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Can We Just Start Over?

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We talked with JD Messinger on LUNCH WITH LOUDEN’s 3/21/2013 show about the numerous grievances We the People have with our government due to the sell-out of our commons to corporate and foreign interests and breakdown of our infrastructure with apparent disinterest.  At the end of the show, we promised to report back.

This week, JD Messinger returns along with special guest Miriam Knight of New Consciousness Review for a special “live” show where we will be in the same room (normally we are in remote locations) AND we plan to broadcast for TWO hours!  

We’ll start out with what JD calls “the Old World Mosaic” and our current situation and complications.  We know this arena well with all of our division, fear and separation.  This mosaic is now collapsing in all of our systems from healthcare to education to financial to politics.  Why? Because our map for fixing this system is wrong: what worked before no longer works, largely due to unrestrained corruption that has taken over all systems.

After our last show together, and many (at least 18) rewrites, JD became ambivalent with the list of grievances.  What he saw was systemic corruption at a level that could not be addressed within the system itself.  The system is now set up to protect itself and those in power to the point where We the People have lost control or even the right to ask for redress of grievances.  

So now what?

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new" - Socrates

"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible" - Frank Zappa

It is time for a new system, one that starts with each person, individually and then connecting with others.  What would a “New World Mosaic” look like?  If we were starting over, what would we create today?  Send us your ideas via comment here, tweet our guests JD Messinger or Miriam Knight  @ncreview or join our Facebook page conversation.  As always, we have a few ideas to share, but it’s not a conversation without you.

We look forward to a spirit-full conversation of possibilities.

JD Messinger bio

Miriam Knight bio

JD Messinger’s book, 11 Days in May is the story and conversation of his journey from corporate consultant, senior vice president and more to his personal awakening to wholistic solutions for the planet.  We are so excited to talk with him, Miriam Knight, another wholistic thinker in Portland, and draw on their combined insights and research as we begin to map our new world.

Coffee Party ON!
Jeanene and Debilyn

I just learned we have an incredible guest [Tues. May 14] on THE MIDDLE GROUND. In North Carolina, people compare Rev. Dr. William Barber II to Martin Luther King, and say it is only a matter of time before the nation recognizes his tremendous potential to build diverse coalitions and stand up to the corrupting influence of money in politics.

THE MIDDLE GROUND
with Michael Charney & Eric Byler
8 pm to 9 pm ET Tues. May 14, 2013
CLICK HERE to listen live to archived recording

How do the news stories of the past week impact you?  What if your neighbor had been the kidnapper of three women?  Or your boss was charged with sexual battery (as the Air Force Lt. Col. in charge of prevention of sexual abuse)? How did you feel when a rape victim was vindicated by a jury after suffering denigration and blame for the crime committed against her?  

Extreme situations like this point to the ways groups of people are marginalized today. The influence of the spin doctors seems to grow stronger as we allow our political influence and social significance to degrade.

So, exactly what makes violence against women a money-in-politics issue? Many of us assert that equality is “bad” for politics today, that it is “good” to sort people into controllable groups to be used or disenfranchised as needed to maintain power, and, as is true for all “other” groups:  the farther out from the hub of power, the more un-equal life becomes.

Equality costs more “they” say: yet the wage, wealth, and influence disparity gets bigger by the day. The 15,000 point high point on Wall Street this month is a likely bubble given unemployment, underemployment, and wage erosion in America.  Remember a time when the stock markets and Wall Street were related to these concerns?

How obvious is this becoming? The Yale University Institution for Social and Public Policy sponsored a conference earlier this week called Purchasing Power, Money, and Politics, where “...leading policy makers. academics, advocates, and thought leaders from around the country will come together at Yale University to explore the role of money in our political system.”

Women make up the greatest number of single heads of households, are the most likely to make minimum wage, and make up a disproportionate number of the true unemployed. Instead of a cry for support, we are inundated with the systematic denigration of those falling away from our illusion of prosperity. After all, why can’t a poor single mother working part time for minimum wage with 3 children to feed “boot strap it?” “Good people succeed” is a slap in the face.  And, it makes it OK to not give political influence.

