Since leaving America August 2006, I have traveled to sixteen countries. A great deal has happened. This site is to share my thoughts, photos, music, writings, travel experiences, and developing political/social commentary with you. I hope you find it interesting and informative.
And while I believe a woman has the right to make decisions about her own body, that’s not what I’m talking about here.
Let me offer a recent and extremely important example.
When in December of 2021, when Russia notified the US and its allies that it was very concerned about the troops, missiles, bases, and other military assets deployed against its borders, it offered a draft treaty which would cool tensions and promote peace in Europe. The US and NATO refused to even look at the treaty. Were we the people given a choice in the matter? Were we properly and accurately informed about what the treaty contained, its pros and cons? Of course not. Because had citizens looked at it objectively, with complete disclosure as to its intent and effect, they would have most likely thought it was reasonable and constructive, and opted for it. We are now living the nightmare resulting from the snub of the Russian proposal. The entire Ukraine mess didn’t have to happen. But it did because of the choice of a tiny number of short-sighted, war-obsessed policy makers, sans any democratic approval by the vast majority of citizens, who now must deal with the consequences.
Since that war broke out, the U.S. has allocated at least $65 billion — some put the figure at over $100 billion and counting — in military and economic assistance to the regime in Kiev. Were we given a choice in THAT? Did Biden, Blinken or any of the warmongers in Congress ask: “Should we send more weapons to Ukraine to further exacerbate the war, further intimidate Russia, OR should we spend that money on improving our schools, infrastructure, OR MAYBE provide relief to Americans who have been hard hit by the disastrous economy, loss of jobs, the Covid-19 lockdowns?” I don’t remember hearing THAT choice being aired to the public.
I’m pro-choice, alright. In the much broader sense of having choice as a citizen about what is done in my name with the tax dollars and immense resources of the United States.
I’m talking about America’s decisions to go around the world killing people, destroying nations, imposing its imperial agenda on other allegedly sovereign nations. I’m talking about the heavy hand of our government deciding what version of the “truth” citizens get in the news and from their elected officials. I’m talking about critical choices made about America’s place in the world, our relationships with every other nation, who is our friend, who is designated as our enemy; deciding the kind of country we now live in and will hand off to future generations; directing what opportunities and basic services will be available to us; determining what guarantees are in place to make sure our legal system works to the benefit of every citizen equally; writing and enforcing the regulations and laws which prevent the abuse of power by our government officials, those elected and otherwise; determining how our system works to hold those in power accountable, what is done to prevent corruption, graft and cronyism; instituting and maintaining electoral procedures and mechanisms which protect the constitutional voting privileges of every citizen, fully guaranteeing free and fair elections. Yes, I’m talking about the way government functions, how well it functions. How the enormous revenue stream gets allocated, what gets funded, who benefits. I’m talking about free and full access to official communication, information and documentation, full transparency about what goes on in those offices and buildings. After all, we’re paying for all of it. We should have complete disclosure as well as final decision-making power on how our money is being spent.
Finally and certainly most importantly, since our survival on the planet is being seriously threatened by horrible decisions in this arena, WE THE PEOPLE should have final say on putting our nation and economy on a war footing, militarily confronting other countries, and most certainly the ultimate decision — a responsibility that now even our pathetic Congress spinelessly avoids — MAKING THE CHOICE TO GO TO WAR.
All of these decisions are being made — often behind closed doors or a smoke-screen of propaganda, lies and rationalizations — and we as citizens have no say in any of it.
No choice!
So yeah, I’M PRO-CHOICE!
The voice of the people has been totally silenced. We no longer can even ask simple, obvious questions about most critical matters which impact our daily existence, which determine the quality of our lives, which define the kind of country we now and future generations will live in. If we don’t stay inside the safe, approved boundaries of the official narratives, we are marginalized, often ridiculed, if not completely censored. Which might be tolerable if the country was in good shape and on a solid path of improvement and progress. I don’t have to point out how totally screwed up everything is now.
I’m for having a decisive say in the way things run. Recognize, this is hardly a weird or controversial demand. It’s the very essence of SELF-GOVERNMENT — which is what I have always been told is the defining feature of our democracy, the great experiment in self-rule. No kings, no dukes, no emperors, no dictators, no pouty paranoid bureaucrats. Just us, we the people!
This means WE THE PEOPLE taking back the power which has been usurped by a class of self-anointed control freaks, influence peddlers, power brokers, professional politicos who have decided that we regular folks are a bunch of clueless children and they know what’s best for us.
Enough is enough. Tyranny under the smiley-face of fake democracy must be stopped IMMEDIATELY!
This is non-negotiable . . .
WE THE PEOPLE MUST HAVE A CHOICE — the decisive choice — whenever anything of consequence affecting our nation comes up for consideration.
So yes, I can say without qualification or equivocation, I’M PRO-CHOICE!
Let me throw out some very basic propositions. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Starting with a question: In a democratic country — government of the people, by the people, for the people — who “owns” the government’s money?
Either money is privately owned (people, companies, corporations, investment banks, etc) or it’s publicly owned.
If through taxes, bonds, borrowing, printing, digital creation, money is deposited in the U.S. Treasury for later disbursement, whose money is it? Who actually OWNS that money before it’s sent on its way to pay the bills?
Yes, Congress has the power and responsibility to decide where the money goes. The President has some discretion about spending money, as long as such disbursements are “legal”, that is, authorized by laws which specify the allocation of said monies and they are not in violation of the Constitution.
But Joe Biden doesn’t own it. Neither does Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell or Chuck Schumer. It’s not their money.
Make no mistake about it, our leaders act as if it’s theirs. I mean this in both senses. Sometimes out of some misplaced sense of entitlement and sheer arrogance, these folks do act like the trillions that pass through the U.S. Treasury is their personal slush fund to do as they see fit.
