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List of Demands by #OCCUPYWALLSTREET

Occupy Wall Street – Official Demands  UPDATED SEPT 28TH 2011 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Occupy Wall Street
The Sovereign People’s Movement, represented nationally through the people occupying the various Liberty Square locations across this great country, have laid out and democratically submitted and are currently voting on the list of following Demands to then be distilled into one Unified Common demand of the people.

Special Note!!!  Read this before you comment or vote of comment!

This document is a living breathing document updated daily but solely based on the votes for the items included within it.

This is how it works:  After reading the list of publised proposals, if you have a point that is not already proposed that you would like added, simply submit it in the comments section at the bottom.  The Suggestions are added to the ballot found Here so that they can be voted on by the people. This may take up to 72 hours for our legal team to dedupe and combine to exixting demands due to overlapping proposals.

Proposals remain on this official page as long as the vote maintains a 2/3 majority.

You may vote once per IP address and view the current results Here  Proxying IP addresses in attempt will not work, so do not attempt it.

If you disagree with any of the items below, or think they should not be included please click Here to voice your vote and lobby among your friends and contacts to drop the majority below 2/3 majority. Do not add it in the comments section.

Vote HERE for Proposed Demands to be included in a The Formal Occupy Wall Street Document below.

Proposed Demands

 

1. Eliminate Corporate Rights as Persons          

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Revise the intrepretation of the famous 1886 case where the U.S. Supreme Court supposedly ruled that corporations are “persons” having the same rights as human beings based on the 14th Amendment, which was intended to protect the rights of former slaves. As most lawyers know, the Supreme Court made no such decision. In the case in question – Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company, the court itself never rules on personhood. A court reporter by the name of J.C. Bancroft Davis (a former railroad president) snuck that “ruling” into the books.

 

What most people don’t know is that after the above-mentioned 1886 decision, artificial persons were held to have exactly the same legal rights as we natural folk. (Not to mention the clear advantages corporations enjoy: they can be in several places at once, for instance, and at least in theory they’re immortal.) Up until the New Deal, many laws regulating corporations were struck down under the “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment–in fact, that clause was invoked far more often on behalf of corporations than former slaves. Although the doctrine of personhood has been weakened since, even now lawyers argue that an attempt to sue a corporation for lying is an unconstitutional infringement on its First Amendment right to free speech. ( Nike v. Kasky.)


2. Repeal of the Patriot Act              

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“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” — Fourth Amendment to the Constitution

Forty-five days after 9/11, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act without reading it. This new law was supposed to protect you from terrorism, but it has really left you unprotected against lawless federal agents. The Patriot Act contains numerous violations of the Fourth Amendment. It gives federal agents vast new powers that have been abused to investigate innocent Americans.

Vote Here

 

 

3. Forced Acquisition of the Federal Reserve for $1Billion USD by the US Congress             

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No Congress, no President has been strong enough to stand up to the foreign-controlled Federal Reserve Bank. Yet there is a catch – one that President Kennedy recognized before he was slain – the original deal in 1913 creating the Federal Reserve Bank had a simple backout clause. The investors loaned the United States Government $1 billion. And the backout clause allows the United States to buy out the system for that $1 billion. If the Federal Reserve Bank were demolished and the Congress of the United States took control of the currency, as required in the Constitution, the National Debt would virtually end overnight, and the need for more taxes and even the income tax, itself. Thomas Jefferson was concise in his early warning to the American nation, “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Article I, Section 8, Clause 5, of the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof and of any foreign coins. But that is not the case. The United States government has no power to issue money, control the flow of money, or to even distribute it – that belongs to a private corporation registered in the State of Delaware – the Federal Reserve Bank.

Learn More about How Congress has the Right to Take control over the Federal Reserve Here:  How to Gain Control over the Federal Reserve

 