In case you still have some doubts, let’s look at a recent example.

The recent renewal (after expiration) of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was political theatre at its best. All data since the original inception of the law showed reductions in rates of violence and homicide between intimate partners, both men and women. But upon reflection after many failed attempts to have reasonable debate let alone pass the expired law, it appeared that the biggest barrier to passage was, in the words of Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, " I didn't like the way it was expanded to include other different groups."

The spin doctors have made it fashionable to consider native American women, undocumented women, or the transgendered as less important, even though they are a part of the group called women.  

The United Nations considers violence, discrimination, and undereducation of women a pandemic. In 2011 UN Women outlined a comprehensive policy agenda to end violence against women globally. Among the list is the call for political will and investment to ensure that women can live a life without violence.

The lack of political will and investment in America tells the story. For some reason NOT acting pays. In our current corrupt environment of political pandering for campaign contributions, the big donors MUST be pleased.

But why inequality? Why denigration? This may all go back to the infamous words from Paul Weyrich in 1980: "Now many of our Christians have what I call the 'goo-goo syndrome.' Good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people. They never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."  Disenfranchised people do not vote. Is it really that simple?  Yes, it appears to be.

Today on LUNCH WITH LOUDEN we will discuss the politics of inequality with YOU and guest, Dennis Little. He is active in transpartisan politics, and works to advocate change. Dennis has a background in the health care system and is currently involved in the renaissance of health care technology and the human dynamics aspect of care.

TODAY 12-1 PM PACIFIC
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Coffee Party ON
Jeanene

(Debilyn is away this week) 

We hear a lot of opinions every day about what the MOST important issues of the day are and how we should cover them.  

Today, we’d like you to call in to share with us your single most important issue.  Together, let’s see if there is a connection back to money in politics or campaign financing.  

We’ve heard a lot about jobs, wage stagnation, pensions, Social Security, GMOs, the Keystone XL Pipeline, quality of the food supply, housing, women’s rights and gun control, just to name a few.  

With everyone focusing on the issue that matters most to them, each with it’s own fundraising strategy, how do we rise above the cacophony to have a single, unequivocal voice that our legislators can hear?  Is money in politics the single issue that touches all others?

Yes.  It is the core of Coffee Party USA along with many sister organizations to address this uber-issue that impacts all others.

The addiction to money in our campaign system and strategies can be healed.  Imagine what would be possible if our elected representatives were accountable ONLY to their voters and there were no other funders?  The next election opponent was a person with a healthy counterpoint in the local area instead of a multinational corporation or powerful lobby backed yes-man (or woman).

Join the show today and share your most important issue: together we will draw the connection to money in politics.  Together, we can address this addiction and create or reclaim the health of this republic’s democracy.

Call in today! 646-929-2495
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Coffee Party ON!  
Jeanene & Debilyn

TONIGHT ON THE MIDDLE GROUND

WHY ARE WE ALL SO DAMN MEAN TO EACH OTHER?

 IT'S AN OPEN-CALL SHOW

SO JOIN US AT 646-929-2495

As members of the Coffee Party media team, we here at the Middle Ground see a lot of posts, emails, show responses and tweets. The one thing that continually strikes us is that, no matter how hard any of us want civility, it seems like an increasingly difficult state to attain.

Even among our own fans and members, things can get pretty shocking....

Tonight we're having an OPEN CALL NIGHT on The Middle Ground. We want to hear about what YOU think it's going to take to reach true civility--not just from a handful of us, but from a majority.

Presented by Coffee Party USA, "The Middle Ground" covers a variety of topics with a trans-partisan approach with an eye to finding the place where the two major political parties share that 'middle ground.' Co-hosted by award-winning filmmaker Eric Byler (center-left perspective) and political author Michael Charney (center-right perspective), the show airs every Tuesday 8 to 9:30 pm ET.

We love our callers: 646-929-2495.

And we promise not to scream at you.