The other is the strictly legal sense. In specific legal terms, government officials, regardless of how highly placed, are only empowered to act as trustees, to direct the disbursement of those funds, with the general understanding that such spending ultimately serves to “promote the general welfare” and to enable the functioning of the government, all of the foregoing ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENRY.
In neither case, however, is the money actually theirs. As when we deposit money in a bank, the bank may have physical possession of it — whatever that means in a world of digital transactions and bookkeeping — but it’s still our money.
So who owns the money the government at any given time has in its coffers?
We could ask a similar question about public property and infrastructure. This might offer some guidance. Who owns the interstate highway system? Who owns the roads, ramps, bridges?
Yes, the obvious answer is the government. But as a democracy, as active participants in a system of self-government, aren’t WE the government?
I think there’s a basic but valid and useful understanding which we can insist on here.
Acknowledging that some have asserted via The Act of 1871 there has been a corporate framework, a legal entity — a legalistic sham — set up to accommodate the necessity of our federal government machinery having status and standing in the vast economic environs which we call domestically the national economy, which then participates in the vaster economic environment known as the world economy, I still think the best understanding of “ownership” when it comes to the commons is that WE THE PEOPLE collectively own the physical and financial assets of the United States of America. The CITIZENS. Not those charged with representing the needs, wants and priorities of the citizens, not those doing what needs to be done to realize in real terms what we democratically decide needs to be done — i.e. the Pelosis, McConnells, and Bidens in positions of power. It is WE THE PEOPLE who confer to them the power to act on our behalf, to protect, develop, expand those assets, ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE, serving our interests individually and collectively. That assignment of power is not without conditions; assumes transparency and full accountability; is not permanent in the sense that officials of government are not permanent fixtures (bureaucrats tend to be more enduring but certainly elected officials have fixed terms of service); can be withdrawn or withheld, though admittedly this is a cumbersome process; is not unlimited but reflects constitutional as well as statutory limitations, and whatever limits WE THE PEOPLE decide to impose.
It is WE THE PEOPLE who have original and overriding control — ownership? — of what passes through the Treasury and where that money goes. After all, it is OUR tax dollars which are collected and pooled to fund the government, it is in OUR name that bonds are floated and it is us who are directly obligated to repay at some future time the money borrowed to fund the government. It seems reasonable to conclude that until that money is disbursed for whatever reason and is on its way to creditors or the states or government contractors or paid as salaried to federal employees or sent to anyone who has a legitimate claim for payment, the money which is in the vaults and accounts of OUR government is OURS.
In an important sense, that money is collectivized, is subject to joint and collective ownership, before it is collected, as it’s collected, when it’s collected and finally sitting in the bank.
This applies to infrastructure and physical assets as well. Granted, we individually have no right to claim a chunk of asphalt from an interstate highway or one of the fingers from the statue of Abraham Lincoln overlooking the Capitol Mall. We collectively own such items and consent to leave it in trust so that we collectively can enjoy our common property, whatever its agreed purpose.
Why would we look at the hard cold cash inside the Treasury vaults or Fort Knox any differently?
On occasion we do, but we merely hint at the idea that it’s “our money”. Usually as submissive supplicants, grateful for some token generosity by our elected officials. For example, with the lockdowns, shutdowns, and shutouts incurred by the overreaction to the Covid-19 “pandemic”, it was decided by THOSE WE SENT TO WASHINGTON DC TO REPRESENT OUR INTERESTS — not by them as kings or princesses or queens or Führers — that we would get some Covid-19 relief checks. They were paltry but an example of WE THE PEOPLE benefitting individually as citizens, members of the collective whole, by having some of OUR MONEY SENT BACK TO US from the pool of collectively-owned money in the Treasury, in order to help us through the crisis.
What is my point?
Citizens cower before the federal government. Yes, it’s an awesome and frightening institution. It is massive in size and an imposing, all-encompassing presence in every aspect of our lives. And around the world. The overwhelming temptation is to see it 1) as some frightening, unapproachable, all-powerful, omnipotent behemoth, and 2) as an adversary, a separate entity, a force to be reckoned with.
It is not necessarily either. It’s only humbling, intimidating, incapacitating, oppressive, tyrannical, if we view it that way. To consider our government, at least within the theoretical framework of even our highly-compromised democracy, as “them” and we citizens as “us” is a self-fulfilling, self-sabotaging prophecy and a guarantee that those we do assign stewardship of our public affairs to, most certainly WILL misuse their power, WILL abuse us, WILL act like they “own it”, and DO A LOT OF THINGS which are contrary to our interests, if not ultimately destructive to the historic promise made to the world with the founding of our experiment in “self-rule”.
Does this sound like I’m talking some abstract principle? The stuff of academic or high-sounding rhetoric but not of the real world?
In practice, the impact of ignoring this idea is far from abstract. There are many very severe real world consequences.
Our timidity and imagined powerlessness has created the monster the federal government has become. Our accepting the false narrative of a two-party system has all but destroyed democracy. Our letting our leaders feed us lies without retribution, in fact our REWARDING our leaders for misleading and abusing us, is putting nails in our own coffins. Our letting the DOD use us as an ATM machine for endless wars and shopping sprees is bankrupting the country. Our sitting by idly while the Fed prints trillions of dollars and feeds it directly into accounts of the already appallingly rich, our accepting and swallowing the idiotic fairy tales of Make America Great Again and Build Back Better when these phony grand visions are just more vehicles for the strip mining of our economy and the destruction of the middle class, is immersing us in crippling delusions and willful ignorance. Our electing officials who enable and incentivize the ruin of our industrial and manufacturing base, and subsidize the export of good jobs is hiring criminals to rob us. Our willful ignorance about the havoc the U.S. wreaks around the world, creating the immigrant crisis we now face is poisoning us with racist nonsense and blinding us to the class war being waged on us. These and many more habits of laziness, cowardice, and neglect are coming home to roost. The mess we see ourselves in right now with the meltdown of the economy, the health crises (and there are many more beyond Covid-19), and the coming major conflicts with Russia and China, are just previews of coming attractions. This is not going to end well for ‘we the people’.
