We are diverse citizens, united in solidarity with the national Occupy Wall Street movement, in non-violent protest against many injustices,
including:
• high un-and-under-employment
• a concentration of wealth in the top 1%
• the bubble economy, which destroyed first retirement savings and now has resulted in the mass foreclosure of homes
• a state of permanent, undeclared, war in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan
• the inability for the common citizen to afford adequate access to healthcare, education, nutrition and human services
• destruction of the environment
We assert that the unifying cause of these injustices is the collusion between government and corporations. We call for the separation of corporation and State by:
• eliminating banker and corporate bailouts
• eliminating the power for government to award monopolies and special privileges to corporations
• prosecute white collar crime
• end the Federal Reserve System, which through debasement of the dollar and secret loans, has funded war and bailouts beyond the consent of the tax payers
• moving money out of corrupt banks into local credit unions.
Occupy Ventura 
osborne805 said:
Great job everyone, the issues/demands/message work is coming along, any input you have is welcomed! See you Wednesday!
osborne805 said:
1. Declaration of Peace
After 10 years of continuous war it is time to end U.S. military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Bring the Troops home now.
2. Non-Violence
We are committed to peace and non-violence. We do not use force or aggression to achieve our goals. Our strength is in numbers, ideas, and consensus.
3. Banks & Debt
We express support for Occupy Wall Street. We oppose the manipulation of our economy by corrupt banks and financial traders. We oppose the manipulation of U.S. and world economies by central banks such as the Federal Reserve and IMF which expand their power by driving a majority of the U.S. and world populations into Debt Slavery.
4. Government & Corporate Collusion
We express our full support for Occupy Wall Street and their published statement.
We oppose the manipulation of our economy by corrupt banks, financial traders and corporations.
We want those on Wall Street, responsible for wrecking the economy, to be held responsible for destroying over 20% of our national net worth created over the past 2 centuries.
Our democratic electoral process has become corrupted with corporate cronyism. The majority of elected officials no longer serve the American people but instead pursue an agenda of profiteering at the expense of the American People and our natural resources. We seek democracy free from manipulation by corporate and bank agendas.
Wee need to restore our educational system to world-class status
We should not have 24 million people in this country who can’t find a full time job.
We should not have 50 million people in this country who can’t see a doctor when they’re sick.
We should not have 47 million people in this country who need government help to feed themselves.
We should not have 15 million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home
After 10 years of continuous war it is time to end U.S. military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Bring our Troops home.
We seek protection of the earth, its resources and all of its living inhabitants.
We are committed to peace and non-violence. We do not use force or aggression to achieve our goals. Our strength is in numbers, ideas, and consensus.
Our democratic electoral process has become corrupted with corporate cronyism. The majority of elected officials no longer serve the American people but instead pursue an agenda of profiteering at the expense of the American People and our natural resources. We seek democracy free from manipulation by corporate and bank agendas.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*
To the people of the world,
We urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard!
*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
Natasya K. said:
This statement is very long.
Please consider SHORTENING this to be a good press release / talking points / platform statement.
Wall Street already has a long in-depth document. No one seems to have a sensible SHORT statement. Please consider the merits of brevity and simplicity.
John E. Hankins said:
Agree with Natasya, it needs to be shortened; one or at most two sentences on each of the four points. As we used to say in the news biz, “make it fit in a headline.”
John
John E. Hankins said:
I’ve been bizzy trying to catch up with all the great activity since I’ve been “away” and believe that, as Thoreau said, “simplify, simplify” — or was that Steve Martin?
It’s great to feel the outrage of the 99% but even more the desire to do something about it. I and others have already weighed in a possible action to transfer our money out of the certain banks (I haven’t yet had the time to list them) and another idea is to support a proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States .”
The long statements and grievances are fine food for thought and some quite tasty, but are not digestible for an action movement. We’ll end up looking like a platypus created by committee. I’m going to try to boil all this down and send some “sound bites” for your perusal and urge others to do the same.
Meanwhile, I can’t make Wednesday’s (tonight) meeting as I’m in rehearsal for “It’s A Wonderful Life” at Ojai ACT (I’m playing the angel, so you better be good). If you remember the plot, it’s a play that is totally in tune with the Occupy movement; i.e. “Everyman” George Bailey’s Building and Loan has a soul that has helped hundreds of people meet their dreams, in contrast to the rich and onerous Henry Potter, the richest man in town who is only after money and control over people’s lives.
Set just after WWII, this emphasizes that our predicament is nothing new. Every generation has to fight this battle.
Natasya said:
Original was this (it got changed round a bit):
211 words – possibly needs to be shortened to 200 or less:
1. Declaration of Peace
After 10 years of continuous war it is time to end U.S. military actions in Iraq, Afghaistan, and Libya. Bring the Troops home now.
2. Non-Violence
We are committed to peace and non-violence. We do not use force or aggression to achieve our goals. Our strength is in numbers, ideas, and consensus.
3. Banks & Debt
We express support for Occupy Wall Street. We oppose the manipulation of our economy by corrupt banks and financial traders. We oppose the manipulation of U.S. and world economies by central banks such as the Federal Reserve and IMF which expand their power by driving a majority of the U.S. and world populations into Debt Slavery.
4. Government & Corporate Collusion
Our democratic electoral process has become corrupted with corporate cronyism. The majority of elected officials no longer serve the American people but instead pursue an agenda of profiteering at the expense of the American People and our natural resources. We seek democracy free from manipulation by corporate and bank agendas. Government By the People For the People.
Kandice said:
Having “talking points” is great if we are approached by the media because the 4 points are so generic. I believe we should use the doctrine #Occupywallstreet has put out. We keep getting hung up on the smallest of details, right down to how many words are used and I can see why most of the group has left. From what I witnessed last night, had I been an outsider I would not take us serious and this is very serious. We all aren’t going to get what we want and that is the point, it is about the group. I realize no one can see my hands but I am hard blocking this 4 bullet points, 200 words or less and believe we should use the official wall street statement. When it has come to a point that at 211 words is too long we as a committee have a serious problem. Wall Street just came out with their doctrine a little over a week ago and they have been planning since July. This is hindering the process and not helping the process. It has been my experience, these issues are typically read at the GA every night at 7:30 p.m. anyway. I will see all of you tonight.
Sherri Van Orman said:
If any one gets this message before tonights mtg, is there a motion to have these be solidified? I am with the welome committee and we would like to have flyers with our 4 bullet points to pass out. I think that Jay will be printing flyers.
grant marcus (@gbmarcus) said:
MOVE IT OR LOSE IT: the latest scam of banking is taking the toxic derivatives
and moving them from commercial accounts into depositary accounts, or the
savings and checking accounts of We the People, the 99%. Many of these
default swaps, securities, derivatives, hedgefunds were allowed to be moved
into depositary accounts because of the repeal of Glass-Steagall. The banks
have moved this toxic waste so they can recoup losses through the FDIC. The
only problem is, the FDIC only has so much money to go around, and that means savings and checking accounts are now in jeopardy of being frozen or lost altogether if this fraud goes under. Even more reason to invest your money in credit unions. They stayed clear of the fraud and have better insurance than the big banks because of it. Buy local, eat local, and bank local. And if you don’t–Move it, or lose it.–grant,