Respectfully,

Michael Charney & Eric Byler 

Contrary to Justice Scalia's clownish remarks, African Americans are NOT the only citizens protected by The Voting Rights Act. Targeted disenfranchisement impacts people of all races (even if resentment toward minorities is exploited to justify it). The 1965 Voting Rights Act makes voter suppression more difficult to pursue, protecting citizens of all races who wish to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

This op-ed by Prof. Gary May of the University of Delaware illustrates this fact using Alabama's 1966 gubernatorial race as a case study, and lays to waste Scalia's argument that Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act should be overturned because it only protects African Americans.

(Even if it did protect only African Americans, isn't that like saying we should repeal the 2nd Amendment because it only protects gun owners?)

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Shelby County v. Holder in June, ironically, during a period of rampant manipulation of election laws to achieve electoral outcome using targeted disenfranchisement. The case originates in Shelby County, Alabama, where district lines were redrawn in order to remove the lone African American member of the city council of Calera.

The argument made by Shelby County during oral arguments was not that politicians can now be trusted to write election laws, but rather, that politicians in the South are no more likely to attack voting rights than politicians elsewhere, and thus, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act unfairly burdens covered jurisdictions (mostly in the South) where pre-clearance from the U.S. Department of Justice, or a federal court, is required before changing voting laws. Indeed, abuses of voting rights are at least as prevalent in swing states as they are in covered jurisdictions. This suggests to me that Section 5 should apply to all 50 states if fairness is a priority, rather than stripping the People of voting rights protection in those areas where abuse has been the worst. If Scalia gets his way and pre-clearance is struck down, the resulting flood of voter-suppression legislation will be so overwhelming, and the court battles will be so consuming, that the Justice Department will struggle to protect anyone. 

Politicians who feel entitled to the spoils of holding public office are using Voter ID laws, restrictions on early voting and Sunday voting, and race-based gerrymandering to counteract the revolutionary demographic shift that has made fear politics, political advertising, and "divide and conquer" tactics less and less effective. They have exploited the election of Barack Obama to spark hysteria over "voter fraud" and justify the abridgment of voting rights for millions of Americans. (Mind you, they only want to prevent a percentage of students, people of color, and poor people from voting — not all of them, just enough to hold on to power a little while longer.)

Until recent visits to North Carolina and Alabama, I had thought that the Jim Crow era was dominated by hatred. I now understand that hatred was merely a pretext for acts of voter suppression and political terrorism to achieve electoral results. 

Until the outrageously offensive comments of Justice Scalia, I had thought that the Voting Rights Act protects people of color from targeted disenfranchisement. Now that Scalia has attempted to exploit this perception, and — a recent rash of resentment toward African Americans — to lobby fellow justices to gut the Voting Rights Act, I understand that it actually protects us all. The right to vote is not only an individual right. It is not only a right belonging to minority communities. It is a right that protects the People as a whole, and allows us to choose self-governance over oligarchy. 

Will the high court rule as politicians, or as jurists? We know where Scalia stands, and, I think that his offensive comments, both on and off the bench, will make it more likely that one, or possibly two of his fellow Republican appointees will rule as jurists. My prediction: 6-3 with Chief Justice Roberts joining the majority in upholding the Voting Rights Act.

Laws, and court decisions that impact our sacred right to vote should focus on protecting our constitution, not achieving a desired political outcome.

“Now that you know, you must do something.”

Coffee Party members and followers are well aware that there is widespread disenchantment with the American political status quo: I share it and yet I am hopeful. The hope I feel lies in the hearts of the people. We love this republic’s democracy, and we believe we can more than save it, we will make it better.

Coffee Party is among the many good government groups that see MONEY IN POLITICS as the gateway issue that blocks the resolution of our many concerns.  We so believe this that our theme from now until the 2014 elections is to engage and empower a grassroots movement to “Free the Elected.”

Last weekend I attended the Rootstrikers Conference to Restore the Republic. Three panel discussions and a keynote address by Larry Lessig unconcealed the morass of strategies and complications that prevent citizens from having a meaningful say in the political and economic issues of the day. I cannot begin to share everything with you in one short post.

In the end, there were conclusions:

• Our current system is corrupt relative to the intention of the framers: they designed a representative democracy. Even if they were blind to their bias against women and slaves, they were not blind to class. They created a system of government that was anti-nobility and anti-aristocracy. The pathology that exists today to represent only the wealthy requires disfunction to exist.

