Create Real Democracy

One Hundred Thirty Cities Across the US Protest on Anniversary of Citizens United

2012-01-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Sunday 22 January 2012

by: Britney Schultz, Truthout | Report
http://www.truth-out.org/one-hundred-and-thirty-cities-across-us-protest-anniversary-citizens-united/1327262241

Occupy the Courts - Radio Interview

2012-01-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

Progressive Radio Network Interview of Greg Coleridge:
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/community-currency/

Occupy the Courts - Cleveland and Akron actions

2012-01-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

CLEVELAND

Cleveland Plain Dealer:
http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/protests-to-occupy-us courthouses-over-elections/ab6797987dca44c8b1da17f06c0c3b44

Cleveland Scene:
http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2012/01/20/cleveland-activists-occupy-the-court

Associated Press pictures:
- Photo of a member of our Economic and Political Justice program committee: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/carla-rautenberg-participates-rally-friday-jan-20-2012-photo-185223604.html
- Photo, from the India Times website, is of a member of our Monetary Reform workgroup: http://oneclick.indiatimes.com/photo/0fyh2AV2WTcG5#0_undefined,0_

The Alliance Review:
http://www.the-review.com/ap%20financial/2012/01/20/ohio-groups-take-part-on-occupy-court-protests

AKRON

Akron Beacon Journal:
http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/occupy-protesters-seek-change-against-big-money-in-politics-1.256175

Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neoafsc/sets/72157629000602629/

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR January 23-29

2012-01-22T20:12:00.000-08:00

JANUARY 24

1811 – CHARTER OF FIRST BANK OF UNITED STATES NOT RENEWED
A 20-year charter was issued by the federal government (very unusual at the time since most corporate charters, or licenses, were issued by states) to create the first national private bank. This was the first private institution empowered to create paper money -- with all the power and profit that goes along with it. The bank’s paper money was accepted for taxes. Eighty percent of its shares were privately owned, among these 75% were foreign owned (mostly by the English and Dutch). The bank was modeled on the Bank of England. Within 2 months of its creation, it flooded the market with loans and banknotes and then sharply shifted course and called in many of its loans. The result was the first US securities market crash -- what became known as the “Panic of 1792” – the first of many panics, recessions and depressions due to the private/corporate control of our money system. The result was Congress voting to not renew its charter, thus dissolving the bank. During the first 50 years of the US, legislatures and courts routinely chose to not renew or revoke corporate charters, which were considered democratic instruments and used to control the actions of corporations.

1939 – STATEMENT MADE BY ROBERT H. HEMPHILL, CREDIT MANAGER OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ATLANTA
"We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is. It is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the defects remedied...”

JANUARY 25

1898 – SECOND INDIANAPOLIS MONETARY CONVENTION BEGINS
Billed as a grassroots effort for monetary reform, the second convention brought together nearly 500 representatives from 31 states. It was a follow up gathering of major corporate leaders (including many bankers and economists representing leading corporations) to the first convention held a year earlier. Participants advocated for a privately run national central bank. Just as the proposed national central bank was misleading (to be privately controlled), the first and second Indianapolis Monetary Conventions were equally misleading. They were hardly “grassroots,” yet the image was useful when lobbying Congress and communicating with the public.

JANUARY 27

2010 — DEATH OF HOWARD ZINN, HISTORIAN
"The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth. Truth has a power of its own. Art has a power of its own. That age-old lesson – that everything we do matters – is the meaning of the people’s struggle here in the United States and everywhere. A poem can inspire a movement. A pamphlet can spark a revolution. Civil disobedience can arouse people and provoke us to think, when we organize with one another, when we get involved, when we stand up and speak out together, we can create a power no government can suppress. We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom, or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back."

JANUARY 29

1737 -- BIRTH OF TOM PAINE, US REVOLUTIONARY
Commenting on the value of colonial-issued money, the “Continental”...
"Every stone in the Bridge, that has carried us over seems to have a claim upon our esteem. But this was a corner stone, and its usefulness cannot be forgotten."

1956 — DEATH OF H.L. MENCKEN, US JOURNALIST
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace in a continual state of alarm (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing them with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

----------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some
questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com
For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

"I'll believe a corporation is a person when..."

2012-01-19T18:45:00.001-08:00

Thank you to everyone who contributed suggestions. You are a creative bunch!

Feel free to share these at Occupy the Courts actions (there are now over 130 cities with planned actions) and/or with your friends via email and social networks tomorrow. It’s one way to mark the second anniversary of the bizarre Citizens United decision extending never-intended corporate constitutional rights.

“I'll believe a corporation is a person when...
... Arizona deports one
... Texas executes one
... Massachusetts marries two of them
... The US government issues one a Social Security number
... one gets a STD after jumping in bed with an elected representative
... one returns from the Mideast with PTSD
... the CIA extradites one to Guantanamo
... one sacrifices its life in military service
... one is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
... one is baptized
... one dies from hunger or sickness
... one falls in love
... one is awed by beauty
... one is humbled by things it does not know
… it is NOT too big to JAIL
… one values the life and well being of any one individual before it's own existence
… The Ohio State University graduates one
... Ohio denies two same sex marriage (and divorce) rights
... one can't find a job
… one is elected president or dies in childbirth.
… one is put in prison (which would most likely be for defrauding it's investors)
... one dies and is buried in a cemetery
… it grows a heart
… it develops a conscience
... one stays up all night with a sick baby, a troubled teen, or a dying parent
… one worries about the meaning of life
… one is capable of empathy
… one has an ultrasound detected heartbeat
… when its conception occurs in utero
… one is actually held responsible for its actions
… one adopts any of those babies delivered from the women who were denied access to a legal abortion
.... they have to register for the draft
… when one gets pregnant, gives birth and breastfeeds the newborn.
… our budget is balanced
… the created is equal to the creator
… one gives up their personhood to save another person
… they pay their fair share of taxes
… disco music is finally eradicated from the face of the earth
… Lucy lets Charlie Brown kick the football
… a winter storm warning is posted for hell
… Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. return to Earth and declare corporations are people.
… one teaches a child
… they all start laughing out loud at these remarks
... one endorses Ron Paul for President."
And finally…
"I will never believe a corporation is a person."

Help complete this sentence: "I'll believe a corporation is a person when..."

2012-01-17T13:44:00.000-08:00

In commemoration of the second anniversary this Friday of the Citizens United decision which extended never-intended rights of people (personhood) to corporations, your help is needed to complete the sentence below.

A list will be compiled and send Thursday night. It can then be read if desired by organizers of the Occupy the Courts events in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron and Toledo. For those unable to attend any one of the events, you can forward the completed list to your own email lists, Facebook page or blog — as a way to commemorate the day wherever you are.

“I'll believe a corporation is a person when...
[Add to the list]
... Arizona deports one
... Texas executes one
... Massachusetts marries two of them
... The US government issues one a Social Security number
... one gets a STD after jumping in bed with an elected representative
... one returns from the Mideast with PTSD
... the CIA extradites one to Guantanamo
... one sacrifices its life in military service
... one is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
... one is baptized
... one dies from hunger or sickness
... one falls in love
... one is awed by beauty
... one is humbled by things it does not know
...

For details of the Occupy the Courts actions in the abovementioned communities, go to
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212543303386647618890.0004b3214495abde956d0&msa=0

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR January 16-22

2012-01-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

JANUARY 16

1911 - ISSUANCE OF PAMPHLET SUGGESTING PLAN FOR NATIONAL PRIVATE CENTAL BANK
US Senator Nelson Aldrich introduced a plan for creation of a national private central bank based on the conclusions developed by bankers who met secretly on Jekyll Island. GA. The Citizens League, later the National Citizens League, was formed to promote the plan. The establishment of the Federal Reserve System was the result of the plan. [Source: Nathaniel Wright Stephenson, Nelson W. Aldrich, A Leader in American Politics, Scribners, N.Y. 1930]

JANUARY 17

1706 – BIRTH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
"The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the revolutionary war."
“This effect of paper currency is not understood in England. And indeed the whole is a mystery to the politicians how we have been able to continue a war for four years without money and how we could pay with paper that had no previously fixed fund appropriated specifically to redeem it. This currency...is a wonderful machine.”

1863 – BIRTH OF LLOYD GEORGE, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, 1916-1922
“The international bankers swept statesmen, politicians, journalists and jurists all to one side and issued their order with the imperiousness of absolute monarchs.”

JANUARY 18

1910 – BIRTH OF KENNETH BOULDING, ECONOMIST, PROFESSOR, PEACE ACTIVIST, QUAKER
"Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist."
[editor: the same goes for debt]

JANUARY 20

1859 – BIRTH OF CHARLES LINDBURGH, SR., US REPRESENTATIVE AND FATHER OF THE FAMOUS AVIATOR
"The Federal Reserve Act establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President signs this bill, the invisible government by the Monetary Power will be legalized. The people may not know it immediately, but the day of reckoning is only a few years removed."

__________________________________

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?

Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.

This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.

Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com

For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - January 9-15

2012-01-09T04:39:00.000-08:00

JANUARY 10

1843 – BIRTH OF LORD ACTON, ENGLISH HISTORIAN, POLITICIAN, AND WRITER
“The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later, is the people versus the banks.“

JANUARY 11

1757 – BIRTH OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON, FIRST SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES
Major proponent of First Bank of the United States. The bank’s name gave the impression that the bank was public when it was actually privately owned. The nation's money was created out of thin air by the private bank and loaned to the government - at interest - and to private individuals. Eighty percent of the stock was privately held. Hamilton considered public debt "a public blessing" because it would tie the wealthy (who would own the government bonds) of the country to the government, and they would in turn provide political support for higher taxes to pay off the government bonds.

1893 – DEATH OF BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, US GENERAL, US REPRESENTATIVE (MASSACHUSETTS) AND GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS
“The government shall issue an amount equal to its taxes…which shall be lawful money and legal tender for all debts, public and private, which by law are not made payable in coin.”

JANUARY 13

1808 – BIRTH OF SALMON P. CHASE, US SENATOR (OHIO), GOVERNOR OF OHIO, US TREASURY SECRETARY UNDER ABRAHAM LINCOLN, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE US SUPREME COURT
"My agency in procuring the passage of the National Bank Act was the greatest financial mistake of my life. It has built up a monopoly that affects every interest in the country. It should be repealed. But before this can be accomplished, the people will be arrayed on one side and the banks on the other in a contest such as we have never seen in this country." 1863

2007 – ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY JAMES PETRAS, PROFESSOR (EMERITUS), BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK
"Within the financial ruling class,…political leaders come from the public and private equity banks, namely Wall Street - especially Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, the Carlyle Group and others. They organize and fund both major parties and their electoral campaigns. They pressure, negotiate and draw up the most comprehensive and favorable legislation on global strategies and sectoral policies...They pressure the government to "bailout" bankrupt and failed speculative firms and to balance the budget by lowering social expenditures instead of raising taxes on speculative "windfall" profits...These private equity banks are involved in every sector of the economy, in every region of the world economy and increasingly speculate in the conglomerates which are aquired. Much of the investment funds now in the hands of the US investment banks, hedge funds and other sectors of the financial ruling class originated in the profits extracted from workers in the manufacturing and service sector." Global Research - January 13, 2007

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system, been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com
For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Evolution of Supreme Court decisions on corporate personhood?

2012-01-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, Joe Mosyjowski, mused about the direction of the Supreme Court in their decisions regarding granting corporations the same constitutional rights as persons. He said, "Maybe someday the Supremes will rule that people AREN'T people. Just Corpses are."

Given the bizarre "logic" of the Court, it makes perfect sense.

HALLELUJAH CORPORATIONS

2012-01-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

Handel would be proud!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws0WSNRpy3g

Growing Resistance to Corporate Personhood and Money as Speech

2012-01-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

Montana Supreme Court Upholds State's Ban on Corporate Campaign Cash
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/756452/montana_supreme_court_upholds_state's_ban_on_corporate_campaign_cash/

NY City Council Passes Resolution Declaring that Corporations Are Not People
http://nycprogressives.com/2012/01/04/ny-city-council-passes-resolution-declaring-that-corporations-are-not-people/

L.A. and Bernie Sanders Challenge “Corporate Personhood”
http://www.progressive.org/bernie_sanders_challenges_corporate_personhood.html
Please read the important letter to the editor at the end of the article from attorney Steve Justino, Move to Amend, National Action Coordinator, OCCUPY THE COURTS – 1.20.2012! He explains the difference between the Move to Amend proposed constitutional amendment and the half-measures currently proposed.

January 20, 2012 – Move to Amend Occupies the Courts!
A one-day occupation of federal courthouses in more than 75 locations across the country on Friday, January 20 to commemorate the second anniversary of the undemocratic and bizarre Citizens United decision
http://movetoamend.org/occupythecourts
Occupy the Court actions in Ohio:
Cincinnati: Kate Gallion, kategallion@gmail.com
Columbus: Sally Jo Wiley & Michael Greenman, sjwiley@frognet.net, mgreenman@wowway.com
Cleveland: Susan Gaydos and Greg Coleridge, onasandybeach@yahoo.com, gcoleridge@afsc.org

NEXT MOVE TO AMEND STATEWIDE CONFERENCE CALL
Saturday, January 28 / 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Toll free #: 866-256-1242 / Access Code: 10534078

A Call for the Tea Party and Occupy Movements to "Occupy the Courts"

2012-01-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Call-for-the-Tea-Party-a-by-Greg-Coleridge-120104-686.html

The Tea Party movement's disdain for big, unchecked government power and the Occupy movement's disdain for big, unchecked banking power can find common ground in the effort to end never-intended corporate "personhood" constitutional rights. Both should help organize one-day occupations of more than 75 federal courthouses across the country on January 20, 2012.

::::::::

by Greg Coleridge and Britney Schultz

Occupy the Courts by Move to Amend

The Tea Party movement's disdain for big, unchecked government power and the Occupy movement's disdain for big, unchecked banking power can find common ground in the effort to end never-intended corporate "personhood" constitutional rights. Both should help organize one-day occupations at more than 75 federal courthouses across the country on January 20, 2012.

The campaign is being initiated by Move to Amend ( http://www.movetoamend.org ), a broad coalition seeking to amend the US constitution to abolish the bizarre twin legal doctrines that corporations are people and money is speech. Both movements have in different ways educated and organized in support of the majority gaining or regaining control from a privileged few over the political and economic decisions affecting them and their communities.

The major concerns of many within the Tea Party are rising taxes, increasing spending, exploding debt and the lack of true political representation. The major issues sparking the Occupation movement was and remains the growing wealth gap, Wall Street bailouts and speculation, home foreclosures, lack of free speech and assembly rights, and lack of true political representation.

The root of the concerns of both movements have less to do with specific politicians, political parties, corporations, CEOs, regulations or laws. The cores of all these problems are several defining rules enshrined and shielded by constitutional decisions - specifically those anointing corporations as persons and equating money as speech.

The nine appointed-for-lifers of the Supreme Court have exerted for generations judicial supremacy by stripping away the rights of people to govern themselves. The January 2010 Citizens United v Federal Election Commission 5-4 decision was the latest in a long line of Supreme Court rulings going back more than a century granting corporations Bill of Rights and other constitutional protections intended solely for human beings. These decisions have collectively usurped the authority of people to fundamentally define, not merely regulate, corporate actions. Corporations, as legal creations of the state, were intended by our nation's founders to be subordinate to We the People . They possessed no inalienable rights, only privileges granted by charters at the state and federal levels.

Such definition or control in the past has including prohibiting corporations from directly or indirectly engaging in political activities, including lobbying or donating corporate funds to issue campaigns or in support of political candidates. They also have permitted the public to examine corporate books for fraud, inspect corporate facilities for unsafe working conditions, and pass local laws ensuring the health, safety and welfare of citizens and communities.

The Supremes also exerted their judicial activism in their 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision, also ruled 5-4, equating money as political speech. If money is speech, as opposed to it being property like land and other physical possessions, then those with the most money possess the greatest political speech. That's not a recipe for democracy, but of plutocracy - which fairly accurately describes our current political system.

Occupy the Courts is an educational and organizing vehicle for shedding light and heat in the middle of the dark and cold winter that real authentic self governance on behalf of all the issues and concerns Tea Partiers and Occupiers care about is not possible unless the defining rules governing corporations and money are changed.

In the past, massive social movements led by women, people of color, and young people have driven themselves into the constitution through amendments - where they should have existed all along. Today, a massive social movement of people from all backgrounds is needed to drive corporations and money out of the constitution - where they were never intended.

It's time to Occupy the Courts.

-------

Coleridge is Director of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Schultz is a Move to Amend activist in Ohio

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - January 1-8

2012-01-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Understanding monetary issues is paramount in 2012 as Congress and the President, in the name of “reducing the federal debt,” will be proposing many “austerity” measures that call for slashing or privatzing/corporatizing public programs benefiting over 100 million people. It’s unlikely many of them (except for John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich, proponents of the National Emergency Employment Defense Act, HR 2990) will discuss the integral role monetary issues plays in both creating/expanding the federal debt and how we can end it by “democratizing” our money system.

That means it’s up to us, We the People, to force the issue into popular and political discussion — especially this year during federal elections. There is no need for any austerity measures to reduce and end the federal debt. We the People can issue and circulate our own money (as permitted in the Constitution, Art 1, Sec 8) debt-free — without paying banking corporations a penny of interest. We can do it without increasing inflation. And we can create more than 7 million jobs repairing our vital infrastructure.

It’s up to us -- as it’s always been when sane, humane, just and nonviolent change is at stake -- to raise and push this issue.

Onward!

JANUARY 1

1817 - SECOND NATIONAL BANK OF THE US OPENS
This was the third quasi national bank of the US — following the Bank of North America (1781-1785) and Bank of the United States (1791-1811). While called a “national” bank, it was not public but actually a commercial/corporate bank with the power to issue money directly (just like its two predecessors). It issued initially a huge amount of money (more than 20 times its reserves) as loans that led to financial speculation and large corporate profits. A year later, it stopped issuing loans, resulting in a severe contraction of the money supply — which led to massive bankruptcies and the Panic of 1819. President Andrew Jackson believed the bank was a threat to the nation. He vetoed a bill in 1832 renewing the bank’s charter (license).

1879 – DATE TO REDEEM GREENBACKS FOR GOLD
Forces in opposition to public money passed the Resumption Act in 1875. It established January 1, 1879 as the date anyone could redeem federal Greenbacks for gold. Greenbacks were debt free money created by the Lincoln administration in his effort to avoid borrowing money from banks and having to pay interest. Why not simply create the money as stipulated in the Constitution (Art 1, Sec 8 giving the government the authority to coin money)? Bankers hoped most Greenbacks would be turned in – so that they could once more exclusively control the issuance and circulation of paper money – at enormous profit. Doomsayers predicted as Greenbacks were redeemed for gold, the nation would go bankrupt. Neither occurred Only $135,000 in Greenbacks were exchanged for gold – nationwide. Meanwhile, $400,000 gold was exchanged for Greenbacks! The New York Daily Tribune called the day, “the grandest page in the history of the United States.” (Jason Goodwin, Greenbacks)

1909 - BIRTH OF US SENATOR (REPUBLICAN) BARRY GOLDWATER
“The Trilateralist Commission is international and is intended to be the vehicle for multinational consolidation of commercial and banking interests by seizing control of the political government of the U.S. The Trilateralist Commission represents a skillful, coordinated effort to seize control and consolidate the four centers of power -- political, monetary, intellectual and ecclesiastical.” (Barry Goldwater With No Apologies)

1911 - US POSTAL SAVINGS SYSTEM OPENS
The Postal Savings System offered savings accounts to depositors, but no loans. When banks failed after the Great Depression, many people shifted their remaining funds. With post officers serving as bank branches, the Postal Savings System held upwards of 20% of the nation’s savings in the mid 1940’s. Commercial/corporate banks lobbied against their expansion and for their elimination — which occurred in 1967.

JANUARY 3

1977 - DEATH OF CARROLL QUIGLEY, PROFESSOR AND HISTORIAN
“The influence of financial capitalism and of the international bankers who created it was exercised both on business and on governments, but could have done neither if it had not been able to persuade both these to accept two 'axioms' of its own ideology...by basing the value of money on gold and by allowing bankers to control the supply of money. To do this it was necessary to conceal, or even mislead, both governments and people about the nature of money and its methods of operation.” (Carroll Quigley, Tragedy and Hope)

JANUARY 5

1066 – DEATH OF KING EDWARD THE CONFESSOR
Calling usury (interest) the root of evil, the English King declared all those who charged usury outlaws and banished them from the country.

JANUARY 7

1782 – BANK OF NORTH AMERICA OPENS
This was the nation’s first private commercial bank. At that time, the nation’s constitution was the Articles of Confederation. Article 9 of the Articles gave Congress the power to “emit bills of credit” -- to create money debt free. By a single vote, Congress voted to transfer their authority to issue money to the The Bank of North America when it approved its charter on December 31, 1781. Thus, the Bank served as a quasi central bank (which created money as loans, called “debt money”). Why did Congress willingly give up their money power? The public argument was that the business of finance could not be competently conduced by a public body (Congress) — only by a small number of private financiers. The first head of the Bank was Robert Morris, the richest merchant in America.

1868 – SPEECH OF CONGRESSMAN SAMUEL FENTON (INDEPENDENT REPUBLICAN) OF OHIO ON FLOOR OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
“Our Constitution gives to Congress the exclusive power to coin money and regulate the value thereof... These are attributes of sovereignty and belong exclusively to the representatives of the whole people...The value of money has no relation to or dependence upon the material of which it is made. If it has the properties or powers of representing, measuring, and exchanging value it is money, and these properties or powers are not inherent in any substance, but are conferred upon any chosen material by the sovereign power....The greenback, as it has been denominated, was an invaluable expedient, backing our boys in blue and covering their backs at the same time. It served our purpose well and will serve us still if permitted. It helped us through one danger and will bear us triumphantly through another unless the cupidity of bankers, bondholders and shoddy contractors shall triumph over the industrial and tax-paying classes of our people...The first step in the right direction will be to pass a law to call in and cancel the entire bank circulation and simultaneously issue an equal quantity of Treasury certificates or legal tenders. The people having this circulation would be enabled to pay off $300,000,000 of debt and save $18,000,000 of gold interest. We will thus shorten the road to specie payments by reducing the interest-bearing debt.”

JANUARY 8

1786 – BIRTH OF NICHOLAS BIDDLE, PRESIDENT OF SECOND NATIONAL BANK
Biddle threatened to cause a depression if President Andrew Jackson did not re-charter the Bank. The privately owned Second Bank was chartered in 1816. President Jackson did not sign the bill to renew the charter. "This worthy President thinks that ... he is to have his way with the Bank. He is mistaken...[opposition] can only be broken by the actual conviction of exiting distress in the community... Our only safety is in pursuing a steady course of firm restriction [of the money supply] - and I have no doubt that such a course will ultimately lead to restoration of the currency and the re-charter of the Bank." The result of the contraction of the money supply was a financial panic followed by a deep depression. (Edward Kaplan, The Bank of the United States and the American Economy)

------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system, been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?

Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.

This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.

Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com

For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - December 26-31

2011-12-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 28

1856 – BIRTH OF WOODROW WILSON, 28TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.”

