Sunday, March 18, 2012

Views at the top

Starting with my independent candidacy effort, I have been endeavoring to solicit the views of persons and organizations "at the top" about the Washington DC corruption problem and amending the First Amendment.  These include Senators Shelby and Sessions, Representative Bachus, the Alabama State Republican and Democratic parties, and others.  (Particular inquiry was made at the time of the January 20 national Occupy the Courts event.)  If you click on label C6. Views at the top to the right, entries reporting the inquiries I have made and responses I have received will appear in reverse chronological order.  If you review the entries, be sure to click on "older posts" when you get to the bottom of the webpage.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

June 11-15 Resolutions Week

The national Move To Amend organization has designated June 11-15, 2012 as Resolutions Week, which has the goal of 100 new local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment that amends the First Amendment (and add to dozens of local resolutions that have been passed).  Go here.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Thesis (2012)

[In my 2012 independent candidacy campaign, I had a "Thesis,", a "Strategy", and a "National Battle Plan." Those by and large carry over to 2014.  I am preserving the way I stated the same in 2012.  This entry is the way I stated the matter in 2012.]
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Start with the "big" question of "how good a job do you think Congress is doing in helping solve the country's very significant pressing problems?"

Is your answer, a very "poor job"?

 If it is and you have a strong belief that Congress is badly failing the country, what is your explanation of why this is so and how do you think things could be different so that you would not be so condemnatory of Congress?

Some people refer to polarization, gridlock and obstructionism as a source of the poor performance and the reason for the lowest Congressional approval rating in a long time. Others may just feel that something has gone badly wrong, but they cannot put an exact finger on it.

Here is my take: I think there are legitimate partisan differences among citizens that must be thrashed out in the governance of our country, there will be compromises in this process, and one cannot castigate Congress for doing a poor job just because Congress passes laws that are not entirely to one's liking. There is a baseline of disagreement that needs to be acknowledged, and Congress should be able to get a passing grade in how it tries to help the country solve its problems even if one's preferences are not entirely accommodated.

There is something more, however, at work that is deserving of condemnation by the citizens, and that citizens feel in their gut is wrong. There is an "iron triangle" in Washington D.C. of lawmakers (both Republicans and Democrats), lobbyists, and special interest organizations, that profits enormously from tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars sloshing around in Washington in a cesspool of, call it what you want, "influence peddling," "government for sale," or just plain corruption.

This "iron triangle" finds the political divisions, polarization and gridlock, in which every issue can be turned into a life and death, us against them, battle, as very advantageous for preserving their positions and riches. This distracts the citizens from the rampant corruption going on in Washington and associated failures in Congressional performance and keeps the voters from uniting to take action against the corrupt participants in the Washington cesspool.

This thesis is is elaborated by me in other entries Campaign finance corruption and Why corruption is bad. I have a lot of company of notable commentators and organizations that passionately agree about how bad the corruption problem is for satisfactory governance of the country. You can find numerous books that spell out how bad the problem is. One good current book is Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig's book Republic, Lost.  See also Corruption resources

You as a citizen should give careful consideration to what these commentators are saying about the connection between the corruption and failures of Congressional performance, and decide what you think about the matter.

If you are persuaded about how obstructive the corruption problem is for achieving satisfactory governance of the country, you should put this question to yourself, "Should voters temporarily put aside their understandable and legitimate partisan differences and temporarily act in unison and demand that Congress debate the extent to which there is a corrupt and broken system and that, as a legislative body, it engage in a strenuous national debate about what needs to be done about the system and make a legislative enactment that Congress proposes to the rest of the country be tried out to repair the broken system?"

If Congress does make a proposal, voters can then make a decision for themselves about whether they are satisfied with trying out the proposed solution enacted by Congress.

Voters who decide that Congress has failed to do this and has not proposed a solution that those voters are willing to try out for the country should vote against their incumbent Senators and Representative in November to register their view that Congress has failed the country and needs to be replaced in its entirety.

If Congress does take action before November, voters who are satisfied with trying out the proposed solution for the country can make their voting decisions in November on other grounds.

There is no predicting how things will come out if Congress is forced to act. I think voters can consider it a victory if they are able to force Congress to act by means of a threat that voters will act in unison to retire the incumbent Congress in November if it does not act. If Congress is forced to act, it is at risk that voters will not consider the action a satisfactory thing for the country to try out, and a different Congress will be voted into office to do the job.