4. Restructure Campaign Finance Legislation

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Proposal One: Ban corporate donations to political campaigns while limiting individual campaign donations to $100.
Background:Corporations in the U.S. exercise an inordinate amount of influence over the government. The amount of corporate money in elections makes it virtually impossible for people want to serve the public’s interests to be viable candidates. Lowering the individual maximum donation to $100 ensures that the rich won\’t simply buy elections. This demand is offered in order to eliminate the rich’s dominance of elections and subsequent effect on public and foreign policy. America has never had a popular democracy. It began as a country controlled by a handful of white land-owning men. Throughout its history, gains were made in achieving some level of democracy to American citizens. The age of rule by an elite 1% (a tiny minority) can be forced to an end soon.The majority of the American population sees the U.S. as a reasonably fair country and as a popular democracy. This demand challenges that assertion. America is a corporate democracy and it will be eye-opening to many people to witness how undemocratically big business and their political flunkies will fight to deny popular democracy even though those are the values that the elites have professed for so long. This demand forces them to put up or shut up on their fucking principles. The public will support restructuring of campaign finance as the tiny minority has recently collapsed the economy, wasted resources, and destroyed millions of lives in it pursuit of its wars for its own narrow interest. In the past they have been able to point to relatively high wages, a relatively high standard of living, and increasing growth (regardless of the reason) as reasons to uphold the status quo, but these conditions are deteriorating and people are again searching for a remedy. Taking away the tiny majority’s ability to buy every election will usher in popular democracy and with that new policies that may affect all issues and grievances moving forward.</span></p>
more donations to a single person that is seeking or has a position in congress that exceeds $5,000 (five thousand) dollars within the time period of 1 (one) year. And no donations exceeding $25,000 (twenty-five thousand) to a single group, PAC, or super PAC within the time span of 18 (eighteen) months. Also, when a donation is made the persons employer must be listed. And if 25% (twenty-five) of all employees of the stated company donate to the same person or group then the company will stand to be investigated as to whether it is giving its employees the money and</p>

All members of all governments, Federal, state or local, must remain free of influence from outside factors.&nbsp; Lobbyists must remain at arm’s length and not be allowed in any way to provide free meals, trips or gifts of any kind to any politician.&nbsp; All contact must be in written form to prevent influence peddling.

 

 

5. Forgive Student Loan Debt and re construct the education system          

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Redraft education financing legislation.  Lower educational expenses for students instead of raising tuition costs.  Pull money form the “WAR” system to refund education and continuing education.


6.  End the War on Drugs          

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The war on drugs has been going on for more than three decades. Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet, and the U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska. Try to imagine the Drug Enforcement Administration erecting razor wire barricades around two states to control crime and you’ll get the picture.

According to the U.S. Dept of Justice, the number of offenders under age 18 imprisoned for drug offenses increased twelvefold from 1985 to 1997. The group most affected by this propensity for incarceration is African-Americans. From 1985 to 1997, the percentage of African-American young people put in prison increased from 53 to 62 percent.

Today, 89 percent of police departments have paramilitary units, and 46 percent have been trained by active duty armed forces. The most common use of paramilitary units is serving drug-related search warrants, which usually involve no-knock entries into private homes.

Because this is a Movement by the People and For the People, We are accepting proposals below in the Comments Section to be added to this formal list of Demands.  Our Legal team will review and formalize those that are selected by a vote of 2/3 majority by the movement.  Please remember you are only voting to include the available Demands into the Formal Demands Document


7. Free Education Kindergarten Through College  

 Click Here to Vote to Include in Demands

Currently Accepting proposals for actual plan


8. National Repeal of Capital Punishment

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Currently Accepting proposals for actual plan


 

9.  Equal rights for women

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Judge Antone Scailia has stated, and the Supreme Court has reinforced on numerous occasions, that women, by the virtue of the fact that the founding fathers did not specifically use the terms woman, women or female in the Constitution, are not recognized as having the same rights as men.  In a statement last year in Oregon, Judge Scailia specifically addressed this issue and stated that if the founding fathers wanted it, they would have included women in the Constitution.  We want equal rights to men, including equal pay, equal benefits and equal standing under all laws and in all courtrooms where it has been proven in study after study, women are regularly denied their rights.  This does not have to be an issue that requires a Constitutional Amendment, this can and should be ruled on immediately by SCOTUS and deemed to be the law of the land which may not be revoked or overturned by order of the court.  Further, there must be an Amendment to the Constitution insuring these rights and all states must also include these rights in state constitutions.

 

10.  Office of the Citizen

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Corruption begins at the local level.  The FBI and the DOJ refuse to investigate matters of local corruption when it is their sworn duty of the Federal government.  State and local governments work hand in hand thwarting any investigations of corruption, and do not investigate.  Courts must be investigated for the evidence of local corruption, including drug dealing, protection of criminals, etc. It has been shown that 60% of police readily falsify police reports at the behest of higher ups. Repeated calls, filings in writing, and personal visits produce no investigation, even when evidence is given to them.  Where there have been investigations, it almost always produces a guilty verdict, but those investigations are few and far between and usually limited to situations where those peddling their influence did not share with others in slush funds.  Most of the time it is the public who gathers the evidence leading to prosecution, not the FBI or DOJ.  We want complete investigations of all allegations of corruption, including those allegations at local and state level.  No citizen should be placed in the dangerous situation of having to investigate crimes and collect evidence.  That is the job of the government and one it does not do.  The office of the citizen must be fully funded before funds may be allocated for any department supporting  war, engaging in war or spying, either internally or externally.

