REPLACE WITH PEOPLE POWER

One neighborhood at a time,
Build a Bettah World, without the trolls!

SEVERAL BRIDGES, WAY TOO FAR!

​by Michael Gorse
"Early to bed, early to rise. Work like hell and organize." On that principle the Great American Middle Class was forged by our grandparents, in union sit-ins and suffrage marches and civil disobedience against second class citizenship. That's how the American Middle Class was built.Today, trolls think they can close OUR bridge, the bridge WE built, close it to US. That's just STUPID!

Today, all we have accomplished is threatened by bully politics and political dysfunction, as dark money buys crooked politicians to put their greed above our governance. Our latest evidence comes from the great state of New Jersey. Who knows where this bridge goes, but what it shows is government by trolls, bought by moneyed interests, because money talks.

When "Money is Speech" then "Bribery is Legal"
With Citizens United, SOCTUS has made bribery legal. Our Pols have been bought. Corrupting "dark" money, exemplified by best by the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove, corrupts at every level, school board to White House. No wonder it is so easy to buy bully governors. We must stop the money laundering machine to take our democracy back from dark money interests that answer to no one. Their goal to stifle government as they amass fortunes ruining earths climate and stealing our pensions and social safety net. So it is not just the Great American Middle Class at risk, it is the garden planet and sustainable human society.

Today voting rights are in the Koch machine's targets. They know they can't win elections so they must steal office instead, with Dark Money Laundering to hide illegal campaign activities. This is GBT, Government By Troll. The media needs a story, let it be the people's Twelve Steps to End Political Dysfunction. Solve the problem that begets all problems, Dark Money.

---

Dark Money TROLLS WIN When Good People Give Up!

RESTORE REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: 
PEOPLE POWER 1, 2, 3!
The Middle Class, and representative democracy have been trolled for years by Dark Money. The goal? Steal everything, even our future! Now they are coming for our vote and our pensions. 

Since Dark Money overwhelmingly represents the fossil fuel industry, their "Wins" equate to runaway greenhouse effects for our children and grand children. We owe them their future!

The way to End Government By Troll, restore representative democracy, and return the 'Government of the People' to the People starts by literally restoring 'Power to the People' with the three goals of PEOPLE POWER.

PEOPLE POWER #1 Return basic affordable banking service to people by utilizing the United States Postal Service. Basic banking needs should include check cashing, simple checking, savings and credit, utility payments and micro-lending and student loans. In short, to give people banking services as we used to know them, before the Wall Street gambling, bubble crashes, 21% interest and $35 fees for breathing corrupted big finance.

PEOPLE POWER  #2 The Solar Neighbors program offers Micro-funding through the United Stated Postal Service, to fund Solar Power installations; open to homeowners, leasers/renters, small business' and self-forming Solar Neighborhood Energy Coops. The influx of new Solar Power will replace the need for fossil fuels. It gives adopters, (a.k.a. middle class Americans and community builders that are willing to work,) a leg up on energy bills, increases property values, and saves the planet for our grand children. It also offers at risk communities greater access to affordable electricity.

People Power is good for Big Energy too. This program requires a companion investment in Big Energy, as the growing influx of new clean power sources require a new Smart Grid to integrate. It decreases the need for fossil fuel generating stations and meets long-term environmental goals. In exchange for the public infrastructure investment, Buy-Back rates for Solar Power must be set at consumer-friendly rates with the Big Energy companies that benefit from this public infrastructure investment.

PEOPLE POWER #3 The Solar Neighbors Energy Coops, mentioned in the PEOPLE POWER #2, financed through PEOPLE POWER #1, are self-organizing groups of neighbors that bundle responsibilities for the goals of the local community. 

Solar Neighbors Energy Coops organize to finance, install and operate community Solar Energy Generating/Charging and Community Communications, Nutrition/Garden Centers funded with Micro-Loans from the USPS. Organizers in community neighborhoods access seed funding for solar power generating and charging stations, to be associated with community gardens on community property. The goal is to empower willing people with time, energy and care, to focus on real people and their real problems, giving them the tools they need to do good, sustainable, people oriented solutions. 

