A.R.M. Blueprint

TO A. R. M. ‘s AMERICA
(blueprint for a second American Revolution)
by W. R. Taylor

FOREWORD

Any thinking citizen and taxpayer of this great republic must realize by now that our social and political structures have gone terribly awry. Equally obvious is the fact that, if nothing is done to set things right, America, as we have known it, may not last another century.

The principal cause of this degeneration and disintegration has been the ever expanding encroachment of the Federal government into the conduct of our private lives. An encroachment far beyond anything conceived of by the Founding Fathers, or even defined by the Constitution.

The two main instruments of that encroachment have been the Congress and the Supreme Court. The Congress, by its usurpation of State and local community sovereignties, with an ever growing number of mandates, few of which are supported by the provisions of the Constitution. The Supreme Court, by generally acquiescing to such mandates from Congress, thus making them almost irreversible.

Since the Court is immune from popular or political pressure (short of surrounding its grandiose building and burning it down around its ears), the only avenue of leverage left to the people is the Congress itself. Thus, for the ordinary citizen and taxpayer, the only way to recapture the governance of our country, to reform the way things are done, is to focus our collective wills on the Congress, and specifically, on the House of Representatives.

If the people can regain control of the House, they will then be able to revise, repeal, and otherwise change that which is onerous or usurping of their rights under the Constitution. If they can accomplish that, they will have then successfully waged a second American Revolution, by the ballot, rather than by the bullet. A revolution that will seek to return the Congress to a more temperate legislative role, and the Court, to the original arbitrating and refereeing role envisaged for it.

What follows is a blueprint for such a revolution.

THE STRATEGIC OUTLINE:

The key to success in such an effort is to focus voters’ attention entirely on the House of Representatives. Who gets a four year leasehold on the White House, is largely irrelevant. As for the Senate, it’s too filled with entrenched interests to be attacked head on at this time. So, the main reason for focusing on the House first is because, there, members of Congress are subject to direct popular pressure every two years. Of greater importance, a Congressional District only involves a relatively small number of people, readily lending itself to a grassroots, low tech, and low cost approach in each district.

For all practical purposes voters have little or no say about who is chosen to be a Presidential candidate. Our two party system has made that a prerogative of the two major parties. For the average taxpayer, that usually just boils down to having to make a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Consequently there can be little reform achieved at that level. That’s just the way things are. As for the Senate, because it has become such an exclusive club of mainly large vested interests, and because Senators hold office for six years, there’s little popular leverage to be had there at this time.

But with the House, however, the ordinary citizens still have a strong amount of leverage, so that is where their attention should be directed and focused. Only when the voters have gained greater control of the House, will it be possible to force both the Senate and the Presidency to pay attention, modify, or change, how business is done.

And to achieve such a result it is thus necessary to create a political mechanism fully independent of the two major parties. A mechanism which is local, cellular in concept, and unconventional from the usual political structure. That is, a political mechanism which is composed of autonomous “Chapters” in each and every congressional district of every state.

However, while promoting and supporting an overall common agenda, each Chapter will focus on issues of local concern. But the main function of such chapters will be to provide a means by which ordinary citizens can become “independent” members of Congress, to serve as “Citizen Legislators” performing civic duty for a finite period (much like jury duty), rather than serving for purposes of long term career.

And from that, systematically, district, by district, voters can then work to replace incumbents who, from their voting records, have shown they are more concerned with being re-elected than doing what is right and in the best interests of their constituents.

We might call the mechanism for accomplishing this --A. R. M. – the American Reform Movement. Simply put, voters in each and every congressional district can form a local chapter without the need for a “national” organization. Nevertheless, within each state, such chapters might participate in a statewide congregational type association, where each individual chapter is on par with the others. And where, at an annual convocation, they will be the means for developing a broad consensus on issues of concern to all. In this way a more or less universal ARM voting platform will be available in any election year.