I've had several people ask me why I do these videos promoting the
candidate contract electoral strategy. I think it's self-evident: I
like standing outside and talking to a bunch of trees. Here's my latest
effort. The text of the presentation follows.
Pathetic! Yes . . . PATHETIC!
The state of our democracy. The state of our politics.
There's no other word for it.
Our
politicians? I'm not an expert on American history but at first glance
I think it's safe to say our current batch of ruling class toadies are
among the most mediocre, uncreative, lackluster, uninspiring,
duplicitous, hypocritical, ignorant, unprincipled, too often shamelessly
malevolent bottom dwellers, ever to appear on our political stage.
The
entire Republican Party is evidence enough on that side of the aisle.
Comparing any of them with the real public servants in their rich
tradition makes guys like Pence, Ryan, and Trump look like a sick joke.
Ever heard of Abraham Lincoln?
Now
look at the latest public relations fiasco by the Democratic Party, a
desperate attempt to reverse their flagging fortunes; their catastrophic
loss of voter confidence; their loss of the House and Senate, their
loss of the majority of state legislatures, and their loss of the
majority of governor seats; and to repair their self-inflicted but
warranted reputation as the left wing of the Republican Party.
Plagiarizing the Democratic Party of old, thus making a mockery of FDR's historical and widely admired New Deal,
they've just assembled a new platter of mildewy cliches, moldy slogans,
stale platitudes and empty promises, a decomposing menu of already
past-their-expiration-date overtures to their former base -- once-loyal
working and middle class voters -- under the banner of A Better Deal.
They're really setting their sights high, eh? "We're the better bottom dwellers!"
That anyone pays attention to these master prevaricators is a miracle in its own right. We must all be masochists or pathologically gullible.
But don't fret.
There's hope in the midst of this mass of toxic sludge clogging our electoral machinery! Along comes the grass-roots voter-based initiative called CFAR.
CFAR stands for Contract For American Renewal.
But it's more than a contract, much much more than a legal device.
It's a paradigm-shifting, game-changing way to introduce honesty,
integrity, transparency, and accountability, into our electoral process,
putting people -- the vast majority of U.S. citizens -- back in the
driver's seat. It's government by the people. It's real representative
democracy.
The CFAR is the new standard by which we judge whether a candidate is worthy for office.
The
CFAR includes only initiatives that are supported by a minimum of 62%
of citizens. Most are in the 75-80% range. The CFAR is a
citizens-based, populist strategy.
The
CFAR requires in writing from any candidate who signs it that they will
faithfully serve those who vote them into office. No questions asked.
They either do the job or they find themselves back on the street.
Just read the contract. It's clear and unambiguous.
The
CFAR takes the guesswork out of voting. Every initiative in the CFAR
is supported by huge majorities. If a candidate signs it, they are
clearly on the side of the people. They are guaranteeing in writing
that they will be doing the bidding of their constituents from the day
they arrive in Washington DC. Thus they deserve our support and our
votes.
The CFAR as a populist electoral strategy
targets neoliberal, establishment candidates for defeat. And more
importantly, it decisively positions "people's candidates" --
progressive-populists -- to win, arming them with an ironclad strategic
weapon to take on and crush their corrupt, pay-for-play opponents.
The
CFAR exposes the phonies and frauds. Voters are tired of shallow
campaign rhetoric, vaporous sound bites, empty campaign promises. If a
candidate refuses to sign the CFAR, it means two things: 1) He or she
is not on the side of the people. 2) This candidate does not deserve to
get elected. Voters will run from non-CFAR candidates like they're
infected with the plague.
Therefore, Citizens Against Plutocracy and other activist groups are organizing nationally around the CFAR strategy,
targeting the coming November 2018 election. We want this election to
mean something. We want the voice of the people, now silenced by big
money and autocratic control of the media and both major parties, to be
heard and be instrumental in finally electing a Congress that works for
the everyday citizen, not just the ruling elite, corporate kleptocrats,
Wall Street, the big banks, and transnational corporations.
You want a Congress that works for the people? You want public servants that serve the public?
You want a Congress which is not in the pockets of fat cat campaign
donors, not lapdogs of the ruling class, not doormats of the
military-industrial-security complex?
Then only vote for a candidate who has signed the CFAR.
CFAR candidates are the REAL DEAL!
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
The folks over at Revolt Against Plutocracy
asked me to do a short "elevator pitch" for my CFAR candidate contract
strategy, which they're aggressively promoting. I thought it went
pretty well except for a couple frightened looking people in the
elevator. Here is the video. The text of the entire presentation
follows.
Thirty-second floor, please.
(Barely audible) ”ヘンなアメリカ人がいてはるわ〜” [ Translation: There is the strange American. ]
Are you as fed up with Washington DC as I am? Nothing gets done for you and I. Everything gets done for the rich and powerful.
There’s only one solution. We need a people’s Congress. That’s where the power is . . .
Congress!
Which
means we need to get rid of the pay-for-play legislators on both sides
of the aisle and put some good, honest, hard-working folks in office,
ones who we know with certainty will go to Washington and represent us,
the people who elect them — not their Wall Street donors, not their
deep-pocketed corporate benefactors, not their country club friends.
