The movement is changing, growing, evolving and we have the ability to actively participate in new incarnations of the movement. camping is not the central theme but the so far most noticeable form of direct action. we need a way to evaluate the most non-partisan, and most non-alienating and most effective demands of our growing demands lists......we need way of educating people as to what we're about and why specific change is need.

the reclamation of public spaces in my heart as it is in many of yours, but the questions remain:

~what else

~what more

~what now

~what tomorrow?!

To find the least partisan demands, let's look at some things most people, whatever their political leaning, might agree is pressing problem:

1) Return control of political system to We, The People - After the whole "debt" farce, when practically everyone was screaming "jobs," the American people realized that politicians, Democrat and Republican, don't represent their interests. Unfortunately, I don't think they quite realize yet that's because our politicians are working for the 1%, thanks to corporate money in politics. That’s our job to point out over and over again until it sinks in.

2) Reforming the tax code – there’s fairly broad agreement that the rich ought to pay their share.

3) Reforming the financial sector, so it can no longer single handedly destroy the economy. I think people understand that Wall Street gambled with our money and wrecked the economy. They also understand Wall Street was bailed out with sweetheart deals from our elected representatives with no assurances/guarantees for Main Street. Which leads to the next item...

4) Jobs - in poll after poll, that is the overwhelming concern of citizens.

There may be more areas of broad agreement, but I couldn't think of any. But that's enough.

Provided you agree with those broad areas though, a wonderful thing happens. Demands magically emerge:

1) Return control of political system to We, The People – Since control by the 1% comes virtue of unlimited corporate money in politics, the solution is to take money out of politics. But because money has been deemed to equal free speech by the Supreme Court because “corporations are people,” any legislative attempt at campaign finance reform will be ruled as unconstitutional. Therefore, the demand is: “Pass a constitutional amendment that eliminates corporate personhood (along with all supposed rights) and makes all public elections publicly financed.”

2) Reforming the tax code – this is a tough one, because I don’t think there is broad enough agreement to make the necessary changes. The demand: I would argue for a 70% top rate, a 1% speculation tax, an end to tax havens, making the capital gains tax the same percentage as the income tax, and lifting the caps on the Social Security Tax so rich people pay on ALL their income, but I rather doubt this would have broad agreement. If someone has ideas on where to get money for jobs and infrastructure that a broad-based coalition could agree on, I’d love to hear it. Another way to get the money would be to end all foreign wars and cut the military budget in half, but I don’t think there is broad-based agreement on that either.

3) Reforming the financial sector, so it can no longer single handedly destroy the economy. – The reason Wall Street was able to screw around was because of deregulation (e.g. the Glass-Steagle Act) and lack of enforcement (e.g. the Sherman Anti-Trust Act). The demand: Reinstate Glass-Steagle and enforce the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, fully funding all regulatory agencies.

4) Jobs – there are two paths I can think of help on the jobs front. The demand: One is a WPA style work program to repair our crumbling infrastructure. The other is a major investment in green technology along with training. The only trouble is, how do you pay for it? See 2) above. Unfortunately, that isn’t a slam dunk by any means. Another method is to borrow the money, the way the Fed secretly lent billions to the banking industry. Again, I don’t see broad-based agreement forthcoming on that one, either.

Given the realities, I suspect only 1) and 3) are achievable for now. But that’s a great start!

If politicians become accountable to The People instead of corporations, our elected representatives will magically become orders of magnitude more progressive. I think then that it would be much easier to get 2) and 4) done.