The 99% Declaration Working Group Announces a "National General Assembly" to Convene in Philadelphia the Week of July 4, 2012 for the Purpose of Ratifying a Petition for the Redress of Grievances

PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwire - Feb 17, 2012) - The 99% Working Group, Ltd. formally announced today that a non-partisan "National General Assembly" consisting of 876 delegates elected from all 50 states, The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the four U.S. Territories, will convene in the City of Philadelphia the week of July 2, 2012.

According to the plan set forth in a document called the 99% Declaration {http://www.the-99-declaration.org}, these 876 delegates to the National General Assembly will draft, ratify and sign a Petition for a Redress of Grievances as authorized by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Any U.S. Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident who has reached the age of 18 years may run as a non-partisan candidate for delegate. Because women comprise more than 51% of the population but only hold about 16% of the elected political offices, one man and one woman will be elected by secure online voting from each of the 435 Congressional voting districts. Because it is more evident than ever that American politicians cannot regulate themselves, no sitting politician will be eligible to run as a candidate for delegate to the National General Assembly.

How The National General Assembly Will Be Elected

From Friday, June 15th through Sunday, June 17th, one man and one woman will be directly and democratically elected from each of the 435 Congressional voting districts in a transparent but secure online election. Once elected, these delegates, just as our founders did in 1774, will convene in Philadelphia to deliberate, draft and ratify a Petition for a Redress of Grievances. "The 99% Working Group takes no position on what grievances should be included the Petition for a Redress of Grievances created by the delegates. The 21 grievances and solutions outlined in the 99% Declaration are merely sample issues that are of great concern to most Americans," said Michael S. Pollok, the attorney who co-founded the 99% Declaration Working Group. Anyone interested in participating in the creation of the Petition may go the group's website, www.the99declaration.org, and register as a candidate for delegate to the National General Assembly or register to vote in America's first privately-run nationwide election. People from all over the United States have already registered to run for delegate and/or vote in the election of delegates.

Ratification and Public Pledge

During the meeting of the National General Assembly, on the afternoon of July 4, 2012, selected delegates and invited speakers will address the American people at a press conference in front of Independence Hall. Appropriately, this venue is where the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776 and the United States Constitution was written and signed on September 17, 1787.

Upon being ratified and signed by the 876 delegates, the Petition for a Redress of Grievances will be served, like any other legal document authorized by law, upon all three branches of the federal government and the politicians running for federal office in the 2012 general election in November. Each politician running for office will then be asked to take a public pledge to redress the grievances and solutions contained in the Petition within the first 100 days after taking office. Those candidates for federal office who take the pledge, regardless of party affiliation, will receive the full financial and organized grassroots support of the delegates and their constituents.

History of the 99% Declaration

The 99% Declaration www.the99declaration.org is an implementation document that originated from the 99% Declaration Working Group of #Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park. The 99% Declaration Working Group was founded on October 7, 2011 by a pro bono criminal defense attorney and several college students who he represented after they were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge. The attorney suggested that the students write down their concerns regarding the corrupting influence of money in American politics, corporate personhood, and the gross neglect and abuses of Wall Street firms that caused the market collapse of 2008, worldwide recession and ongoing debt and foreclosure crisis. This initial list of grievances evolved into the current list of 21 suggested grievances and solutions contained in the 99% Declaration.

The Ultimatum

The "New Continental Congress," renamed for the 21st century as the National General Assembly, is authorized by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which specifically reserves to the people, not the states nor federal government, the unalienable right to peaceably "assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Under "Clause V" of the 99% Declaration, in the event the three branches of the government fail to affirmatively act upon the Petition for a Redress of Grievances, in 2012-13, the delegates to the National General Assembly will reconvene and begin working with Occupy and 99% groups across the United States, to run non-partisan independent candidates for all national offices in the 2014 mid-term election and again in 2016. As a prerequisite for support, these independent candidates will be required to publicly pledge to redress, not merely address, the grievances in the Petition.

About The 99% Working Group, Ltd.

The 99% Working Group, Ltd. is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization formed under the laws of the State of New York for the sole purpose of funding and facilitating an election of 876 delegates to the National General Assembly or new "Continental Congress" to convene in Philadelphia the week of July 2, 2012. Participation in this effort is welcome to anyone interested in removing the corrupting influence of money in American politics and non-violently ending the American "corporate state" presently masquerading as a republican democracy.

There is a Solution!

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