11.  The United States must sign and ratify all human rights agreements with all other countries

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Human rights should be the right of everyone, inside and outside our borders.  When the US knowingly engages in, or allows others to engage in torture, that is a violation of everyone’s human rights, not just the target.  We want prosecutions for torture, not only of government officials, but those who commit this heinous crime on others within the US.

12.  Rights of victims must take precedent in courts.

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Courts in the US not only allow, but expect that human rights will be violated in certain types of cases.  Mental torture is the tool of many sleazy attorneys who intimidate both victims and witnesses. This must end now and the rights of the victim upheld.   We want all Bar Associations investigated and the hold they have on judicial nominees removed.  All judges should hold bench for limited terms and must be subject to ongoing judicial review and all hearings involving judicial reviews must be held in public to insure that human rights as well as Constitutional rights have not violated.  Judicial immunity must be removed, or at best, limited.  Victim blaming  must be limited and strictly investigated before it can be used as a defense.  Rape kits must be provided at no cost to victims claiming rape and any police officer who does not photograph all crime scenes shall be deemed incompetent to act as an officer of the law and shall be removed from duty without possibility of reinstatement in any police department in the country.  Falsified police reports shall also result in immediate removal and barring from any future law enforcement position.  All court rooms must insure that all proceedings are videotaped and that video tapes of all proceedings are given to all plaintiffs, their attorneys, all defendants and their attorneys within at the end of each hearing and without delay and prior to leaving the courtroom.  Videotapes of the judges, to include their desk tops and computer screens, must also be made available.
5.Restitution for previous wrongdoing by courts and police.
Restitution by the US government of property of victims of violence seized by the courts must be made at 100% of value on the date victimization first occurred plus a fine of not less than `100% of that value be imposed on both the court ordering the property removal and the person who benefited from that removal.  All courts must furnish the cases and this restitution is retroactive for the lifetime of the court.  Courts are given no more than 5 business days to produce all files.   Any file not produced or shown to have been tampered with will result in immediate removal from office or employment of any person who had direct contact with that file.

13.  Prosecutions of the guilty

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We want indictments and prosecutions of all crimes committed by banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies.  We want a clear message sent to the entire financial industry, this will no longer be tolerated.  All financial industry executives who had even the remotest of connection to the collapse of our system, must be prosecuted.
Those who are or have been involved in torture, whithersoever dispersed around the globe, weather personally or directing it’s use,  must be prosecuted for their crimes.

Voting Access to all Demands For Inclusion Into the Formal Document may be done HERE.

 

Legal evaluation in reviewing and formalizing this document is provided pro-bono by law-international.orglaw-international.org



 

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Filed under Campaign 2012, Federal Reserve, Wall Street

We can’t Let the Tea Party Win !

Are these people for real?

  • Rick Perry says Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and “monstrous lie.”
  • Michele Bachmann joked that God sent Hurricane Irene to warn against federal spending. Aren’t jokes supposed to be funny?
  • Eric Cantor says disaster relief must be offset with other spending cuts.

Republicans pander to the far right daily with ludicrous statements and attacks on President Obama. And these statements motivate Tea Party voters like nothing else. It’s not enough to criticize them – we need to fight back with a strong August FEC showing – 48 hours away.

We’re still $45,000 short, and a shortfall now is more than a red line on a budget. Every dollar we don’t raise is a dollar we can’t use to fight Republicans. So, if you believe in Social Security, workers’ rights, and helping the middle class, I need you to act right now:

Your $5 contribution before our midnight Wednesday FEC deadline will help put the Tea Party in the history books – and keep it out of Washington.

Defeat the extreme GOP. We can't let the Tea Party win. Help us win August. Goal $45,000  Deadline: 48 hours. Contribute

They’ll have outside help – Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers will make sure of that.  If we don’t all stand together now, they will gain an edge – and we saw in 2010 what happens when they do. That’s why we have to win August.

They’ve got their Big Oil benefactors. We’ve got half a million grassroots donors. And if our grassroots donors give just $5 each, we’ll have what it takes to win August – and keep fighting on the ground, on the air and online.

Your $5 before our Wednesday FEC deadline will help us reach our $45,000 goal – and keep our momentum going strong.

Perry, Bachmann and Cantor don’t speak for me – and I know they don’t speak for you. Let’s hit this August goal and show them just how wrong they are.

