99 Percent Party Says GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!

It’s Time to Get Money Out of Politics

Bailouts. War. Unemployment. Our government is bought, and we’re angry.

by Johnny Punish

The 99 percenters, those who are at Occupy Wall Street whom I call the 99 Percent Party are screaming “Get Money Out of Politics” and the roar keeps getting louder and louder.

I mean, today, we heard the folks at Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream are joining the protest and putting their outstanding civic reputation behind it.  That’s good stuff….yes, the Ice Cream too!

Now, most mainstream media is either ignoring the 99 Percenters or dismissing them as a fade, cult, or whatever and that’s par for the course considering that their assigns are in bed with the very peeps the protestors want to be marginalized.

However, strangely, once strong advocate is Dylan Ratigan from MSNBC who’s been on this issue almost from the start.   Yes, he was an ex-Wall Street guy but he got disgusted by the inhumanity of it all many years ago and has now become an advocate for the rights of men to be free from tyranny and realized that the people in D.C. no longer represented the will of the American people.  And he has a real genuine heartfelt problem with that.   His actions and words say so…

With other intelligent young advocates and bloggers, he’s out there pushing and hanging out with protestors working to figure out a way to turn the national energy into real national action.

Here’s what they say…..

GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS PETITION DRIVE

Now, we’re turning our anger into positive action. By signing this petition, you are joining our campaign to get money out of politics. Our politicians won’t do this. But we will. We will become an unrelenting, massive organized wave advocating a Constitutional amendment to get money out of politics.

As the petition grows, the wave grows. Email, Facebook, Tweet — GET MONEY OUT. We are using our ability to influence media outlets as a platform to force this issue to the center of the 2012 elections. Join us.

From our former Washington Lobbyist, Jimmy Williams, here is a DRAFT of our Constitutional Amendment for public debate this fall:

“No person, corporation or business entity of any type, domestic or foreign, shall be allowed to contribute money, directly or indirectly, to any candidate for Federal office or to contribute money on behalf of or opposed to any type of campaign for Federal office.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, campaign contributions to candidates for Federal office shall not constitute speech of any kind as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution or any amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office.”

Here is Lawrence Lessig’s DRAFT of the amendment. As always we would like your comments for debate.

“No non-citizen shall contribute money, directly or indirectly, to any candidate for Federal office. United States citizens shall be free to contribute no more than the equivalent of $100 to any federal candidate during any election cycle.

Notwithstanding the limits construed to be part of the First Amendment, Congress shall have the power to limit, but not ban, independent political expenditures, so long as such limits are content and viewpoint neutral. Congress shall set forth a federal holiday for the purposes of voting for candidates for Federal office.”

Steps are already being taken by some big names. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz urged fellow CEOs and campaign donors this week to boycott campaign contributions until the parties actually do something constructive to fight long-term fiscal concerns and the jobs crisis. Former PA Gov. Ed Rendell has said he will support it as well:

There are so many legislators who have said to me, gosh, if I could vote in secret, I could vote for your proposal Governor because I know it’s the right thing to do. But I can’t do it. The other side will raise money for it and kill me. And that’s what’s so important — it is so important to get the influence of money out of politics.

Because if you get the influence of money out of politics, we will get people who will actually vote their conscience.  And I think that’s extraordinarily important. You’re right to say it’s not the lobbyists… but it is the money that perverts the entire process…. I would be interested in Jimmy’s drafting the amendment.

Johnny Punish

Johnny Punish founded VT in 2004.  After 20 years at the helm, he “retired” from the daily operations in late 2023 passing the ball over to the new owner of VT, Chief Justin Time.   He now writes for VT as “Writer Emeritus”.  He is also a global citizen eco-activist, visionary, musician, artist, entertainer, businessman, investor, life coach, podcast host, and syndicated columnist.  

Punish is an ethnically cleansed Palestinian-American whose maternal family was evicted from their home in Haifa, Palestine in 1948 by Irgun; a Euro-Zionist Settler Terrorist Group.  The family became part of the over 1,000,000 Palestinians who are Al-Nakba refugees (The Catastrophe).  The family fled to Beirut Lebanon for 13 years eventually emigrating to the USA in 1961 via a Brasilian passport obtained by his Palestinian Brasilian-born grandmother (In the early 1900s, the family was sent to Sao Paolo Brasil as guest workers in the mining industry.  Punish’s father is Italian-American from New York City.  Punish’s paternal great-grandparents emigrated to the USA from Naples Italy and Marineo in Sicily in the 1890s.  Punish was born in the Bronx, New York in 1963.

Punish was educated at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (1980-81) and California State University Fullerton (1981-1984) with studies in accounting and business. Before the “internets” had been invented, he owned and ran (5) national newspapers in the United States of America from 1987-1998.  From 2004 to 2023, he owned and managed VT Foreign Policy retiring at the end of 2023.

Punish is also a recording artist.  He has over 100 original songs written. He records and produces music. A member of ASCAP, Punish has several songs placed in feature films. His music is promoted worldwide and played on all digital networks and net radio.

He is also the founder and owner of  Global Thinkers, a freedom media that helps free thinkers create real wealth.

Resources: Facebook –  YouTube – Apple Music – SoundCloud – Spotify –  X (Twitter)

Read Johnny’s Full Bio at JohnnyPunish.com >>>