DECEMBER 31

1781 – BANK OF NORTH AMERICA ESTABLISHED
This was the nation’s first private commercial bank. The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s constitution at that time. Article 9 of the Articles gave Congress the power to “emit bills of credit” -- to create money. By a single vote, Congress voted to willingly transfer their authority to issue money to the The Bank of North America when it chartered the bank on December 31, 1781. Thus, the Bank served as a quasi national central bank. Why did Congress willingly give up their money power? The public argument was that the business of finance could not be ably conduced by a public body (Congress) — only by a small number of private financiers. The first head of the Bank was Robert Morris, the richest merchant in America. This same argument against public issuance of money is made today – a public body can’t be trusted to create and distribute our nation’s money supply. The result is the creation and distribution of our nation’s money supply by banking corporations.

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - Special Christmas Eve edition

2011-12-24T05:55:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 24

1294 – PAPACY OF POPE BONIFACE VIII BEGINS
Benedetto Gaetani became Pope of the Catholic Church on Christmas Eve, 1294. He instituted the first Christian “Jubilee” in 1300. Jubilee has both Jewish and Christian roots. According to Wikipedia, “The concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical Book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.” It was also common for land to be returned. Pope Boniface VIII conditioned the forgiving of sins and debt on personal confessions and pilgrimages to sacred sites (i.e. basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome) at least once a day for a specified time.

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR December 19-25

2011-12-19T07:59:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 23

1913 – FEDERAL RESERVE ACT PASSES CONGRESS - CREATING FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The Act created a largely corporate controlled national banking and currency system. It was a major coup for banking corporations through the establishment of a private central bank authorized to "monetize" government debt (i.e. to print their own money and exchange it for government securities or I.O.U.'s). The central banking system was composed of 12 regional private/corporate banks owned by participating commercial banks. All national banks were required to join the system. Banking corporations now controlled the issuance and circulation of our national currency. By controlling our national money faucet, they could create inflation and deflation. This corporate monopolization of our currency allowed for public regulation, but not control. It was now banking corporations, not the US government, that was in control of the national currency.

DECEMBER 25

2011 YEARS AGO – CLAIMED BIRTH DATE OF JESUS
In his book, Money and its True Function, author FR Burch said, “As long as Christ confined his teachings to the realm of morality and righteousness, He was undisturbed; it was not till He assailed the established economic system and 'cast out' the protiteers and 'overthrew the tables of the money changers,' that He was doomed. The following day He was questioned, betrayed on the second tried on the third and on the fourth crucified.”

1983 – DEATH OF ROBERT H. HEMPHILL, CREDIT MANAGER, ATLANTA FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
"This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the Commercial Banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the Banks create ample synthetic money, we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is. "

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Bill of Rights are for People, not Corporations

2011-12-15T09:24:00.001-08:00

Today is Bill of Rights Day. On December 15, 1791, the first 10 amendments were added to the Constitution.

Outside of the first three words contained in the Preamble, We the People, the most well known and, for many, cherished portions of our constitution are contained in the Bill of Rights. It provides a set of protections from political and social government intrusion.

The Bill of Rights include:
Amendment 1- Freedom of speech, press and religion
Amendment 2 - The right to bear arms
Amendment 3- Protection of homeowners from quartering troops, except during war.
Amendment 4 - Rights and protections against unreasonable search and seizure
Amendment 5 - Rights of due process of law, protection against double jeopardy, self incrimination
Amendment 6 - Rights of a speedy trial by jury of peers and rights of accused
Amendment 7 - Rights to trial by jury in civil cases
Amendment 8 - Protection from cruel and unusual punishment, excessive bail
Amendment 9 - Protection of rights not specified in the Bill of Rights
Amendment 10 - States rights, power of the states.

As we celebrate, honor and (re)commit to protect these sacred Rights on this day, here are five points to keep in mind.

1. These basic and “inalienable” rights weren’t part of what we know of today as our nation’s “original” constitution. The US constitution that became binding on June 21, 1788 didn’t contain a Bill of Rights. It was only enacted with the understanding that a set of political and social rights would be added in the near future. The “rabble” (the 99% of the day), many who had fought in the revolution for freedom and liberty, were incensed the drafted founding document of the new nation was void of basic political and social rights. They rebelled. They forced their state legislatures to condition ratification with a Bill of Rights. It took three and one-half years of educating, organizing and agitating for the Bill of Rights to finally be added as the constitution’s first 10 amendments.

2. Our nation’s first constitution was not the document that begins with We the People in the Preamble. Prior to that was the Articles of Confederation, ratified in 1781. For seven years our nation existed under a much more decentralized set of national governing rules. States possessed most political power. Most states also had their own Bill of Rights. This added to the outrage of those at the grassroots who saw the “new” constitution absent a Bill of Rights as a step toward a return of centralized authority. Adding to this perception, if not reality, was how the second constitution was created People from each state had gathered in Philadelphia to merely “amend” the Articles of Confederation. Once there, they locked the doors, tossed out the Articles and started over. The minutes from James Madison of the Constitutional Convention weren’t made public for over 50 years.

3. The Bill of Rights is limited in the provision of basic “inalienable” rights to political and some social. They represent a sliver of those rights professed in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which call for political, social, civil, gender, cultural, developmental and economic rights. In the midst of WWII, President Roosevelt called for a second Bill of Rights, an Economic Bill of Rights, including the right to income, medical care, education, housing and employment. "We have come to a clear realization of the fact," FDR said, "that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence."

4. Providing protections from political and social government intrusion, the purpose of the Bill of Rights, is extremely important. These protections have allowed for dissent and democratic participation. These political rights, however, don’t include the right to govern in direct and defining ways. The right to vote and to have one’s vote count, for example. Or the right of people to have control of their economy. Or the right to control and define corporations.

5. Corporations are not mentioned in either the constitution or the Bill of Rights. They were never intended to possess any inalienable constitutional rights — which were reserved exclusively to real human beings. The lack of their inclusion as a right of people to define these creations of the state created enough of a vacuum for corporate agents to argue that corporations were meant all along to be protected right along side real human beings from government intrusion.

The Bill of Rights and virtually every other amendment to our constitution is proof that changing the constitution can be beneficial in expanding the rights of people. Most every amendment occurred following major social movements, some longer and more diverse than others. It’s happened before. It can and must happen again. In the spirit of those who fought long and hard against the power elite of their day for a Bill of Rights, rights for women and people of color, expanding the popular vote for Senators and among young people, it is time once more to become part of expanding our Bill of Rights to include the right of we, sovereign people, to declare that a corporation is not a person and can be regulated and that money is not speech and can be regulated — as called for by the Move to Amend amendment -- http://movetoamend.org/amendment

Bill of Rights Day is a good day to (re)commit to these ends.

Prepared Comments at "No Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security" Rally, Saturday, December 10, Cleveland, OH

2011-12-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

[what I actually said deviated somewhat from these]

Thank you all for being here.

In the midst of WWII, FDR proposed a second Bill of Rights. It didn’t call for extended political liberties but economic liberties. FDR’s Economic Bill of Rights included,
- The right to earn enough income to provide adequate food, clothing and recreation;
- The right to a decent home;
- The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
- The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
- The right to a good education.

“We have come to a clear realization of the fact,” FDR said, “that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence.”

Four years later on this day, December 10, 1948, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It proclaimed that political, economic, cultural, religious and other rights were inherently entitled to every human beings.

Compare these visions of inherent economic rights for all people with recent proposals to slash and plunder deferred income programs (Social Security and Medicare) and other social safety net programs that provide basic medical and income protection to millions of people. The ruling class over the past year has called for cuts of upwards of $4 trillion. The failure of the so-called “supercommittee” does not mean these efforts have ended. Far from it. Austerity efforts will continue in 2012 – most likely building momentum and seeking political cover following the fall elections during the lame duck session of Congress.

Economist Jack Rasmus has calculated that the US Federal Debt rose between 2000 and 2010 by $9.2 trillion. The major causes (by %) for this were:
Bush Tax Cuts: 34.2
War spending: 22.9
Bush-Obama Stimulus Package: 20.6
Direct bank and other bailouts (TARP, etc): 9.8
Nonfunding of Part “D” Prescription Drug plan: 4.8
Excess inflation costs for Medicare and Medicaid: 1.9

Guess where the 1% ruling class have focused their slash and burn deficit reduction energies?
On the 34% Bush tax cuts? The 23% war spending? The 10% bank bailouts? These 3 causes amount to 2/3rds of the increased debt over the last decade. The 1% ruling class, true to form, is, instead, focusing on the 1%. Actually the measly 1.9% increased costs for Medicare and Medicaid – claiming that this is the real cause for the exploding federal debt.

Nonsense.

Their ultimate goal, of course, is to privatize/corporatize them. To create voucher programs. To turn Social Security and Medicaid, at least, over to Wall Street to do with our social security and health care what they’ve done with our housing and pensions. Plunder them. And profit from them.

They say cut back. We say fight back.

It’s up to us to stop this nonsense. We must not accept calls to “balance” domestic cuts with war spending cuts – what will happen automatically in 2013 if no other deal is reached. The 99% must not accept austerity when the 1% are plundering us for their own prosperity. We must not accept that millions of people who depend on these social programs and deferred income programs will be bargaining chips to be used by some politicians against other politicians to wrestle a few minor tax concessions.

A majority of Washington public officials have been bought, rented, leased or retained by the super wealthy and corporations. They won’t turn it around. Only we will.

It’s time to say Enough.
It’s time to come together like we’ve never come together. And stay together after today.
It’s time to demand an economic bill of rights
It’s time to expand our political rights
It’s time to slash the military budget. To end the Bush era tax cuts on the wealthy. To end bank bailouts. And to end subsidies to health insurance corporations… in fact, to all corporations.

This is how to reduce the debt. And while we’re at it, eliminate the debt completely as Dennis Kucinich has proposed by democratizing our monetary system and ending the power of banks to create our money out of nothing.

It’s up to us. We must have the vision to see human rights extended far beyond where now are. And the commitment, drive, and desire to make it happen.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - December 12-18

2011-12-12T04:28:00.001-08:00

DECEMBER 13

2009 – DEATH OF PAUL A. SAMUELSON, ECONOMIST, AUTHOR OF ECONOMICS, AN INTRODUCTORY ANALSYS (BEST SELLING ECONOMICS TEXTBOOK OF ALL TIME)
“Few understand that all our money arises out of debt and IOU operations. The banking system as a whole can do what each small bank cannot do: it can expand its loans and investments many times the new reserves of cash created for it, even though each small bank is lending out only a fraction of its deposits.”

DECEMBER 15

1793 – BIRTH OF HENRY CAREY, PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR
Carey advised Lincoln on creating public money, Greenbacks, rather than receiving loans from private banks during the Civil War. He helped prevent the destruction of Greenbacks by the National Banking Act and its subsequent modifications – which were presented by bankers as monetary “reforms” but with the intent of eliminating Greenbacks.

DECEMBER 17

1874 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING, 10TH PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA (1935-1948)
"Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the nations laws. Usury, once in control, will wreck any nation. Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of parliament and of democracy is idle and futile."

2010 – NATIONAL EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT DEFENSE (NEED) ACT, HR 6550, IS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS
Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a dramatic new proposal to establish fiscal integrity, reassert Congressional sovereignty and regain control of monetary policy from private banks. The NEED Act would allow the federal government to directly fund badly-needed infrastructure repairs and fund education systems nationwide by spending money into circulation without increasing the national debt. The bill would end the current practice of fractional reserve lending, whereby the economy depends upon private financial institutions to lend money into circulation.
Congressman Kucinich stated, “The staggeringly bad employment and economic numbers represent a massive problem which cries out for bold action. Rather than crossing our fingers and hoping that banks will finally lend some of the billions of public dollars they haven’t thus far seen fit to lend, we can take action. My bill would replace the Federal Reserve System’s dependence on private banks to create credit. In its place, a Monetary Authority under the Treasury Department would directly inject liquidity into the economy by purchasing much needed public infrastructure repair. Today, we have idle capital, millions of able-bodied but unemployed workers, unused equipment, and record low interest rates. These conditions are the best possible time to make a long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure. My bill would do exactly that.”
The bill was reintroduced in 2011, (HR 2990)

DECEMBER 18

1977 - DEATH OF MARRINER S. ECCLES, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
"That is what our money system is. If there were no debts in our money system, there wouldn't be any money. "

---------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - December 12-18

2011-12-12T04:28:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 13

2009 – DEATH OF PAUL A. SAMUELSON, ECONOMIST, AUTHOR OF ECONOMICS, AN INTRODUCTORY ANALSYS (BEST SELLING ECONOMICS TEXTBOOK OF ALL TIME)
“Few understand that all our money arises out of debt and IOU operations. The banking system as a whole can do what each small bank cannot do: it can expand its loans and investments many times the new reserves of cash created for it, even though each small bank is lending out only a fraction of its deposits.”

DECEMBER 15

1793 – BIRTH OF HENRY CAREY, PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR
Carey advised Lincoln on creating public money, Greenbacks, rather than take loans from private banks. He helped prevent the destruction of Greenbacks by the National Banking Act and its subsequent modifications – which were presented as monetary “reforms,” by banks but with the intent of eliminating Greenbacks.

DECEMBER 17

1784 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING, 10TH PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA (1935-1948)
"Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the nations laws. Usury, once in control, will wreck any nation. Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of parliament and of democracy is idle and futile."

2010 – NATIONAL EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT DEFENSE (NEED) ACT, HR 6550, IS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS
Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a dramatic new proposal to establish fiscal integrity, reassert Congressional sovereignty and regain control of monetary policy from private banks. The NEED Act would allow the federal government to directly fund badly-needed infrastructure repairs and fund education systems nationwide by spending money into circulation without increasing the national debt. The bill would end the current practice of fractional reserve lending, whereby the economy depends upon private financial institutions to lend money into circulation.
Congressman Kucinich stated, “The staggeringly bad employment and economic numbers represent a massive problem which cries out for bold action. Rather than crossing our fingers and hoping that banks will finally lend some of the billions of public dollars they haven’t thus far seen fit to lend, we can take action. My bill would replace the Federal Reserve System’s dependence on private banks to create credit. In its place, a Monetary Authority under the Treasury Department would directly inject liquidity into the economy by purchasing much needed public infrastructure repair. Today, we have idle capital, millions of able-bodied but unemployed workers, unused equipment, and record low interest rates. These conditions are the best possible time to make a long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure. My bill would do exactly that.”
The bill was reintroduced in 2011, (HR 2990)

DECEMBER 18

1977 - DEATH OF MARRINER S. ECCLES, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
"That is what our money system is. If there were no debts in our money system, there wouldn't be any money. "

---------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- December 5 - 11

2011-12-04T20:27:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 5

1782 – BIRTH OF MARTIN VAN BUREN, 8TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“The practice of funding the public debt…has long been discontinued…A National Bank has become a completely 'obsolete idea' among us, as thoroughly condemned in public opinion as a national debt.”

DECEMBER 6

1921 – THOMAS EDISON QUOTE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
“If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good... If the Government issues bonds, the brokers will sell them. The bonds will be negotiable; they will be considered as gilt edged paper. Why? Because the government is behind them, but who is behind the Government? The people. Therefore it is the people who constitute the basis of Government credit. Why then cannot the people have the benefit of their own gilt-edged credit by receiving non-interest bearing currency… instead of the bankers receiving the benefit of the people’s credit in interest-bearing bonds?”

DECEMBER 9

1946 – BIRTH OF SONIA GANDHI, PRESIDENT, HEAD OF CONGRESS, INDIA
“Let me take you back to Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalization of 40 years ago. Every passing day bears out the wisdom of that decision. Public sector financial institutions have given our economy the stability and resilience we are now witnessing in the face of the economic slowdown.” (2008)

DECEMBER 10

1896 – DEATH OF ALFRED NOBEL, INVENTOR AND BENEFACTOR OF NOBEL PRIZES
Each year, annual international awards are bestowed to honor great scientific and cultural advances. Nobel’s great-grandnephew, Peter Nobel, in 2001 asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate its award to economists given "in Alfred Nobel's memory" from the five other awards. He said, "The economics prize, awarded by the Swedish Rupsbank, runs counter the idealism in Alfred Nobel's declaration that the prizes should be awarded to those who have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind - the vast majority of economic prizes have gone to people who reflect the dominating western view of the world. It's doubtful whether this really is of benefit to all mankind."

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

The Country is BROKEN Because the System is FIXED — ps

2011-12-01T08:42:00.001-08:00

I wrote an article [ http://www.opednews.com/a/141081?show=votes ] with this title several weeks ago after having seen a photo of a random man wearing a t-shirt with this slogan at Occupy DC. I thought it was a perfect slogan summarizing our problems and the direction we must pursue. It inspired me to write the article.

A few days ago I received an email from him. Amazing!

Turns out Selden frequently googles the term to see what turns up. He read the article and approved of its message that the US constitution should be amended in response to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision extending never-intended corporate constitutional rights.

What he wrote next was even more remarkable. It so happens that Selden worked for one year in the International Division of the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia! He said the experience “permanently affected my view of society and the world economy.” AFSC has certainly had a similar effect on my awareness...coupled with those who have been educating and organizing to abolish “corporate personhood” and the legal doctrine that “money is speech.”

He also said he wanted to “honor the circle that led, somehow, from one F/friend to another.”

Much, if not most, of the time we never know the impact of our social action deeds — never able to complete of own circle of sorts. That’s the nature of the work. Quantifying outcomes can be nebulous when the task is to change structures or institutions, including constitutions and corporations. But we do them anyway because of our faith, compassion, commitment and/or will. But every once in a while, sometimes by accident, we’re able to catch a glimpse of at least some impact of what we do for others — where it all somehow, someway circles back and connects.

Selden saw that. At a much larger scale, Rosa Parks was able to eventually see the results of what she did on this very day in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white person — sparking the Civil Rights movement which benefited her, other people of color and all the rest of us.

May we all be so fortunate to witness, on occasion, the effects of our cause.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- November 28-December 4

2011-11-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

DECEMBER 1

1135 – DEATH OF KING HENRY I OF ENGLAND
About 1100, King Henry, short on gold money, created a unique form of government issued money – Tally Sticks. These sticks were just that – polished pieces or sticks of wood with notches of a certain size to indicated the value of the wood. They were declared by the King as money and issued for purchases. They were accepted by the King for payment of taxes. Tally Sticks was an accepted debt-free government-issued money system of England for over 700 years, including the period of the rise of the British Empire. At is peak, about 95% of all money in England was in the form of Tally Sticks.

DECEMBER 4

1975 – DEATH OF GRAHAM TOWERS, GOVERNOR, BANK OF CANADA, 1934-54
"Each and every time a bank makes a loan, new bank credit is created - new deposits - brand new money."

NOTE: Due to the shortness of this week’s calendar, this may be an appropriate moment to invite you to share your thoughts about monetary policy/democratizing money with others. Forward this calendar (an earlier version with more entries might be more interesting) to your email list, write a letter to the editor incorporating information or a quote from previous entries, post the link to the running calendar (link below) on your Facebook page or via email, or talk about it to a friend. Change will only happen when we engage others and awareness reaches a tipping point. Below is an effort toward the letter to the editor end connecting monetary policy with the recently imploded Super Committee fiasco.

Now expand the money supply
Letters to the editor / Akron Beacon Journal / November 23, 2011
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/vop/letters-to-the-editor-nov-23-1.246842

Since Democrats and Republicans on the congressional supercommittee, including Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, were unable to find common ground on spending reductions and tax increases to reduce the debt, Congress should now focus on an arena where both Democrats and Republicans might agree — monetary reform.

Passage of the National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act, H.R. 2990, would eliminate the national debt by authorizing the government to print U.S. dollars (different from the Federal Reserve notes in our wallets) to pay off U.S. Treasury bonds, bills and notes.

Virtually all of our nation’s money is currently created by banking corporations as debt to people, businesses and governments, to be paid back with interest that over time often becomes an inflationary debt trap.

Democratic Presidents Jefferson and Jackson felt the people, not banks, should create our own money, while Republican President Lincoln created debt-free public money (greenbacks) in an effort to preserve the Union. The U.S. Constitution empowers the government to coin money.

Canadian economist William Hixson has said, “The very idea of a government that can create money for itself, allowing banks to create money that the government then borrows, and pays interest on, is so preposterous that it staggers the imagination.”

Congressional passage of the NEED Act would create a policy most people believe has existed since the nation’s founding — creation and issuance of U.S. money — which is both progressive and conservative.

Greg Coleridge
Director
Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, Cuyahoga Falls

-------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html. Previous calendar entries are posted at http://afsc.net/monetaryhistorycalendar.html

The Constitutional Amendment We've Been Waiting For

2011-11-27T03:26:00.000-08:00

Ends Corporate Personhood and Money as Speech

This message is from Move to Amend...

* * *

The time has come!

Move to Amend has led the call for a Constitutional amendment to not only overturn the heinous Supreme Court decision of Citizens United v. FEC, but to put corporations in their proper place as subservient to The People.

Passing an amendment will be a tough job, so the language must be commensurate with the effort needed to win. The amendment must be strong and clear enough to end corporate rule - there's no room here for half solutions or ambiguity.

Move to Amend's proposed amendment will clearly establish that money is not speech, corporations are not people, and allows for no loopholes. Our amendment will put people in charge of our government, and corporations in their proper place.

We've spent the last two years listening and organizing at the grassroots level. Our amendment reflects what we have heard from Americans across the nation - our country is ready for a change that is bold and sweeping.

But is Congress ready?

It is our belief that we need to operate on the assumption that once an Amendment comes out of Congress we won't get another shot. So we MUST get it right!

In the months ahead it will be important that we not let our goals be diluted by our legislators in Washington or organizations who have their ear, even those that mean well and want to see reform in our political system.

You've probably heard by now about the flurry of amendments introduced in Washington, DC in the past month.

With many competing proposals, it can be confusing to figure out what is what in terms of what the proposals will actually do. We have prepared a summary of each of the amendments proposed, including what is missing from each one

In the weeks to come we will be sharing our strategy to win our bold and yet common sense amendment . We know we still have a long way to go, but the tide is turning in this country and Move to Amend intends to ride it to victory.

We thank you for coming this far with us already, and we urge you to take a next step:

Move to Amend is a grassroots organization. Local Move to Amend Affiliates are spreading across the country. Is it time to start one in your community?

Occupy the Courts, Liberate the Law! is our call to action on January 20 for the second anniversary of the Citizens United decision. Communities across the nation are joining in, including folks at Occupy Wall Street and several other Occupy sites. Will you stand with us on January 20?

Move to Amend and several partner organizations hosted over 200 house parties across the nation last month to plan local action in 2012. The next round of these meetings will be the week of December 13. Will you host a gathering of your friends to take action?

Move to Amend is in it to win it, over the long haul. We know you are too. Thank you for your support, and your partnership.

Yours for democracy,

Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, David Cobb, Nancy Price, Lisa Graves, Laura Bonham, Ben Manski, Jerome Scott and George Friday
Move to Amend Executive Committee

PS - Our Amendment needs a name! Help us brand this amendment and make it a household name . What do you think the amendment should be called? We want to hear from you!

Death of Richard Grossman

2011-11-24T07:16:00.001-08:00

Richard Grossman passed away on Tuesday, November 22. The movement we know today to end never-intended constitutional rights for corporations as a step toward real self-governance was birthed, grew and developed to a great extent by this remarkable, complex human being with a deep passion and love for nature, humanity and justice. He influenced and inspired thousands directly, an incalculable number more indirectly.