Such a system should motivate the broad central mesa of the electorate to mobilize itself into an activist RADICAL CENTER. One which will no longer remain quiescent or docile, but rather, one which can more effectively challenge the extreme LEFT and RIGHT wings currently dominating the two major parties.

It’s in that broad centrist portion of the electorate where our true American values lie. Most voters are neither fully “conservative”, nor absolutely “liberal”, but a mixture of both. That is, they’re generally “conservative” on matters of taxation and spending, and government intrusion into our personal affairs. Whereas they are somewhat more “liberal” in matters related to social issues. The major parties have gone off the track by failing to properly address themselves to that kind of mix. That’s why there’s such a current of voter dissatisfaction today.

Thus, by creating such a RADICAL CENTER mechanism, that dissatisfaction can be channeled into an effective and politically useful form. One which can then rein in whatever extremes of public policy promoted at any given moment by the major parties. In a sense it can become the ultimate means of “check and balance.”

GOALS:

To elect a sufficient number of independent Representatives to the House, not bound to either of the major political parties. To that end, the minimum target is to elect at least one (1) from each state, or approximately 10% of the total number of members of the House. With such an independent bloc, or caucus, ARM will then have the leverage for or against any proposed legislation, as the BALANCE OF VOTES in the House, thereby placing it in a very strong bargaining position to promote ARM agendas

OBJECTIVES:

1. Organize and set up an ARM Chapter in each and every congressional district.
2. While committed to a common platform, each Chapter will be an autonomous entity, free to promote issues of interest to its own locality.
3. To minimize the need for dues or contributions, Chapters will be operated by the volunteer services of its members (similar to the 40+Plus organization).
4. The only qualification for membership will be the requirement to be a registered voter in that district. Disaffected Republicans and Democrats will be encouraged to switch affiliation, and re-register as Independents.
5. Once organized, each Chapter will focus its efforts on informing and educating local voters in its district on issues of concern, seeking to create a consensus voting bloc on such issues. 

WAYS AND MEANS:
 
The main group of individuals who have a sufficiently strong and shared experience, are Veterans. And because of that shared experience and the bond that instinctively creates among them, Veterans are the logical choice to be the initiators of such a reform movement. Furthermore, given that there are millions of Veterans, from all eras, any given congressional district should be able to collect a large enough group of them to get things started. The key to success, however, will be to welcome any and all registered voters of a district, regardless of their current political affiliation.

Once such an organization makes itself known in a district, it will attract other voters. Some out of curiosity. Others, who may be looking for an alternative political home. And still others, who are dissatisfied with the status quo, and wanting to effect real change. Ultimately, many of these will cross over to become full-fledged independent ARM members. In this way ARM will be the key channel for a so-called THIRD PARTY presence on the political landscape of America.

While acting as the “primer” for such a movement, veterans can also give it the benefit of knowing how to organize and operate in small disciplined groups. But the guiding model for this early stage of mobilization should be taken from the Revolutionary War period’s COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE, which were the grass root underpinnings of our War of Independence. And thanks to today’s technology with things like email, fax, internet hosting, websites, online services, desktop publishing, etc., it should be relatively easy and inexpensive to organize, prepare, and propagate, a common and focused viewpoint for reforming political action throughout the country.

And the key for success here is to focus only on those who are the REGISTERED VOTERS of any district, since these are THE ONLY ONES WHO COUNT. No one else does. Furthermore, of those registered voters, only those who actually vote are worthy of effort and attention. So, only a relatively small number of people in each district need to be contacted. Much of that can be done by phone, direct mail, personal contact, and, by invitation to a series of town hall type meetings. These can be conducted both with e-net chat forums, and live scheduled gatherings at specific places. Such a low tech grass root approach does not require expensive media ads, pricey political consultants, image shapers, pollsters, or similar techniques. Why waste time, energy, or money, on people who either don’t register, or don’t vote?

For lack of a better term this approach might be called the TERMITE approach, because, like termites, it can quietly, systematically, undermine the existing constituency of any incumbent “career” politician, until an ARM Chapter is ready to replace him/her with its own selected CITIZEN LEGISLATOR. Someone who will be there to serve only for a finite period of terms, not for purposes of “career”, as a public duty, analogous to jury duty.