That’s
exactly what we at Revolt Against Plutocracy are doing. We’re going
for broke in this coming election. We’re shooting for where the real
power is . . . the U.S. Congress.
We have a candidate contract called aCFAR,
which spells out in black-and-white what we expect a candidate to do.
If they sign it, great, we’ll get behind them come the November 2018
election. If
they don’t sign it, we will find a candidate who will. We’ll only vote
for candidates who have signed the CFAR, even if we have to write them
in.
Forget
about parties, ideologies, labels. We’re just looking for the right
candidate to do the right job — for us! That’s it in a nutshell. We’ll
know it’s the right candidate because he or she will be signing a
legally-binding contract to serve the voters of the district.
You
can find out more about all of this at our website. Just go to
...
The link is also posted in the
description below. Look at the CFAR, the Contract For American
Renewal. See how our strategy is going to turn this whole mess on its
head, and shake up Congress like it’s never been shook up before. Sign
up to be part of the solution. See how easy it is for us to achieve
real change in Washington DC next November.
A people’s Congress. A Congress that works for everyone, not just the rich and powerful.
Check it out. The future of our country depends on it.
I
produced the above video for Citizens Against Plutocracy, explaining my
candidate contract concept, now that it has been adopted and integrated
by that organization as a featured component of their comprehensive
strategy for putting in place a "people's Congress" via the coming
election. They call it the CFAR National Electoral Strategy. CFAR
stands for Contract For American Renewal.
This
particular video reaches out to everyone who is running as a
populist-progressive in the November 2018 election, an attempt to
persuade them that the candidate contracts represent a powerful,
decisive method for defeating centrist neoliberal establishment
opponents and winning the election.
The text of the video follows.
Hi there!
Are
you a people’s candidate? A populist or progressive candidate for
Congress in the coming election who is serious about winning?
Then you’ve come to the right place!
Citizens
Against Plutocracy is an organization dedicated to restoring
representative democracy to America and taking our country back from the
ruling elite and big corporations.
We
are promoting nationally a comprehensive, game-changing electoral
strategy which will set a new high standard for integrity, transparency,
honesty, and accountability in electoral politics!
The election cycle has become a three-ring circus.
In
ring one are the two major parties, in the second ring the media, and
in the center ring the politicians themselves, who now as part of
standard operating procedure lie to and mislead the voting public. They
put on a spectacular show but it’s a dazzling fraud.
The American people are the victims of this hoax.
We
intend to put a stop to this thoroughly destructive charade, this
mockery of our citizen-based form of self-government. We’ll do this by
replacing those corrupt politicians, who have become both the
perpetrators and the beneficiaries of our fake democracy.
The
American people know and widely agree on what they want. Those now in
office, installed by the corrupted major parties exclusively serving the
interests of a ruling class — a plutocracy of wealthy and powerful
individuals and corporate entities — will never deliver what the
American people desire and deserve. This is now a matter of record,
completely beyond dispute.
Our government exclusively serves a tiny clique — literally the .1% — of incomprehensibly rich and powerful aristocrats.
You
candidates running for federal office in November 2018, who are on the
side of the vast majority of citizens — we call you populist candidates
because you reflect the popular will — who are willing to guarantee
faithful service to your future constituents, represent the voting
public honestly and transparently, bring to elected office unwavering
integrity and commitment on key issues . . . YOU ARE THE FOLKS WE’RE
HERE TO HELP.
We’ve identified 11 initiatives which are supported
by 62% - 80% of Americans across the political spectrum, and if you
agree with the vast consensus of the voting public on these causes, you
easily meet the new high standards we’ve established with our electoral
strategy. YOU are the ‘good guys’ in this ugly contest of political
will — the electoral cage fight — and YOU are the ones we intend to send
to Washington DC in November 2018.
Let me now give you our list
of what the vast majority of everyday citizens want done, and see if you
agree on most, if not all of the following.
Reputable and highly reliable polls say . . .
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. 75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment. 76% of voters want a cut back on military spending. 76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan. 79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it. 79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare. 80% of voters oppose the "Citizens United" U.S. Supreme Court decision. 68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased, and corporations should be required to pay their fair share. 71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal. 65% of voters want laws to combat climate change. 62% of voters want tuition free public colleges and universities.
If
these represent what you’d like to get done when you get elected, then
YOU ARE BY DEFINITION a populist candidate. YOU have the strength of
the numbers behind you. YOU have the American people behind you. YOU
have forward-looking, proactive organizations like Citizens Against
Plutocracy behind you.
Now all you have to do is convince the voters that you’re for real, and that your opponents are not.
Sounds
like it should be easy . . . but as we all know, it’s not. If you
don’t have huge piles of money in your campaign coffers and the
nitro-methane burning engines of either major party propelling your
campaign, it’s nearly impossible.
That’s precisely where our strategy comes in!
That’s
where our strategy will make a grand entrance on the political stage,
break down the media barriers, put you dead center in the voting
public’s eye, and give you the spotlight and a platform to effectively
reach the voters. YOU will finally have that voice you need, and that
new voice will resonate over the din of cheap campaign rhetoric coming
from your opponents. Citizens will finally get some straight talk — not
the usual mumbo jumbo — and know with certainty that YOU are on their
side and will work for them.
You see . . . if you agreed with most of the items I just mentioned, you’ve passed our test with flying colors.
But . . . and this is a very big decisive ’BUT’ . . .
YOUR OPPONENTS FAIL SPECTACULARLY.
Especially
the incumbents! Despite what they say, despite their vague but
pleasant sounding rhetoric, their vaporous campaign slogans and sound
bites, despite all the PR and hype they pump out using enormous sums of
cash from their deep-pocketed ruling elite benefactors, we will show
unambiguously and decisively that THEY ARE FULL OF HOT AIR and NOT ON
THE SIDE OF THE EVERYDAY CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY!