Richard and Ward Morehouse started the Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy (POCLAD) in 1994, a combined think tank and breeding ground for activist experimentation to challenge corporate rule.

His work in this field originated with the publication of Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation, which he co-authored with Frank Adams in 1993.

Richard reveled in reading, thinking, writing and discussing on what had been for more than a century buried history and analysis on how corporations (creations of the state) came to acquire power and rights that were presented by the culture as inevitable and irreversible. POCLAD semi-annual retreats among the dozen collective “principles” were serious extended weekends in “grappling” and “rethinking” the relationship between people and our own legal creations — conveying that the ultimate inhibitor to self-governance weren’t corporations but us — what we’ve come to accept and what we’re willing to do. He dug deep in history, law and scholars that most people in the present had never heard of and/or who seemed quaint or arcane.

Richard was rigorous and demanded the same from everyone who took ending corporate rights seriously. He challenged as well as supported. He demanded as well as suggested. He knocked our ideas and conceptions down as well as worked collaboratively to build up others. He was uncompromising on core concepts but engaged in genuine give and take that helped him evolve from primarily advocating revoking individual corporate charters, to ending corporate constitutional rights (personhood) at the national level, to asserting democratic “right to decide” control over corporations through municipal ordinances, to criminalizing chartered incorporated business entities. You didn’t always agree with Richard but you were always mentally stretched and challenged to defend your unconsciously accepted doctrines.

I first ran into Richard when he and fellow “POCLADista” Jane Anne Morris came to Ohio to lead a weekend “Rethinking Corporations, Rethinking Democracy” in 1995 — one of scores of intentional in-depth retreats to unlearn our “myths and lore” regarding governance that he helped facilitate. It was a personal awakening. Though I had gone to what was considered a pretty radical college (Oberlin) and grew up with a father who was involved in the formation of the labor movement (United Rubber Workers in Akron), I had learned nothing in either venue about what Richard and Jane Anne had “unearthed.”

At the end of the “Rethink,” Richard challenged us to do our own “unearthing,” to dig into Ohio history and law — since corporations historically received their charter from states. The result was Citizens Over Corporations, our booklet which provided “A Brief History of Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Organizing in the Future” (the subtitle, per Richard’s suggestion). He was an invaluable asset in the writing, framing and tone. The booklet led to our documentary, CorpOrNation, the Story of Citizens and Corporations in Ohio. As Richard said time and again, the issue isn’t about corporations. It’s about democracy. It’s about us. I was forever in awe once I became involved with POCLAD by his overall intellect, discernment and focus.

On a very personal note, after my wife suddenly passed away in 2000, Richard’s hand written letter and subsequent notes, Buddhist calendar and phone calls were among the most cherished communications I received from anyone — always inquiring about my welfare and my daughter’s. Beneath his exterior crustiness was a deeply caring soul.

Richard was a planter. All his seeds did not sprout in quite the democratic ways he completely approved. Yet time will tell how far and deep the current anti corporate personhood movement extends. Transcending it to envelop real self-governance with compassion for all living things is where I believe Richard would want it to travel.

So should we. For the real barriers to this are not chartered incorporated business entities. They're us.

Now expand the money supply

2011-11-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

Letters to the editor / Akron Beacon Journal
November 23, 2011
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/vop/letters-to-the-editor-nov-23-1.246842

Since Democrats and Republicans on the congressional supercommittee, including Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, were unable to find common ground on spending reductions and tax increases to reduce the debt, Congress should now focus on an arena where both Democrats and Republicans might agree — monetary reform.

Passage of the National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act, H.R. 2990, would eliminate the national debt by authorizing the government to print U.S. dollars (different from the Federal Reserve notes in our wallets) to pay off U.S. Treasury bonds, bills and notes.

Virtually all of our nation’s money is currently created by banking corporations as debt to people, businesses and governments, to be paid back with interest that over time often becomes an inflationary debt trap.

Democratic Presidents Jefferson and Jackson felt the people, not banks, should create our own money, while Republican President Lincoln created debt-free public money (greenbacks) in an effort to preserve the Union. The U.S. Constitution empowers the government to coin money.

Canadian economist William Hixson has said, “The very idea of a government that can create money for itself, allowing banks to create money that the government then borrows, and pays interest on, is so preposterous that it staggers the imagination.”

Congressional passage of the NEED Act would create a policy most people believe has existed since the nation’s founding — creation and issuance of U.S. money — which is both progressive and conservative.

Greg Coleridge
Director
Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee
Cuyahoga Falls

What the supercommittee should have done

2011-11-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

Supercommittee should focus on monetary reform to eliminate national debt
Friday, November 18, 2011
http://blog.cleveland.com/letters/2011/11/supercommittee_should_focus_on.html

Since Democrats and Republicans on the congressional supercommittee, including Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, are having difficulty finding common ground on spending reductions and tax increases to reduce the debt, they should focus on an arena where both might agree-- monetary reform.

Passage of the National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act, H.R. 2990, would eliminate the national debt by authorizing the U.S. government to print U.S. dollars (different from the Federal Reserve notes in our wallets) to pay off U.S. treasury bonds, bills and notes as they come due.

Virtually all of our nation's money is currently created by banking corporations as debt to people, businesses and governments -- to be paid back with interest that over time often becomes an inflationary debt trap.

Democratic Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson felt "we the people," not banks, should create our own money, while Republican President Abraham Lincoln created public money (greenbacks) to preserve the union. The U.S. Constitution empowers the government to coin money.

Portman and his supercommittee colleagues should recommend a policy to eliminate our national debt that most people already believe has existed since the nation's founding -- a policy to democratize the U.S. monetary system that is both progressive and conservative.

Greg Coleridge Cleveland Heights

Coleridge is director of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee in Cuyahoga Falls.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- November 21-27

2011-11-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 21

1944 – BIRTH OF DICK DURBIN, US SENATOR, ILLINOIS
"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place." Interview on WJJG 1530 AM's "Mornings with Ray Hanania," April 2009

NOVEMBER 22

1879 – BIRTH of RALPH HAWTREY, FORMER SECRETARY OF TREASURY, ENGLAND
"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing."

NOVEMBER 23

1910 – JEKYLL ISLAND MEETING TO PLAN FOR US PRIVATE CENTRAL BANK
Attending this secret meeting were US Senator Nelson Aldrich; A. Piatt Andrew, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Frank Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York; Henry P. Davison, senior partner of J.P. Morgan Company; D. Norton, president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York; Benjamin Strong (a lieutenant of J.P. Morgan); and Paul Warburg, connected to the banking house of Kuhn, Loeb. The meeting would lead to the Aldrich bill, which eventually led to the Federal Reserve Act, passed in 1913.

NOVEMBER 25

1874 – GREENBACK PARTY FOUNDED
The Greenback Party was founded on this day at a convention in Indianapolis. Many of its members were farmers hurt by the financial Panic of 1873 (also known as the “Crime of ‘73”). The party supported “Greenback” paper money that was issued and spent into circulation by the Lincoln administration. They opposed all money systems backed by any precious metal, believing that those who owned gold or silver (banks and corporations) would possess the power to define the value of products and labor. Government control of the US money system would also ensure sufficient quantity of money was in circulation to help small businesses and farmers. Twenty one independent congressmen, mostly Greenbackers, were elected in 1878.

--------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Corporations: Good Servants, Lousy Masters

2011-11-16T19:43:00.001-08:00

Excellent talk by professor john a powell linking race to corporate power
Full version
http://blip.tv/the-uptake/professor-john-a-powell-at-fair-economy-summit-full-video-5541998
Short version
http://blip.tv/the-uptake/corporations-good-servants-lousy-masters-5556626

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- Nov 14-20

2011-11-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 16

1914 – US FEDERAL RESERVE OPENS FOR BUSINESS
“Commercial banks create checkbook money whenever they grant a loan, simply by adding new deposit dollars in accounts on their books in exchange for a borrower's IOU. From I Bet You Thought, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

2006 – DEATH OF MILTON FRIEDMAN, US ECONOMIST
"The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great Depression by contracting the amount of currency in circulation by one-third from 1929 to 1933."
“If you kill the Fed and don't kill fractional reserve lending, you've done nothing.”

NOVEMBER 19

1831 – BIRTH OF JAMES GARFIELD, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R- OHIO)
"Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce, and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate."

NOVEMBER 20

1910 -- DEATH OF LEO TOLSTOY, RUSSIAN WRITER AND SOCIAL REFORMER
"Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal, there is no human relation between master and slave. "

---------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Corporate rights and resistance

2011-11-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

A FEW RECENT EXAMPLES OF CORPORATIONS EXERTING NEVER INTENDED CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

Judge Blocks Tobacco Warning Laws
http://www.dailymarkets.com/stock/2011/11/09/judge-blocks-tobacco-warning-laws/
[Corporate constitutional rights is all smoke]

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin loses lawsuit over use of his image on trading cards
http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20111108/NEWS07/111109866#
[Corporate constitutional rights is out of this world]

PUBLIC RESISTANCE TO CORPORATE RIGHTS

Lori Sturdevant: Corporations and people
http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/133582263.html

Missoula MT voters say corporations are not people, ask for constitutional amendment
http://missoulian.com/news/local/missoula-voters-say-corporations-are-not-people-ask-for-constitutional/article_f90f0f06-0a8b-11e1-99bf-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1dMGJvv5U

Boulder, Colorado Occupies the Ballot Box and Calls for End to “Corporate Personhood”
http://movetoamend.org/news/boulder-votes-constitutional-amendment-abolish-corporate-personhood

US SENATORS CALL FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO “REVERSE CITIZENS UNITED”
Warning: it doesn’t end corporate personhood

The country is broken because the system is fixed
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-country-is-broken-beca-by-Greg-Coleridge-111110-545.html

HOW TO RESIST CORPORATE RIGHTS AND CREATE DEMOCRACY

January 20, 2012: Move to Amend Occupies the Courts!

Inspired by our friends at Occupy Wall Street, and Dr. Cornel West, Move To Amend is planning bold action to mark the second anniversary of the infamous Citizens United v. FEC decision!

Occupy the Courts will be a one day occupation of Federal courthouses across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday January 20, 2012.

Move to Amend volunteers across the USA will lead the charge on the judiciary which created — and continues to expand — corporate personhood rights.

Americans across the country are on the march, and they are marching OUR way. They carry signs that say, “Corporations are NOT people! Money is NOT Speech!” And they are chanting those truths at the top of their lungs! The time has come to make these truths evident to the courts.

Join us Friday, January 20, 2012 at a Federal Court building near you!

Details at http://movetoamend.org/occupythecourts

Are you interested in this? Planning to work on an action in your community? If so, email gcoleridge@afsc.org so we can connect you with others.

---

Move to Amend Ohio Statewide Conference Call
Saturday, November 19 / 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Phone # (toll-free): 1-866-256-1242 Access Code: 86204415

Circulate the Move to Amend petition
Download a petition at http://www.movetoamendohio.org/

Ask organizations you’re a member of to endorse
Endorsement form at http://www.movetoamendohio.org/

Organize an educational program and/or start a group in your community
We’re happy to help! Contact gcoleridge@afsc.org

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

Ohio Move to Amend
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ohio-Move-to-Amend/163413857048478
Move to Amend Cleveland
http://www.facebook.com/groups/190361927681980/#!/pages/Move-To-Amend-Cleveland/223000864433861
Move to Amend Medina
http://www.facebook.com/groups/190361927681980/
Move to Amend – Central Ohio
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Move-to-Amend-Central-Ohio/182896321729826
Democracy over Corporations – Athens
http://fr-fr.facebook.com/pages/Democracy-Over-Corporations/123585487749688?sk=wall

If interested in starting a Move to Amend group in your community...or incorporating ending corporate personhood and money as speech into an existing group, contact us for ideas and assistance.

GREAT QUOTE

"I refuse to believe corporations are people until Texas executes one."
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13021

The country is broken because the system is fixed

2011-11-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

Why SJRes29 won't fix what's left of our democracy
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-country-is-broken-beca-by-Greg-Coleridge-111110-545.html

Nine US Senators, led by Tom Udall of New Mexico, have introduced a joint resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 29, or SJRes 29) calling for a constitutional amendment to limit money in elections. It's presented as an effort to "Reverse Citizens United ," the 2010 Supreme Court decision expanding the never-intended constitutional free speech "rights" of corporations to spend money from their treasuries to influence elections -- without having to report it.

Citizens United resulted in an estimated $300 million spent on political ads in the 2010 mid-term elections, a four-fold increase from the 2006 mid terms. This is pocket change compared to the projections for the 2012 Presidential and Congressional elections.

The recent explosion of corporate election spending and projected meteoric increase next year is likely major motives for this resolution. Another one is, no doubt, the rising chorus heard in the Occupation Movement that "corporations are not persons " -- short hand for a call to abolish corporate constitutional rights via a constitutional amendment.

Albert Einstein once observed, "If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I would solve the problem in less than five minutes."

Senator Udall and his resolution co-sponsors rushed to a solution without correctly determining the proper question.

It doesn't take 55 minutes -- or Einstein for that matter -- to figure out that our entire political system is and has for a very long time been fixed -- rigged toward the interests of wealthy individuals and corporations.

It basically doesn't matter:
- How smartly we study and then prepare a glossy report on the dangers of the activities of (fill in the name of any major corporation here),
- What animal we dress up as outside a corporate headquarters to protest an environmental destruction,
- How many constituents we bring to testify (to put a human face on the problem) on the impact of a particular corporate abuse to their communities before a regulatory agency,
- What experts we hire to document that a tax cut to the super rich or corporations harms the economy and balloons the public debt,
- What lawyers we hire to make the case that corporations shouldn't be able to hide behind 14th Amendment "equal protections" or the Commerce Clause to site their big box store or dump their toxic trash in our communities,
- The number of call-in days, letter writing campaigns or email blasts we organize to pressure public officials,
- Or even (I know this in the minds of many is scandalous) whom we elect of whatever political party to public office.

The bottom line almost without exception -- whether it's today, the day after the Citizens United ruling, or the day before the decision -- is that if the super wealthy and corporations will be seriously harmed by whatever bill, law, regulation, rule or decision the public wants, it won't happen -- short of massive grassroots organizing, sometimes over many months or years. If something is passed or decided, it's been so stripped down in depth, breadth or enforcement (i.e. the federal Dodd-Frank financial so-called "reform" bill is one classic example) that it's one half step above complete uselessness. Actually, such half-baked measures are worse than useless as they are proclaimed by proponents (from politicians to pundits) as real reform!

Our political system is fundamentally broken. On an unconscious if not conscious level, a majority of participants of both the Tea Party and Occupation movements know this.

Real democracy doesn't exist. It's a problem what goes back to when wealth and corporations first attained rights and disproportionate power -- which is basically at the beginning of our nation in the case of the former and more than a century ago in the later.

The root question Einstein might produce if he pondered this problem is: "Can we have anything approaching a real representative democracy in a society that defines money as speech and corporations as people with inalienable constitutional rights?"

If our answer is NO, then SJRes29 doesn't come remotely close to being a solution. Despite websites popping up with mastheads saying "REVERSE CITIZENS UNITED" and asking people to sign a petition calling for a "constitutional amendment to give Congress and states the authority to limit corporate and special interest money in our elections," the whole effort is inadequate.

The two sections of the proposed amendment states, "Congress shall have power to regulate the raising and spending of money and in kind equivalents with respect to Federal elections"" and "A State shall have power to regulate the raising and spending of money and in kind equivalents with respect to State elections."

Shall?

Regulate?

How about MUST regulate.

And what about PROHIBIT raising and spending money by corporations?

Simply providing Congress with the option to address an issue doesn't guarantee that they actually will. Congress currently possesses the ability to take many actions but they don't.

Worse, calling for the "regulation" of raising and spending money by corporations in elections would legitimize never-intended First Amendment free speech corporate rights. Free speech and every other right in our Bill of Rights were meant by its architects to be reserved exclusively for real human beings. Corporations were intended to be creations of the state with privileges, not rights, granted via charters by We the People through state legislators and, in the case of national banks, Congress.

The architects of this resolution didn't take the time to study and reflect. As a result, they didn't come up with the right solution.

Voters in Boulder, CO and Missoula, MT just voted to end corporate personhood. People at Occupation sites across the nation are displaying signs that say abolish corporate personhood. They understand an important part of the solution.

The resolution effort is not completely useless however. If lucky, the resolution will receive one or more congressional hearings. These will provide important teachable moments to educate the resolution's supporters, other members of Congress and the public at large. They'll provide an opportunity to show that our political system, if not entire country, is broken because the political system is fixed. Finally, they'll represent an arena where real democratic fixes can be promoted, including the proposed constitutional amendment by Move to Amend (http://movetoamend.org) which states, "We, the People of the United States of America, reject the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United, and move to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights."

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - November 7-13

2011-11-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 7

1931 – PUBLISHED LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF ALBERT EINSTEIN IN BERLINER TAGEBLATT
“The gold standard has, in my opinion, the serious disadvantage that a shortage in the supply of gold automatically leads to a contraction of credit and also of the amount of currency in circulation… The natural remedies to our troubles are, in my opinion...Control of the amount of money in circulation and of the volume of credit in such a way as to keep the price level steady, abolishing any monetary standard.”

NOVEMBER 9

1910 – BIRTHE OF CARROLL QUIGLEY, AMERICAN HISTORIAN AND THEORIST OF THE EVOLUTION OF CIVILIZATIONS
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements, arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was the Bank for International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the worlds' central banks which were themselves private corporations. The growth of financial capitalism made possible a centralization of world economic control and use of this power for the direct benefit of financiers and the indirect injury of all other economic groups." Tragedy and Hope: A History of The World in Our Time

NOVEMBER 10

1796 - BIRTH OF WILLIAM GOUGE, EDITOR AND WRITER
Gouge edited the " Philadelphia Gazette" and other journals, and for thirty years contributed articles on banking to various periodicals. He was for thirty years connected with the treasury department at Washington. He published "History of the American Banking System" (1835); " Expediency of Dispensing with Bank Paper" (1837); and a "Fiscal History of Texas" (1852)
“As it is public credit that supports the Banks, and not the Banks that support public credit, as the deposits of the Banks are the property of the community generally and the profits derived from circulation come from the community generally they ought to go to the community generally and be used to lighten the burden of taxation."
"The banking system is the principal cause of social evil in the United States."

NOVEMBER 12

1999 – ENACTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES MODERNIZATION ACT (ALSO KNOWN AS GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT)
The act removed many barriers contained in the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, including those that separated banking, securities and insurance corporations. The result was massive combination and consolidation within the financial sector – creating enormously powerful institutions.. The bill was pushed for by leading Republicans in Congress, including Phil Gramm and signed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

----------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Why ‘occupiers’ must confront fallacy of corporate ‘personhood’

2011-11-03T10:40:00.000-07:00

By Gary Houser and Greg Coleridge

http://www.athensnews.com/ohio/article-35248-why-lsoccupiersrs-must-confront-fallacy-of-corporate-lspersonhoodrs.html

Even from the mainstream media perspective, the "occupy" movement has been amazing to observe. Those outraged by the concentration of wealth and power have finally found their voice. They see a government that's been corrupted and captured by corporate money to the detriment of We the People's welfare.

But to those who've devoted lifetimes fighting corporate greed, something even deeper is happening. If "midnight" represents when the forces of greed triumph and the miraculous human experiment ends through global catastrophe, then we're surely in the last minute before. We may be witnessing a primal force deep within the heart of humanity, realizing — perhaps only subconsciously — how close we are to the precipice.

It's as if life on earth senses the enormity of the danger (i.e. mass extinction) and is rising up like antibodies in a bloodstream to fight off the invader/disease. The occupy movement is spreading because it provides a channel through which that deep organic wisdom can express itself.

The issue best illustrating the overwhelming danger of our situation is the climate. Seventeen Nobel Prize-winning scientists released an unusually urgent warning that carbon emissions are heating up the planet toward tipping points where monumentally destructive forces will begin to spin out of human control (http://globalsymposium2011.org/). At the very same time, corporations are using colossal profits to orchestrate campaigns aimed at confusing and deceiving the public (http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-keystone-pipeline-revolt-why-mass-arrests-are-just-the-beginning-20110928).

The corporate form grinds on because it has no feelings, conscience or remorse. In short, it's not a person. Corporations are artificial legal entities created for the purpose of making money. To maximize this ability, our laws and Constitution have been perverted to declare that the corporate form should have many of the same inalienable human rights as an actual living, breathing person.

This floodgate opened 125 years ago when the Supreme Court first granted corporations constitutional equal-protection rights. Although these rights extended in several directions, their most destructive form was in the realm of First Amendment "free speech," the most recent example being the 2010 Citizens United decision. Corporations not only claim a right to take part in elections, but also that any attempt to curtail their financial contributions and political lobbying are violations of their "free speech." By spending money from vast treasuries (some larger than those of entire countries), they have overwhelmed the democratic process and gained a stranglehold on our government. Consequently, in many fundamental ways corporations now govern.

Corporations were never intended to possess inalienable constitutional rights or to rule. As legal creations of the state, most corporations were meant to be subordinate to We the People via charters issued by state legislatures. Charters stipulated the production of specific goods or services for a specific period of time. Lobbying, investing in election campaigns, writing laws and other forms of political engagement were prohibited, yielding charter revocations by both state legislatures and courts — including those in Ohio.

The Citizens United decision resulted in $300 million spent on political ads in the 2010 midterm elections. This so-called "free speech" drowned out the voices and aspirations of people without money. Conditions will only worsen during the 2012 elections.

"Corporations are not people" is a frequent sign at occupy sites. Only if we pretend that corporations are persons under our Constitution is limiting corporate speech a constitutional violation. Ending the twin legal fictions that corporations are people and money is speech are among the major objectives of the national coalition Move to Amend (http://movetoamend.org), and should be among the major goals of the occupy movement.

This approach calls for amending our Constitution, something that's essential but not imminent. Achievable in the short term is the passage of resolutions by organizations and political bodies as well as citizen ballot initiatives calling for an end to this twisting of our Constitution.

The enormity of the multiple environmental crises we face brings with it an enormity of opportunity to profoundly change our nation's rules toward authentic self-governance. Since corporations lack feelings, consciences and remorse, the task of ensuring that our lives, communities and the natural world that we live within survive and thrive falls on us — real humans beings with the ability to feel, aspire and act for the common good.

Editor's note: Gary "Spruce" Houser is a documentary producer currently working on climate tipping points (www.590films.org/methane.html) and co-authored the first local ballot initiative in U.S. aimed at re-asserting democratic control over corporations (Arcata, Calif. in 1998). Greg Coleridge is director of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee (http://www.afsc.net ) and coordinator of Move to Amend Ohio (www.movetoamendohio.org/)

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - October 31- November 6

2011-10-31T12:50:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 31

1874 – PUBLICATION OF OCTOBER ISSUE OF INDUSTRIAL AGE MAGAZINE
“The religious press has almost without exception been the allies of the bondholders and bankers in their endless schemes to fleece the public, and the mouthpiece of the monopolists and the defender of the soulless corporations that fill their pockets by robbing the toiling people.”

NOVEMBER 1

1873 – PASSAGE OF THE COINAGE ACT BY CONGRESS
The fourth coinage act passed by Congress, the 1873 bill “demonetized” silver – meaning silver was no longer accepted as currency or used as a metal to back paper money. Only gold was now accepted as currency and used to back paper money. With the money supply now contracted, the US went into an economic depression. The demonitization of silver was also not apparent in the bill at the time of passage. When this became public, there was national outrage. Congressional passage became known as “the Crime of ’73.”

