sat down just inside one corner of Cesar Chavez park to remain after it closed. We performed this civil disobedience in defense of our rights to freely assemble in this public park and freely speek with one another. After some private discussion and planning by the handful of Sacramento police officers already on the scene, a couple dozen police vehicles all rolled in together. Soon after arriving, the lead officer on the scene ordered us to disperse, and the occupiers who did not want to risk arrest crossed the invisible line of the park’s borders to join the rest of our observers on the sidewalk.

This left 14 citizens sitting with signs and most of our hands clearly visible, continuing to chant things including “Police are the 99%.” After one or two more warnings by the police for us to disperse, a few dozen police officers surrounded the sit-in. They wore helmets and held clubs and at least one pepper spray paintball gun which I remember seeing. But my 13 brothers and sisters and I all successfully remained completely non-violent and our respect to the police was once again reciprocated. None of us were harmed during our arrests and the hardest part tended to just be the discomfort, fatigue, and bordem of sitting in jail all night.
{* Videos of LIVE video stream during Saturday night’s arrests: ¬†*}

Arrest document with charges, and police Polaroid taken during initial processing

Although some of us were released from jail earlier, I was released around noon the next day after almost 12 hours in police custody, but safe and sound. I was charged with two misdemeanors:

• PC 409 – Remaining at place of riot post order to [disperse]
• SCC 12.72.090 – Loitering in parks during certain hours

The media team and citizen journalists who are actively participating in this citizen occupation have been doing an amazing job of getting the words, images, and videos out to all of our brothers and sisters across the world online. As far as local mainstream media goes, Natalie Sentz of Sacramento’s local ABC, channel 10, has been doing a relatively great job of reporting on Occupy Sacramento:

And Derek Shore of CBS Sacramento, channel 13, has also been doing a better job than most (including an interview of me):

On Sunday and Monday nights, all occupiers staying past the park’s curfew voluntarily removed themselves from the park upon the first order to disperse by the police, then marched around the perimeter of the park for a while. My understanding of this action is that after making our point very clearly the past three nights, we wanted to help save city resources while still making our continued presence known. With each day that passes, our general assemblies and open discussions are making Occupy Sacramento more organized, connected, and ever closer to concrete lists of grievances and demands.

As the Occupy Together movement continues to extend and expand the principles and actions of Occupy Wall Street, we grow ever closer to reclaiming our world. Just in case these really are the beginning seeds of a true American revolution, the rest of the 99% needs to join us and help direct it in the ways we can all agree upon. Let us communicate and collaboratively organize in discussions where our elected representatives fail. This is as much about education as anything else, as we continue to learn and teach one another through open forums and unlimited face-to-face human interaction.

This is the most exciting time to be alive in centuries, so please stay off the couch and join us. Let’s keep it peaceful, positive, equal, and open-minded to create something remarkable during this once in a lifetime opportunity.¬†I love you all!¬†We are the 99%!

Credits:

Raw footage from arrest nights largely taken by Occupy Sacramento Media team Ustream account “dummey”
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dummey

Occupy Sacramento Day 1 Video Mixtape: Marches, Signs and Voices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4_QZxk37Hs
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct6-Day1.divx
Day 1 of Occupy Sacramento, starting around 10am on October 6th, 2011. Compilation of video taken throughout the first day of the Sacramento iteration of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Occupy Sacramento Night 1 UStream Clips: Demonstrations & Arrests by Polite Police

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5NwNdbSGO8
Download High Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/Occupy/WWO-OccSac-Oct6-Night1.divx

Night 1 of Occupy Sacramento, just after midnight in the first hour of October 7th. Compilation of remarkably LIVE UStream Clips captured from home while editing footage from the first day of Occupy Sacramento.

I had to get some work done today, and couldn’t be in jail last night. But I will be camping there this weekend and will likely spend a night or two in jail, it’s a relatively excellent group of people out there. We have been treating the police with respect and 20 of my new friends, who were arrested last night (now already out), were treated with respect in return.