If you agree with the foregoing thesis, please read on to Strategy

Monday, March 12, 2012

SPAM BLOCKING PROBLEMS

I am endeavoring to send out the below email:

Subj:  SHATTUCK for Congress in 6th Dist.- email ballot petition to AL Sec. State by Tuesday  
I seek to be on the November 2012 ballot as an independent candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the 6th Congressional district (Spencer Bachus' district).  To be on the ballot, I need 7000 petitions by March 13th from registered voters in the 6th Congressional district.  My platform is to fight corruption and gridlock in Washington DC so that Congress can do a better job for the American people.  The main plank in my platform is to amend the First Amendment to be applicable to human beings only.    For more information go to SHATTUCK for Congress.
If you are a registered voter in the 6th Congressional district and would like for me to be on the November ballot as an independent candidate, please go to this link EMAIL PETITION TO AL SEC. STATE and follow the instructions. 
Thank you.
Rob Shattuck

I am encountering spam blocking problems that are limiting my ability to send out my email.  It would be great if other people would use their email lists to help me out and send out emails such as:
Subj:  SHATTUCK for Congress in 6th Dist.- email ballot petition to AL Sec. State by Tuesday  
Mr. Robert Shattuck seeks to be on the November 2012 ballot as an independent candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the 6th Congressional district (Spencer Bachus' district).  To be on the ballot, he needs 7000 petitions by March 13th from registered voters in the 6th Congressional district.  His platform is to fight corruption and gridlock in Washington DC so that Congress can do a better job for the American people.  The main plank in his platform is to amend the First Amendment to be applicable to human beings only.    For more information go to SHATTUCK for Congress.
If you are a registered voter in the 6th Congressional district and would like for Mr. Shattuck to be on the November ballot as an independent candidate, please go to this link EMAIL PETITION TO AL SEC. STATE and follow the instructions. 
Thank you.




Friday, March 9, 2012

EMAIL PETITION TO AL SEC. OF STATE

[Send an email to Beth.Chapman@sos.alabama.gov with a copy to me at rdshattuck@gmail.com.  In your email, put in the subject line "Ballot access petition for Robert Shattuck", copy and paste into the body of your email the language set out below, and fill  in your name, street address, city, county, precinct/voting place and date of birth information on your email.  You should send the email only if you are a registered voter in the 6th Congressional District (Spencer Bachus' district). You may find an interactive map of the 6th Congressional district here.  Precinct/polling place information may be found here.   ADDENDUM 3/12, 5:55 pm.  You should consider the deadline for sending an email to be 5 pm, Tuesday.]


[start your copying and pasting with "PETITION" and end with my name "Robert Shattuck" that is under the signature line]


PETITION FOR BALLOT ACCESS............................... PAGE _____ OF _____
INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE.................................... STATE OF ALABAMA


Pursuant to §17-9-3, Code of Alabama, 1975, I, the person named below, am a qualified elector in the Alabama 6th Congressional District and the County specified below, and as such hereby request and petition that the name of Robert Shattuck be certified as an Independent Candidate for the office of United States Representative from the Alabama 6th Congressional District and placed on the official printed ballot for said office in the General Election to be held on November 6, 2012.  I intend and desire that this electronic communication have the same legal effect as a physical document originally signed by me and filed with the Alabama Secretary of State.  Upon request I will provide an originally signed physical copy of this document.  I authorize Robert Shattuck to sign a physical copy of this email on my behalf and deliver the same to the Alabama Secretary of State.

Name:


Street address:


City:


County:


Precinct/voting place


Date of birth:




SIGNED ON MY BEHALF
BY ROBERT SHATTUCK


_______________________
Robert Shattuck



Thursday, March 8, 2012

HELP OUT 967-5586

If Bachus and Beason do not appeal to you, and you think voters in the 6th Congressional district should hear more about my platform after March 13th, here are things you can do before the end of the day Tuesday if you would like to help me get my needed ballot access petitions.

1. Email a ballot access petition for me to the Secretary of State, with a copy to me, as specified here.   (If you email the petition, an originally signed, physical copy of the document may be subsequently requested of you.)

2. Email the link SHATTUCK for Congress to friends, with an appropriate message, such as "I think you should email a ballot access petition for this person to the Alabama Secretary of State as described here."

3  I can email you a ballot access petition document that has space for six signatures which you can have friends sign. You can make as many copies of the document as you need.  If you get signatures, please call me or email me for me to pick up the document from you.

4. I have lists of registered voters in the Sixth Congressional District for cold calling and solicitation of them to sign my ballot access petition. These lists have telephone numbers, and I can do the ballot access petition for these people with all the needed information filled in so that only signatures are needed. You can help by doing either the cold calling for setting up a time someone can come by with the petition to sign, and/or you can help by driving the petition to people's houses for them to sign. The lists of voters can be grouped geographically.

5. There are many persons I have previously solicited to sign my ballot access petition, and you can help by doing follow up contact of these people.

Email me at rdshattuck@gmail.com or call me at 967-5586 if you have any questions or want to help out  in the way described in paragraphs 3, 4  or 5 above.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Plea to be on ballot

I have a platform that seeks to fight corruption and gridlock in Washington DC and to improve the performance of Congress, which has the lowest public approval rating in a long time.  This platform focuses on a broken campaign finance system that, courtesy of Stephen Colbert, is known to the American people to be a very sorry joke.  My platform can be prosecuted only by the grassroots pushing up (which the grassroots is starting to do around the country), because the iron triangle of lawmakers, lobbyists and special interest organizations in Washington DC profits enormously from the broken campaign finance system and will change it only if forced by the grassroots acting in a unison.