NOVEMBER 6

1841 – BIRTH OF NELSON ADRICH, US SENATOR (R.I.), LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE SENATE
Aldrich was the major Senate proponent of the Federal Reserve Act. He railroaded the bill through both houses of Congress in the fall and winter of 1913. Alfred Crozier, an Ohio attorney and author of the book US Money vs Corporation Currency, testified before Congress against the Aldrich bill. He said, “The… bill grants just what Wall Street and the big banks for 25 years have been striving for, namely, private instead of public control of currency. [The bill] robs the Government and the people of all effective control over the public money supply and vest in the banks exclusively the dangerous power to make money among the people scarce or plenty.”

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - October 24-30

2011-10-24T07:51:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 27

1945 – BIRTH OF LULA DE SILVA, PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (2003-2010)
The Third World War has already started. The war is tearing down Brazil, Latin America, and practically all the Third World. Instead of soldiers dying, there are children. It is a war over the Third World debt, one which has as its main weapon, interest, a weapon more deadly than the atom bomb, more shattering than a laser beam.

OCTOBER 29

1897 – DEATH OF HENRY GEORGE, US AUTHOR, POLITICIAN AND ECONOMIST
On the other hand it is the business of government to issue money. This is why the issuance of this money should be made a government function become still stronger. The evils entailed by wildcat banking in the United States are too well remembered to need reference. The loss and inconvenience, the swindling and corruption that flowed from the assumption by each State of the Union of the power to license banks of issue ended with the war, and no -one would now go back to them. Yet instead of doing what every public consideration impels us to, and assuming wholly and fully as the exclusive function of the General Government the power to issue money, the private interests of bankers have, up to this, compelled us to the use of a hybrid currency, of which a large part, though guaranteed by the General Government, is issued and made profitable to corporations. The legitimate business of banking – the safekeeping and loaning of money, and the making and exchange of credits, is properly left to individuals and associations; but by leaving to them, even in part and under restrictions and guarantees, the issuance of money, the people of the United States suffer an annual loss of millions of dollars, and sensible increase the influences which exert a corrupting effect upon their government.

1929 – US STOCK MARKET CRASH
Known as "Black Tuesday," October 29 was the worst day in stock market history. Since everyone was selling and no one was buying, stock prices collapsed. The crash was due to policies of the Federal Reserve which had made money cheap to borrow. Too much money was concentrated in too few hands. Cheap money resulted in wild speculation (booms or bubbles) in financial instruments, the stock market and office buildings rather than useful and necessary goods and services. Speculation was rampant. Understanding what was happening, but not admitting it to the public, the Fed significantly contracted the US money supply by raising interest rates to borrow money. Not enough money was available to meet economic needs. The speculative bubbles burst, triggering what became the Great Depression.

OCTOBER 30

1735 – BIRTH OF JOHN ADAMS, 2ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword, the other is by debt."
and
"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from the defects of the Constitution or confederation, not from the want of honour or virtues, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nation, of coin, credit and circulation."

1840 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER, PROFESSOR, YALE UNIVERSITY AND MONETARY THEORIST
For as the currency question is of first importance and we cannot solve it or escape it by ignoring it. We have got to face it and the best way to begin is not by wrangling about speculative opinions as to untried schemes but to go back to history and try to get hold of some firmly established principles.

1885 – BIRTH OF EZRA POUND, US POET AND CRITIC
Some of his poetry deals with the destructive moral and social effects of usury, or usura, such as his Canto XLV:
“…Usura rusteth the chisel
It rusteth the craft and the craftsman
It gnaweth the thread in the loom
None learneth to weave gold in her pattern;…”

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- October 17-23

2011-10-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 18

1931 – DEATH OF THOMAS EDISON, US INVENTOR
“If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good... If the Government issues bonds, the brokers will sell them. The bonds will be negotiable; they will be considered as gilt edged paper. Why? Because the government is behind them, but who is behind the Government? The people. Therefore it is the people who constitute the basis of Government credit. Why then cannot the people have the benefit of their own gilt-edged credit by receiving non-interest bearing currency… instead of the bankers receiving the benefit of the people’s credit in interest-bearing bonds?”

1987 – US STOCK MARKET CRASH
Known as Black Monday, stock markets around the world crashed.
In finance, Black Monday refers to Monday, October 19, 1987, when stock markets around the world crashed. Dow Jones dropped by 508 points. It was the largest one-day percentage decline in Dow Jones history.

OCTOBER 23

2008 – TESTIMONY OF ALAN GREENSPAN, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN, BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM (NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE)
“Do you feel that your ideology pushed you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?”
Mr. Greenspan conceded: “Yes, I’ve found a flaw. I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact.” “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief.”

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

PsySR Statement on Corporate Personhood

2011-10-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR) issued a fine statement on October 7 on corporate personhood.

The awakening continues. The movement against corporate personhood grows.

This important statement comes at a critical juncture as people across the country and around the world are occupying public spaces demanding democracy and justice. Among the major institutions on planet earth preventing justice and usurping our right to govern is the business corporation.

From the PsySR statement:
"Corporations...are structural entities created by laws rather than by natural, biological processes. Corporations are vehicles, designed to achieve specific ends, typically those of growth, profitability and longevity beyond the span of human life. Corporations are amoral. They have no capacity for guilt, shame, pride, or penance. They possess no motivations, beliefs, or emotions, and they cannot make decisions nor take action—not, at least, outside of the human beings who run them. Corporations are not people. From a psychological perspective, corporate personhood is a misleading and highly dangerous legal fiction. It provides protection to corporate leaders for activities in which they would otherwise bear personal, lawful responsibility. This legal validation of corporate personhood therefore shields select, powerful corporate officials from the law and liability, encouraging recklessness in the form of unethical, dangerous and, in some instances, illegal behaviors."

Read the entire statement at
http://www.psysr.org/about/programs/wellbeing/corporate-personhood.php

Talk this Thursday on First Amendment and Corporate Rights

2011-10-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

From: Melissa Athens
Date: Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 2:03 PM
Subject: For Immediate Press Release Oct 13 6pm Public Square

Hello,

Please forward to your network tree.

Occupiers! Learn more about our 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech. Greg Coleridge, State Coordinator for Move to Amend, will talk about what our right to free speech means for people and how corporations have hijacked it.
Thursday, October 13 - 6pm - ***PUBLIC SQUARE***

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - October 10-16

2011-10-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 13

1879 – DEATH OF HENRY CAREY, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Carey was the major proponent in the Lincoln Adminstration of issueing debt-free US money, Greenbacks. In referencing the US economy under the Greenback system, he said, …”for the first time, too, in the history of the world, there has been presented a community in which nearly all business was done for cash, and in which debt has scarcely an existence…there has been a large and general diminution of the rate of interest…traders have therefore become more independent of the capitalist, while the country at large has become more independent of the ‘wealthy capitalists’ of Europe.”

OCTOBER 15

1908 – BIRTH OF JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH, US ECONOMIST
“The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is on in which complexity is used to disguise or evade truth, not to reveal it.”
"The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.”

1982 – CONGRESS PASSES GARN-ST.GERMAIN DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS ACT
The act deregulated savings and loan associations and allowed banks to provide adjustable-rate mortgage loans. Many believe it contributed to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s.

---------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City -- grievances includes corporate personhood

2011-10-05T05:44:00.001-07:00

As with the Declaration of Independence of 1776, the list of grievances in New York City -- which is what's being used by others as a template -- include both individual harms to people and communities AND usurpations of collective power and rights, including stripping collective bargaining and granting
corporations the same rights as people. Actually they go beyond in questioning the right of corporations to determine economic policies.

Moving beyond individual problems to address structural causes is the shift that is necessary to achieve unity...and real change We are all being hurt, regardless of our issues or causes, by the reality that we aren’t in charge of decisions that impact our families, communities and world. Wide recognition that corporations being defined as persons, corporate political donations and unilateral corporate economic decision making are fundamental problems is evolution in the right direction.

Check your community for these democratic “Occupations.” Where they exist, engage participants in discussion on corporate constitutional rights and money as speech. Take Move to Amend petitions. Participate.

http://nycga.cc/2011/09/30/declaration-of-the-occupation-of-new-york-city/
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on September 29, 2011

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.
As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

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 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, who are responsible for 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 or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial 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, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, 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.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR October 3-9

2011-10-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

OCTOBER 3

2008 – US CONGRESS APPROVES $700 BILLION BAILOUT FOR BANKS
The largest US banks were bailed out by US taxpayers since they were considered “too big to fail.” Main Street businesses and side street homeowners facing foreclosures (due in large part to the speculative practices of major financial institutions) received no such support. Many of these major banks were major political campaign contributors/investors in the 2008 political campaign. The final bailout legislation was a revised and slightly better version of an original bill proposed by Sec. of Treasury Hank Paulson that was literally only a few pages in length. Massive public anger resulted in a flood of calls, emails and visits to congressional offices. The original proposal was defeated by Congress.

OCTOBER 4

1923 – BIRTH OF CHARLTON HESTON, ACTOR [I KNOW THIS IS A BIT OF A STRETCH]
“You shall not charge interest to your countrymen…”A quote from Moses from the Bible, Deuteronomy 23: 19-20 Moses was born sometime in 1527 BC. Since the exact date is unknown, why not use the birth date of the guy who played him in films!

OCTOBER 8

1946 – BIRTH OF DENNIS KUCINICH, CONGRESSMAN, OHIO
Author of the National Emergency Employment Defense [NEED] Act, introduced in 2010 and 2011 [HR 2990 in 2011]. Among the bill’s provisions are: (a) make the Federal Reserve System more accountable by placing the Fed under the US Department of Treasury, (b) create government issued money to hire people to repair the nation’s physical and human infrastructure, and (c) eliminate fractional reserve lending – the practice that permits banks to lend out many times more funds that they actually possess.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 26-October 2

2011-09-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 29

1897 – BIRTH OF GRAHAM TOWERS, GOVERNOR OF THE CENTRAL BANK OF CANADA, 1934-1955
In testimony in 1939 before a Standing Committee on Banking and Commerce of the Canadian Parliament when asked whether banks create money, he stated,
“That is right. That is what they are for... That is the Banking business, just in the same way that a steel plant makes steel…The manufacturing process consists of making a pen-and-ink or typewriter entry on a card in a book. That is all…Each and every time a bank makes a loan (or purchases securities), new bank credit is created — new deposits — brand new money…As loans are debts, then under the present system all money is debt.”

2008 – STOCK MARKET CRASH
The Dow Jones plummeted by 778 points, its largest one-day drop in the history of the New York Stock Exchange. The crash was caused by the elimination on controls of the financial sector and was the logical consequence of allowing the financial industry to control our monetary system.

OCTOBER 1

1936 – DEATH OF LOUIS MCFADDEN (R- PA), CHAIRMAN OF THE US HOUSE BANKING AND CURRENCY COMMITTEE
"We have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks. Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are U.S. government institutions. They are private credit monopolies; domestic swindlers, rich and predatory money lenders which prey upon the poeple the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers…The truth is the Federal Reserve Board has usurped the Government of the United States by the arrogant credit monopoly which operates the Federal Reserve Board."

OCTOBER 2

1869 – BIRTH OF MOHANDAS GANDHI
'Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed."
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

---------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Ohio Get FraACTive

2011-09-22T12:28:00.001-07:00

Produced by the Ohio Alliance for People and Environment and NEOGAP (Network for Oil and Gas Accountability and Protection).
http://vimeo.com/27156186

Kucinich proposes landmark jobs plan

2011-09-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

How democratizing our monetary policy can create millions of jobs....without raising the debt or inflation.
http://kucinich.house.gov/news/email/show.aspx?ID=X7EX6WS6JW7AZSDNJHSVS5UZXM

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Since corporations aren’t creating enough jobs to address our chronic unemployment crisis, the public sector must fill the void. A major impediment to funding any federal jobs program, however, is that the cost would add to the ever-rising federal debt.

A congressional bill, the National Emergency Employment Defense (NEED) Act, was just introduced that would spend US created money into circulation to exclusively fund the repair of our crumbling infrastructure and education systems. Seven million US jobs would be created.

Why borrow money from banks (which create money as debt) that need to be repaid with interest when We the People can create money interest-free, as stipulated in Art 1, Sec 8 of the Constitution?

The NEED Act, introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, wouldn’t be inflationary since the amount of created US money would match the amount of created physical wealth.

The NEED Act would also end the bank practice of creating money as debt via loans (to both individuals and the government) and loaning money many times in excess of their reserves.

Thank Rep. Kucinich for his sponsorship of this urgent bill and encourage every other area US Representative and Ohio Senators Brown and Portman to support it.

David Cobb of Move to Amend to visit Ohio in October

2011-09-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

Speaking and willing to Speak

David Cobb, one of the major leaders of the national Move to Amend, will be a keynote speaker at the Midwest Power Shift conference in Cleveland, October 21-23.

Midwest Power Shift will bring together thousands of young people together to promote climate justice.
http://midwest.wearepowershift.org/

Cobb will speak at the conference on Friday night, October 21 and co-lead a workshop on Saturday, October 22 on ending corporate rule and Move to Amend.

He is available to speak afterwards around the area/state (preferably in locations in Northern Ohio) on:
Saturday night, October 22
Sunday morning (a lay church sermon), October 23
Sunday afternoon, October 23
Sunday evening, October 23

Here’s a written and video interview of Cobb
http://www.duhc.org/profiles/blogs/vermont-commons-interviews
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SRnHkqT6_I

If interested in bringing David to your area for a program (or sermon in the case of Sunday morning), contact gcoleridge@afsc.org or call 330-928-2301.

End Corporate Rule: Create Real Democracy

2011-09-19T13:16:00.001-07:00

Power Point Presentation by Greg Coleridge

Constitution Day program

Kent State University, Tuscarawas Branch

September 15, 2011

http://www.afsc.net/PDFFiles/EndCorporateRule.pdf

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 19-25

2011-09-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 19

1881-- DEATH OF PRESIDENT JAMES GARFIELD (R, OHIO)

"Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce...and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate." A few weeks after making this statement, Garfield was shot. He died two months later.

SEPTEMBER 21

1950 –FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE LIMIT RAISED

The popular FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) limit is raised by Congress to $10,000. The FDIC insures commercial bank deposits against loss due to bankruptcy or default. It was created following the Great Depression when depositors lost their savings when banks collapsed due to speculative investments and/or depositor fears which led to a run on banks.

SEPTEMBER 22

1956 -- DEATH OF FREDERICK SODDY, NOBEL LAUREATE

“It was recognized in Athens and Sparta…centuries before the birth of Christ that one of the most vital prerogatives of the State was the right to issue money.”

On money: "To allow it to become a source of revenue to private issuers is to create first, a secret and illicit arm of the government and last, a rival power strong enough ultimately to overthrow all other forms of government."

SEPTEMBER 23

1998 – TALK BY MICHAEL CHOSSUDOVSKY, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS

Monetary policy is in the hands of private creditors who have the ability to freeze state budgets, paralyze the payments process, thwart the regular disbursement of wages to millions of workers and precipitate the collapse of production and social programs.

----------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 12-18

2011-09-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 12

1857 – STEAMSHIP CENTRAL AMERICA SINKS
The steamship had a million dollars in gold and silver onboard. It caused the Ohio Life and Trust Company to fail and sparked the Financial Panic of 1857 since money was backed by gold. Under such a metal-based money system, the less gold and silver, the fewer dollars in circulation. The fewer dollars, the less economic transactions occur, resulting in less production and more unemployment.

SEPTEMBER 13

1785 – PENNSYLVANIA REPEALS THE CHARTER OF THE BANK OF NORTH AMERICA
This was the nation’s first private commercial bank, chartered by Congress under the Articles of Confederation. The Articles gave Congress the power to “emit bills of credit” -- to create money. By a single vote, Congress voted to transfer their authority to issue money to the Bank, thus, become a quasi central bank. The Pennsylvania legislature repealed the Bank’s charter, which was significant since it primarily operated in just three states. Why did Congress willingly give up their money power in the first place? The public argument was that the business of finance could not be ably conduced by a public body (Congress) — only by a small number of private financiers.

1873 – NATION’S BIGGEST BANK, JAY COOKE & COMPANY, BECOMES EFFECTIVELY INSOLVENT
Congress has passed the Coinage Act earlier in the year, which ended the minting of silver dollars. US money system was, thus, backed only by gold. The effect was similar to other instances in US history when money was backed by gold -- a depression ensued, prices feel, unemployment increased and major banks failed as there wasn’t enough gold to back the money needed to fuel the growing economy. Jay Cooke & Company was the largest bank to fail due to this policy of gold-backed money.

SEPTEMBER 16

2003 - STATEMENT MADE ON THIS DAY BY HENRY C.K. LIU, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS
The current monetary system is a cruel hoax. There is virtually no "real" money in the system, only debts. Except for coins, which are issued by the government and make up only about one-thousandth of the money supply, the entire U.S. money supply now consists of debt to private banks, for money they created with accounting entries on their books.

2008 – FEDERAL RESERVE BAILS OUT AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP (AIG)
AIG was the largest insurance corporation, which had speculated in risky home mortgages. The Fed issued AIG $85 billion in credit in September 2008 to meet their financial obligations

SEPTEMBER 17

1787 – CONSTITUTION DAY
The Congress shall have power to…coin money [and] regulate the power thereof -- Article 1, Section 8, US Constitution

------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Kucinich Calls for Public Control of US Monetary System

2011-09-09T13:56:00.001-07:00

KUCINICH ADDRESSES CONGRESS: A Strong New Path for the United States for International and Domestic Security including policy recommendations such as the 'Need for NEED' - The National Employment & Economic Defense Act
September 7, 2011
http://elizabethkucinich.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/19DD5A412324F3E7/2B06F39543AA64609780B6D0B3F3FC10

This is what Obama should have talked about last night as the means to hire millions of Americans — by issuing and circulation US debt-free money. Kucinich plans to reintroduce the National Emergency Employment Defense [NEED] Act next week.

The third video specifically describes the NEED Act.

Elizabeth Kucinich asks that we contact our US Representatives urging them to cosponsor the NEED Act.
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Campaigns awash  in corporate cash

2011-09-09T06:58:00.000-07:00

Published letter to the editor
Akron Beacon Journal / September 9, 2011
http://www.ohio.com/editorial/vop/letters-to-the-editor-sept-9-1.233926

Thanks to editorial writer Steve Hoffman for reporting on Partners Advancing Akron’s Future (“These partners mean business,” Sept. 1). Such independent organizations are a result of last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision permitting corporations to transfer funds directly from their treasuries to support or oppose political candidates.

The group, funded by many of Akron’s largest corporations and prominent wealthy individuals, further diminishes what’s left of our representative democracy. Groups like this raised so much money in the 2010 mid-term elections that their collective political voices via attack ads drowned out the voices of people and communities without money. It’s no wonder that the problems facing the working class and poor continue to be ignored while tax breaks and bailouts to large corporations and the wealthy continue.

Hoffman is quite right to assert that the rise of these groups make existing campaign finance rules at all levels of government less effective, including those promoted by me and many others connected to Dollars and Democracy and passed by Akron voters in 1998.

To call these laws unnecessary, however, is untrue. The rules, upheld in federal court, prevented then and now the mayor from making large contributions to council candidates, resulting in the election of several council members without major financial backing.

A challenger without appeal to major wealthy or corporate interests nearly defeated the mayor in 2007, while another is providing a serious challenge this year. If the rules were such a benefit to incumbents, why did virtually all oppose them?

The 1998 rules were never meant to be a final solution, any more than any reform on any issue is final. That’s why many who worked on Dollars and Democracy subsequently worked to pass full public financing of elections and are now working to amend the U.S. Constitution through the Move to Amend campaign.

Blaming Dollars and Democracy and the vast majority of citizens who voted for campaign finance reform is simply incorrect. The core reasons for the increasing distrust of politicians and for the political influence of the wealthy and corporations in Akron and across the country are the profoundly undemocratic legal doctrines that corporations are persons and money is speech.

If corporations and the wealthy continue to spend more money influencing elections and public policy, what’s left of our democracy will be transformed to mere myth.

Greg Coleridge

Director

Northeast Ohio AmericanFriends Service Committee

Cuyahoga Falls

A Labor Day Quiz

2011-09-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

HOW MUCH U.S. HISTORY DO YOU KNOW?
By Peter Kellman
Circulated by: Program On Corporations, Law & Democracy

The Questions:

1. In the U.S. it is easy for citizens to form a corporation but difficult to form a union. Name three countries where workers can form a union as easily as investors can form a corporation in the U.S.

2. In 1770 what percentage of the colonial population lived in slavery?

3. At the time of the War of Independence, what percentage of the people in the colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia were or had been indentured servants?

4. Who was the richest man in America in 1776?

5. What percent of "We the People" could vote in 1776?

6. Who said, "The people who own the country ought to govern it."?

7. What great American document was written behind closed doors in a meeting in 1787, the minutes of which were made public 53 years later?

8. What were the demands of the Labor Movement in 1830?

9. The 14th amendment was passed in 1868 to extend due process and equal protection to African Americans. In the first 50 years after its adoption, what percentage of cases brought under it were on behalf of African Americans, and what percentage on behalf of corporations?

10. How can five people amend the constitution?

11. Whose election to the Presidency of the United States was determined by a special commission, controlled by the CEO of the Pennsylvania Railroad, that was made up of Supreme Court justices and members of Congress? When did that President pull the last Federal troops from the south ending Reconstruction and use those troops to put down the first national labor strike in the United States in which over 100 strikers were killed?

12. In 1886 the largest labor organization in the United States was the Knights of Labor. What issues did it advocate?

13. When was the labor movement politically powerful enough to prevent a Governor and the President from sending troops to break up a strike in which workers occupied corporate property?

14. In many countries, benefits like paid maternity leave, maximum hours of work, health care, and vacations are defined by law. What do workers in these countries have that they don't have in the United States?

Answers:

1. Sweden, Germany, Italy, Japan, Ireland and more.
2. 20%
3. 75%
4. George Washington
5. 10%
6. John Jay, first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
7. The Constitution
8. The 10-hour day and public education
9. African Americans: .5%, corporations: 50%.
10. By becoming U.S. Supreme Court Justices
11. Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877
12. Producer, consumer and distributive cooperatives, prohibition of child
labor, equal pay for equal work between the sexes and races, universal
suffrage and the eight-hour day. They believed that when a few people
controlled most of the wealth they would use their economic power to prevent
the creation of a real democracy.
13. 1936-37
14. Strong working-class political parties

Peter Kellman is a labor activist and scholar based in Maine. He compiled
this quiz while researching "Building Unions: Past, Present and Future," a
handbook he wrote for the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
(POCLAD). For information, email: people@poclad.org, www.poclad.org

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 5-11

2011-09-05T17:46:00.000-07:00

SEPTEMBER 6

1943- DEATH OF RICHARD MCKENNA, FORMER PRESIDENT, MIDLANDS BANK OF ENGLAND
"I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can and do create and destroy money. And they who control the credit of a nation direct the policy of governments, and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people." (From a 1924 speech)

SEPTEMBER 7

1867 – BIRTH OF J.P.MORGAN JR, BANKER
In response to legislation increasing regulation over monopolies pushed through Congress by President Theodore Roosevelt, Morgan led an effort by major bankers to harm the economy. The combination of his manipulation of the stock market and calling in all loans and not issuing new ones caused the public to hoard their money. An economic panic was on – the “Panic of 1907.” Morgan proposed to Congress that he would save the economy by having his banks issue $200 million (out of thin air with interest) to prime the economic pump. Congress agreed. The public stopped hoarding their money. The panic was over. The entire incident led Congress to investigate creating, once more, a central bank. The eventual creation of the Federal Reserve System can be traced back to the Panic of 1907.