I’m not very worried, but wish me luck, and let me know if there are any messages you want me to share or highlight. Much love!

Occupy Everything.

Campaign Finance Reform For The Sake Of ALL Causes
Research Bibliography While Watching Video: http://altbib.com/r/226/ra/Wiki_World_Order_7._Clean_Elections_Fight_Corporate_Erections

Download Full High-Quality Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/download/episode7

Download Audio Podcast Version: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/download/podcast7

Stream Episode Video: Blip.tv – YouTube

↓ Jump To Music

Full Transcript/Essay

Welcome friends, to the Wiki World Order Report: peacefully replacing the corporate-industrial complex. This is episode seven, Clean Elections Fight Corporate Erections. Listener supported video and audio downloads, as well as transcripts with detailed documentation and Research-Along Theaters can be found for FREE online at WikiWorldOrder.org. And please check out Facebook.com/wikiworldorder for more frequent links to potent news, documents, and alternative media in between episodes. I’m your host, Morgan Lesko.

A lot of people feel their like votes are not worth anything anymore, and opt out of participating in that part of democracy. We can use non-participation in trinket capitalism could help defund the corporate-industrial complex, or really send a message via mass strikes. And I do think we need to out-grow our kleptocracy to replace it with a new decentralized system.

But I also strongly believe that while we plan for our future, we must simultaneously steer the present. I think we must maximize our participation in the community and political process in hopes of reclaiming it. It is the only way to change how our government spends its big money funding the status quo, while supposedly working on our behalf. If and when we out-grow our current government, whatever system we replace it with will hopefully embody the principles we establish and fight for right now within the current governing paradigm.

Reclaiming democratic freedom is far from included in your taxes…it takes real effort and real people power. It means…

• Informing yourself on important issues from many perspectives
• Voting in every election you can, and unelecting legislators who don’t represent you
• Frequently lobbying your elected representatives
• And even organizing groups in your community

No matter what system of human relationships rules your land, is it not your duty to help ensure it hears each of our voices?

There is a concept largely associated with the military-industrial complex known as the iron triangle. It describes the trading of economic and human resources between interest groups and the government to perpetuate and continually expand the industry. This technique is not just used by the military, but is replicated by many different industries. I argue that one of the primary starting points for these endless cycles is the electoral support in the form of campaign contributions. So if we target this part of the formula, perhaps we will finally be able to make progress in pushing some of these industries back.

I’ve learned from 20 years of experience as an activist that the U.S. House and Senate, and therefore our country, move extremely slow on most issues. The biggest corporate interests sponsor candidates on both sides of the aisle, with some industries supporting red a bit more than blue, but both sides of the duopoly are generally corrupt and co-opted. There are a few brilliant exceptions of course, but they are vastly outnumbered.

Many citizens have fought for DECADES trying to fix issues which are NO-BRAINERS when faced with the facts, so we don’t even get to the point of discussing the underlying problems of the crony capitalism running our system. I want to emphasize that we might have a chance at accomplishing the obvious steps, and then the even more difficult steps, by first cutting our legislative bodies free from their addiction to corporate purse strings. In addition to greatly helping all activist efforts, this could also to improve Congressional oversight over the top secret parts of our government…thereby improving OUR oversight over those private parts.

The US Senate and the House of Representatives are designed to most directly represent we the people. But members of Congress spend a great deal of their time trying to raise money for future or current campaigns, which could be spent legislating. These bodies have been perversely corrupted by trends like the over 12,000 registered lobbyists who spent over $3.5 Billion in 2010. We see bills defeated and passed by politicians who are loyal to their purse strings over their values and sense of equality and justice…usually more concerned about doing what is right for their careers instead of their constituents.