Think about it . . .
If
so many everyday citizens want these things done, why does none of it
ever make it through Congress? Why if anything does make it through the
legislative labyrinth, the very opposite happens? How do all of these
very popular ideas get compromised, chipped away, whittled down,
eventually replaced by legislation which shafts the 99% of our once
great nation?
That’s easy!
Because the current batch of
elected officials don’t work for the people. They work for their rich
and powerful patrons, the transnational corporations, Wall Street, hedge
funds, investment banks, the ruling elite who are stripping our country
of its resources, looting all of us of our wealth and any hope of a
better life . . . and destroying the American dream.
How do they get away with this?
That’s also easy.
The
American public either isn’t paying attention, or when they are,
through ruthless and self-serving lies, voters are constantly misled,
kept confused, overwhelmed, immersed in fear, rendered hopeless.
AND THAT HAS GOT TO STOP! THAT WILL STOP!
No
more lies. No more games. We’re drawing a big, wide line in the
sand. Voters will see in clear, stark terms who’s on their side and who
isn’t.
Which brings us now to the strategy. The CFAR National Electoral Strategy.
We
have created a powerful mechanism for demonstrating to the voting
public that YOU, the populist candidate, are the real deal, and your
mainstream centrist neoliberal opponents are a FRAUD.
This is a
completely original, unprecedented, outside-the-box creation. So don’t
bother Googling it. You won’t find it anywhere except at this website.
At least for now. We don’t have any doubt that this will quickly
become the new standard in this coming election cycle for replacing ‘bad
guy’ neoliberal pay-for-play politicos, with ‘good guy’ populist
progressives . . . like YOU!
What we’ve come up with is called the CFAR . . . Contract For American Renewal.
Yes . . . it’s a contract.
But before that C-word generates a lot of misgivings and misunderstandings, let me make two very critical points.
PLEASE pay very close attention.
1) The contract is not really about you.
2) The contract is about defeating your opponents and winning the election.
So
. . . as I explain how it works, keep these two very simple but vitally
important thoughts right there in the front of your mind. Otherwise
you may misunderstand what a powerful and decisive methodology we’re
offering you. So I’ll repeat:
1) The contract is not really about you. 2) The contract is about defeating your opponents and winning the election.
Yes,
you’ll sign a contract. But bear in mind, the things on the contract
are the very things you already stand for. They list the things you
already plan on doing when you get elected. You saw what huge majorities
of everyday citizens want. These are the things that any true
populist-progressive candidate also wants. They reflect the popular
will of the American public.
Moreover, YOU’LL CUSTOMIZE AND CREATE
THE CONTRACT THAT YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH, listing just the items that
are central to your campaign and pivotal in getting you elected. We
provide a template listing 11 items, based on the above polls. But you
decide which ones work for you in your particular campaign. We are not
dictating terms to you. You’re in charge here. There may even be other
populist-progressive items which are specific to your district and your
future constituents. We understand that. The contract is flexible.
We trust your judgment and know that as a populist-progressive
candidate, you’ll do what’s in the best interests of your constituents.
The important thing is . . . THAT YOU USE THE CONTRACT!
Why?
Because
it delivers a clear, unambiguous message to voters: You are on their
side. Your opponents are not. You are the ‘good guy’ working for
them. Your opponents are the ‘bad guys’ who’ll say anything to get
elected and deliver nothing for the people.
THAT’S why we’re
pushing this strategy. Because for once, truth and honesty will defeat
money and propaganda, and we’ll get a Congress that works for everyone,
not just the rich and powerful. It’s been a long time coming!
Why are we so confident this is going to work and reshape electoral politics?
I’ll tell you why.
In the first place, voters want certainty. They’re sick of smoke and mirrors, they’re fed up with hollow campaign promises.
THIS
CONTRACT TAKES THE GUESSWORK OUT OF VOTING. Voters will see what
you’ve put in your contract. They’ll know with CERTAINTY, exactly what
you’ll be doing for them from day one when you arrive in Washington DC.
But
keep in mind, the contract — while decisive and powerful in getting you
elected — only locks you in on those items in the contract. Is this
restrictive? Is this controlling? How can it be? These are the things
you yourself have chosen for the contract, the things you’d be doing
anyway, with or without the contract. Would you hesitate to sign a
contract requiring you to breathe? We assume unless you’re a fish, you
intend to breathe anyway.
Second, we’re pushing this nationally.
You’ll be part of a populist juggernaut, organized across the entire
nation to take on the assault by the rich and powerful on our
democracy. WE’RE DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT THIS! We’re aiming to have a
candidate in every single district with a contract in hand, ready to
take on the establishment candidates. All 435 districts! It’s not
going to do much good if you and only a handful of others get elected.
WE’RE GOING FOR BROKE!
The
thing to recognize is this: We’ve got history on our side. This is
the second time we’ll be saving America from the tyranny of autocratic
rule. We did it once. Time has come for a SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
putting power into the hands of everyday citizens, the folks who built
this country and kept it strong until the banksters and corporate
raiders swooped in like vultures and stole our democracy.
So the question you need to ask yourself is this: Are YOU with us? Are YOU ready for the fight of your life?
Are YOU ready to win this coming election and do your part in saving our democracy?
We
have just you need to get started. And since we’re sure you have lots
of questions, guess what?
We’ve got lots of answers and many more ideas
that I couldn’t touch on in this video.
WE’RE HERE FOR YOU!
Just click on this link and get started putting together a winning campaign.
For more information on the CFAR National Electoral Strategy, please clickHERE.