SEPTEMBER 8

1999 – DEATH OF HERBERT STEIN, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS
"If something cannot go on forever, it will stop."
[Sounds like our current debt-based money system – an unsustainable system which can only continue if more debt is issued, which happens by banks when they issue loans and purchase treasury bonds, bills and notes]

SEPTEMBER 9

1828 – BIRTH OF LEO TOLSTOY, RUSSIAN WRITER AND SOCIAL REFORMER
"Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal, there is no human relation between master and slave. "

1890 – BIRTH OF MARRINER S. ECCLES, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
"That is what our money system is. If there were no debts in our money system, there wouldn't be any money. "

----------------------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Democratizing Money: Creating a Public Monetary System

2011-08-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

August 30, 2011
Summarized by Kevin Zeese [ed: who did a fantastic job!]
http://itsoureconomy.us/2011/08/782/

This is a session from the economic track of the Democracy Convention held on August 25, 2011 in Madison, WI. The session focused on democratizing money. The speaker was Greg Coleridge whose biography and contact information are at the bottom of the summary. I expanded on his comments and added some links to videos and websites that provide more information.

Democracy Convention — Day 5

2011-08-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Move to Amend

The Convention concluded yesterday. The major theme of the plenary was, “Securing Democracy through Constitutional Reform.” After lunch, there was a final Move to Amend strategy session on the work ahead over the next year. Nearly 50 people attended.

Here are 10 observations from Michael Greenman, Alice Faryna and myself (compiled as we’re driving home to Ohio) from these experiences:

1. We have won the cultural frame/meme that “corporations aren’t people.” Hardly anyone a few years ago knew about this concept. It is now much more commonly understood – and opposed by a large percentage of the general public.

2. The real challenge is not ultimately corporations. It’s us. It’s our own limited vision, thinking and actions, particularly concerning amending the Constitution – not just about corporate personhood, but also related to the right to vote and have our votes count, ending money being speech, promoting basic economic rights. We have to take ourselves seriously. We stand on the shoulders of giants. We have to act like it. Our starting point should be to convey that we can actually have what we want in terms of peace, justice and respect for the natural world.

3. We need a mature, serious, methodical and deliberative approach to create a democracy. It starts with US making peace with the world. This nation has grown out of a 500 year war against scores of nations of the world. It is coming to an end – around the world and here at home. The hypocracies and contradictions have never been clear. The ability to sustain a permanent war culture and economy is no longer possible. The new culture, political and economic system requires new rules, laws and constitution.

4. Working with NGOs inside the beltway or trying to lobby Congress given our small numbers is on this issue at this is virtually ineffective. As Richard Grossman said to David Cobb years ago after spending a frustrating session in DC: “I’m not going back to DC unless I’m a tourist or a member of a conquering army.”

5 We should be less concerned at this point with developing the exact constitutional amendment to abolish corporate personhood and money as speech than involving and honoring people and a devising radically inclusive processes for local education and action.

6. We have to relax and take care of ourselves. Democratizing the US Constitution in ways that authentically reflect our values of justice, peace and sustainability is a long-term project. We need to rush slowly.

7. It is shocking that the ACLU supported the Citizen United Supreme Court decision. They saw the issue through the lens of the first amendment rather than corporate constitutional rights. Only if one believes the fiction that corporations are persons is violating corporate free speech a constitutional violation.

8. We will not get where we want to go until we genuinely engage with communities of color. White must examine their unexamined privileges. We must also follow the direction of those communities we want to work with. We must also work to find common ground with principled liberals and conservatives.

9. It was incredibly exciting to engage with others in our sessions: brainstorming, networking, learning, conspiring. We developed a feeling of shared identity and common purpose as part of a growing movement. Being with others helped validate our work addressing what has been considered a “fringe” issue for more than a decade.

10. Throughout history real change (personal and political) has happened when it begins to feel chaotic, when normal and comfortable feelings and conditions are replaced with discomfort and uncertainty. When we begin to start feeling that all is chaotic, the opportunity for evolution is present.

Onward!

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 29-September 4

2011-08-28T17:03:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 29

1786 – BEGINNING OF SHAY’S REBELLION
Sparked in large part by personal debt, nonpayment of salaries, and collapse of the national currency, farmers in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shays attack a US Armory. The lack of a focused response to the uprisings led to calls to reforming the Articles of Confederation. The Philadelphia Convention, which followed, rather than reforming the Articles of Confederation, created a new Constitution. While less democratic in many ways, formulated by all white, male landowners, the new Constitution empowered the government to coin its own money, separate from banks and financial institutions.

2005 – DEATH OF JUDE THADDEUS WANNISKI, AMERICAN JOURNALIST, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR AND POLITICAL ECONOMIST
“There was a big party at Morgan Stanley after the Mexican peso devaluation, people from all over Wall Street came, they drank champagne and smoked cigars and congratulated themselves on how they pulled it off and they made a fortune.”

AUGUST 30

1930 – BIRTH OF WARREN BUFFET, INVESTOR
"Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction."

AUGUST 31

1959 – ROBERT B. ANDERSON, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY UNDER PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
"When a bank makes a loan it simply adds to the borrowers deposit account in the bank by the amount of the loan. The money is not taken from anyone else's deposit; it was not previously paid in to the bank by anyone. It's new money, created by the bank for the use of the borrower." August 31, 1959

SEPTEMBER 1

1764 – PASSAGE OF BRITISH CURRENCY ACT
The Act banned Colonial paper money as legal tender, severally limiting commerce and widening the trade deficit between England and the Colonies. Colonists were forced by pay their taxes only in gold or silver. Many, including Benjamin Frankln, claimed this was one of the major causes of the Revolutionary War.

1894 – AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION CALLS ON BANKS TO STOP LOANING MONEY TO CAUSE FORECLOSURES
American Bankers Association memo (as submitted in the Congressional Record): “On September 1, 1894, we will not renew our loans under any consideration. On September 1st we will demand our money. We will foreclose and become mortgages in possession. We can take two-thirds of the farms west of the Mississippi, and thousands of them east of the Mississippi as well, at our own price... "Then the farmers will become tenants as in England..."

SEPTEMBER 2

1877 – BIRTH OF FREDERICK SODDY, NOBEL PRIZE RECIPIENT (CHEMISTRY) AND MONETARY REFORM AUTHOR
There is nothing left now for us but to get ever deeper and deeper into debt to the banking system in order to provide the increasing amounts of money the nation requires for its expansion and growth. Our money system is nothing more than a confidence trick... The "money power" which has been able to overshadow ostensibly responsible governments not the power of the merely ultra-rich but is nothing more or less than a new technique to destroy money by adding and withdrawing figures in bank ledgers, without the slightest concern for the interests of the community or the real role money ought to perform therein ... to allow it to become a source of revenue to private issuers is to create, first, a secret and illicit arm of government and, last, a rival power strong enough to ultimately overthrow all other forms of government. ... An honest money system is the only alternative.

------------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Democracy Convention -- Day 4

2011-08-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Diversity and Diversity

Attending the Convention is an impressive collection of people from across the county concerned and working on diverse issues using a range of strategies and tactics. “Democracy” is defined in different ways with varied degrees of emphasis. Subsuming corporations to We the People is also seen from various lights.

I participated in a range of gatherings:

1. It starting in the AM with participating on a panel addressing water as a fundamental right for people and nature – from local to global. To indigenous people, as explained by Alberto Saldamando of the International Indian Treaty Council, rights are not as much granted or endowed as they are fought for and claimed. In fact, rights are seen as collective more than individual. Property, too, is a concept to indigenous people not of ownership, but of relationships. Corporate ownership and commodification of water, therefore, is an alien concept.

I reported on the status of Ohio’s effort to comply with the Great Lakes Compact, which seeks to legalize how 8 states and 2 Canadian Provinces manage the use of and protect the Great Lakes Basin’s water supply the compact requires each state to decide by 2013 how Lake Erie waters are to be used. Earlier this summer, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that would allow businesses with withdrawal up to 5 million gallons of water a day from Lake Erie before needing a permit – a blatant violation of the original compact. Gov. Kucinich vetoed the legislation after public and media opposition, as well as criticism from former governors Taft and Voinovich. A revised bill is likely to be reintroduced later. I also spoke about the general trend in Ohio to privatize/corporatize many public assets in the state.

Nancy Price and Ruth Caplan from the Alliance for Democracy followed with descriptions of legislative attempts to protect California water supplies, successful resistance by Bolivians and others to corporatize water, passage of local ordinances in the US proclaiming that water has rights, and how global water corporations have sought to control water sources and systems by formed global groupings (from the Multinational Agreement on Investments, to the General Agreement on Trade and Services to the World Trade Organization to Bilateral Trade Agreements).

I concluding by affirming how corporations seek to escape democratic control in 3 ways: by shifting decision making from a lower level of government to a higher level (i.e. state to nation, nation to international), by shifting decision making from legislators to the courts, and by shifting decision making from the legislators to regulatory agencies.

2. The afternoon began with an impressive plenary on racial equality in the struggle for democracy and against corporate rule. Panelists shared their visions of what racial equality looked like in democracy, whether they felt we were moving forward or backwards in the struggle for racial equality, what specific work for equality they were involved in, and specific recommendations they felt we needed to be doing for racial just democracy. On the last point, a few of the suggestions were:
- Commitment to more self-work to address racism and white privilege among white participants
- Integration of race, gender, class and ability in all our analysis
- Acknowledgement that we will not share the same exact vision for the future
- Authentic inclusion of people of color in our organizations and work
- Real individual and organizational support for communities of color in their organizing activities
- Address fundamental structural impediments to equality (of which corporate personhood is one)

3. The afternoon ended with an intense 3-hour workshop on connecting mental health and racial oppression, which was a deeply moving sharing of personal experiences and assessment of macro blockages to self-expression – which included both governmental and corporate sources.

4. Diversity was in full mode this evening as conference participants mingled with incoming first year students on the main campus at the University of Wisconsin for an evening of music.

It the goal of the day was to stretch, bend and push our intellects and emotions by forcing us to be in unfamiliar yet supportive places, it was very successful.

Democratizing Constitutions Around the World

2011-08-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

[This is my handout distributed at a workshop today on lessons learned on social movements to change the US Constitution.]

In exploring how to democratize the US Constitution in the future, we need to not only look at US movements in the past. We must also examine the efforts and movements of other people and nations in the present.

MOROCCO
- Following massive protests connected to the Arab Spring, the government was forced to draft changes to the Constitution that weakens the power of the King – creating an independent prime minister, an independent judiciary and provides equal rights for women.
- In July, 98% of voters approved the changes in a national referendum.

EGYPT
- Mass popular revolution beginning in January, 2011 led to ouster of Hosni Mubarak and call for more democratic Constitution – forcing a national referendum.
- In March, nearly 80% voted in support of constitutional amendments paving the way for democratic elections for a new parliament and president within six months. The referendum divided Egyptians between those who said the reforms were sufficient and others who said the constitution needed to be complete rewritten.

ICELAND
- The 2008 economic collapse was blamed in part by a failure of government and regulatory agencies to oversee financial institutions plunder of the economy and collapse of most banks.
- Massive popular uprisings led to call for new constitution.
- November, 2010 popular election to elected 25 people to form Constitutional Assembly. "This is the first time in the history of the world that a nation's constitution is reviewed in such a way, by direct democratic process," says Berghildur Erla Bergthorsdottir, spokeswoman for the committee entrusted with organizing the Constitutional Assembly. "It is very important for ordinary citizens, who have no direct interest in maintaining the status quo, to take part in a constitutional review," said Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir. "We are hoping this new constitution will be a new social covenant leading to reconstruction and reconciliation, and for that to happen, the entire nation needs to be involved."
- Assembly composed of regular citizens, with the exception of current officeholders and stakeholders.
- Assembly is currently drafting a proposed new constitution. They are using ideas from 1,000 randomly chosen Icelanders — aged 18-89 — who offered their views in 2010 on what should be in the constitution. The Assembly is also accepting ideas from their Facebook page, which covers the weekly meetings in real time.

VENEZUELA
- President Hugo Chavez issues decree in 1999 ordering a referendum to ask people whether a Constituent Assembly should be held to reform the Constitution. Passes with 82% of vote.
- Nationwide elections of 131 members in 1999 of Assembly representing the nation as a whole, regional districts and constituencies, and indigenous populations.
- Only 3 months for public input.
- Three branches of government expanded to 5. It incorporated the idea of popular sovereignty (such as frequent referendums), social responsibilities, the right to rebel against injustice, and the eternal independence of the republic from foreign domination. It also embedded certain human rights (free education , free health care, access to a clean environment, and the rights for minorities, including indigenous people, to their own cultures, religions, and languages).
- 26th Constitution approved by 72% of voters in national referendum in December, 2009.

BOLIVIA
- National referendum for a new Constitution was passed by 90% of voters.
- Drafted by the Constituent Assembly, an elected body that met for 18 months, beginning in 2006. The Constitution was further modified by an Editing Commission before being present to Congress in December 2007
- The Constitution (Chapter Three of Title I) defines the forms of democracy—participatory, representative and community-based—and structure of government. It also establishes a separation of powers between four branches of government: legistlative, executive judicial, and electoral.
- 17th Constitution approved by 64% by national referendum in 2009.

ECUADOR
- Following 2006 election of President Rafael Correa, he called for a referendum to form a constitutional assembly to write a new constitution. The April 2007 referendum passed - 80%
- Elections of new assembly, September, 2007, 130 members.
- Assembly developed a draft consisting of 494 articles, including Rights of Nature.
- 20th Constitution passed in September, 2008 by a 64% to 28% majority in a national referendum

Lessons for us in the US
Following significant uprisings and social movements that have demanded societal change, people haven’t simply called for changing faces, political parties or laws. They’ve called for changing constitutions. We need to do the same. We need to overcome the culture and fear that has caused us to avoid addressing constiutional injustices and to codify our aspirations.

----------------------

More information: Greg Coleridge, Director, Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, 2101 Front St., #111, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221, 330-928-2301, gcoleridge@afsc.org, http://www.facebook.com/greg.coleridge

Democracy Convention – Day 3

2011-08-26T21:12:00.001-07:00

Arts and Democracy

Real democracy is achieved, in part, through skills and knowledge. The Convention has supplied plenty of both. But inspiration, creativity and joy essential for attracting and nurturing people over the long haul is supplied through the arts. There's been many examples of artistic expressions and avenues for participation today and this week.

- The wonderful folk musician, Anne Feeney, is here. Two of her great songs are, “A corporation cannot pass the belly button test” and “End corporate welfare as we know it.”
- The Madison chapter of Raging Grannies brought the house down when they performed “Corporations are Persons Now!” Lyrics for the song are at
http://raginggrannies.madisonwi.us/songs/45%20Corporations%20are%20Persons%20Now.pdf
- Many conference attendees have participated in the daily “Solidarity Sing Alongs” held every weekday at the Wisconsin State Capital. Today, about 100 people participated.
- A wonderful play, “The Prosecution of Judge Waite,” was staged this evening. Morrison Waite (from Toledo, Ohio) was the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court at the time of the 1886 Santa Clara vs Southern Pacific Railroad ruling which first granting corporations constitutional rights…sort of. It was a clever medium for explaining the legal historical origins of corporate personhood.
- A woman in her 20’s at this evening’s plenary quoted at length from Lawrence Goodwyn’s “The Populist Moment” – the definitive work of the Populist movement of the 1870s-1890s. The section addressed one of Goodwyn’s key lessons behind the empowerment of the southern farmers for self-governance – their ability to develop radical self-respect
- Buttons, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and many other artistic forms of political expression are on most tables here.

It’s Football Season at ALEC

2011-08-26T09:54:00.001-07:00

We know that late summer represents the beginning of football season.

At a plenary session at the Democracy Convention last night, a Wisconsin state legislator spoke about his experience of joining the American Legisltative Exchange Council [ALEC] and attending -- actually more like infiltrating -- their most recent national conference.

He spoke of a session where a politician publicly stated that ALEC was like a football team where politicians are the players and corporations are the coaches.

Democracy Convention – Day 2

2011-08-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Democratizing Money, Democratizing the Constitution and Building a Democracy Movement in the USA

It was a dizzying day of education and action in Madison. Here are 10 reflections of my experiences, observations and comments.

1. Plenary sessions are streamed live on DemocracyConvention.org. Watch the first 2 days plenary sessions and other workshops at http://www.theuptake.org/2011/08/24/democracy-convention-live-from-madison-wi/

2. People are increasingly interested in taking control of our corporatized money system. The workshop on Democratizing Money was wall-to-wall with people. I spoke on the need, as affirmed in the Constitution, to retake power and authority to coin money through issuing and circulating US debt-free money. This would unshackle our nation from the economic dependency of banking corporations via interest payments. I shared information about HB 6550, the National Emergency Employment Defense [NEED] Act and the work of the American Monetary Institute. A description of the NEED Act is at http://monetary.org/create-jobs-and-improve-the-economy-through-public-control-of-our-money-system/2011/01

3. A movement to fundamentally amend the US Constitution, or any other movement, must address issues of race, white privilege, class and other issues that divide people who have been oppressed. That was the clear message of several presenters at the daylong Move to Amend Affiliates Gathering. At least 50 people pre-registered for this 2-day skill-building and strategy session.

4. There were several very informative skill building sessions addressing Earned Media and Lobbying Public Officials at the MTA Affiliates Gathering. These will soon be posted on
www.movetoamend.org (probably in the Tool Kit section). There were also several excellent handouts provided. One focusing on corporate personhood “Talking Points” will be posted on www.movetoamendohio.org in the next few days.

5. Madison and Dane county, Wisconsin have paved the way in passing ballot initiatives calling for an end to corporate personhood and the legal doctrine that money is speech. Other communities have worked to pass variations of such resolutions. Many more are in various stages of development.

The following reflections are based on the evening plenary, Building a Democracy Movement in the USA.

6. Ben Manski, Chair of the Convention, said the fundamental question of our time is “Who rules?” A democracy movement must be built to win, to acquire the capacity to self-govern.

7. George Friday of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and Green Party felt the 3 most important steps to take in when we return home are (1) pass resolutions against corporate personhood and wanting our war dollars to come home, (2) build relationships with people unlike ourselves, and (3) have a party. It’s very important that is these troubled times that we take care of ourselves.

8. Dr. Margaret Flowers, one of the key organizers of the upcoming October 6 Stop the Machine actions in DC and key single-payer activist, believes lobbying and working on elections at the present time is basically worthless as our political system is broken. The disconnect between supermajority public views and political votes on taxing the rich, ending the wars, corporate welfare, creating jobs, clean energy, getting money out of politics prove the point that corporations and the military have captured our public officials. We must build a grassroots democracy movement.

9. Nichols, author and writer for the Nation and Progressive, quoting Walt Whitman, said democracy is not of the vote but of the human spirit. It has almost nothing do with the voting booth but whether we are human beings. Politics isn’t ultimately about voting but of equality. He very assertively spoke about the success of people who have created their own media and helped them “leap over” corporate media – and called for all of us to become more adept at using all communication technologies. He also said we must overcome our fear of the Constitution. It’s protected us a little bit. But we’ve got to mess with it. Get money out of politics. People are people. Corporations are corporations. And people are superior to corporations.

10. Finally, I observed to David Cobb this evening that the movement against corporations has come along way over the past 15 years. The energy directed at corporations is now rapidly evolving. For years, when activists at all focused on corporations, it was directed on one or more “harms” or “abuses” (the list of which is virtually endless). What we are now seeing is an evolution to awareness and energy focused on redressing corporate rights. That is quite a shift – from a defensive one-at-a-time approach to an affirmative declaration that human beings alone (include nature as well) should possess inalienable rights. It’s been quite a ride. And it’s just beginning!

Democracy Convention – Day 1

2011-08-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

Opening Ceremony / Keynote Addresses

The Democracy Convention in Madison, WI opened tonight with a moving performance of the Call for Peace Native American drum dance group. Two dancers, from tribes located in Wisconsin, combined ritualistic music with dance, including a Circle Dance with more than a dozen hoops, symbolizing unity and harmony of all people of all races and backgrounds.

Mayor Paul Soglin of Madison provided greetings to the hundreds of attendees. Observing what has taken place in Wisconsin since the beginning of the year, he said the actions of Governor Walker over the last 6 months was the result of what happens when we don’t pay attention. The 2 lessons he’s learned since the beginning of the year are (1) investing in infrastructure and education is what improves society and (2) we can’t let conditions take care of themselves.

Ben Manski, Chair of the Convention and Director of the Liberty Tree Foundation, felt that the event was the culmination of hard work of many people involved in many individual movements for democracy that had matured – beginning with resistance of the WTO in Seattle.

Tom Hayden, drafter of the Port Huron Statement which called for participatory democracy, not simply representative democracy in the 1960’s, commented that democracy in the US today is fragmented with our democratic structure build on a historical and present destruction of people and cultures – from Native Americans to the nation’s we are at war with at the moment.

There is a current conflict between the progressive and reactionary forms of populism, Hayden said. Democratic movements always divide over those who’ve been radicalized and want more and those who are moderate and are content with modest gains. Victories of any size also fragment movements. The ruling class is also divided in times of social turmoil – between moderates who are willing to make concessions and solidify most of their power and wealth and those who are absolutists, feeling that to give in on any demand represents a loss of status and power. These absolutists make up a countermovement – which is what we’re experiencing today with attacks on progressive/populist economic and political programs and rules.

One of the major struggles between progressive populist movements for democratic change and counter-movements is over memory, since a large part of current movements is based on the memory and lessons learned from earlier ones.

He said authentic social change always begins with participatory democracy on the margins and ends up impacting representative democracy (elections). Unlike other nations, one device that has always undercut the growing movement for democracy has been war. The US frontier/expansionist culture has been effective at distracting attention from domestic concerns and diverted class and social conflicts by pushing people of color and the poor off “to the frontier” to fight wars or settle lands.

He was encouraged by the recent AFL-CIO statement against the Afghanistan war but cautioned us to pay attention to the “Long War” Pentagon doctrine (calling for perpetual war for 80 years – we’ve 10 years in). The domestic effects of this Long War doctrine are reductions of civil liberties (and difficulties in organizing) and in further domestic economic and social deterioration.

He ended by noting the similarities between the 1950’s and today. Just as the awareness and actions of the Beatniks and Montgomery bus boycotts were the precursors of the organizing for peace and civil rights of the 1960’s, what happened in Madison earlier this year may very well be the precursor to the more profound movement for change in the period ahead.

Cheri Honkla, founder of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union in Philadelphia and organizer of many poor-people’s marches nation-wide, was the final speaker. She said we are living in truly historic times. We must stop trying to adjust to a lower standard of living. To be silent in these times is to betray the millions who are without work, health insurance, or a home while bankers received trillions.