Sincerely,

Guy Cecil

Contribute Now
Paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, dscc.org,
and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

 

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The Controlled Substances Act and Rescheduling Marijuana

By:Jon Gettman  HighTimes

Marijuana is regulated under federal law by way of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This, however, is a complicated proposition.

First, it may seem odd to many to discover that marijuana is actually regulated under current federal law.

 Second, while these federal regulations are exceedingly strict they have not prevented various states from implementing their own regulations, which are sometimes contradictory.
In more simple terms, the medical use of marijuana is prohibited under federal law but permitted under many state laws. Non-medical use of marijuana is prohibited under federal law but tolerated, by way of mild sanctions and/or sentencing policies, in almost every state.

The CSA categorizes controlled substances into five schedules, each with specific provisions regulating a substance’s manufacture and distribution, and effectively its use. Schedule I drugs are the most tightly controlled and are only available for research purposes. The other four schedules are distinguished by various levels of what the law refers to as “potential for abuse” and “dependence liability.” Cocaine, for example, has a much greater abuse potential than Valium; consequently Cocaine is a Schedule II drug and Valium is a Schedule IV drug.

Unlike Cocaine and Valium, Schedule I drugs have no accepted medical use in the United States and they have the highest potential for abuse compared to other scheduled substances.

Marijuana is a Schedule I drug. This too is a complicated proposition. Marijuana clearly has an accepted medical use in the United States, one recognized by the American Medical Association and 16 states, for example. Marijuana also clearly has a much lower potential for abuse then other Schedule I drugs, such as Heroin, or even Schedule II drugs like Cocaine.

When Congress passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970 they recognized that marijuana did not meet the criteria for a Schedule I or II drug. But they also weren’t quite sure what to do about it. The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse was created to study the issue, and the Nixon Administration asked Congress to place marijuana in Schedule I until this Commission could meet, study the matter, and make some recommendations. Eventually this Commission recommended that marijuana be decriminalized throughout the United States, and many states responded.

Over the last 40 years most states have opted out of federal marijuana prohibition in one fashion or another. Some states no longer arrest people for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and issue citations or summons instead, punishing the infraction with a fine. Other states have conditional discharge policies, granting probation and expunging the individual’s record after a period of good behavior. Most other states, while retaining significant sentences in statute, in practice sentence most first time offenders to probation.

When it comes to the medical use of marijuana, 16 states now permit such use under state law and some even permit cultivation, distribution, and sale for medical use. These state medical marijuana laws provide legal and reliable access for patients with serious medical conditions but also, in many cases, generate significant tax revenue for state governments.

There have been three attempts to change the scheduling of marijuana under federal law. NORML launched the first attempt in 1972, and in what became an epic legal process this groundbreaking effort was finally rejected in federal court in 1994. This author, with the support of HIGH TIMES, launched a second attempt in 1995, arguing that marijuana did not have the abuse potential to qualify for Schedule I status. This effort ran into a roadblock in federal court in 2001; because the plaintiff was not personally affected by the government’s refusal to reschedule marijuana the action did not qualify for intervention by the federal courts. In response, this author, again with the support of HIGH TIMES, organized a coalition of advocacy groups and patients, The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC), and filed a new rescheduling petition in 2002.

Efforts to change the status of a substance regulated by the CSA must pass through the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The process, while lengthy, is fairly straightforward. Petitioners compile scientific evidence to support their request and file it with DEA, which then sends it to the Department of Health and Human Services for review, which then sends back a review and their recommendation. The DEA then studies the issue further and publishes their decision. After the final DEA decision is published, members of the public can challenge the decision before an Administrative Law Judge or take the matter to federal court.

However, the DEA’s response to the current action is to do nothing. Having received the necessary report from HHS, which, unsurprisingly, was not favorable to rescheduling, the DEA has taken no further action. Indeed, they have taken no further action for years. Consequently, the CRC filed a suit in Federal Court on May 23 accusing the government of unreasonable delay and asking the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to compel the DEA to take formal and final action on this rescheduling petition.

The issue here is not whether the DEA decides to reschedule marijuana in response to the CRC petition; indeed they are likely to decide to retain marijuana in Schedule I. The issue here is making a formal decision that allows all interested parties due process. In other words, once the DEA takes final action all interested parties, whether the CRC, other advocacy groups, or even medical marijuana states, can challenge the federal prohibition of marijuana in the federal Courts. Judging from their refusal to act on the CRC petition, this is something the administration clearly wants to avoid.