You
can download the CFAR (Contract For American Renewal) template in the
format of your choice using the following links, then get to work
customizing it for your campaign, reflecting the constituent values and
priorities of your particular district. Or you may choose to adopt the
entire contract as it is:
When
a completely new idea comes around, predictably there is
misunderstanding and apprehension. The more unique and original the
idea, the greater is the reluctance to see it for what it is and
recognize it's potential. Call it the shock of the new.
Baffling
as I find it -- since I'm intimately familiar with the candidate
contracts, including their legal implications and their implementation
in an electoral setting -- it's come to my attention that some of those
who would most benefit from and are least threatened by my game-changing
proposal, have been beset with a bad case of the jitters, mostly
knee-jerk fear-and-trembling associated with anything "legal" or related
to "signing a contract".
Of course and unfortunately, I refer to the populist/progressive candidates for whom the strategy was specifically designed
-- the good folks for whom it is the sole purpose of the strategy to
faithfully serve, serve by getting them elected to office, empowered to
act on and implement the enlightened progressive agenda now totally
ignored by our current legislators, and be widely acclaimed as the
saviors of our democracy.
This
particular article is meant to clear any misconceptions and dispel
related fears about the candidate contract strategy. I will be
addressing the populist-progressive candidates themselves -- the only
ones worthy of the strategy, the only ones worthy in my opinion of
holding public office.
So . . .
What kind of candidate would sign the candidate contract?
A candidate who wants to win the election in November 2018!
The solutions for every single one of the issues offered on the contract templates
are supported by no less than 62% of American citizens. Most are in
the high 70% range, some up in the 80% range. These are the things
people want done. They're sick of the excuses and delays. If they're
convinced a candidate can deliver on any of those items, they most
certainly will vote for that candidate.
What kind of candidate would not sign this contract?
Establishment
candidates — I call them centrist/neoliberal candidates — can’t and
won’t sign the contract. While they don’t embrace the populist agenda
of the contract, that’s not the main reason. They'd sign away their own
grandmothers if they thought it would help their political careers.
The main reason is that if they sign the contract, they will alienate
their campaign donors — corporations, banks, Wall Street, the ruling
elite — and lose the support of their major parties. Those two things
have assured victory in the past. Why mess with a good thing? They'll
play it safe . . . and hopefully be sorry.
Having
written off the establishment types who are in the pockets of the
ruling elite, the rest of this goes out to you non-establishment,
non-centrist, non-neoliberal candidates -- you folks on the fringes, you
guys who aren’t getting invited to the party, because you want to run a
good, solid, transparent campaign, then go to Washington DC to
represent the needs and desires of everyday Americans, not be lapdogs
for the rich and powerful.
There
are two extremely important things, right at the outset, to keep in
mind here in appreciating why you as a candidate should sign this
contract.
First,
your strict legal obligations ONLY embrace what’s in the contract. Yes,
the contract delineates your activities in relation to those issues
listed. But in the entire range of other activities and legislation
that you will deal with in office, you as a legislator will exercise
your own discretion and judgment.
We
of course assume that true to the intent and spirit of the contract,
you will always defer to the majority wishes of your constituents,
always doing your best to determine what your constituents want you to
do, as their elected representative.
Second, you will determine what goes into the contract. We're offering a valuable and powerful template,
listing those causes which have the overwhelming popular approval of
voters across the nation. But circumstances and conditions vary from
district to district. If a particular issue is not relevant to your
district, leave it off. An effective campaign is built around three to
eight decisive wedge issues. You really only need one, but having a few
more clearly adds punching power to your campaign. You will
tailor this contract to the specific conditions and requirements of your
campaign and your local district. Focus on those issues which are
popular with your constituents but opposed in fact or by the voting
record of your opponent. You want your contract to be about the stands
on issues that set you apart, make you look good vis-a-vis your sellout
opponent, that will get you elected — not make you or your campaign
staff feel good, or your family and friends proud of you. Stay
focused. Make this contract work for you. Having said that, we assume
that you are a true progressive — not a faux progressive or a
lip-service liberal — and therefore your final candidate contract will
be consistent with the agenda reflected across the entire host of issued
in the template offered here.
Now . . . here’s specifically why you as a populist/progressive candidate should sign the candidate contract.
It’s the right thing to do.
Think about it. This is grass-roots democracy at its best. If you get
elected, this represents a mandate from your voters. As a matter of
fact, on the issues listed in the contract you signed, they are
literally giving you your marching orders. Voters have decided what
they want done, you are responding directly to their wishes. This is
representative democracy in its purest form. You should be PROUD!
It offers clarity, certainty, credibility to voters.
Campaigns are now fraught with garbage talk. Fluff. Nonsense. Major
campaigns actually hire psychologists to put together strings of words
which sound good and make people feel great. Campaign rhetoric has
become a cheap form of manipulation. Campaign promises now mean
nothing. Look at what you are offering. A legally-binding contract.
No guesswork. No hot air. No feel good blather. The real thing. You
really should be PROUD.
It gives you the ammunition you need to defeat your centrist/neoliberal opponents.
When voters see what you're offering, your opponents are frankly going
to look very bad. While they're hemming and hawing, you'll be offering a
real commitment on the issues that make a real difference. You have to
keep pushing this out there. You're on the side of the people, they're
on the side of . . . well, who knows? But it sure ain't the side of
the everyday citizen. If they were, they'd sign the contract. You
should be very PROUD to display your signed candidate contract wherever
you go!
It offers you protection from lobbyists, special interest groups, other wheel-and-deal legislators.
Every freshman congressman says the same thing. They're under constant
assault. Everyone wants something, has something to trade, wants to
make a deal. It's a nightmare trying to keep focused on why you're
there, and keep reminding yourself of the people back home who are
counting on you. Well, the contract is your Kevlar vest! It's your
bulletproof alibi. On the issues in that contract, there's no room for
wheeling or space for dealing. You've got the perfect excuse for
blowing off all of the hired guns and Washington
DC insiders who will try to seduce and manipulate you. Tell them:
"I've got a contract with my voters! I have no choice."