She said fear is being used as a weapon to silence and terrorize us. History has shown when people are no longer immobilized by fear, movements happen. Overcoming fear has allowed thousands of families she has worked with to take over abandoned homes and fight foreclosures. Our quest should be to create an entirely new cooperative society – where people are in control of banks and other institutions that currently oppress people.

By the way, Honkala is running this November to become Sheriff of Philadelphia – so she can stop throwing people our of their homes due to foreclosures.

On a personal note, I have the good fortune to be staying in a cohousing community in Madison called Arbco Commons. With the inspiration and perspiration of several Quakers and others, the 3-year old 40-unit facility is a center of intentional community living and activism in this area. More information about the community is at http://www.arboretumcohousing.org/

Democracy Convention Final Invitation

2011-08-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Received this late yesterday...

One thousand caring, committed people, ready for democracy.
Hundreds of workshops and panels.
Two hundred presenters.
Nine conferences.
Five days.
One Convention.

http://www.DemocracyConvention.org

It all begins tomorrow. If you are moved to walk, pedal, drive, locomotive, or fly to downtown Madison, do it. Because the world begins again tomorrow.

At noon, registration opens up at the Atrium of the downtown campus of Madison (Area Technical) College. Come on down, check in, get your commemorative button (and name tag). Meet other convention goers. Visit the people staffing the informational, book, and chotchke tables.

At 7:00pm, the Call for Peace Drum and Dance troop open the convention with inspiration. They will immediately be followed by Madison Mayor Paul Soglin's welcome to the city. And then our two incredible keynote speakers, Tom Hayden and Cheri Honkala.

The convention runs through Sunday. You will be amazed at the intensity and breadth of the offerings at this gathering. I hope you'll also note that everything at the convention comes back to one common challenge: Building a democracy movement for the U.S.A..

We have posted everything on the website. Check it all out at http://www.DemocracyConvention.org

And then --depending on where you hail from-- come on down, over, or up to the Democracy Convention in Madison.

In Solidarity,

Ben Manski
Executive Director, Liberty Tree
Chair, Democracy Convention

Reports from Democracy Convention

2011-08-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

The First Annual Democracy Convention
August 24-8 / Madison, WI

If you want to strengthen democracy where it matters most -- in our communities, our schools, our workplaces and local economies, our military, our government, our media, our constitution -- you will find something inspiring in Madison this August.
More than one conference, this first Democracy Convention will house at least nine conferences under one roof. As the great progressive reformer Fighting Bob La Follette said, "democracy is a life," and "involves constant struggle" in all sectors of society. With the 2011 Democracy Convention, we recognize the importance of each of these separate democracy struggles, as well as the need to unite them all in a common, deeply rooted, broad based, movement for democracy. More than 500 people have already registered.
http://democracyconvention.org/about-convention
http://democracyconvention.org/

I’ll be participating in 3 workshops during the Convention:
At the EARTH DEMOCRACY Conference
Water: A Fundamental Right for People and Nature: Local to Global
http://democracyconvention.org/session/water-fundamental-right-people-and-nature-local-global
At the CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM Conference
Lessons from the Past: Abolitionists, The Women’s Movement, Organized Labor
http://democracyconvention.org/session/lessons-past-abolitionists-women%E2%80%99s-movement-organized-labor
At the ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY Conference
Democratizing Money
http://democracyconvention.org/session/democratizing-money
[the list of presenters has changed]

Between workshop presentations, I’ll be attending many sessions at the Constitutional Reform Conference , which is sponsored by Move to Amend (the organization formed last year to amend the US Constitution to abolish never-intended corporate constitutional rights).

Reports (hopefully daily) will be posted here.
Links will be at:
http://www.facebook.com/greg.coleridge
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northeast-Ohio-American-Friends-Service-Committee-AFSC/118469198182768#!/groups/123055735045/

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 22-28

2011-08-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

AUGUST 23 1935 – PASSAGE OF US BANKING ACT
The law made the FDIC a permanent agency and raised the deposit insurance level to $5,000.
The Federal Reserve System was reformed with the transformation of the Federal Reserve Board of Directors to the Board of Governors. All board members were appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and the term of service was expanded to 14 years. Open-market operations were formalized in the Federal Open Market Committee and the Governors were allowed to determine interest rates and bank reserve requirements. These “reforms,” however, were window dressing. The power and authority to issue money as debt was retained in the hands of the private Federal Reserve and private banking corporations. Keeping reserve requirement decisions in the hands of the Fed only invited speculation and risk (reserve requirements are the ratio of money banks lend in excess of money they actually possess “in reserve” to cover loans. Banks loan many times the amount of funds in their reserve).

AUGUST 24 1916 – BIRTH OF ROBERT DE FREMERY, AUTHOR, RIGHTS VS PRIVILEGES
"It is not obvious that there are serious defects in our banking system and our tax system that deprive most of us of fundamental rights and bestow enormous privileges on others? How many riots must we endure? How many prisons must we build? How many of our rights must we lose? How many of our young people must be sent away to fight in foreign wars before we decide that enough is enough?"
1922 – BIRTH OF HOWARD ZINN
"Whether you have a Republican or a Democrat in power, the Robber Barons are still there…Under the Clinton administration more mergers of huge corporations took place that had ever taken place before under any administration…Whether you have Republicns or Democrats in power, big business is the most powerful voice in the halls of Congress and in the ears of the President of the U.S."

NOTE: National talk show host Thom Hartmann recently spoke out in support of the National Emergency Employment Defense [NEED] Act, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich, which calls for the issuance and circulation of US debt-free money to fund infrastructure programs. To read more about the NEED Act, go to http://moneyreform.wordpress.com/2011/01/

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 22-28

2011-08-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 23

1935 – PASSAGE OF BANKING ACT
The law made the FDIC a permanent agency and raised the deposit insurance level to $5,000.
The Federal Reserve System was reformed with the transformation of the Federal Reserve Board of Directors to the Board of Governors. All board members were appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and the term of service was expanded to 14 years. Open-market operations were formalized in the Federal Open Market Committee and the Governors were allowed to determine interest rates and bank reserve requirements. These “reforms,” however, were window dressing. The power and authority to issue money as debt was retained in the hands of the private Federal Reserve and private banking corporations. Keeping reserve requirement decisions in the hands of the Fed only invited speculation and risk (reserve requirements are the ratio of money banks lend in excess of money they actually possess “in reserve” to cover loans. Banks loan many times the amount of funds in their reserve).

AUGUST 24

1916 – BIRTH OF ROBERT DE FREMERY, AUTHOR, RIGHTS VS PRIVILEGES
"It is not obvious that there are serious defects in our banking system and our tax system that deprive most of us of fundamental rights and bestow enormous privileges on others? How many riots must we endure? How many prisons must we build? How many of our rights must we lose? How many of our young people must be sent away to fight in foreign wars before we decide that enough is enough?"

1922 – BIRTH OF HOWARD ZINN
"Whether you have a Republican or a Democrat in power, the Robber Barons are still there…Under the Clinton administration more mergers of huge corporations took place that had ever taken place before under any administration…Whether you have Republicns or Democrats in power, big business is the most powerful voice in the halls of Congress and in the ears of the President of the U.S."

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Citizen Power or Corporate Power in Ohio

2011-08-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Have corporations become too powerful? This is a relevant question during this time of rapid increase of corporate consolidations, intellectual property protections, movement of factories and money, lobbying and campaign contributions, tax breaks, deregulation, and influence over health care, education, housing, food, prisons, transportation and the environment.

“Corporatization” of our society is not inevitable or irreversible. Corporations were not supposed to reign. The early history of the United States and of Ohio is of citizens clearly defining and closely controlling corporate behavior. It is a history that is outlined in Citizens over Corporations, A Brief History of Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Freedom in the Future, produced by the Ohio Committee on Corporations, Law and Democracy, a project of the American Friends Service Committee of Northeast Ohio.

The American Revolution was not a revolution simply against a tax on tea or the King of England. It was also a revolution against the British “crown” corporations that ran the colonies – such as the Massachusetts Bay Company, Maryland Company, Virginia Company, and Carolina Company.

Following independence, the colonists “constitutionalized” or “democratized” these corporations, converting them into states with elected representatives. From their experiences, the colonists knew to keep corporations on a short leash. Therefore, they entrusted the essential task of corporate control to the one group who was closest to the people -- state legislators.

When Ohio became a state in 1803, the state legislature acting on behalf of the public used their power to create and define corporations. Early Ohio acts creating corporations one at a time stipulated rigid conditions. These privileges, not rights, included:

• Limited duration of charter or certificate of incorporation,
• Limitation on amount of land ownership,
• Limitation of amount of capitalization, or total investment of owners,
• Limitations of charter for a specific purpose (to amend its charter, a new corporation had to be formed),
• The state reserved the right to amend the charters or to revoke them,
• Corporations could not engage in political activities.

In many instances, after a corporation built a turnpike and once the corporation recovered its costs and a fair profit, the charter of certificate of incorporation was dissolved and the turnpike became a public road. In other instances, the charter exempted the poor, voters and churchgoers from turnpike tolls.

A second way people exerted power and control over corporations through the Ohio legislature was by repealing entire or portions of corporate charters that violated terms of their incorporation. From 1839-1849 the legislature effectively dissolved several enterprises. Turnpike corporations and banks were the most common targets; others included silk and insurance corporations.

In an 1842 act to repeal the charter of the German Bank of Wooster, the state legislature stated:

It shall be the duty of the court of common pleas... or any judge of the supreme court...to restrain said bank, its officers, agents and servants or assignees, from exercising any corporate rights, privileges, and franchises whatever...and force the bank commissioners to close the bank and deliver full possession of the banking house, keys, books, papers, lands, tenements, goods, chattels, moneys, property and effects of said bank, of every kind and description whatever...

From the 1830’s through the 1912 Constitutional Convention, the Ohio Supreme Court and various lower courts ruled on hundreds of cases that affirmed the sovereign rights of people and their elected representatives to define corporations and their actions. Cases ranged from sweeping decisions on corporations in general; to more specific decisions on an entire category of corporations (like railroads); to very specific decisions addressing a particular corporation. Many decisions reinforced previously passed state laws or provisions of state constitutions. In one case, the Ohio Supreme Court stated,

The corporation has received vitality from the state; it continues during its existence to be the creature of the state; must live subservient to its laws, and has such powers and franchises as those laws have bestowed upon it, and none others. As the state was not bound to create it in the first place, it is not bound to maintain it after having done so, if it violates the laws or public policy of the state, or misuses its franchises to oppress the citizens thereof.

State courts imposed penalties for abuse or misuse of the corporate charter that were often more severe than a simple plea bargain or fine. They included ousting the corporation of its claimed privileges to perform certain actions. The most severe penalty, common from the mid-1800’s through the 1920’s, was to revoke the corporate charter and dissolve the corporation itself. The legal device used to achieve these penalties was a quo warranto proceeding.

The most well-known quo warranto case in Ohio history involved the efforts by two Republican Ohio Attorneys General to revoke the charter of the Standard Oil Company, the most powerful U.S. corporation of the time, for forming a trust. In the 1892 argument to revoke its franchise, Ohio Attorney General David Watson argued,

Where a corporation, either directly or indirectly, submits to the domination of an agency unknown to the statute, or identifies itself with and unites in carrying out an agreement whose performance is injurious to the public, it thereby offends against the law of its creation and forfeits all right to its franchises, and judgment of ouster should be entered against it.

In a 1900 ruling to dissolve a dairy company, the Ohio Supreme Court said,

The time has not yet arrived when the created is greater than the creator, and it still remains the duty of the courts to perform their office in the enforcement of the laws, no matter how ingenious the pretexts for their violation may be, nor the power of the violators in the commercial world. In the present case the acts of the defendant have been persistent, defiant and flagrant, and no other course is left to the court than to enter a judgment of ouster and to appoint trustees to wind up the business of the concern.

Corporations didn’t take this entire citizen self-governance and revocation business sitting down. Corporations fought back against legislative and judicial charter revocations and limitations, confronting the law at every point. They hired lawyers and created law firms. Corporations rewrote the laws governing their creation. They advocated replacing specific chartering rules with general incorporation laws (as Ohio did in 1842) with minimal reviews, perpetual life spans, limited liabilities and decreased citizen authority. Judges redefined corporate profits as property. The courts declared corporate contracts and the rate of return on investment as property. Judges and the legislature redefined the common good to mean corporate use of people and the earth and commons to maximize production and profit.

In Ohio, laws and court cases favorable to corporations were passed and decided over a period of decades. If corporations couldn’t get favorable treatment by the legislature, they focused their energies on the courts where they had a greater chance for success.

The corporate counter attack to citizen aspirations and values for self-governance achieved a significant victory in 1886. That year the U.S. Supreme Court (including three Ohioans) ruled in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Corp. that a corporation was a natural person under the U.S. Constitution, protected by the 14th Amendment. It was the 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, which provided freed slaves rights of due process and equal protection under the law -- rights of persons.

With corporate profits, consolidations, tax breaks and political influence following the Citizens United vs. FEC decision at or near record levels today, it is time to reexamine the fundamental relationship between citizens and corporations. Challenging corporate constitutional “rights” is a legitimate and essential task of self-governing people. The time has still not yet arrived when the created is greater than the creator. We Ohioans must learn our history and use it to rethink and reassess our actions today. What is left of our democracy is at stake.

-------------

Copies of Citizens over Corporations are available for $2.00 each plus $1 postage. Order from Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, 2101 Front St., #111, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221 [Check payable to AFSC] Phone: 330-928-2301 Web: http://www.afsc.net

Too bad Mitt Romney isn't visiting Ohio soon

2011-08-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

Mitt Romney’s declaration that “corporations are people” flies in the face of our nation’s and state’s founders who intended corporations to be creations of the state, subordinate to real human beings, and not able or capable of being involved in politics. Corporations were intended solely to provide useful goods and services.

Too bad Mr. Romney is not going to be in Northeast Ohio during the next few weeks. If he was, he would have an opportunity to attend educational meetings in Cleveland, Lakewood and Cleveland Heights where the absurd 2010 Citizens United vs FEC Supreme Court decision — anointing corporations with never-intended First Amendment rights — will be exposed and organized against.

Local supporters of Mr. Romney and every other presidential candidate, as well as the general public, are invited to these open public meetings. For details on each gathering, go to http://afsc.net/neoevents.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - August 15-21

2011-08-14T08:44:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 15

1769 – BIRTH OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
“When a government is dependent upon banks for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes. Money has no motherland; financers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.”

1971 – PRESIDENT NIXON CLOSES “GOLD WINDOW”
Richard Nixon issues Executive Order 11615 freezing wages and prices. Foreign-held paper dollars are no longer converted for gold, thereby nullifying the Bretton Woods Agreement.

AUGUST 20

1935 – BIRTH OF RON PAUL, US CONGRESSMAN
Referring to the Federal Reserve, he stated, "maybe there's too much power in the hands of those who control monetary policy? The power to create the financial bubbles. The power to maybe bring the bubble about. The power to change the value of the stock market within minutes. That to me is just an ominous power and challenges the whole concept of freedom and liberty and sound money."

---------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MovetoAmendOhio - Summer Actions Everywhere!

2011-08-12T13:51:00.000-07:00

1. New Move to Amend Local Affiliates – Columbus and Medina
2. Upcoming Community Information/Organizing Meetings – Cleveland, Lakewood, Cleveland Hts
3. Labor Day parade -- Barberton
4. Tabling -- Akron
5. Stand up for Ohio Festival – Move to Amend Ohio table - Columbus
6. Democracy Convention – Madison, WI – Transportation from Ohio
7. Next statewide conference call – Saturday, August 20

ps – Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and Corporate Personhood

--------------------------------------------------------

New Move to Amend Local Affiliates
Columbus: Contact Michael Greenman for list of actions
Medina: Contact Carolyn Boyce for a list of actions

------------

Upcoming Community Information/Organizing Meetings
Date/Time/Location/Address/Contact/Email
August 23/6:30 pm/Lakewood Public Library/15425 Detroit Rd/Susanna DeSorgo / sdesorgo@yahoo.com
September 1/7:00pm/Cleveland Heights Public Library/2345 Lee Rd/Greg Coleridge/ gcoleridge@afsc.org
September 6/5:30pm/Harvey Rice Library/11535 Shaker Blvd/Cleveland /Lois Romanoff/ loisromanoff@gmail.com
The short film, The Story of Citizens United vs FEC will be shown at each event followed by discussion of approaching groups and city councils for endorsement.

To schedule a meeting in your community, contact gcoleridge@afsc.org

------------

Labor Day Parade
Move to Amend Ohio will be marching in the Barberton Labor Day parade -- one of the largest Labor Day parades in Ohio. We will have our Move to Amend Ohio banner, Corporations are NOT People signs, flags of several kinds, and petitions. It’s Monday, September 5 — stepping off at 10 AM. If you’re able to march, RSVP gcoleridge@afsc.org for further details.

------------

Tabling
Move to Amend petitions have been at several festivals this summer. The next one is Saturday, September 3/10am –7 pm/Highland Square Arts Festival in Akron. If you can staff the table for any time, email ewatkins@afsc.org. Thank you!

-----------

Stand up for Ohio Festival -- Move to Amend Ohio table
On Saturday, August 20th, the biggest free concert to hit Ohio this summer will take place at the Ohio Fairgrounds. The Ohio Players, Grand Funk Railroad, Nikki Giovanni, and others will be performing, while informative speakers touch on a range of issues important to our jobs and communities.

Move to Amend Ohio has a table at this concert — which runs from Noon to 8:30 PM
We need volunteers to man/woman/staff the table. Can you help for an hour or two?
If so, please indicate what shift(s) you can be there
Noon-1:30 pm – already covered
1:30- 3:00 pm – already covered
3:00-4:30 pm
4:30 – 6:00 pm
6:00-7:30 pm
7:30-8:30 pm
Please email to gcoleridge@afsc.org

Further details of the event are at http://standupforohio.org/events/?event_id=36

---------------

Democracy Convention
August 24-8 / Madison, WI / http://democracyconvention.org
Registration is cheap. Host housing is available. Car/van pooling is available.
If interested in attending and would like a ride, contact gcoleridge@afsc.org or mgreenman@wowway.com

ABOUT THE CONVENTION
If you want to strengthen democracy where it matters most -- in our communities, our schools, our workplaces and local economies, our military, our government, our media, our constitution -- you will find something inspiring in Madison this August.

More than one conference, this first Democracy Convention will house at least nine conferences under one roof. As the great progressive reformer Fighting Bob La Follette said, "democracy is a life," and "involves constant struggle" in all sectors of society. With the 2011 Democracy Convention, we recognize the importance of each of these separate democracy struggles, as well as the need to unite them all in a common, deeply rooted, broad based, movement for democracy.

A NEW DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT
A new movement -- a democracy movement -- was born in the streets of Seattle on November 30, 1999. This movement's early years were not easy. Pro-democracy organizers faced crisis after crisis: the stolen presidential elections of 2000 and 2004; the militarization of America that followed September 11th; the destruction of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina; the Supreme Court ruling that corporations wield constitutional rights to buy elections; and today, an economic crisis that is being used to impose fiscal austerity and corporatization schemes on our states and people.

Through these difficult struggles, the new democracy movement has taken form, expanded, and matured. Now it is time for a coming-of-age celebration. This is the moment to unite in one location the many different efforts to build genuine democracy in the United States. And what better place to come together, and to rejoice, than in Madison, Wisconsin, the city and state that have inspired people everywhere to declare that "We are Wisconsin!"

The Democracy Convention is a project of the Liberty Tree Foundation and co-convened by the Alliance for Democracy, Progressive Magazine, and Move to Amend. We thank our local partners on our Host Committee, as well as our national partners whose support as Major Sponsors, National Sponsor, Co-Sponsors, Endorsers, and Conference Conveners, has been vital. To find out how your organization, union, business, or community can join us, click here: http://democracyconvention.org/sponsor-convention

Democracy is coming . . . to the U.S.A.

NOTE: Part of the conference will include a “Move to Amend Affiliate Gathering.”
Goals of the Gathering are:
*To solidify the relationship between MTA coalition members and the national campaign team
*To connect our coalition partners with each other
*To bring in new coalition partners
*To provide an opportunity for training and strategic discussion in support of the Move to Amend campaign
More information of the Affiliate Gathering: http://movetoamend.org/register-affiliate-gathering-august-2011

---------------

Next Move to Amend Ohio Conference Call
Saturday, August 20 @ 9 AM.
Phone # (new toll-free number): 1-866-256-1242 Access Code: 21676526

---------------

Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and Corporate Personhood
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/us/politics/12romney.html?src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB
“Corporations are people, my friend,” Mr. Romney responded, as the hecklers shouted back, “No, they’re not!” “Of course they are,” Mr. Romney said, chuckling slightly. “Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. Where do you think it goes?”

Colbert's 'defense' of Romney's 'corporations are people' comment
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/12/colbert-defends-mitt-romney-corporations-are-people_n_925277.html

Website: http://movetoamendohio.org
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ohio-Move-to-Amend/163413857048478

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - August 8-14

2011-08-08T06:35:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 9

1836 – BIRTH OF ALEXANDER DEL MAR, AMERICAN POLITICAL ECONOMIST, HISTORIAN, NUMISMATIST, AUTHOR, DIRECTOR US BUREAU OF STATISTICS
"As a rule political economists…don't take the trouble to study the history of money; it is much easier to imagine it and to deduce the principles of this imaginary knowledge."

"There is no international law of money, and there never can be one - for the law of money is an important part of domestic law."

"These tremendous powers have been wielded with such a lack of scientific or financial skill, and in so narrow and selfish a spirit, that its arbiters have repeatedly plunged the commercial world into bankruptcy, and confiscated or inequitably redistributed its accumulated earnings, either for their own benefit or else to save themselves from the effects of their own blundering."

DelMar was a supporter of fiat money, money issued by the government as legal tender.

1868 – BIRTH OF PAUL WARBURG, US BANKER
Warburg guided the operations of the National Citizens League, an organization formed in 1911 with $5 million in contributions from the big New York banks (including those owned by Rockefellor and J.P Morgan) to establish an "educational fund." The fund financed respected university professors to endorse the concept of creating a private central bank, what became the Federal Reserve Bank, created by the 1913 Federal Reserve Act.

1929 – THE FEDERAL RESERVE BEGINS TO TIGHTEN THE MONEY SUPPLY – LEADS TO GREAT DEPRESSION
The Federal Reserve sharply raises the interest rate it charges local banks to borrow money (called the “discount rate”). At the same time, it begins to sell its government securities (remember, the Fed is not part of the federal government, despite its name, but rather a largely private entity controlled by 12 reserve banks which are controlled by banks). These actions were the seeds, which led to the Great Depression – as limited money in circulation prevents business and commercial transactions from occurring.

1989 – FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS REFORM RECOVERY AND ENFORCEMENT ACT (FIRREA) ENACTED
The law passed in response to the 1980’s savings and loan crisis – in which. FIRREA created the Resolution Trust Corporation, which bailed out failed institutions primarily through taxation. It also shifted regulatory authority from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board to the Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury.

It should be noted that more than more than a thousand felony convictions followed the savings-and-loan scandal of the 1980s and early 1990s. There have been virtually no investigations, let alone convictions, of those responsible for the 2007-2008 global financial meltdown triggered by US financial institutions.

AUGUST 10

1930- GEORGE GOODMAN, AUTHOR, “THE MONEY GAME”
[T]hose who live by numbers can also perish by them and it is a terrifying thing to have an adding machine write an epitaph, either way.