People get access to power, to inexpensive, good food and nutritional advice, even a small fleet of electric cars for short use. The result? COMMUNITY HAPPENS.

When People have power, PEOPLE WIN and Fossil Fuel loses! If you want to restore power to the people, start with PEOPLE POWER!

When Dark Money is 'Political' Speech, Political Bribery is Legalized! 
That's why we don't want your money.

It is hard to see, in this money-centered world, where the answer to the Trolls and Money Launderers is another campaign to raise money. Frankly, as long as money is the key to politics, the People lose.

We will never outspend the KochMachine. When money is the competition the People lose. The money is on the FIX. We, the People, need to Fix the Fix. That's not one step, it's Twelve Steps.'
The Dark Money is all on "climate change til we die." This is just stupid. We need to stop this stupid behavior now. 

The People must say no. We have done this before. We know how. And from our social revolution in the 1930's, we got the 40 hour work week, child labor laws and Social Security. It is time 'We the People', assert ourselves again. We are the solution, we are the future, our time is now.

Bernie Sanders and Bill Mckibben say build a movement. 

the people's pledge

1. General Electric - From 2008 to 2013, while GE made over $33.9 billion in United States profits, it received a total tax refund of more than $2.9 billion from the Internal Revenue Service.

G.E.’s effective U.S. corporate income tax rate over this six year period was -9 percent
(read full piece).

2. Boeing - From 2008 to 2013, while Boeing made over $26.4 billion in U.S. profits, it received a total tax refund of $401 million from the IRS. Boeing’s effective U.S. corporate income tax rate over this six-year period was -2 percent.

Boeing is one of the top recipients of corporate welfare in the United States and has outsourced tens of thousands of decent paying jobs to China and other low-wage countries. (read full piece)

3. Verizon - From 2008 to 2013, while Verizon made over $42.4 billion in U.S. profits, it received a total tax refund of $732 million from the IRS.

Verizon’s effective U.S. corporate income tax rate over this six-year period was -2 percent.

In 2012, Verizon stashed $1.8 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. Verizon would owe an estimated $630 million in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance was eliminated. (read full piece)

4. Bank of America - Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS in 2010, even though it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of more than $1.3 trillion.

In 2012, Bank of America operated more than 300 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands, which has no corporate taxes.

In 2012, Bank of America stashed $17.2 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. Bank of America would owe an estimated $4.3 billion in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance strategies were eliminated.
(read full piece)

5. Citigroup - Citigroup made more than $4 billion in profits in 2010, but paid no federal income taxes. Citigroup received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury during the financial crisis.

Citigroup has established 427 subsidiaries incorporated in offshore tax havens.

In 2012, it stashed $42.6 billion in offshore tax havens to avoid paying U.S. income taxes. Citigroup would owe an estimated $11.5 billion in federal income taxes if its use of offshore tax avoidance strategies were eliminated. (read full piece)

---

Take The 
People's Pledge 
Corporations are not people, greed is not good, money is not speech, rights are for all, and justice is our moral imperative.

End 'Government By Troll' and the rest of our issues have common sense solutions.
No More GBT!

Elizabeth Warren's Postal Banking Idea Has Big Public Support, New Poll Finds
By Emily Swanson

Posted: 02/13/2014 7:34 am EST Updated: 02/13/2014 11:59 am EST


Many Americans say they would support the U.S. Postal Service expanding into basic banking and financial services and would sometimes use those services if they were available, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.

Expanding post office services to include banking was recently explored in a report by the Postal Service inspector general, and is backed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D.-Mass.) as a way to bring affordable basic banking services to low-income neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods are often ignored by banks and served only by check cashers and payday lenders that charge high fees.

According to the new poll, 44 percent of Americans said they would favor the Postal Service offering basic financial services like bill-paying, check-cashing and small loans. Thirty-seven percent said they were opposed, and 19 percent said they weren't sure.

The Big Benefits of Postal Service Banking
by Elizabeth Warren

Many families do not have access to traditional banks, and postal offices could help fill the gap.

