In addressing the critical problems that this nation faces there must be a clear objective; and that is to target the two underlying causes, Wall Street and the U.S. Congress. Wall Street is already being targeted by the #OWS and now the sights of this movement and the American people must be turned on the Congress. The further objective must be to break up the corrupt, incestuous relationship between these two entities and, thereby, break their vice grip on America.
While that's not an easy task, and it will take a great deal of time and effort, it can be done. It took decades to put America into this precarious position and so it will take time and patience to rectify the situation. Not only must this growing movement be spread across America but every kind of progressive, independent and Democratic organization that believes in this cause must join the effort and work hard to rally the entire country behind it.
The aim should not be to try to bring Wall Street down because that would not only be impossible but it would be entirely wrong; the real aim must be to bring Wall Street under control, to put an end to its abusive practices and have it become an "honest broker."
In addition to what the people on the streets are doing what else can the rest of the American people do? Many of the abusive practices can be stopped by individuals themselves. One of the easiest and most effective ways is for people to move their money out of the known offending banks and transfer it to neighborhood banks or credit unions. If a major bank puts an unfair charge on use of debit cards or some other service, just drop it and go to one that doesn't.
Secondly do the research and homework and boycott those mortgage companies, stock traders, and financial advisers who are known to be less than honest and ethical. There is nothing difficult in doing this because with a little effort people can identify unscrupulous offenders and simply refuse to give them any business. If we don't strongly reject these abuses then we are part of the problem.
The second target and the biggest, most troublesome problem is the U.S. Congress. This is the legislative body that should be overseeing and controlling the financial sector in order to prevent unethical, illegal practices. But when many of these legislators are in collusion with those who they should be regulating then it is a terrible dilemma for America. These legislators must become targets for expulsion from both the House and the Senate. Sure it will take some years but it can and must be done.
What I'm advocating may be repetitious for some who have heard it all before but it's worth repeating in order to keep reinforcing this fact; that only the power of the people, through the election process, can solve this deep-seated problem that exists within our government. We have a little more than a year to clearly identify the primary targets for expulsion. Without a doubt, every single Republican obstructionist, and that's every one of them who is up for election, must be singled out as a target in the 2012 elections. We can't possibly take every one of them down at that time but we have to defeat as many as possible.
Now let's turn the spotlight on the Democratic side. There are two groups of specific Democrats who have, by their actions, often sided with the conservative movement in Congress. In the House there are twenty five Blue Dog conservative Democrats. Here is a membership list of the 25 members of the Blue Dog Coalition. They may identify themselves as moderate Democrats but don't be fooled.
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