In late 2009, a Public Citizen report explained how…

Between November 2008…and Sept. 30, 2009, the financial industry…has given $48.3 million in campaign contributions to members of Congress and their leadership political action committees…
…The 94 members of the two finance committees have received $16.9 million overall. The top 10 committee recipients include the Democratic chairmen: Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.); and the ranking Republicans on the committees: Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.) and Rep. Spencer Bachus (Ala.).

Also, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org), Wall Street made up five of the top twenty contributors to Barack Obama‘s 2008 presidential campaign, and three of the top ten.

(* animation with added corporate logos of just a few familiar Wall Street donors to the signing ceremony for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Stats for other politicians in attendance can be found below *)

• Obama’s 7th largest contributor was JPMorgan Chase & Co: $695,132
• His 6th largest was Citigroup Inc: $701,290
• His 2nd largest was Government Sachs — I mean —- Goldman Sachs: $994,795

Now here we are in 2011 and we have still not seen real fundamental reforms of the financial sector to fix the root causes of the financial crisis…which was predicted by many. And after breaking the economy toward the end of the Bush administration, nobody from Wall Street has gone to jail. Instead, Wall Street has now just broken it’s all-time compensation record paying its employees a total of $135 billion in 2010, as unemployment stats remain consistently high despite being manipulated.

These systemic problems also dramatically worsened on January 21st, 2010 with the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on Citizens United versus the Federal Election Commission. The 5-4 decision held that “corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited under the First Amendment.” This has opened the floodgates even more for corporate millions to affect the outcomes of elections. The Sunlight Foundation calculated that this case already enabled an extra $186 million to be spent in the 2010 election, or 40 percent of the total spent by outside groups.

In Justice Stevens’ dissent he wrote: “The Court’s ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.” Some propose a constitutional amendment to counteract this decision, which may in fact be worth all the effort it will require. Even if such an effort were unsuccessful, it may help rally the grassroots support needed to pressure for national reform through other legislative routes. According to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, “80 percent of Americans likewise oppose the ruling, including 65 percent who ‘strongly’ oppose it, an unusually high intensity of sentiment.”

Even without the Citizens United case, the standard behavior inside the beltway disgusts me. Like corporations, too many politicians follow their bottom-lines, which generally translate to the needs of their biggest corporate sponsors. It is one thing to make compromises while bills are being crafted and written, but the way politicians trade votes on various unrelated legislation seems backwards to me.

Why wouldn’t our representatives vote on a bill-by-bill basis, based on whether a bill is wise and just?
Why would we want our representatives to vote for bills any differently than their actual positions on the given issue?
The political capital that trumps all in my book, is voting and leading from the heart, backed by the facts. That is perhaps the best we can ask of any politician.

What Do Clean Elections Look Like?

One of the secrets in all aspects of life is to envision the swish, before making the shot. There are many different types of reforms promoted, so I’ll do my best to provide a quick road map of the more popular paths towards various levels of reform.

While I focus here on the national level, most of these issues are applicable at each state’s level. Even though most state legislative bodies are also filled with corporate money, fighting for campaign finance reform in individual states is also required to make the whole country more representative of its citizens.

Improvement Set #1: Adding Sunlight (Transparency)

• A. Require groups that spend heavily on elections to disclose their donors (like the Disclose Act which passed the House but not the Senate in 2010).
• B. Require something like the top five donors of non-restricted funds to be listed on the screen at the end of a television advertisement.

Improvement Set #2: Shifting Voice Volumes

• A. Limit how much “hard money” can be directly given to political campaigns by political action committees and other corporate funded entities, including some kind of repeal of the Citizens United decision.
• B. Limit how much “soft money” can be given to political parties (and/or find better ways to enforce the laws).
• C. Give corporate shareholders greater say over how companies spend to influence elections.
• D. Prohibit foreign influence in Federal elections, and enforce it.
• E. Prohibit government contractors from making expenditures with respect to such elections.
• F. Apply some kind of equal-access formula for how legislators spend their time. “For example, after a legislator plays a round of golf or spends an evening being wined and dined, this public servant would devote the same amount of time seeking out constituents who cannot afford even a part-time lobbyist.“

Reform Model #1: Matching Funds

• This “method allows the candidates to raise funds from private donors, but provides matching funds for the first chunk of donations. For instance, the government might “match” the first $250 of every donation.“
• This already exists in Presidential primary elections, but could be extended to the rest of the election process.
• Unfortunately, this existing Presidential primary public financing is currently being challenged in Congress in a bill which has already passed in the House.

