Former Texas Agriculture Commissioner, creator of the Doug Jones Average, and perennially witty guy Jim Hightower writes via The Union Democrat of Sonora, California:
If tiny groups of Wall Street bankers, billionaires, and their political puppets are allowed to write the rules that govern our economy and elections, guess what? Only bankers, billionaires, and puppets will profit from those rules.
[...] They've rigged the rules to let them feast freely on our jobs, devour our country's wealth, and impoverish the middle class.
"Take On Wall Street" is both the name and the feisty attitude of a nationwide campaign that a coalition of grassroots groups has launched to do just that: Take on Wall Street. The coalition, spearheaded by the Communication Workers of America, points out that there is nothing natural or sacred about today's money-grabbing financial complex. Far from sacrosanct, the system of finance that now rules over us has been designed by and for Wall Street speculators, money managers, and big bank flim flammers. So--big surprise--rather than serving our common good, the system is corrupt, routinely serving their uncommon greed at everyone else's expense.
[...] A growing grassroots coalition of churches, unions, civil rights groups, citizen activists, and many others are organizing and mobilizing us to crash through those closed doors, write our own rules, and reverse America's plunge into plutocracy. The "Take On" campaign has the guts and gumption to say enough!
[...] The campaign has laid out a five-point [sic] people's reform agenda and are now taking it to the countryside to rally the voices, anger, and grassroots power of workers, consumers, communities of color, Main Street, the poor, people of faith... and just plain folks.
- Getting the corrupting cash of corporations and the superrich out of our politics by repealing Citizens United and providing a public system for financing America's elections.
- Stopping "too big to fail" banks from subsidizing their high-risk speculative gambling with the deposits of us ordinary customers--make them choose to be a consumer bank or a casino, but not both.
- Institute a tiny "Robin Hood Tax" on Wall Street speculators to discourage their computerized gaming of the system, while also generating hundreds of billions of tax dollars to invest in America's real economy.
- Restore low-cost, convenient "postal banking" in our Post Offices to serve millions of Americans who're now at the mercy of predatory payday lenders and check-cashing chains.
There's an old truism about negotiating that says: "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu". The "Take On Wall Street" campaign intends to put you and me--the People--at the table for a change.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday September 02 2016, @10:24AM
And a big ole sloppy tongue kiss back at ya, sweety.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday September 02 2016, @05:05PM
Sorry, I'm not done with your mother, your wife, and your daughter yet. Wait your turn.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday September 03 2016, @02:51AM
Nevermind. On further reflection I've decided I do not in fact care to have herpes.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday September 04 2016, @04:20AM
You already do, Uzzard. You've got herpes of the mind. I call 'em herp-de-derpes.
Wow, look at you. You are fucking PISSED. Down to sexual insults now, even! You're regressing to the schoolyard! ...or maybe progressing, I dunno.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Sunday September 04 2016, @01:09PM
Dude, mouth herpes are not sexual, just disgusting. I don't expect you to know the difference though. You're quite lacking in the brain department.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 05 2016, @12:09AM
You are mad as hell, Uzzard :) Keep crying; your tears are bitter and delicious, and I've karma to burn, Mr. Self-Admitted Staff Troll. Like all your kind, you can dish it out but you sure can't take it!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday September 05 2016, @12:53AM
Mad? Over a weak-shit troll on the Internet? You'd have to come to my house and spill my beer to get me mad. You simply do not have the skills to anger anyone over the Internet.
Now how about you? You reply to everything I say, antagonistically. You're like a little girl chasing around the boy she likes on the playground and harassing him. Do you want to be my special friend or something? Well, maybe. Send tits. Good tits and a ball gag and we might could make something work for a night.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday September 05 2016, @02:50AM
Good Lord, *so* mad! And now you're down to pornographic harassment...this is most unbecoming from a staff member of a well-respected (*snerk*) internet forum of free and open discourse. :D Keep going; this is a Trump-level cascade of escalating self-destruction!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday September 05 2016, @10:37AM
Harassment? Funny, that's exactly what the snowflakes over in the SJW camp always claim when they hear something they don't like. I knew you weren't just any old liberal retard. No, you gotta go full on SJW and claim your fee-fees got hurt and someone must pay. Thank you for so perfectly illustrating that nobody should ever take you seriously.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday September 06 2016, @04:30PM
Oh, don't get the wrong impression; I think you're hilarious :D In fact that one *was* a mild troll; I was checking to see if you were going to respond the way I thought you would (and further damage your credibility...) and lo and behold, you did it.
This is actually getting a bit boring now...still funny though.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday September 06 2016, @08:59PM
Bzzzt, you must make a different argument than I made in the post you are responding to. You are fined 500 Internets and your trolling license is suspended for a week. Please try to be semi-original next time.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday September 07 2016, @03:53AM
Would heaven you were actually funny...that's the worst part of this, you can't even be witty while you're being a perambulating trashfire of a human being :(
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 07 2016, @10:22AM
See, that wasn't that difficult, was it? Now if you'd just learn to troll at a level above what my nephews in grade school can manage...
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday September 07 2016, @04:27PM
Why do I need to troll? You seem to think anyone calling you out for your complete lack of basic human decency is a troll. No, honey, that's not how it works. Besides which, you go abso-frackin'-lutely nuclear when someone points out the obvious (that you're a shameless oxygen thief), so you do all the work for me anyway :)
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday September 07 2016, @09:20PM
You seem to not even know what you are. That's just sad. Own it. Hell, take pride in it. Trolls are the only ones demanding objectionable speech be kept free right now. Ah, I almost forgot you're doing this in some sad, misguided attempt to get people not to pay any attention when I say something relevant. Good luck with that. All you're managing to this point is the opposite.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 08 2016, @03:43AM
...this isn't even funny any more. I'm trying to imagine your state of mind and it's making me throw underflow and div/0 errors. How can you be this completely un-self-aware, especially at your age?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday September 08 2016, @04:00AM
Well, that was a given. You were never going to win with your utter lack of style and talent. Thankfully I am a graceful winner and shall allow you to continue practicing your trollcraft here in my house on the lesser talents. You really should consider an apprenticeship with aristarchus or Ethanol-Fueled.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 08 2016, @04:29AM
Uh...wow. You're just proving my point all the harder every time you reply. I guess Dunning and Kruger were right: incompetents are not competent to know they're incompetent :/
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday September 08 2016, @10:24AM
No, I said practice on other people. We've already established you're not yet ready to play in the big leagues. I mean it's kinda cute watching you try but it's also sad watching you fail every single time.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Thursday September 08 2016, @06:27PM
I am still morbidly curious as to how long this level of projection can be kept up. Not to mention, for the--what, fifth, sixth?-- time here, I'm not trolling. Calling you out for your utter sociopathy isn't a troll, and the fact that you think it is only underscores my point.
How long are you going to keep digging yourself into that hole? You've gotta be most of the way to China by now.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday September 09 2016, @01:09AM
Awe, don't be sad. So you're not as good as me at trolling (or anything else), that just means you have a goal to work towards!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday September 09 2016, @04:22PM
You don't read so good, do ya, boy...? Or spell so good either. That's okay, I've had experience dealing with the learning-disabled before. Just...uh, keep doing what you're doing I guess?
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday September 10 2016, @01:28AM
Are you still going on? Haven't you had enough of a thrashing yet? Take the loss, go have a good cry, and try again another time.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.