• “No taxation without representation” appeals today to both the most conservative and the most liberal among us. Yet we are not represented by our elected. Movements ignite when the connectivity of our related concerns are realized.

• We must free the elected from the tyranny of campaign fundraising so they can serve the voters rather than the funders in any and every way we can. The many organizations must push as their memberships dictate, toward this shared outcome: our republic is governed, and all social and economic decisions must be made, by representatives beholden to their voters.

• SCOTUS is thwarting congressional progress toward equality. Not a single sitting Justice has ever run for office (unusual) and yet the court is messing with the two elected branches. There have been many periods of election reform in the past, but Citizens United is like “The Empire Strikes Back”, and must be neutralized.

• Publicly financed elections is just a first step.  This will not necessarily solve the problem of disproportionate corporate power but is needed to elect people not beholden to corporations who will be “free” to do the people’s work.

• The good news is that at the state and local level, we still have a democracy.  (Cenk from Wolf PAC) We must preserve what is good and see every “improvement” as a victory that we all celebrate.

• People do not know that politics is their job. If we are ever to trust government again, we must begin to press the system again. In 1968, 76% of the people trusted government; 44% in 2000; and less than 20% today.

• We must all follow our chosen path to justice, while supporting each other, collaborating together, and always remembering that ours are acts of love of country, to be conducted with all the passion we can muster for her.

• Now that you know, you must do something.

“I gave us a Saturday with my family to be here because I know who you are, I know what you can do, and I thank god for you.” (Jokada Imani, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights).

I gave up a Saturday with my family because I agree with him.

Join us for a conversation today on Lunch with Louden starting at 12 noon.  Call in at 646-929-2495 to listen.  Press 1 to join the conversation.

Coffee Party ON!

Jeanene Louden
Debilyn Molineaux

In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon attack it's been hard not to watch the narratives unfold. We've spun both fact and fiction, truth and supposition, and spun it so tightly that there's little give to the weave. Through it all, we've looked, as American's, both wonderful and weak, both kind and cruel.  

Earlier today, in my blog posting on the topic, I wrote that "Over this last week we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly Americans. All have been on bright, unavoidable display."

Too true.

Tonight on the Middle Ground, co-hosts Eric Byler and Michael Charney (along with special guest host John Cashon) will discuss "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Americans" and the ways in which we've responded to the tragedy.

It hasn't always been pretty. Some senators have cried for Tsarnaev to be held as an enemy combatant--and that says some really scary things to us.

So join us, and call in--it's YOUR show, as you know!

THE MIDDLE GROUND
TONIGHT (TUESDAY) AT 8PM EASTERN/5PM PACIFIC
646-929-2495

We'll also talk to Darren Wagner from Newtown CT about the reaction in his town in the aftermath of the Senate's recent failure to support expanded background checks.

TONIGHT: IT'S ACTIVE CITIZEN RADIO
JOIN US ON THE MIDDLE GROUND

Last Week’s Gun Legislation Failure Is Yet Another Symptom of a Much Bigger Problem: Money in Politics

However you feel about the issues of gun rights and gun violence, the fact that a measure that had the support of a super-majority of the American people failed in the Senate last week should be deeply troubling to ALL Americans.

Last Wednesday’s vote shows just how distorted our government has become by the influence of money in politics. Polls have consistently shown that expanding background checks to ensure terrorists, violent criminals and the mentally ill can’t buy guns online or at gun shows had the support of 90% of the American people, 82% of gun owners and 74% of NRA members. Yet it still could not pass the Senate.

The fact that the gun lobby, a special interest if ever there was one, has the ability to stymie efforts to enact legislation the American people want should disturb everyone who believes in government of, by and for the people.

Because the gun lobby isn’t the only lobby in Washington, DC.

It Happens ALL the Time.

Though most Americans have been blissfully unaware, the very same thing happens with EVERY piece of legislation introduced in Congress. The special interests and secret donors that fund our political campaigns force our legislators to do THEIR bidding, not OURS. So reasonable regulations and initiatives are watered down, loaded with loopholes or eliminated altogether.

