Take Our Government Back

TOGB, Take Our Government Back, provides a means to curb, if not end, the global destructiveness caused by multinational corporations and the politicians that support them. TOGB empowers We The People to strike at the Achilles heal of the corruption in a variety of powerful ways that have never been done before.

Those of us who are either politically Left, progressive, environmentally concerned, and/or concerned with social issues have found ourselves fighting on many fronts, contributing to many campaigns, and in essence, spreading ourselves too thin. Therefore, TOGB provides a means to unify all people who see the corruption, the devastation of our sustainability, all those who live the gross inequalities and feel the squeeze of the corporate muscle wrestling their last dollar from them.

If we are to successfully storm the castle of the U.S. government with peaceful means, there is one way that it can be done. We must unify as many Left, progressive, environmental, and socially concerned organizations as possible behind a single new organization. But there is much more to TOGB than the means to unite these factions.  The time has come for us to stand together and take our government back.

We call on all people of the United States who are concerned for the environment, people's rights, and corporate and government corruption to come together in support of a single, new organization. This organization will have a board of directors made up from leaders of organizations such as The Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Counsel, Amnesty International, Worldwatch Institute, Doctors Without Borders, and American Civil Liberties Union. Individuals of high moral character, such as Gore Vidal, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Boxer, Bernie Sanders, Bill Moyer, and Amy Goodman will also be approached.

This new organization will be called Take Our Government Back, (TOGB, pronounced tog-bee.) It will support initiatives and candidates who will work together for a very narrow agenda:

TOGB will have a primary focus of eliminating ALL special interest money from government.

TOGB will also endorse future congressional and presidential candidates who demonstrate integrity and who are willing to commit to the platform endorsed by TOGB.

Let us call on the thousands of green and left organizations to come together to support this essential endeavor as well. Rather than fighting their own battles against such corruption and power, if we can come together to support this one goal, all else that is important will follow once this one bad seed is eliminated.  Through the backing of thousands of progressive organizations, along with their millions of respective supporters, TOGB can have the unified strength to eliminate the gross levels of corruption and take our government back. TOGB Will Offer a Unique Platform That Can Be Easily Embraced By A Clear Majority of Americans. Platform Exemples Include:

The US government offers every US citizen the option to refinance their existing mortgage with a 30-year mortgage at a 4% fixed rate of interest.

All financially qualified US citizens, not just those in immediate danger of default, would be able to refinance their existing primary residence, with a $800,000 limit of government capital for everyone.  Right now, the US Government is lending money at low interest rates to major corporations. Why not lend it directly to the people? 

It will prevent most foreclosures and turn the housing market around.

When the US Government refinances a 7% mortgage at 4%, it will cut your monthly payment by hundreds of dollars. And when you save or spend that extra money each month, it will stimulate our economy.  Instead of a trickle down plan to stimulate the economy, this is a trickle up plan that moves funds into the financial system by starting with the people.

There has been a myth propagated by government officials and the mass media that suggests there is no money for the elderly, the poor, for health care, environmental, education, and social programs. In truth, there is plenty of money, but we must go back to those who hold the purse strings to demand they once again pay their fair share. In an article entitled, How the Rich Rob the Poor and the Politicians Make It All Perfectly Legal, Nicole Colson writes: Over the three decades leading up to 2000, the 90 percent of U.S. households on the bottom end of the income ladder saw no increase at all in income on average, after adjusting for inflation. The top 10 percent, on the other hand, nearly doubled their income on average over the 30 years. In his book, Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super-Rich--and Cheat Everybody Else, journalist David Cay Johnston details how the tax system itself is helping to enrich a tiny elite at everyone else's expense.  "By 2002, the portion of federal revenue coming from corporate taxes had fallen to below 10 percent--down from approximately 33 percent during the Eisenhower administration. While the rich are paying far less in taxes, to make up the difference, both Democrats and Republicans have systematically shifted the tax burden onto the shoulders of everyone on the lower rungs of the income ladder."

Hence, taxes will be increased on the largest and most wealthy corporations and citizens, but not on anyone making less than $250,000 per year for a family of two. Instead, the tax burden on both the middle class and poor will be substantially reduced to reflect the lower rates of the 1960s, adjusted for inflation. Corporate welfare and tax loopholes for wealthy individuals and large corporations will be eliminated, and they will once again be held accountable to pay their fair share.

The gross profits currently made by corporations and executives in health care, insurance, biotechnology, weapons, pharmaceuticals, etc, are a result of excessive executive wages and unfair tax advantages that have been at the expense of hundreds of millions of other Americans. Putting reasonable limits on these gross profits through greater taxes on the wealthy is the only way to keep the excesses of a few from robbing the rest of a hopeful future.

TOGB will seek a constitutional amendment to eliminate all sources of corporate influence and money in government except, of course, taxes.

The minimum wage will be increased to be a living wage again.

High interest rate credit cards that keep people poor, and even unable to eat reasonably, will have their interest rates reduced down to a more manageable 5% interest for families earning less than $175,000 per year. Mortgages that balloon to a rate higher than 8% interest will be reduced to a maximum fixed rate of 5%.

In the same vein, the government spending hundreds of billions of dollars beyond a balanced budget only serves to rob our children of their future.

The Constitution of the United States of America states that international agreements must be ratified by two-thirds of Congress. NAFTA, GATT, and all other agreements signed with the World Trade Organization were not ratified in this way; they rob the United States of its sovereignty; they ship jobs overseas to sweatshops; and they must be rescinded.

Research showing the potent dangers of genetically modified foods has been systematically suppressed. These foods must be labeled so that consumers can avoid them if they so choose, and new strict testing standards will be put in place.

The media, now owned by a few multinational corporations, will be required to fully fund a not-for-profit, left-oriented television news organization that will be granted equal access with all other local media in all areas of the country. Antitrust laws dictate that news organizations must be limited in scope, and should not be owned by corporate entities with conflicts of interest. Just as the government once broke up the AT&T conglomerate, now the same should be exacted on the largest media oligopolies.

We also must immediately unite behind the creation of a national voting box standard that has a third-party verified audit trail rather than having the fox guard the hen house. Without this, our elections are a sham. This is an obvious top priority for TOGB, with the power and backing of its millions of supporters.

Thank you for your participation, and for believing that we the people have the power to take our government back, just as our founding fathers did. United together, it will be done.