AUGUST 14

1935 – SOCIAL SECURITY ACT PASSES
Social Security, providing monetary benefits to older Americans and permanently disabled, is considered the single most important poverty fighting legislation in the history of the nation.

1989 –DEATH OF ROBERT B. ANDERSON, SECRETARY OF TREASURY UNDER PRESIDENT EISENHOWER
"We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system."

----------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MOVE to AMEND Ohio Update

2011-08-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

5 ITEMS
1. Minutes from July statewide conference call
2. Website update
3. National Move to Amend webinars
4. Stand up for Ohio Festival – Move to Amend Ohio table
5. Democracy Convention

--------------------------------------------------------

Minutes from July statewide conference call
See attached. Thanks to Karen Hansen for facilitating and Michael Greenman for taking note.
Please read and participate where you can!
Our next call is Saturday, August 20 @ 9 AM.
Phone # (new toll-free number): 1-866-256-1242
Access Code: 21676526

-----------

Website update
Please visit our updated website -- www.movetoamendohio.org
Thanks to Jeff Klein for making the changes.

-----------

National Move to Amend webinars
Want to find out more about Move to Amend? Participate in a live webinar.
Orientation webinar: http://anymeeting.com/movetoamend/ED56D88086
Next Take Action Monthly webinar — August 2. More information at http://movetoamend.org/webinars

-----------

Stand up for Ohio Festival -- Move to Amend Ohio table
On Saturday, August 20th, the biggest free concert to hit Ohio this summer will take place at the Ohio Fairgrounds. The Ohio Players, Grand Funk Railroad, Nikki Giovanni, and others will be performing, while informative speakers touch on a range of issues important to our jobs and communities.

Move to Amend Ohio has a table at this concert — which runs from Noon to 8:30 PM
We need volunteers to man/woman/staff the table. Can you help for an hour or two?
If so, please indicate what shift(s) you can be there
Noon-1:30 pm
1:30- 3:00 pm
3:00-4:30 pm
4:30 – 6:00 pm
6:00-7:30 pm
7:30-8:30 pm
Please email to gcoleridge@afsc.org

Further details of the event are at http://standupforohio.org/events/?event_id=36

-----------

Democracy Convention
August 24-8 / Madison, WI / http://democracyconvention.org
Registration is cheap. Host housing is available. Car/van pooling is available.
If interested in attending and would like a ride, contact gcoleridge@afsc.org or mgreenman@wowway.com

ABOUT THE CONVENTION
If you want to strengthen democracy where it matters most -- in our communities, our schools, our workplaces and local economies, our military, our government, our media, our constitution -- you will find something inspiring in Madison this August.

More than one conference, this first Democracy Convention will house at least nine conferences under one roof. As the great progressive reformer Fighting Bob La Follette said, "democracy is a life," and "involves constant struggle" in all sectors of society. With the 2011 Democracy Convention, we recognize the importance of each of these separate democracy struggles, as well as the need to unite them all in a common, deeply rooted, broad based, movement for democracy.

A NEW DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT
A new movement -- a democracy movement -- was born in the streets of Seattle on November 30, 1999. This movement's early years were not easy. Pro-democracy organizers faced crisis after crisis: the stolen presidential elections of 2000 and 2004; the militarization of America that followed September 11th; the destruction of the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Katrina; the Supreme Court ruling that corporations wield constitutional rights to buy elections; and today, an economic crisis that is being used to impose fiscal austerity and corporatization schemes on our states and people.

Through these difficult struggles, the new democracy movement has taken form, expanded, and matured. Now it is time for a coming-of-age celebration. This is the moment to unite in one location the many different efforts to build genuine democracy in the United States. And what better place to come together, and to rejoice, than in Madison, Wisconsin, the city and state that have inspired people everywhere to declare that "We are Wisconsin!"

The Democracy Convention is a project of the Liberty Tree Foundation and co-convened by the Alliance for Democracy, Progressive Magazine, and Move to Amend. We thank our local partners on our Host Committee, as well as our national partners whose support as Major Sponsors, National Sponsor, Co-Sponsors, Endorsers, and Conference Conveners, has been vital. To find out how your organization, union, business, or community can join us, click here: http://democracyconvention.org/sponsor-convention

Democracy is coming . . . to the U.S.A.

NOTE: Part of the conference will include a “Move to Amend Affiliate Gathering.”
Goals of the Gathering are:
*To solidify the relationship between MTA coalition members and the national campaign team
*To connect our coalition partners with each other
*To bring in new coalition partners
*To provide an opportunity for training and strategic discussion in support of the Move to Amend campaign
More information of the Affiliate Gathering: http://movetoamend.org/register-affiliate-gathering-august-2011

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 1-7

2011-07-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 2

1100 – BEGINNING OF THE REIGN OF KING HENRY I OF ENGLAND
About 1100 AD, the King ordered the creation of a unique form of money. Made of wood, the currency was called “Tally Sticks.” They were polished sticks of wood declared by the Sovereign King to be good for the payment of taxes. The sticks were used as money by England for 726 years – included the period of the British Empire. It may be no coincidence that shortly after the Bank of England (a private entity) was established in 1694, it attacked the Tally Stick system. Nevertheless, the Sticks were accepted as money for another 150 years, until 1854.

AUGUST 3

1871 – BIRTH OF VERNON PARRINGTON, AMERICAN HISTORIAN
"The only safe and rational currency is a national currency based on the national credit sponsored by the state, flexible and controlled in the interests of the people as a whole."

AUGUST 6

1893 – BIRTH OF OF WRIGHT PATMAN, DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN FROM TEXAS, CHAIRMAN OF US HOUSE COMMITTEE ON BANKING & CURRENCY (1965-75)
"I have never yet had anyone who could, through the use of logic and reason, justify the Federal Government borrowing the use of its own money I believe the time will come when people will demand that this be changed. I believe the time will come in this country when they will actually blame you and me and everyone else connected with Congress for sitting idly by and permitting such an idiot system to continue. "

--------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- July 25-31

2011-07-25T05:17:00.000-07:00

JULY 25

1876 – BIRTH OF CONGRESSMAN LOUIS T. MCFADDEN (R-PA), CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE BANKING AND CURRENCY COMMITTEE
“We have in this country one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Banks. Some people think the Federal Reserve Banks are U.S. government institutions. They are private credit monopolies; domestic swindlers, rich and predatory money lenders which prey upon the people the United States for the benefit of themselves and their foreign customers….The truth is the Federal Reserve Board has usurped the Government of the United States by the arrogant credit monopoly which operates the Federal Reserve Board."

JULY 26

1925 – DEATH OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, SECRETARY OF STATE
"We say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin money and issue money is a function of government…Those who are opposed to the proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a function of the bank and that the government ought to go out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson...and tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a function of the government and that the banks should go out of the governing business...When we have restored the money of the Constitution, all other necessary reforms will be possible, and ... until that is done there is no reform that can be accomplished."

JULY 27

1694 – BANK OF ENGLAND CREATED
A private central bank, England began to borrow all of its money from corporate banks rather than simply creating it debt-free as it had for hundreds of years.

JULY 28

1919 – BANK OF NORTH DAKOTA FOUNDED
The Bank of North Dakota is the only state-owned bank in the US. Its primary deposit base is the State of North Dakota. All state funds and funds of state institutions are deposited with the Bank, as required by law. Other deposits are accepted from any source, private citizens to the U.S. government. No tax dollars are used to pay interest to bond holders since the state has no debt. Coincidentally or not, North Dakota is one of the few states in the nation not facing a fiscal crisis.

JULY 30

1863 – BIRTH OF HENRY FORD, INVENTOR AND INDUSTRIALIST
"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

JULY 31

1881 – BIRTH OF SMEDLEY BUTLER, US MARINE MAJOR GENERAL (TWICE DECORATED)
I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things that we should fight for. One is the defense of out homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.

1912 – BIRTH OF MILTON FRIEDMAN, ECONOMIST
If you kill the Fed [Federal Reserve] and don't kill fractional reserve lending, you've done nothing.

JULY 1939

A PROGRAM FOR MONETARY REFORM RELEASED

A group of prominent economists issue a plan for US monetary reform. The lead author of the plan, “A Program for Monetary Reform,” [PMR] was University of Chicago professor and Quaker Paul H. Douglas. More than 230 economists from 150 universities approved it without reservations while an additional 40 supported it with some reservations.

In assessing the problem of the day, the PMR states, “If the purpose of money and credit were to discourage the exchange of goods and services, to destroy periodically the wealth produced, to frustrate and trip those who work and save, our present monetary system would seem a most effective instrument to that end.” It also stated monetary systems based on a gold standard “has had…disastrous results all over the world.”

The PMR called for government creation and maintenance in the quantity of money. “Our own monetary policy should…be directed toward avoiding inflation as well as deflation, and in attaining and maintaining as nearly as possible full production and employment.” The plan also called for eliminating fractional reserve lending – the process of banks loaning our many more times the amount of money in their possession. Back in the 1930’s the reserved requirement was 5:1. Today it’s 10:1. Some of the major banks involved in the economic collapse of 2007 had ignored this law and were loaning out 50 times their reserves. The PMR called for a 100% reserve requirement – banks could only lend the amount of money they possessed.

The document goes on, “In early times the creation of money was the sole privilege of the kings or other sovereigns – namely the sovereign people, acting through their Government. This principle is firmly anchored in our Constitution and it is a perversion to transfer the privilege to private parties to use in their own real, or presumed, interest. The founders of the Republic did not expect the banks to create the money they lend."

Their plan to reduce the national debt was simply to have the government purchase government bonds with new US debt-free money.

NOTE 1: An excellent article explaining our monetary policy and describing in detail how to reform it is at the Center for Progressive Economics
http://cpe.us.com/article/monetary-policy/

NOTE 2: I’ve written an article on Eliminating Rather than Exploiting the Debt Crisis
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Elimating-Rather-than-Expl-by-Greg-Coleridge-110724-782.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Eliminating Rather than Exploiting the Debt Crisis

2011-07-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

July 24, 2011 / OpEd News
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Elimating-Rather-than-Expl-by-Greg-Coleridge-110724-782.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR July 18-24

2011-07-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

JULY 18
BIRTH OF STEPHEN ZARLENGA, DIRECTOR, AMERICAN MONETARY INSTITUTE
"I am suggesting that the nature of human affairs requires the government to have four branches, not three, the fourth branch to embody and administer the monetary power…When society loses control over its money system, it loses any control it might have had over its destiny."

JULY 22
1950 – DEATH OF WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING, 10TH PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA, 1935-48
“Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes that nation's laws. Usury, once in control, will wreck any nation. Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and futile.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR July 11-17

2011-07-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

JULY 11

1862 – LEGISLATIVE ACT AUTHORITIZING US GOVERNMENT TO ISSUE MONEY
Congress passes legislation to issue and circulate $150 million in non-interest bearing, debt-free notes – Greenbacks.

JULY 13

1832 – CONGRESS FAILS TO OVERRIDE PRESIDENT JACKSON VETO TO RENEW THE CHARTER OF THE SECOND NATIONAL BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
In his veto message to renew the misnamed “national bank” (it was actually a private bank controlled/owned by stockholders, a majority of whom were foreigners), Jackson stated: “Controlling our currency, receiving our public monies, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence…would be more formidable and dangerous than a naval and military power of the enemy.”

1956 – QUOTE OF OF J.R.R TOLKIEN, AUTHOR (THE HOBBIT AND LORD OF THE RINGS) AND UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD PROFESSOR IN CONTOUR MAGAZINE
The true equation is “democracy” = government by world financiers.
The main mark of modern governments is that we do not know who governs, de facto any more than de jure. We see the politician and not his backer; still less the backer of the backer; or, what is most important of all, the banker of the backer.
Throned above all, in a manner without parallel in all past, is the veiled prophet of finance, swaying all men living by a sort of magic, and delivering oracles in a language not understood of the people…
There should only be one source of money: one fountainhead from which flows the nation’s blood to vitalize commerce and industry, ensure economic equity and justice and safeguard the welfare of the people…In other words, it has always been and still is our contention that the prerogative of creating and issuing the money of the nation should be restored to the State.

JULY 14

1833 – DEATH OF WILLIAM GOUGE, ADVISOR TO PRESIDENT ANDREW JACKSON; AUTHOR, A SHORT HISTORY OF MONEY AND BANKING
"The large extent of bank influence is not easily seen. We seldom see an identified bank or a money corporation candidate running for office; but when questions arise which affect them, the banks have agents at work, whose operations are the more effective because they are unseen."

JULY 17

1780 – BANK OF PENNSYLVANIA ESTABLISHED
Quakers first introduced public banking in America with the creation of this state-owned bank which issued its own paper scrip which it lent to farmers. Resident paid no income taxes. There was no government debt and no inflation. The state prospered.

1862 – PASSAGE OF POSTAGE CURRENCY ACT
The act authorized the issuance of 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent notes – which were needed to substitute for gold, silver and copper coins which were hoarded. These fractional currency US debt-free notes, sold in perforated sheets like stamps, were redeemable by the US Post Offices at face value in postage stamps until 1876.

Note: Readers may be interested in this short piece connecting the current national debt ceiling Congressional deliberations and monetary policy
How Do We Eliminate the National Debt? Democracy.
http://createrealdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-do-we-eliminate-national-debt.html

-------------------

Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html Previous calendar entries are posted at http://afsc.net/monetaryhistorycalendar.html

How Do We Eliminate the National Debt? Democracy.

2011-07-07T12:41:00.000-07:00

The President and Congressional leaders strain and pain to reach agreement on the right combination of spending cuts and tax increases before raising the federal debt ceiling. Yet they continue to ignore changing our monetary system, which could eliminate our nation’s debt.

The United States could simply issue its own debt-free money -- similar to the Greenbacks introduced by Abraham Lincoln. Why do we continue to allow our nation’s money system to be privatized (more like corporatized)? Banks issue money as debt when they create it out of thin air as loans to people and the government. This represents by far the single largest federal subsidy in this nation.

As Treasury bonds, notes and bills come due, rather than rolling them over as new debt, the US government should simply pay the holders with US debt-free currency, thereby extinguishing the debt. Laws can limit the amount of money issued by the government so it creates neither inflation nor deflation.

Our Constitution provides our federal government the authority to issue its own money. Democratizing our monetary system will not only put We the People in charge of this essential national function, but can also eliminate our national debt.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - July 4-10

2011-07-03T19:33:00.001-07:00

JULY 4

1826 – DEATH OF JOHN ADAMS, SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

“ All of the perplexities, confusion, and distress in America arises, not from the deflects of the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.”

1826 – DEATH OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. . . The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

1892 – ADOPTION OF THE “OMAHA PLATFORM,” FOUNDING DOCUMENT OF THE POPULIST PARTY

“The national power to create money is appropriated to enrich bondholders; a vast public debt payable in legal tender currency has been funded into gold-bearing bonds, thereby adding millions to the burdens of the people…[The two political parties] propose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists, corporations, national banks, rings, trusts, watered stock, the demonetization of silver and the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of.

PLATFORM

We demand a national currency, safe, sound, and flexible, issued by the general government only, a full legal tender for all debts, public and private, and that without the use of banking corporations, a just, equitable, and efficient means of distribution direct to the people, at a tax not to exceed 2 per cent. per annum, to be provided as set forth in the sub-treasury plan of the Farmers' Alliance, or a better system; also by payments in discharge of its obligations for public improvements….We demand that postal savings banks be established by the government for the safe deposit of the earnings of the people and to facilitate exchange."

JULY 6

1863 – BIRTH OF RICHARD MCKENNA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE MIDLANDS BANK OF ENGLAND

"I am afraid that the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can and do create and destroy money. And they who control the credit of a nation direct the policy of governments, and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people."

JULY 7

1947 – DEATH OF HENRY FORD, INDUSTRIALIST, FOUNDER, FORD MOTOR COMPANY

"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

JULY 9

1778 – FIRST STATES RATIFY THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION.

Eight states sign the Articles on this day. Other states followed shortly thereafter. The Articles granted the Federal Government the authority to issue money and determine its value if 9 states agreed.

2007 – CITIGROUP CEO CHARLES PRINCE INTERVIEW WITH THE FINANCIAL TIMES

Explaining his bank’s excessive money creation through the creation of risky sub-prime loans,

“When the music stops, in terms of liquidity, things will get complicated. But as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance.”

JULY 10

1509 – BIRTH OF JOHN CALVIN, FRENCH THEOLOGIAN AND PASTOR

“For we altogether condemn usuries, we shall impose severer restrictions upon the consciences that the Lord himself desired”

1832 – ANDREW JACKSON VETOES LEGISLATION TO RENEW THE CHARTER OF THE PRIVATE SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES

“Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country?... Should its influence become concentrated, as it may under the operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self-elected directory whose interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholders, will there not be cause to tremble for the purity of our elections in peace and for the independence of our country in war? Their power would be great whenever they might choose to exert it; but if this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or twenty years on terms proposed by themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influence elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any private citizen or public functionary should interpose to curtail its powers or prevent a renewal of its privileges, it can not be doubted that he would be made to feel its influence.

Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking?

2011-07-02T19:53:00.001-07:00

This is a very enlightening article describing what may be the single most important reason for the US/NATO war against Libya — their movement toward a monetary system controlled by the nation instead of bankers. The last thing banksters want is a model for public control of money creation and circulation — something that does not take place in the United States (the Federal Reserve is actually a private/corporate body) or any European nation (though Iceland is trying to move back to a public system). Corporatization of money creation and circulation enslaves us all — in our nation and across the planet.

Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking?
By Ellen Brown, Reader Supported News
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/289-134/5625-libya-all-about-oil-or-all-about-banking

ARTICLES, RESOURCES, ACTION ITEMS, JULY 4TH, HOTDOGS AND FIREWORKS

2011-07-01T07:40:00.000-07:00

ARTICLES [more reasons why we need to end corporate personhood and money equaling speech]
Justices strike down taxpayer-supported campaign spending law
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/06/27/scotus.arizona.campaign.finance/index.html?iref=allsearch
Tyranny of King George III and Ohio Government
http://createrealdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/06/tyranny-of-king-george-iii-and-ohio.html

NEW RESOURCE ASSERTS COMMUNITY RIGHT TO DECIDE BY BANNING FRACKING
Common Sense -- Banning Fracking at the Local Level pdf format
http://www.celdf.org/

EMERGENCY LABOR NETWORK ADOPTS ACTION ITEM REGARDING CORPORATE RIGHTS
Action Program Adopted by the Emergency Labor Network Conference
(Kent, Ohio -- June 24-26, 2011)
Mike Ferner (from Toledo) with Veterans for Peace and Greg Coleridge were able to introduce, motivate and encourage the passage of this action item...one of 17 adopted. It will be send to more than 17,000 labor and community contacts across the country. Most of the present labor participants are focused on reacting to day-to-day labor assaults (as reflected in almost all of the other adopted action items) so it was by no means automatic that anything related to a more long-term strategy would be approved...addressing ALL corporate constitutional rights.

“We urge the labor movement and its community partners to engage in education and discussion on ways to eliminate never-intended constitutional rights and powers of corporations -- as affirmed by Supreme Court decisions.”

More information: please visit our website at www.laborfightback.org

MAP OF MOVE TO AMEND AFFILIATED AND PARTNERS ACROSS THE US
http://bit.ly/MTA-Affiliate-Map

INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND (or thereabouts) END CORPORATE RULE ACTIVITIES
July 4 – Lakewood Independence Day Parade
Move to Amend Ohio will be marching with its “End Corporate Rule” banner, “Corporations are Not People” posters, and petitions. If you’re anywhere near Lakewood, the parade runs from 10 am to Noon. If you want to take part, email gcoleridge@afsc.org
July 6 - Corporations are Not People: Let’s Amend the U.S. Constitution to Say So!
6-8 p.m., Medina Library - Rooms A-B - 210 S. Broadway, Medina, OH
Flyer at http://afsc.net/PDFFiles/070611flyer.pdf
Information, contact Carolyn Boyce at FreeSpeechMedina@gmail.com

DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE FROM CORPORATE RULE THIS JULY 4TH WEEKEND
This Independence Day weekend, please consider spending just 1/2 hour promoting real democracy by eliminating never-intended corporate constitutional rights. Take a break from your hot dog eating contest. Delay your trip to buy fireworks across state lines. Take just 30 minutes sometime this weekend to:
1. Circulate the Move to Amend petition to those on your street or wherever you may find yourself.
[Download a petition at http://www.movetoamendohio.org/]
2. Write a letter to your local newspaper declaring that corporations are not people, money is not speech and the future of whatever is left of our democracy depends on real persons and all persons (not just rich persons) having the right to decide what takes place in our communities.
3. Become a FaceBook friend to Ohio Move to Amend
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ohio-Move-to-Amend/163413857048478
...and encourage your friends to do the same
4. Talk to a few friends about starting a Move to Amend chapter in your community. Once you have a few people interested, contact us. We’ll help with organizing!

ps. Enjoy your hot dogs and fireworks!

Tyranny of King George III and Ohio Government

2011-06-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

American Revolution was a revolution against tyranny and for self-governance...at least in principle. Colonists faced not only the tyranny and oppression of the King of England, George III, but the King’s two “arms.” The one was the British military that used its police power to maintain social “order” in the colonies and later waged war to maintain the King’s supremacy. The other arm was the British “crown” corporations (i.e. Massachusetts Bay Company, Carolina Company, Maryland Company, etc.) which received their authority through charters from the sovereign (the King) to politically and economically rule on behalf of George III and their own corporate interests.

The American Revolution, the anniversary we’ll celebrate this weekend, was a declaration of independence not simply against George III, but also against his military and corporate arms. People demanded that they become “sovereign,” independent or democratic -- able to rule themselves free from military intimidation and corporate authority.

The tyranny that is corporate rule and inability of citizens to govern themselves has seen a reincarnation in the form of many laws passed by those currently in charge of Ohio government — the Governor and General Assembly. Laws which are anti-democratic. Laws which are injurious to people and communities. Laws which usurp the authority of people and communities to decide for themselves.

As stated in the Declaration of Independence, “[t]o prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world”:

- They have allowed for 20 charter schools (most run by business corporations) to apply directly to the Ohio Department of Education for operation without having a nonprofit sponsor. The pace and race to corporatize public education continues.
- They have refused to eliminate $7 billion in tax loopholes, most benefiting corporations — which all by itself would have solved the state’s budget deficit. In fact, they have added to the state budget an “Invest Ohio” tax credit to corporations up to an additional $100 million.
- They have slashed funding to the state’s Local Government Fund by $455 million. They have also abolished the estate tax which provides another $250 million to local governments. These funding cuts will financially squeeze many municipalities and increase the drive to sell, lease or transfer public assets to business corporations, thereby, reducing public control.
- They have prohibited communities from governing themselves by outlawing local laws seeking to increase food quality (thereby protecting the interests of fast food corporations). This continues a state trend in recent years of state preemption of local control, including prohibiting communities from banning risky horizontal hydraulic drilling for natural gas (fracking).
- They have permitted 6 state prisons to be turned over (sold) to business corporations. The record of privatization/corporatization of public assets is one of reduced services, jobs and control and increased rates and fees.
- They have abolished collective bargaining for public employees. Senate Bill 5 is actually about reducing the rights and powers of people at their workplace to defend themselves against their employers. Provisions of the bill include a restriction on public workers contributing to a political action committee through a payroll deduction, a ban on requiring “fair share” fees – union dues paid by union workers who decide not to join their union, and a provision to make it easier to decertify a union.
- They have supported the lease of the profitable state liquor operations to one or more business corporations and use the money to fund JobsOhio, a quasi corporation also created by the state to replace the Ohio Department of Development. JobsOhio is being challenged in the courts on constitutional grounds.
- They have approved the exploration of corporatizing the profitable state Turnpike.
- They have ruled that oil and gas drilling can begin in Ohio’s state parks.
- They have suppressed the ability of citizens to vote by reducing the number of days people can vote absentee and have prohibited mass-mailing of absentee ballots to registered voters by county boards of elections.
- They have defending corporate agents not simply lobbying public officials but actually working with the Ohio Legislative Service Commission to write laws for public officials.
- They have capped the penalty for destruction of government documents at $10,000 in total, whether 1, 1000 or 1 million documents are destroyed. The old cap was $1000 per document. This removes the deterrent to destroy documents that citizens may request, essential to maintaining public oversight of their government. Having the right to know is essential to acquiring the right to decide.
- They have continued, if not expanded, the anti-democratic practice of bringing in brand new proposals into the final budget reconciliation process. These proposals have not been seen by the public or the media. The budget reconciliation process if meant to settle or reconcile differences between already-passed House of Senate versions of bills. It is not a place for a brand new proposal that the public has not had an opportunity to comment on.

