The Coffee Party has now exploded into existence.
In only a few weeks the membership of the Coffee Party on facebook has reached over 100,000 about the same numbers that are reported to belong to the Tea Party. Formed in response to the Tea Party the Coffee Party (http://coffeepartyusa.com/) has a few basic purposes that may appeal to the readership of the Moderate Voice. If you attend an event please share your experience.
MISSION: The Coffee Party Movement gives voice to Americans who want to see cooperation in government. We recognize that the federal government is not the enemy of the people, but the expression of our collective will, and that we must participate in the democratic process in order to address the challenges that we face as Americans. As voters and grassroots volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them.
We are diverse — ethnically, geographically, politically, in age and in experience.
We are 100% grassroots. No lobbyists here. No pundits. And no hyper-partisan strategists calling the shots in this movement. We are a spontaneous and collective expression of our desire to forge a culture of civic engagement that is solution-oriented, not blame-oriented.
We demand a government that responds to the needs of the majority of its citizens as expressed by our votes and by our voices; NOT corporate interests as expressed by misleading advertisements and campaign contributions.
We want a society in which democracy is treated as sacrosanct and ordinary citizens participate out of a sense of civic duty, civic pride, and a desire to contribute to society. The Coffee Party is a call to action. Our Founding Fathers and Mothers gave us an enduring gift — Democracy — and we must use it to meet the challenges that we face as a nation.
My personal bias is to urge the participants to think past the hot issues and consider what are the obstacles to progress on these issues. I suspect that to a large extent the influence of special interests will come up. And among the remedies are:
Neutralizing the influence of Special Interests
Level the playing field between public and private interests.
Make public office more accessible to regular citizens
Voluntary Public Funding of Campaigns.
Merit selection of Judges.
Non-partisan redistricting.
NOTE: The website announces that March 13 will be National Coffee Party kick off day with events all over the county.Go to the link for more info.
Paul Silver is on the Board of Common Cause of Texas and manages their facebook presence. He is a former TMV blogger. His manicial focus is on government process reforms to neutralize the influence of special interests and level the playing field among public and private interests. The hot opportunity now is the Fair Elections Now Act HR 1826, that creates voluntary publicly financed campaigns, and has 140 co-sponsors so far.
Born 1950, Married, Living in Austin Texas, Semi
Retired Small Business owner and investor. My political interest
evolved out of his business experience that the best decisions come out of an objective gathering of information and a pragmatic consideration of costs and benefits. I am interested in promoting Centrist candidates and Policies. My posts are mostly about people and policies that I believe are part of the solution rather the problem.