That’s why Obamacare was so beneficial to healthcare and insurance companies, delivering them new customers and better reimbursement for serving indigent patients, subsidized by the federal government. Yet our government is still unable to negotiate better pricing from pharmaceutical companies to reduce our national healthcare costs. And that’s why Wall Street banks are even BIGGER than they were when they were deemed “Too big to fail,” and continue to receive $83 billion in taxpayer subsidies each year on top of the $700 billion government bailout they received. Yet Congress isn’t doing anything about it.

THIS is not what democracy looks like. This is bought government. Corporatocracy. Plutocracy. Government of, by and for the corporations and a wealthy few, not We the People.

Single-Issue Lobbying Won’t Fix This Problem.

Lobbying Congress harder on any one issue will not fix this. Even if we were able to overcome the undue influence of special interests once (and it’s doubtful we could, given the overwhelming level of popular support for background checks and yesterday’s failure of gun legislation), the larger problem would remain and the same thing would happen with all of the other issues.

Special interests have pockets deep enough to fight for what they want forever, and it isn’t possible for our citizens to stay engaged enough long enough to win on every issue that matters. We all have lives and other things to do, which is why we elect representatives to do this for us.

Except they don’t. They can’t anymore, because the system is broken.

Amending the Constitution Is the Cure.

That’s why it’s time to stop fighting on individual issues and instead fight for the ONE thing that will at least start to address the underlying problem: a constitutional amendment to get money out of our politics once and for all.

Representatives that vote for measures supported by their donors and lobbyists aren’t bad people, and they’re not evil—they are simply adapting to the broken system they are forced to work in. As long as corporations have the rights of people under the law, and the wealthy fund our elections and lobby our representatives to do what they want, there can be no government that works for the rest of us.

We the People didn’t create this problem. But only We the People can fix it.

Only We the People can remove the incentives for our representatives to serve the interests of others over ours, and the only way to do that is to get money out of politics and return corporations to the status of fictional legal entities, not people. The only way to do THAT is to amend the constitution, and that’s going to take the support of ALL of us to achieve.

Passing a law to reform campaign finance or require disclosure of all political donations is not enough.

Existing campaign finance reform laws are being continually weakened over time, and the same thing would happen again. Whether the laws or federal or state, a bought legislature will always be able to undo any legislative fixes.

It must be an amendment. And it’s going to take some time to get this done. The process of amending the Constitution is difficult by design. Difficult, but not impossible.

Step 1: Pay attention-- look below the surface.

If you are upset by what happened in the Senate yesterday, the first step toward creating change is becoming aware of the problem. Rather than focusing on the merits of the individual issues, find out how the majority of the public feels about that issue, and then see whether the government is acting accordingly.

If not, think about whose financial or personal interests would be negatively impacted if the government DID follow public opinion, and then follow the money to find their influence at work behind the scenes.

Step 2: Share the truth with others.

Point out all of the dots, connect them, and share the patterns you see with your friends, family, social networks and the public. And then do it again, with another issue. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle people support— there are examples of the will of the people not being carried out on both sides.

As The Coffee Party says, it’s time to wake up and stand up, America. The only way we can eventually restore government of, by and for the people is if more and more of us first see the light and spread the word. Consider this my contribution to the effort for today.

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Jamie Logan writes about money in politics, corruption, good governance, equality and other issues every chance she gets. To read more of her work wherever and whenever it is published, like her page on Facebook, facebook.com/jamieloganwrites, or follow her on Twitter, @jamielogan24.

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April Fool’s Day may be over, but April Fool the Koch Brothers isn’t!

The enthusiasm that people have shown for talking back to the Koch brothers is immense.  Since this campaign started on April Fools Day, activists have turned out at locations in ten states, to tell the Koch brothers that America is not for sale – by handing out flyers to shoppers outside stores across the country asking them to choose alternatives to Koch brothers products.                                               

This is what one of our New York volunteers had to say right after April 1^st: "Two good actions yesterday! People really stared at the sign--I wore mine in front--people approached me after reading it and chatted."— Linda