You have everything to gain, nothing to lose. Against the overwhelming piles of money and power of the establishment major party machinery, you will most likely lose
this election unless you do something amazing. The contract is that
something amazing. Will it put you at risk? Will you get sued? If you
really really screw up and anger the majority of your constituents,
they could organize a special referendum calling for a class action
lawsuit. But in reality, will this happen? You tell me. How easy is
it to get a majority of the voting public to do anything? Like vote for
you? Be realistic. Yes, the possibility of a lawsuit adds enormous
force to the contract. That's why it's there. To make people take you
and the contract seriously. But if you're a serious candidate, there's
no room here for diffidence. You should be secure in your commitment,
confident of your mission, PROUD of yourself and what you stand for.
What do you stand for? Just read the contract. It's right there in
black-and-white. Just do your job. Stay focused. Submit the
legislation and do your best to support it. That's all it takes. It's
what you'd be doing anyway, with or without the contract. The only risk
you face is losing the election because you didn't fight hard enough
for what you believe in.
To
make sure we get to the bottom of any unwarranted and unnecessary
apprehensions about this powerful and decisive electoral strategy, let
me just add a tad more really blunt straight-talk about this last item.
A populist candidate has so much to gain with this, yet I'm sure it's
the fear of a lawsuit which is the source of almost all of the anxiety
with this game-changing approach.
Do
you realize how easy it is to fulfill the obligations of the contract?
All you have to do is draft legislation, submit it to Congress through
whatever procedure or established channel there is, then talk it up and
vote for it if it comes up for vote. That's it! Maybe it won't get
passed. Others might sabotage it. Congress might burn to the ground.
The Earth might get hit by a meteor. But you've fulfilled the terms of
the contract!
Let's
say you give it your best shot. But the bill you drafted gets hung up
in committee. You're still doing your job. You're still fulfilling
your obligations under the contract, as long as you keep trying to
submit it for consideration and spread the good word about it. You will
not get sued! If anything, you'll might eventually be acclaimed as one
of the few people in Congress with integrity and determination, and
most of all, genuine loyalty to the voters who elected you to office.
You might get on the cover of Time Magazine, but YOU WILL NOT GET SUED!
Now
please pay attention. Because I'm talking to YOU! You dedicated
progressives who want to do the right thing, who want to serve your
country and work hard on behalf of the millions of good, decent,
everyday Americans who right now are getting the shaft from a rigged
system -- our sold-to-the-highest-bidder democracy.
I'm
talking to YOU! You populist candidates who are willing to buck the
system, you who refuse to play by the anti-democratic rules dictated by
our lapdog major political parties, parties which kowtow to the
ruthless, self-serving ruling elite.
I'm talking to YOU! You candidates who truly want to make a difference . . .
Be
bold! Be strong! Get a leg up on your opponent. Demand honesty and
integrity. Demand transparency and accountability. Run a truly
exemplary campaign in the best traditions of democracy. Be the solution
to the mess our electoral system is in, not just a perpetuation of the
problem. Help raise the bar and get rid of the crooks and liars. Stand
up to the tyranny of the anti-democratic kleptocrats -- the rich and
powerful -- who are destroying our system of self-government and looting
our country of its future.
Sign the contract.
Win the election.
Then start thinking about what you want to say in your victory speech late in the evening on November 6, 2018.
Here
we go again. If you can handle my mid-Western whine, the above video
offers a detailed explanation on how candidate contracts can be used to
weaponize the electoral campaigns of populist candidates. The entire
text of the presentation follows here:
In
my last article, I talked about the ethical and political basis for
introducing candidate contracts into our electoral process.
Now
I want to address their practical application, specifically how the
candidate contract becomes a powerful and decisive weapon on the raging
battleground that our campaigns for public office have become.
Let
me be absolutely clear at the outset. The candidate contract strategy
can only be used to boost the effectiveness and accelerate the momentum
of populist campaigns -- those which reflect the priorities and values
of a majority of American citizens -- because the strategy is predicated
on expressing the democratic will of that majority. Therefore, using
the candidate contract for narrow, niche activism, or unpopular causes
is a non-starter. In theory, candidate contracts can be drawn up for
any reason, around any issue big or small. But they are only effective
in attracting voter support if they reflect enormous popular support.
Having said that, making the candidate contract the centerpiece of a populist campaign can be decisive -- it can win elections.
Here's how.
It's
crucial to recognize, the candidate contract by embracing a number of
pivotal populist policies, then requiring focused and unwavering
dedication by whoever signs the contract to inaugurate those policies,
is not intended to constrain or control the 'good guy' populist
candidate. These items are the things he or she would do anyway if
elected. In fact, within each district the 'good guy' populist
candidates themselves each tailor the contract for their particular
constituents, literally designing the contract he or she can and will
deliver on.
While my template
lists eleven issues where vast majorities of Americans want decisive
action, I recommend, that based on a familiarity and understanding of
each local voting jurisdiction, only those "wedge" issues unique to a
particular district and the campaign taking place there, be included in
the contract for that district. It's hardly necessary or even
productive to put an entire campaign platform in the contract. Less is
more. Three to eight decisive issues is sufficient. Just enough to
defeat the establishment opponents and assure victory.
For
example, if the demographic is relatively older, Social Security and
Medicare likely would be incorporated, whereas free college education
may not be consequential enough to include. If the demographic is young
and working class, most likely the $15 per hour minimum wage clause
should be adopted. And so on.
