Become a citizen co-sponsor

Become a citizen co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 to end secret election spending.

The U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United v. FEC ruling has unleashed a torrent of anonymous campaign spending into our political system. Corporations have been able to exert a massive influence on our electoral process without being subject to any accountability for that influence.

Progressive champion Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is fighting back by pushing Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act. And he has asked the public to join him as citizen co-sponsors.

Become a citizen co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 to end secret election spending.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/disclose_citizen_cosponsor/?r_by=42314-3451380-30XNMQx&rc=confemail 

South Dakota Peace and Justice hosts Occupy Rapid City panel

By Greg Olson with editorial and memory help by Clay Uptain

Tuesday night the monthly meeting of the Rapid City chapter of the South Dakota Peace and Justice organization hosted a panel of Occupy Rapid City members.  The focus of this meeting was ‘The Significance of the “Occupy” Movement in Contemporary America: A Discussion.’   The panelists were volunteers and each of them spoke from their own point of view regarding the Occupy Movement.  The panel was comprised of three noteworthy members of our Occupy Rapid City community and yours truly. Each panelist spoke from the heart about the Movement with emphasis on particular aspects that spoke specifically to them.  While these panelists generally share similar views they did not speak as representatives of the diverse membership of the Occupy Movement.

Clay Uptain spoke of his background as a criminal justice system professional and how the Occupy Movement’s worldwide significance and his interest in the spiritual and social aspects of what that means, not just for Rapid City, but for all of humanity.

Jim Petersen shared that he is a Veteran pilot and feels that the Defense budget is way out of proportion and that it needs a significant reduction. He also listed other issues that he felt continued to be of specific relevance to the Movement.  He elaborated on each of the items that he referred to and how they related to the essential central issues of the Movement’s Occupy Wall Street beginnings. One of the key issues he mentioned was that our country has slowly degenerated into a plutocracy. We are no longer a democracy. He also discussed the National Defense Appropriations Act that eviscerated the Bill of Rights and has put our nation under indefinite martial law.

Peggy Detmers related how her background made many of Occupy’s central causes important to her.  She has a background in biology and is currently working with a biochemist identifying toxins in our environment. She issued several challenges to the listeners to join in the activism of the Occupy Movement.  This call to action was well understood and has been historically shared by most if not all of those in attendance of this gathering of the local South Dakota Peace and Justice group.

For my part, I tried to express how the Occupy Movement provides a venue or outlet for the “frustrated” majority or for the percentage of the population that should be able to associate with the movement, “the 99%.”  At the same time the Movement has avoided the partisanships of political parties.  The Occupy Movement provides the bridge between many groups on issues that are important to all of us, regardless of political, religious, or other divisive group definition.

All of the panelists seemed to agree that the Occupy Movement was a continuing catalyst for activism as well as for civic and social responsibility.  Evidence of this belief can be observed in action; two Occupy Rapid City members are serving on a task force formed by the Rapid City Council that was successful in getting the City of Rapid City to formalize and update its procedures for where it keeps its money.  The effort deemphasized the reliance on big banks and financial institutions and focused on the city including more small and locally owned banks and credit unions.