(Parenthetically, I ask you, how much has any Republican Presidential contender talked during the past year about our joke of a campaign finance system?)

The voters in the Alabama 6th Congressional district are deserving of hearing more about my platform.  They have not heard about this platform from any other candidate in the 6th district.  If I am not on the ballot, they will hear nothing further after March 13th about my platform.  I urge every voter in the 6th Congressional district to sign my ballot access petition and to urge their fellow voters to do likewise in order to hear more about my platform after March 13th.

March 7, 2012

Thank you, UAB!  I had a great day at the Hill University Center yesterday meeting and talking to many of you.  I hope I will obtain more support and help from the UAB community in the next few days.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

March 6, 2012

See article "Shattuck to Challenge Bachus" on page 5 of March 6, 2012 edition of the UAB Kaleidoscope, which can be found here.

Friday, March 2, 2012

March 2, 2012

On Tuesday (I think), I called in to Matt Murphy and stated my "platform", and on Thursday I called in to Michael Hart and did the same thing.

My statement was this:

My platform starts with the "big" question of  "how good a job do you think Congress is doing in helping solve the country's problems?" If your answer is a "poor job", what is the explanation for this?

Many people refer to polarization, gridlock and obstructionism as a source of the poor performance and the reason for the lowest Congressional approval rating in a long time.

My response to this is that there are legitimate partisan differences that must be thrashed out, but there is something more.  To wit, there is an "iron triangle" in Washington D.C. of lawmakers (both Republicans and Democratics), lobbyists, and special interest organizations, that profits enormously from tens of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars sloshing around in Washington in a cesspool of, call it what you want, "influence peddling," "government for sale," or just plain corruption.

This "iron triangle" finds the political divisions, polarization and gridlock, in which every issue can be turned into a life and death, us against them, battle, as very advantageous for preserving their positions and riches.  Those distract the citizens from the rampant corruption going on in Washington and keep the voters from uniting to take action against the corrupt participants in the Washington cesspool.

The main contributing factor to the corruption is a broken campaign finance system that, as Stephen Colbert has made uproariously clear to the American people, is a joke.

There is a movement growing around the country that recognizes this, and that the broken campaign finance system will not be fixed by action at the top, but fixing must come from the grassroots pushing up.  This includes advocating that the First Amendment of the Constitution be amended.

I am part of this movement and believe a first priority for Congress is a serious national debate about the broken campaign finance system and what should be done about it.

In January I wrote letters to Senators Shelby and Sessions, Representative Bachus and Alabama Senator Beason asking for their views about how much a problem the corrupted political system in Washington was for the American people and whether an amendment to the First Amendment is needed.  These letters are further described at the Occupy the Courts entry on my website.

Senator Sessions replied by a letter dated January 23, 2012, in which he made no reference to whether he thought there was a corrupted political system that the American people should consider a problem.  Senator Sessions further expressed opposition to disclosure requirements being pushed by many Democrats related to the Citizens United case, because of a "chilling effect" on the making of campaign contributions.

Senator Shelby replied by letter dated January 25, 2012.  He too made no reference to whether he thought there was a corrupted political system that the American people should consider a problem.  He indicated he thought campaign finance reform could be, in general, adequately achieved by disclosure requirements.

Representative Bachus and Alabama Senator Beason did not respond to my letter.

On Friday, I called into the Matt Murphy talk show and asked three questions on the air for the candidates in the 6th Congressional district..  My first question was what the opinion of the candidate was about how good a job Congress was doing in helping the country solve its problems.  If the answer to that question was "a poor job," my second question was what was the candidate's explanation or explanations for the poor performance, and, third, what did the candidate propose to do about the poor performance.

Matt Murphy said he would ask my questions of Senator Beason, who was coming on later in the program, which Matt Murphy did. Senator Beason responded by saying that he thought Congress was doing poorly.  Senator Beason said he thought lawmakers initially go to Washington with good intentions, but, among other things, they decide the best way to stay in office is not to make waves and to do little or nothing.  Senator Beason said that was not what would happen with him and he would always be active, and fight for the things he believed in and that his constituents elected him to do.  As I recall Senator Beason's response, Matt Murphy suggested that the problem of poor Congressional performance would be remedied if there were a lot more Scott Beasons in Congress, and Senator Beason assented to that.*

Either Senator Beason does not understand the severely broken and corrupt political system in Washington DC, how it is a main factor in the poor performance of Congress, with the lowest approval ratings in a long time, and what is needed to fix the system so that Congress will do a better job for the American people; or else he does understand such things, and he is not being forthright to Alabama voters in the 6th Congressional district about the same.

* This description of Senator Beason's response is from my memory and without having taken notes.  I will endeavor to get a transcript of his response from WAPI.