Reform Model #2: Voting with Dollars

• First Part: Patriot Dollars – each voter would get a maybe $50 voucher for patriot dollars to give to various presidential and congressional candidates.
• Second Part: Anonymous Donations – donations to any campaign would be masked by the FEC so candidates do not know for sure who donated.

Reform Model #3: Clean Elections/Clean Money

• This would give “each candidate who chooses to participate a certain, set amount of money. In order to qualify for this money, the candidates must collect a specified number of signatures and small (usually $5) contributions. The candidates are not allowed to accept outside donations or to use their own personal money if they receive this public funding. Candidates receive matching funds, up to a limit, when they are outspent by privately-funded candidates…”
• Some form of Clean Elections have already existed in the states of Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin, and in the cities of Portland, Oregon and Albuquerque, New Mexico…though not all have survived.

While I am not personally positive what model will work the best if implemented, I do think we desperately need some serious, systemic reform of campaign financing and I do like the Clean Elections/Clean Money model. If enacted, voters could also essentially boycott candidates who do not use public financing.

Since this is such an important issue, there are many groups working on it which you can check out. A few include:

1. Sunlight Foundation – http://sunlightfoundation.com/
2. Common Cause – http://www.commoncause.org/
3. Public Campaign – http://www.publicampaign.org/
4. Public Citizen with their Clean Up Washington campaign – http://cleanupwashington.org/cfr/
5. Democracy 21 – http://www.democracy21.org/

So please sign up for national and local groups which focus on this issue to stay informed and take action when needed.

Billionaires and mega-corporations larger than most countries often donate a fraction of their profits to charities to improve their image for public relations. But very rarely does that generosity counter-balance the vast damage and inequity caused by their profit-maximizing over the years, decades, or centuries. Similarly, I feel we’ve reached a point where the vast majority of signed legislation benefits the Corporate-Industrial Complex, and the average citizen only gets a tiny charitable kick-back in benefits…for political public relations.

Strengthening the citizen representation in Congress and state legislatures with fundamental campaign finance reform could be the most vital step in bringing back our beautiful republic to replace our current plutocracy. So please use your voice to its maximum potential, in whatever way you are most creative, and consider making clean elections one of the big issues in the 2012 elections.

Thank YOU for listening, and participating in the Wiki World Order!

Appendix A: Signing Ceremony Participants’ Campaign Contributors

Further documentation on other politicians in attendance (in video) for corporate sponsor animation. Data from the Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org.

http://WikiWorldOrder.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/obama-finance-opensecretsSpreadsheet.jpg

http://WikiWorldOrder.org/images/OpenSecretsFinanceChart.xlsx

Top three for each politician listed here:

• Robin Fox, lady in white, is the communications chair for the Floyd County (Georgia) Democratic Party and a seventh grade science teacher
• Next to her was Andrew Giordano, a victim hurt by a couple of the policies being fixed by this bill
• Then Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) got totals of $67,475 from Bank of America (including their purchase of MBNA Corp), and $29,650 from Barclays, and $16,125 from AIG, with a grand total of $159,575 from all highlighted contributors, from 2003-2008
• Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) got totals of $45,500 from JP Morgan Chase, $35,800 from Credit Suisse, and $19,000 from H&R Block, with a grand total of $115,900 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010
• Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) only got totals of $38,000 from CME Group, $24,000 from the American Bankers Association, and $20,330 from Wells Fargo, with a grand total of $96,330 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Timothy Geithner was PRE$IDENT of the FEDERAL RESERVE Bank of New York from 2003-2008
• Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) got totals of $37,350 from JP Morgan Chase, $34,900 from Goldman Sachs, $29,399 from Bank of America, with a grand total of $326,699 from all highlighted contributors , from 2005-2010
• Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) got totals of $50,000 from CME Group, $30,000 from UBS, and $30,000 from Wells Fargo, with a grand total of $246,100 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) got totals of $47,600 from NYSE Group, $35,050 from Bank of New York Mellon, and $34,250 from CME Group, with a grand total of $474,000 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) got totals of $66,850 from JP Morgan Chase, $50,300 from Goldman Sachs, $45,600 from Fidelity Investments, with a grand total of $221,250 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010
• Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC) got totals of $33,250 from Bank of America, $26,500 from the American Bankers Association, and $20,500 from American Express, with a grand total of $214,972 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) only got totals of $8,500 from Fannie Mae, $3,000 from the American Bankers Association, and $3,000 from Morgan Stanley, with a grand total of only $19,900 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) got totals of $111,100 from Citigroup, $93,100 from the Royal Bank of Scotland, and $87,700 from AIG, with a grand total of $885,400! from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010
• Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) got totals of $44,950 from Bank of America, $44,650 from Citigroup, $35,400 from American Express, with a grand total of $392,850 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) got totals of $105,050 from Fidelity Investments, $49,000 from CME Group, and $47,000 from Bank of America, with a grand total of $581,800! from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS) got totals of $25,119 from QC Holdings, $25,000 from the American Bankers Association, and $24,000 from Bank of America, with a grand total of $297,819 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) only got totals of $26,000 from CME Group, $15,700 from QC Holdings, and $14,500 from Citigroup, with a grand total of $82,200 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) got totals of $65,800 from JP Morgan Chase, $31,000 from UBS, and $30,000 from the American Bankers Association, with a grand total of $279,150 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010 (05-06, 07-08, 09-10)
• Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD) got totals of $67,095 from JP Morgan Chase, $31,500 from H&R Block, and $27,000 from Capital One, with a grand total of $341,295 from all highlighted contributors, from 2005-2010

Appendix B: Issues I Care About Which Might Benefit From Clean Elections

I think if we had serious campaign finance reform, we’d have a much better shot at progress in issues I care about like…

• Ending ALL of the illegitimate wars around the world, for the sake of all the victims of these wars, and deconstructing the majority of the military-industrial complex
• Ending the Patriot Act, rendition, torture, and similar Constitution shredding policies
• Ending the Federal Reserve System, fractional reserve banking, derivatives and other legal financial Ponzi schemes
• Ending the War On Drugs which among other things, imprisons far too many citizens and keeps minorities disproportionally disenfranchised and oppressed, a modern incarnation of the old Jim Crow laws
• Curbing large-scale pollution and using alternative energies and overunity energies to end our dependence on oil and coal…using solutions that DO NOT try to solve the problem by creating new legal Ponzi schemes to keep the profit-maximizers happy
• Creating a true public option to provide all citizens with universal health care, and supporting not-for-profit private health care options (see episode 4 on social businesses)
• Protecting farmers from the Monsanto food paradigm
• Basic animal rights to prohibit various forms of large-scale and legal torture
• Attaining full and equal legal rights for all citizens of all sexual orientations and identities

Appendix C: Episode Music – Clean Elections Fight Corporate Erections

Stream Music Video: Blip.tv – YouTube

Download Full High-Quality Music Video: http://WikiWorldOrder.org/video/music/Wiki_World_Order-Clean_Elections_Fight_Corporate_Erections.divx

July 30, 2011 mix of Get A Move On, Mr. Scruff’s Fila Brazilia Mix, some bassy beats lifted from Deadmau5, with quotes by Dennis Kucinich, Bill Moyers, David House, and Anthony Weiner.

Thank You

To Trish for animating the Iron Triangle! http://www.madebytrish.com/