There were other examples of Ohio Government tyranny proposed by either the Governor, the Ohio House or Ohio Senate, but not enacted, either due to public opposition, shame by the media and/or disagreement between the different government branches. These include:

- Requiring voters supply a photo ID at the polls
- Corporatizing the Ohio Lottery -- In an blatantly and galling undemocratic move, the Senate budget bill called for turning over the state lottery to the GTECH corporation, which hoped to manage the state’s $2.5 billion daily operation. The language in the bill was drafted by the GTECH corporation, which once ran a portion of the state’s lottery system. The Senate language was virtually unchanged from the GTECH corporation draft. There was no public hearing. The proposal simply was inserted into the Senate bill.
- Prohibiting the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel from taking positions, "contrary to the development of competitive markets in Ohio, including state policies pertaining to natural gas." Also not enacted was a provision barring consumers’ counsel contact information from customer bills and notices.

These modern day forms of tyranny need to be replaced with modern day forms of self-governance, self-rule, democracy. What are its elements?
- A system where We the People have a legitimate opportunity to shape implement and evaluate decisions affecting our lives.
- The voice of every person counts. All votes are equal.
- All people have adequate time and information to make decisions.
- Whether the issues are local regional national or global; political social or economic decisions made without our direct or indirect legitimate input are illegitimate.
- The more directly we're involved in decisions which directly affect us the more democracy or self-governance exists.
- Only human beings possess “inalienable human rights.” Corporations are not people and should not possess Bill of Rights and other constitutional rights.
- Money is property, not speech. Money must be regulated in elections. If money is speech, then those who possess the most money possess the most speech. Such a system is plutocratic, not democratic.

A few things to keep in mind as you participate this Independence Day weekend in hot dog eating contests, watch parades or sit in the sun.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- June 27-July 3

2011-06-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

JUNE 30

1812 – FIRST US TREASURY NOTES AUTHORIZED BY THE UNITED STATES
Treasury notes are promise to pay notes to borrowers to raise revenue. The US needed funds to fund the War of 1812. Rather than print US money (such as “Continentals” – an interest- and debt-free money issued by the Continental Congress to pay for the Revolutionary War), the US government followed a different course – to issue notes to borrowers with promises to pay the principal with interest at a later date. The original interest rate was 5.4%. Wars cause indebtedness. Bankers tend to like wars since they tend to create financial dependency of nations to bankers. Thomas Edison would later say about Treasury bonds, “If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good...”

JULY 1

1818 – SECOND NATIONAL BANK OF US TRIGGERS RECESSION/DEPRESSION
The Second National Bank of the United States (a private financial institution) on this day reversed its financial course from monetary expansion to contraction. They called in loans and cut future loans. They required payments from state banks in gold alone. This caused deflation, leading to a two-year recession/depression – called the “Panic of 1819.” This is what happened time and again when private financial corporations control a nation’s money system instead of We the People through their government.

1944 – BRETTON WOODS CONFERENCE BEGINS
The United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, known as the Bretton Woods Conference was a meeting of 44 Allied nations in New Hampshire, where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank were created. Participant nations agreed to fix their currencies to a set value of gold. Debtor nations were to be helped with payments. The actual program was the use of loans (to be paid back with interest) to create political and economic dependence to loaning countries and their bankers. Agreements to receive further loans were often conditioned on “Structural Adjustment Programs” which called for privatization/corporatization of public services, wage cuts, and perversion of economies to service debt payments.

1967 – US POSTAL SAVING SYSTEM ENDS
Because of opposition from the commercial banks the postal savings system does not develop in a substantial way. The United States Postal Savings System was a postal savings system operated by the United States Postal Service from January 1, 1911 until July 1, 1967

JULY 2

1787 – LETTER TO JAMES MADISON FROM GOUVENEUR MORRIS, ONE OF THE PRIMARY ARCHITECTS OF THE US CONSTITUTION
In describing the motives of the owners of the new Bank of North America, Morris stated,
“The rich will strive to establish their dominion and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will…They will have the same effect here as elsewhere, if we do not, by [the power of] government, keep them in their proper spheres.”

1881 – PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD SHOT. HE DIED 10 WEEKS LATER
"Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce, and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.”

1890 – SHERMAN ANTITRUST ACT BECOMES LAW
The Sherman Act was an attempt to prevent unlawful restraint of trade and commerce and prevent monopolies – including banking monopolies. The Act was more aggressively enforced under President Teddy Roosevelt, including against the corporate practices of JP Morgan, the most powerful banker, if not corporate titan, of the day. In response to this increased enforcement of the Sherman Act and the Hepburn Act, Morgan created a financial panic by having his banks and those he controlled call in loans and refusing to grant new ones. The economic crash of 1907 followed. The “Panic of 1907” was a direct cause for the creation of the Federal Reserve System several years later.

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Transparency in Government

2011-06-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

Due to our campaign of developing and advocating for political campaign contribution limits and other reforms in the new Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) charter, I was asked by the leader of the upcoming TAP Summit on Transparency in Cleveland in July to offer reflections on the general topic.

http://tapsummit.org/post/6802649989/northeast-ohio-american-friends-service-committee

Supreme Court blocks massive sex-discrimination suit against Wal-Mart

2011-06-21T11:11:00.001-07:00

With the decision, the Supremes are saying corpses are not only too big to fail, but too big to sue...

Supreme Court blocks massive sex-discrimination suit against Wal-Mart
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-blocks-massive-sex-discrimination-suit-against-wal-mart/2011/06/20/AGCQ81cH_story.html

Jobs Disaster in the US

2011-06-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

By the Numbers

Percentage increase per year of jobs in private/corporate sector from late 1980’s to late 1990’s: 2
Percentage increase per year of jobs in private/corporate sector since: declining
Percentage increase per year of jobs in private/corporate sector in 2009: 0

Employment by private companies in March 2010: less than 110 million
Average annual percent growth of economy (GDP) during last ten years: 1.9
Average annual percent growth of economy (GDP) during Great Depression: 1.3
Annual percent growth of economy (GDP) needed to add large numbers of jobs in private/corporate sector: 3 to 4 or more

At the start of 2011, number of unemployed persons per job opening: more than 4

As of March, 2011, percentage of 16-19 year olds unemployed: nearly 25
As of March, 2011, percentage rate of unemployment among blacks: 15.5
As of March, 2011, percentage rate of unemployment among those with less than a high school education: 13.7

Number of people who had reached the maximum 99 weeks of receiving unemployment as of March, 2011: 2 million

As of March, 2011, officially defined as unemployed: 13.5 million
As of March, 2011, persons not in the labor force but a wanting a job: 6.5 million
As of March, 2011, persons working part time but desiring full-time work: 8.4 million
Total: 28.4 million

Figures from The Jobs Disaster in the United States, Fred Magdoff, Monthly Review, June 2011

Ohio To Become “Publicopoly” if Kasich and Co Have Their Way

2011-06-20T17:44:00.001-07:00

Governor Kasich and his corporatization cohorts in the State House and Senate are currently engaged in “Publicopoly” -- a term coined by the pro-corpoate think tank, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Plans to corporatize turnpikes, prisons, education, alcohol sales and the lottery in the state budget are right from the ALEC playbook.

See http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=publicopoly

Click on any “Game Square.” There’s several choices: Government Operations, Education, Transportation & Infrastructure, Public Safety, Environment, Health, and Telecommunications. What public service/asset not yet proposed for sale, rent, or lease will probably soon be...unless we resist.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - June 20-26

2011-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

JUNE 21

1940 -- DEATH OF SMEDLEY BUTLER, MARINE CORP MAJOR GENERAL (MOST DECORATED MARINE IN US HISTORY AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH)

I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things that we should fight for. One is the defense of out homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket…. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912.

JUNE 24

1996 – LEWIS V UNITED STATES (AMENDED DECISION OF THE US COURT OF APPEALS, NINTH CIRCUIT)

Federal reserve banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of a Federal Tort Claims Act, but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations in light of fact that direct supervision and control of each bank is exercised by board of directors, federal reserve banks…are locally controlled by their member banks, banks are listed neither as "wholly owned" government corporations nor as "mixed ownership" corporations; federal reserve banks receive no appropriated funds from Congress and the banks are empowered to sue and be sued in their own names. . . .

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Testimony before Ohio Senate Government and Oversight Committee on Election Reform

2011-06-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here's testimony presented today on HB 194 concerning election reform. A separate bill on voter ID, HB 159, is also under consideration by the General Assembly. Both would increase barriers to voting. Both are billed as adding "integrity" and "continuity" and reducing voter "fraud" to elections in Ohio.

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TESTIMONY BEFORE OHIO SENATE GOVERNMENT
AND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON ELECTION REFORM
June 16, 2011

My name is Greg Coleridge. I’m the Director of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee.

I applaud the Ohio General Assembly for taking an interest in election fraud. This is an incredibly important and urgent issue requiring urgent and sweeping action.

Election fraud is rampant in Ohio. The integrity of our election system and, in fact, republican democracy, is in jeopardy if nothing is done.

Your focus, however, is misdirected. It’s not senior citizens, students, poor people or people of color who are engaged in election deceit. Instead, it’s business corporations.

The widespread, demonstrated, repeated and blatant fraud in our elections and entire political system is born from the absurd legal decision that corporations are persons possessing First Amendment Free Speech rights to lobby and engage in electioneering.

Business corporations have perverted our US and Ohio constitutions, claiming never-intended Bill of Rights protections. They perverted the 14th amendment, intended solely to free slaves, by charging in 1886 that the due process and equal protection clauses applied to artificial legal creations of the state.

The fraud that is corporate personhood has resulted in corporate lobbyists gaining access to public officials and aides that most citizens can never hope to equal.

The fraud that is corporate personhood has resulted in millions of dollars being diverted from corporate treasuries to political advertising – so-called “free speech” that drowns out the voices of real human persons with real needs.

The fraud that is corporate personhood has resulted in corporate employees writing laws under consideration by elected officials – including to corporatize schools by White Hat Management corporate employees and corporatizing the state lottery system by GTECH corporation employees.

The energy and spirit currently contained in HB 194 to document that senior citizens, students, low income persons or person of color are actually citizens and voters should be shifted. Let business corporations document they are real persons, real humans, and real beings with hearts and consciences before We the People permit these piles of legal documents to be involved in the body politic and in our elections.

This is where the real fraud in elections and politics in Ohio lies. This isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but a democracy issue. I hope and trust your primary energies in this arena will be directed to end corporate personhood and corporate rule.

Thank you.

10 Corporate/Anti-democratic Proposals and Laws of Ohio Public Officials

2011-06-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

It’s been nearly a half-year since the Governor and Ohio General Assembly have been in office. Many bills have been proposed and introduced. Some have already been enacted. Others, like the 2-year budget bill, must be passed by the end of June.

There are many ways to evaluate and rate our state elected officials’ six month long record. One that must be included is how they’ve done creating or expanding democracy. Specifically, have proposals or enacted laws advanced or retarded the ability of citizens to govern ourselves? Keep elected officials in check? Control the power and authority of business corporations (which were never intended by our state’s and nations’ founders to possess political rights).

The record of Governor Kasich and the Republican controlled Ohio House and Senate isn’t pretty seen through this prism. The list of assaults on self-governance is long. The proposals to expand corporate power and authority are exhaustive.

For the sake of brevity (and to provide a nice round number), here are 10 anti-democratic/pro-corporate proposals (two are already law) promoted by the Governor, passed by the Ohio House or proposed by the Ohio Senate.

1. JobsOhio

This is more than a proposal but a law passed in February to “privatize” (a more accurate term is “corporatize”) the job creation functions of the Ohio Department of Development. The private organization, composed of corporate heads appointed by the Governor, who is also on the Board, would receive state support yet is exempt from public-records and open-meeting laws. So much for the public knowing the job creation strategy of their state funded, in part, by their tax dollars. Progress Ohio is challenging the constitutionality of this law.

For a background on constitutional questions, see http://createrealdemocracy.blogspot.com/2011/02/testimony-on-ohio-house-bill-1.html

In general, privatizing/corporatizing a public asset, service or function results in greater costs, poorer service, fewer jobs, and/or greater loss of public control as decisions are shifted to private corporate leaders.

2. Corporatize Ohio liquor operations

A major state moneymaker, the Ohio Senate in their proposed budget calls for leasing the state’s liquor operations to JobsOhio. Profits would be used to fund the new private/corporate agency.

3. Corporatize Ohio turnpikes

Governor Kasich has called for leasing the Ohio turnpike, netting an estimated $2.5 billion. Many, including the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, oppose the proposal. Fears about a loss of public control will result in sharp toll increases and/or diminished upkeep is based on the record in other locals, i.e. Indiana, Chicago.

4. Corporatize Ohio prisons

Governor Kasich had originally called for corporatizing five Ohio prisons. One more was added in the House bill. The estimated take by the state is $200 million. Prisons are very profitable businesses across the country. The history of corporate prisons is a history of corners cut (i.e. reduction of staff and services) to increase profits. A former Kasich congressional chief of staff and longtime advisor, Don Thibaut, is now a lobbyist. A new client is Corrections Corporations of America (CCA), one of the major corporate operators of prisons in the nation. CCA operates one federal prison in Ohio, the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center in Youngstown. That facility has had a host of safety issues over the years, including murders and stabbings. The proposed Senate budget removes House budget provisions that would exempt prison corporations from state and local income, sales and use taxes and the commercial activity tax.

5. Corporatize Ohio lottery

In an blatantly and galling undemocratic move, the proposed Senate budget bill calls for turning over the state lottery to the GTECH corporation, which hopes to manage the state’s $2.5 billion daily operation. The language in the bill was drafted by the GTECH corporation, which once ran a portion of the state’s lottery system. The Senate language was virtually unchanged from the GTECH corporation draft. There was no public hearing. The proposal simply was inserted into the Senate bill.

6. Corporatize schools

The recent disclosure by the Associated Press that lobbyists for David Brennan on behalf of his White Hat Management corporation not only lobbied Ohio House speaker William Batchelder on charter schools but actually prepared legislative wording favorable to his corporation is nothing new and, more disturbing, legal. The $217,000 in political campaign “contributions” by the Brennans over the last two years to Ohio Republicans was a pretty good investment. Nine out of 11 items on Brennan’s/White Hat corporation’s “wish list” allowing for-profit corporations to operate schools without oversight from nonprofit sponsors ended up to some degree in the final House budget bill. The proposed Senate budget bill eliminates several House budget provisions, including allowing charters to launch and operate without a school sponsor and prohibiting school employees from collective bargaining.

7. Abolishing collective bargaining for public employees

Senate bill 5 was promoted originally by the Governor as saving money. It’s actually about reducing the rights and powers of people at their workplace to defend themselves against their employers. Other provisions of the bill include a restriction on public workers contributing to a political action committee through a payroll deduction, a ban on requiring “fair share” fees – union dues paid by union workers who decide not to join their union, and a provision to make it easier to decertify a union. No wonder hundreds of thousands of signatures have been gathered on referendum petitions to overturn the law.

8. Preemption of local laws

Hidden in the proposed Senate bill is one of many provisions having nothing at all to do with spending – banning local governments from barring the use of restaurants from using transfats in their food. Never mind that such laws are within the local municipalities right to protect the “health, safety and welfare” of their residents. Preemption of local laws by the state is a well-used strategy by corporations to evade local control. The state has been lobbied in recent years by the gun industry, gas drilling corporations, payday lenders and others to usurp the authority of local elected officials.

9. Restricting voting

The House passed in March what many claim was the nation’s most restrictive voter identification law. The legislation mandates prospective voters to show at the polls government-issued photo ID -- Ohio driver's license, state ID, military ID or passport. It excluded student IDs issued by state colleges. The bill was passed without any examples of voter fraud under current laws. The result is likely to be a disenfranchisement of people of color, students, seniors and the low income – all of whom national studies have shown possess lower rates of state-issued IDs. The first hearing of the Senate version of this bill, HB 194, is before the Senate Government Oversight and Reform committee this Thursday.

10. Removing consumer protection information from the public

The House budget bill calls for eliminating from customer bills and notices contact information for the Ohio Consumer’s Counsel. Consumers gouged by utility corporations or having other complaints about any actions by any corporation may not know about the existence of the Counsel without included information. Interestingly, the House bill also included a gag order on the agency taking positions “contrary to the development of competitive markets in Ohio, including state policies pertaining to natural gas." So much for government checks and balances.

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Not all these proposals are yet law. Some, in fact, that passed the Ohio House have been removed in the proposed Ohio Senate budget bill. This doesn’t mean, however, the anti-democratic provisions won’t end up in the final bill – only that they will be reconciled when representatives of both chambers sit down and negotiate a final budget bill.

A final Senate vote is scheduled for this Wednesday. Contact your State Senator and weigh in with your views (go to http://www.ohiosenate.gov/ for a list). Corporate agents and lobbyists certainly have.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR June 13-19

2011-06-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

JUNE 15

1836 – CHARTER (LICENSE) FOR SECOND NATIONAL BANK OF THE UNITED STATES REPEALED
This was the third quasi national bank of the US — following the Bank of North America (1781-1785) and Bank of the United States (1791-1811). While called a “national” bank, it was not public but actually a commercial/corporate bank with the power to issue money directly (just like its two predecessors). Early on, it issued a huge amount of money (more than 20 times its reserves) as loans that led to financial speculation and large corporate profits. A year later, it stopped providing loans, resulting in a severe contraction of the money supply — which led to massive bankruptcies and the Panic of 1819. When President Andrew Jackson threatened to repeal its charter, the Bank’s leaders used its power to restrict money circulation to cause another depression. Bank President Nicolas Biddle wrote, “Nothing but widespread suffering will produce any effect on Congress…Our only safety is in pursuing a steady course of firm restriction – and I have no doubt that such a course will ultimately lead to restoration of the currency and the recharter of the Bank.”

President Andrew Jackson said this about the bank, “The immense capital and peculiar privileges bestowed upon it enabled it to exercise despotic sway over the other banks in every part of the country. From its superior strength it could seriously injure, if not destroy, the business of any one of them which might incur its resentment; and it openly claimed for itself the power of regulating the currency throughout the United States. In other words, it asserted (and it undoubtedly possessed) the power to make money plenty or scarce at its pleasure, at any time and in any quarter of the Union, by controlling the issues of other banks and permitting an expansion or compelling a general contraction of the circulating medium, according to its own will.”

JUNE 16

1929 – DEATH OF VERNON PARRINGTON, HISTORIAN
The only safe and rational currency is a national currency based on the national credit sponsored by the state, flexible and controlled in the interests of the people as a whole.

1933 – PASSAGE OF GLASS-STEAGALL ACT
Actual title was Banking Act of 1933. Considered one of the most important post Depression laws, the legislation created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which protected bank deposits. It also instituted several bank reforms to curb speculation that caused the Depression. One important provision was to create a firewall between Main Street depository banks and Wall Street investment banks. The Act was repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999

JUNE 19

1843 – DEATH OF LORD ACTON, ENGLISH HISTORIAN, POLITICIAN, AND WRITER
The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later, is the people versus the banks.

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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt?
Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice.
This calendar is a project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini and Greg Coleridge helped in its development.
Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, contact monetarycalendar@yahoo.com For more information, visit http://www.afsc.net/economiccrisis.html

Create Real Democracy

One Hundred Thirty Cities Across the US Protest on Anniversary of Citizens United

Occupy the Courts - Radio Interview

Occupy the Courts - Cleveland and Akron actions

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR January 23-29

"I'll believe a corporation is a person when..."

Help complete this sentence: "I'll believe a corporation is a person when..."

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR January 16-22

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - January 9-15

Evolution of Supreme Court decisions on corporate personhood?

HALLELUJAH CORPORATIONS

Growing Resistance to Corporate Personhood and Money as Speech

A Call for the Tea Party and Occupy Movements to "Occupy the Courts"

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - January 1-8

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - December 26-31

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - Special Christmas Eve edition

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR December 19-25

Bill of Rights are for People, not Corporations

Prepared Comments at "No Cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security" Rally, Saturday, December 10, Cleveland, OH

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - December 12-18

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - December 12-18

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- December 5 - 11

The Country is BROKEN Because the System is FIXED — ps

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- November 28-December 4

The Constitutional Amendment We've Been Waiting For

Death of Richard Grossman

Now expand the money supply

What the supercommittee should have done

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- November 21-27

Corporations: Good Servants, Lousy Masters

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- Nov 14-20

Corporate rights and resistance

The country is broken because the system is fixed

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - November 7-13

Why ‘occupiers’ must confront fallacy of corporate ‘personhood’

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - October 31- November 6

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - October 24-30

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- October 17-23

PsySR Statement on Corporate Personhood

Talk this Thursday on First Amendment and Corporate Rights

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - October 10-16

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City -- grievances includes corporate personhood

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR October 3-9

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 26-October 2

Ohio Get FraACTive

Kucinich proposes landmark jobs plan

David Cobb of Move to Amend to visit Ohio in October

End Corporate Rule: Create Real Democracy

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 19-25

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 12-18

Kucinich Calls for Public Control of US Monetary System

Campaigns awash in corporate cash

A Labor Day Quiz

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - September 5-11

Democratizing Money: Creating a Public Monetary System

Democracy Convention — Day 5

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 29-September 4

Democracy Convention -- Day 4

Democratizing Constitutions Around the World

Democracy Convention – Day 3

It’s Football Season at ALEC

Democracy Convention – Day 2

Democracy Convention – Day 1

Democracy Convention Final Invitation

Reports from Democracy Convention

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 22-28

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 22-28

Citizen Power or Corporate Power in Ohio

Too bad Mitt Romney isn't visiting Ohio soon

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - August 15-21

MovetoAmendOhio - Summer Actions Everywhere!

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - August 8-14

MOVE to AMEND Ohio Update

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- August 1-7

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR -- July 25-31

Eliminating Rather than Exploiting the Debt Crisis

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR July 18-24

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR July 11-17

How Do We Eliminate the National Debt? Democracy.

MONETARY HISTORY CALENDAR - July 4-10

Campaigns awash  in corporate cash