NEW
CONGRESS
Action Center
On the 4th of July, 2015, APaCC's Chairman,
Peter Bearse, began a national tour of visits,
public speaking and old-time-for-a-new-age
political evangelism to wake people up and
build APaCC's outreach and membership. So,
now we'll switch you over to Peter, for what
follows begins his personal log of the tour.
My first stop was in Providence, RI, at a Unitarian service at the nation's first Unitarian/Universalist church in the U.S. What a magnificent church and fine congregation! I was warmly received, gave out many freshly printed APaCC brochures and cards, and made several friends for APaCC.
My 2nd stop was at the office of Rep. David Concilline, where I was allotted little time by the Rep's staff. Notwithstanding, I was able to ask two key questions: (1) What is the Rep. doing to "fix" or reform Congress and (2) What is the staff's person-to person outreach into the district? There was no time to ask a 3rd, more important query: What are the Rep., his staff and his offices doing to empower constituents more than himself?
The staff member did not know the total budget of the office. The average congressional office cost taxpayers about $2 million, and what does the average taxpayer get for that money? Darn little. Congressional offices are part of incumbents' reelection machinery. One of the major offerings of APaCC is the design of a congressionla office that would empower the people of each congressional district.
More on this soon. I'll seek to visit at least one congressional office in each of the 88 places on my itinerary. More important, I'll be seeking out lots & all sorts of people in all kinds of settings, including Rotary Clubs, senior citizen centers, fraternal societies and sisterhoods, civic associations & political clubs, etc.
JULY 12, 2015 >> Too much time was wasted over the last few days of the week gone by because of needs to iron out kinks in the scheduling, travel, equipment and traveling aspects of a tour.
GENERAL OBSERVATION: The positive response was highly heartening and .
ABOUT US
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Our Mission
To advance the cause of creating a People's Congress -- ISSUE #1 -- for two main reasons: (1) The Congress has become corrupt, dysfunctional and discredited. It has shown that it is unable to solve any of the big, headline-issue problems, not to mention a host of others less publicized. (2) The Congress has also proven that it is incapable of reforming itself. As many, perhaps most, people now realize: “The system is broke!” We add: “And only We the People can fix it!” Look beneath the surface. You’ll find the system is no longer self-correcting. Why? -- Because the major signs are not only negative, they’re interacting with one another negatively to create VICIOUS CIRCLES [VCs]. The 1st of a 3-book series counted 7 VCs. Given the huge increase in economic inequality, there's one overriding VC: Wealth funds political access and influence, which promotes increased wealth that, in turn, leads to increased influence of the wealthy, plus less political participation by the non-rich.
Only WE can fix it, but too few are called upon to solve our public problems. Too many are AWOL from politics, and we’ve ignored the problems for far too long. They’ve so added up and multiplied that now they exceed the capacity of those to whom we’ve delegated problem solving. Could WWII been won without foot soldiers? Of course not. Can other, so-called “wars” -- like the war on drugs or the war on poverty -- be won by politicians and bureaucrats? Not on your life. We need to tap the collective intelligence and wisdom of “We the People”.
We aim to inject a large dose of direct democracy into our representative system. As a nation, we’re now at a historical moment that intersects each of our personal histories. Systems’ analysts recognize that a system that leaves problems to accumulate, unresolved and unattended, is approaching a “tipping point” that signals disaster if nothing is done to make major changes that enable the system revamp, survive, and face the future. Our country is at or near such a point. 2014 is our year to elect a new Congress. If we take the same-old/same-old attitude towards these elections as in year’s past and get the same SO/SO results, all bets are off. For cosmetic changes in faces and nameplates aren’t enough when what’s called for is substantial change and institutional innovation.
Peter Bearse, Ph.D. Founder & Chairman
peter@politicalcommunity.us
Tel: 603-835-3924
jwcaldon@hotmail.com
Tel:
Jack Caldon, Lempster, NH. Member, Governing Board
Judy Frankel, Palos Verdes, CA. Member of the Governing Board
Jim Collins, Portsmouth, NH.
Member of the Governing Bd.
David Zlotek, Salem, NH.
Member of the Governiing Bd.
J. Glenn Evans
GOVERNING BOARD
The Governing Board will be expanded and decentralized as the scope and intensity of our activities increases. Right now, we have constituted a minimum size Board with a mix of individuals whose common denominator is a shared sense of urgency over the failings of Congress and the parlous state of our democratic republic.
Annual Report
The People's and Citizens' Congress has been in existence for less than a year. Thus, our first Annual Report will not be available until about January, 2015.