More than a quarter of all American households – about 68 million people – rely at least in part on nonbank financial services like check cashing or payday lending. These unbanked and underbanked households pay more – a lot more – for the kinds of basic financial services the rest of us take for granted. In 2012, the average income for these families was about $25,500, and they spent an average of $2,412 just on interest and fees for nonbank financial services. That was just under 10 percent of their annual income – or about the same amount as they spent on food.
Think about that: The average underbanked family spends roughly the same amount on getting checks cashed, bills paid and the occasional short-term loan as they do on food for an entire year. These families aren’t looking for mortgages and business loans that require more business judgment. They just need access to basic banking services.
Why aren’t these families using traditional banks to cash their paychecks and pay their bills? Many have been shut out of traditional banking. Banks are rapidly abandoning low-income and rural neighborhoods. SNL Financial documents a shift in banking, with banks opening new branches in areas where the median income is over $100,000 while simultaneously closing branches in areas where the median income is under $50,000, shutting out families of modest means.
Luckily, there is an organization with the public mission, the infrastructure, the experience and the well-trained employees needed to help address this problem: the U.S. Postal Service. A recent report from the USPS inspector general found the Postal Service already has the statutory authority it needs to partner with banks and credit unions to provide basic, affordable financial services like check cashing and small-dollar savings accounts at post office branches. The services could be offered to customers at much lower prices than expensive private alternatives. The Postal Service could partner with community banks and credit unions to help train workers and provide back-office management.
With nearly 60 percent of post office branches in ZIP codes where there are either one or no bank branches, postal banking could fill the void banks have left by closing branches nationwide. The Postal Service already has a presence in low-income and rural communities, and it could leverage that infrastructure to provide access to lower-cost basic banking services. This idea is a win-win: The Postal Service could offer affordable financial services for underserved families and, at the same time, shore up its own financial footing. The inspector general estimates the USPS can generate billions of dollars in new revenues by offering these services for modest fees.
Postal banking is not a new or untested idea, either. The USPS already provides some financial services, like international money transfers to certain countries and domestic money orders, and it used to provide small-dollar savings accounts as recently as the 1960s. Moreover, the postal services in a number of other countries – from Germany to Japan to Brazil – have been offering basic financial services for some time.
A number of steps must be taken to protect people from financial tricks and traps in the marketplace and to expand families’ access to lower-cost banking services. This innovative and creative approach is one such step. It will help strengthen the finances of the Postal Service and help struggling families to build economic security.

Trolls are insidious with long term goals, & a huge head start killing our most cherished institutions

on their list: 
US Post Office

Look at the years in this chart. See a plan in the process? 

The US Post Office has been the target of trolls and conservative ideologues since the 1980s. Time to rethink every dour denunciation you have ever heard about the Post Office, thee quintessential aspiration of a new government at our nation's first stirrings, as the bringer of all that is good and community building.

That's why when they talk down America, the conservatives and Trolls always go for the Post Office. It is hugely important. Look at the timeline in the map and you can track the Post Office when republicans are trying to kill it, and when centrist government is funding its fiscal responsibilities.

We need banking we can depend on. And micro-loans to rebuild our neighborhoods with green belts and green power and simple credit services that make life livable. And we deserve services not delivered by the trolls that are dedicated to their greed at our expense.

The US Post Office is the perfect vehicle to deliver these services tomorrow! It is in every neighborhood, it's employees are local and community committed and it already has a cash drawer and service windows empowered to do the beginnings of the People's Bank.

Now we need the political will to tell our leaders what we want, need and will make happen, if they just get the hell out of the way and stop gaming the system for the trolls.

---

The U.S. Postal Service is in deep trouble. It lost over $1 billion in each of the past six months, and over $12 billion since 2007. And the USPS is likely to default on a $5.5 billion payment due to the Treasury on August 1st.  The reason?  Congress is trying to act as a board of directors.

"If Congress grants the Postal Service freedom to operate like a business ... the USPS will be able to change its business model and delivery network, allowing it to adjust to a new communications marketplace."-Richard Geddes
(read full piece)

---