SELECTING ARM CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE:

The Constitution gives no specific instruction on HOW candidates for Congress are to be selected. It only provides for having one (1) Representative per so many thousand population. Accordingly, ARM chapters can adopt whatever means they want to select candidates for office. The following method is recommended because it minimizes the potential for faction or partisan politicking, and, provides all ARM members with equal opportunities to become candidates for Congress. That, will be a strong motivating factor to become an active member in Chapter work:

1. Five (5) members’ names will be drawn by lot from the Chapter roster. These will be the preliminary “slate” of candidates. Anyone selected who declines the honor, will be replaced by a replacement draw.
2. With a series of town hall meetings, nominees will be scrutinized as to their general background, personal capacity, viewpoints on issues of concern, and their ability to debate about these. This kind of one-on-one exchange will enable their peers to better know who they’re selecting to represent them. The present system doesn’t do that. Nor does it encourage it.
3. Once the slate is accomplished, a PRIMARY election will be held within the Chapter, and the most acceptable candidate chosen to run in the next Congressional election. The name with the most votes, becomes the Chapter’s candidate for Congress.
4. The name of that person will then be filed as an INDEPENDENT candidate for that congressional seat, and the chapter will conduct a district wide campaign on behalf of that individual. Where local electoral rules do not facilitate filing as an
   INDEPENDENT candidate, the Chapter will promote a WRITE-IN VOTE instead.

The very fact that there are such independent candidates, all over the country, free of major party affiliation, or other political obligations, with strong local grass root organizations behind them, will make it very difficult for any incumbents to ignore these ARM candidates. Thus, the odds of defeating such incumbents are quite good. And if ARM achieves its goal of getting at least one INDEPENDENT elected from each of the 50 states, it will have achieved its bloc/caucus objective.

But even if it only manages to get a few of its candidates at any one time, their very presence in Congress will give them VOTING CLOUT disproportionate to their actual numbers. They will be in a position to effect real change.

STATE LEVEL ORGANIZATIONS:

The ARM movement won’t have any, in the formal sense. Instead, the various district chapters will coalesce into a loose knit collegiate form of assembly each year. At such convocations, delegates from these chapters will work out consensus positions on issues of concern to all their districts.

For this purpose, each chapter will send three (3) delegates to represent it at such meetings. However, when voting, these delegations will vote as a single unit. The purpose of such annual meetings will be to develop common voting platforms to present to the state’s electorate at large; and, to publish and promote such voting guidelines for any like-minded voters in their respective districts.


Here too, there will be no formal organization. However, every four years, to coincide with Presidential elections, there will be a national gathering of delegates from every congressional district from around the country. A similar process of developing voting guidelines will be followed as at the State level, and, similarly promoted to the country as a whole. .

NATIONAL LEVEL ORGANIZATION:


When such a NATIONAL guideline is worked out, ARM will then promote it nationwide. This will exert a very strong influence on whatever Presidential candidates the major parties present. ARM will gain further “leverage” by the carrot of possible ENDORSEMENT, to become a coveted source of support for any would be President. This will provide further political leverage for the aims of its constituency. It will be the mother of all PACs, without having to spend a dime.

Nevertheless, ARM will maintain its primary focus on House contests to maintain the strongest possible bargaining position in it. Over time, both Senatorial and Presidential Candidates will always have to consider that, and adjust their ways accordingly.

At that moment, ARM will have become the dominating political force in the country, and the goals and objectives of this second American Revolution will have been achieved, without firing a shot.

We, the people, will have finally broken the power and influence of career professional office seekers. We will have recaptured our government for ourselves, and once again become a constitutional and representational republic. By our leverage in the House of Representatives we will be able to control tax policy, revenue spending, and other regulatory issues or policies, all of which have the most profound social and economic impacts on the lives of each and every citizen.


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