The
'good guy' populist candidate must know where the voters stand, and
fashion his or her candidate contract accordingly. Specifically, he or
she is looking for those pivotal, high-visibility issues which have
major voter support, but are not championed by the opposition candidates! If an incumbent has, for example, voted in Congress against an increase in the minimum wage, and there's enormous support among low wage voters locally, that divergence is exactly what the populist candidate is targeting.
I can't stress this enough . . .
The
contract should identify those issues with popular local support which
differentiate him or her from their opponents. The progressive
candidate is on the side of the people, whereas the opponents -- establishment/centrist/neoliberal candidates from either major party -- are on the wrong side of these issues.
This now points us to how the candidate contract weaponizes the populist's campaign.
The
contract draws a massive, unmistakable line in the sand. The populist
is on one side -- the side of the people -- and his or her opponents are
on the other side. The populist candidate offers the voters something
substantial, powerful, unprecedented, a guarantee in writing in
the form of a legally-binding contract, declaring in no uncertain
terms, what he or she will be doing from day one when arriving in
Washington DC, for those same voters who voted them into office.
What
can the establishment candidates put on the table? More vague
promises, more empty rhetoric, more nice campaign slogans and pleasant
sound bites?
Recognize this . . .
Establishment
candidates cannot and will not sign the contract. Why? Because if
they do, they will lose the fat checks from their deep-pocketed campaign
donors -- corporations, Wall Street, big banks, the ruling elite -- and
the corrupt pay-for-play major parties will withdraw their support as
well. The major party campaign machine will be put to what they judge
as better use supporting someone who knows how their bread gets
buttered.
Thus, the establishment candidates effectively surrender to the populist candidate exactly what's needed
to put up a great fight and turn the tables. The candidate contract
becomes a weapon of mass destruction which can be aimed at the
opposition, to gain the advantage and turn the whole campaign on its
head.
The candidate contract, used properly and relentlessly, destroys the message, credibility, viability of anyone who won't sign on the dotted line.
Without any hesitation, it should be displayed proudly and prominently at every public event.
"Here
it is, good people. My guarantee to you the voters. Look at this!
This is not some wishy washy campaign promise. It's a legally-binding
contract, spelling out in precise detail what I'll be doing for you, the
voters, when I arrive in Washington DC. That's my signature there at
the bottom."
The
other side of that is at every public appearance, town hall meeting,
press event, photo op, the establishment candidates should be confronted
with their lack of courage, honesty, and commitment to voters. Using
the candidate contracts, they should be called out by campaign and
citizen activists who want real action, not posturing and prevarication.
I'm dead serious!
Vilify,
demonize, discredit the establishment candidates for their disloyalty
to the people. If they were serious about serving the vast majority of
citizens, they'd sign on the dotted line. Not signing the contract
means only one thing: They're blowing smoke. All their nice-sounding
speeches and wonderful TV ads are just more vaporous, hollow blather.
Let me offer three examples. Use your imagination and you'll come up with many more.
Get the FightFor15 crowd at campaign rallies for the 'bad guy' candidate. Wave signs that say: Why won't you sign the contract for the $15 minimum wage so I can afford to live?
Line
up old people on the sidewalk in front of his campaign headquarters.
Beautiful old folks in rockers, wheel chairs, leaning on aluminum
walkers. Have them wearing t-shirts saying: Why won't you sign the contract to protect my Social Security and Medicare?Make sure the local press and TV stations are there to cover the geriatric insurrection.
Have the Veterans For Peace and Code Pink at his campaign rallies. Hold up big banners: Why won't you sign the contract to bring the troops home from Afghanistan? No more American soldiers in body bags!
Is this negative? Is this mean?
No,
it's not negative. And it's not mean. It's a public service. Voters
need to know what they're getting when they vote for someone. If that
person won't come clean, then we need to come clean for them. Not
signing the contract is a BIG DEAL! It's a BIG RED FLAG! Voters
deserve to know.
Especially with incumbents, it's absolutely our
public duty to call them out on their false claims and excuses. They
haven't in the past demonstrated a basic understanding of their duties
and responsibilities to their constituents. And judging from their
refusal to sign a simple, straightforward contract -- which reflects the
will of majorities of citizens across the nation on issues that have
now reached crisis levels -- these establishment candidates will not in
the future be working for the everyday people of this country. Instead
they'll be working for the Wall Street banks, the multinational
corporations, the rich and powerful. Instead of passing the legislation
to address the critical problems we face, they'll be drumming up more
campaign contributions for their next run for office.
The
candidate contract allows honest, committed 'good guy' candidates who
have integrity and are willing to answer directly to the good folks who
elected them, to blow off the doors of calculated deception and
treachery, and expose the corruption that has become endemic in American
politics. Corruption which silences the voice of the people and locks
everyday citizens out -- individuals just like you and I -- preventing
us from participating in our democratic form of government. At
the same time, it opens other doors. And through those doors will walk
representatives who represent, public servants who serve the public,
determined, hard-working elected officials who will begin reinstating
accountability, transparency and integrity, to a good system gone bad --
a unique promise of self-rule by all citizens, corrupted and co-opted
by the crushing anti-democratic forces of unlimited money in politics,
and unchallenged power by an autocratic ruling elite.
It's time we fight back. Candidate contracts are the weapon of choice.
[ As a footnote, let me add one highly encouraging recent development. Revolt Against Plutocracy
is building an entire campaign around the candidate contract strategy
which will constitute a major thrust in an effort between now and the
2018 election to challenge centrist/neoliberal candidates, and promote
genuinely progressive/populist campaigns. The folks there integrated
the candidate contracts, which they call CFARs -- Contract For American
Renewal -- with what they call their leverage strategy. Keep a keen eye
out for some significant electoral activism from this excellent
organization, of which I'm now a board member and contributor. ]
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