Marijuana’s medical use is now accepted by 16 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington) as well as the District of Columbia. Each has a stake in challenging marijuana’s status under the Controlled Substances Act.

 Relief sought from the Court of Appeals would enable states with medical marijuana laws to expedite efforts to change marijuana’s status under federal law and narrow the widening gap between state and federal law. For example, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire has expressed interest in having all the states that allow medical marijuana to ask the federal government to reclassify the drug. If the Court of Appeals grants the relief requested by the CRC, Washington and other medical marijuana states would have the opportunity to seek rescheduling now in expedited proceedings, rather than wait years for a new rescheduling action to ripen.

The members of the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis include the American Alliance for Medical Cannabis, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), California NORML, the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, HIGH TIMES, Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center (Cooperative), the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), New Mexicans for Compassionate Use, Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, and Patients Out of Time.

Jon Gettman is a long time contributor to HIGH TIMES.  A former National Director of NORML, Jon has a Ph.D. in public policy and regional economic development and consults with attorneys, advocates, and non-profits on cannabis related research and public policy issues.  On October 8, 2002,  along with a coalition of organizations, he filed a new petition to have cannabis rescheduled under federal law.  This column will track that petition’s progress.

 

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Executive Order 11110

Executive Order 11110 was issued by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on June 4, 1963.

This executive order delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the president’s authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act.

Purpose

President Kennedy’s Executive Order (E.O.) 11110 modified the pre-existing Executive Order 10289 issued by U.S. President Harry S. Truman in 1951,[1] and stated the following[2]:

“The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby designated and empowered to perform the following-described functions of the President without the approval, ratification, or other action of the President…”

The order then lists tasks (a) through (h) which the Secretary can now do without bothering the President. None of the powers assigned to the Treasury in E.O. 10289 relate to money or to monetary policy. Kennedy’s E.O. 11110 then instructs that:

SECTION 1. Executive Order No. 10289 of September 9, 1951, as amended, is hereby further amended (a) By adding at the end of paragraph 1 thereof the following subparagraph (j):'(j) The authority vested in the President by paragraph (b) of section 43 of the Act of May 12, 1933, as amended (31 U.S.C. 821(b)), to issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury not then held for redemption of an outstanding silver certificates, to prescribe the denominations of such silver certificates, and to coin standard silver dollars and subsidiary silver currency for their redemption,’ and (b) By revoking subparagraphs (b) and (c) of paragraph 2 thereof. 

SECTION 2. The amendments made by this Order shall not affect any act done, or any right accruing or accrued or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil or criminal cause prior to the date of this Order but all such liabilities shall continue and may be enforced as if said amendments had not been made.

John F. Kennedy, THE WHITE HOUSE, June 4, 1963.

SIX MONTHS LATER HE WAS ASSASSINATED !

[edit] Revocation

E.O. 11110 was never reversed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and remained on the books until President Ronald Reagan issued Executive Order 12608 on September 9, 1987 as part of a general clean-up of executive orders. E.O. 12608 specifically revoked the sections added by E.O. 11110 which effectively revoked the entire Order. By this time, however, the remaining legislative authority behind E.O. 11110 had been repealed by Congress when Pub.L. 97-258 was passed in 1982.

In March 1964, Secretary of the Treasury C. Douglas Dillon halted redemption of silver certificates for silver dollars. In the 1970s, large numbers of the remaining silver dollars in the mint vaults were sold to the collecting public for collector value. All redemption in silver ceased on June 24, 1968.

[edit] Conspiracy theory

Wiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.

Executive Order 11110 is quite infamous among conspiracy theorists.[3] Jim Marrs, author of the 1993 book Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy,[4] claims that the order written by John F. Kennedy instructs the Treasury secretary to issue about $4.2 billion in silver certificates as a form of currency in place of Federal Reserve Notes. Marrs also speculates this order was part of a larger plan by Kennedy to reduce the influence of the Federal Reserve by giving the Treasury more power to issue currency. The order was signed June 4, 1963. A few months later, Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, and conspiracy theorists hypothesize a link between the murder and E.O. 11110. They argue that the Federal Reserve was somehow involved in the assassination to protect its power over monetary policy.[4]

Edward Flaherty, a professor of economics at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, wrote a 2000 essay entitled Debunking the Federal Reserve Conspiracy Theories,[3] based on findings in the Congressional Research Service‘s report for Congress, Money and the Federal Reserve System: Myth and Reality,[5] to explain why this conspiracy theory and related claims about the executive order, the Federal Reserve and the financial system are false.

[edit] References

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