The Commission on Presidential Debates, a private corporation, restricts the ‘debates’ to the two corporate parties and the issues that they approve. The concerns of the people such as ending corporate influence over politics, ending militarization, and creating real jobs and access to health care and education will be discussed superficially or not at all.

How will you Occupy the Debates? You can do this in many ways and if you need them, we are here to provide resources to you.

Here are ways to get involved:

Take the online survey at OccupytheDebates.org.
Read about the issues.
Organize an event in your community.
Spread the word!

Occupy Denver has taken the lead on this and is organizing a variety of events around the first presidential debate to be held there October 3rd. Events include a People’s Forum with live entertainment and opportunities to share stories and a People’s Dialogue to discuss the top issues that are chosen in the survey. And Occupy NOLA is holding a People’s Convention on Octcober 27.

The results of the Occupy the Debates survey and events will be collected nationally and shared with presidential candidates for response and posted on the OccupytheDebates.org prior to Election Day.

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Via OccupyWallSt.:

The following speech was given by Justin Warren of Occupy The Stage. Justin is currently behind bars for making this speech on the steps of the Louisiana state capitol without purchasing a permit. See below for more information and find out how you can lend your support!

Ladies and Gentlemen, my fellow free peoples of the world. Our governing bodies in their current state have proven themselves ineffective within regards to the interests of the common man. The beautiful ideal that was Democracy has been perverted and totally replaced by the repugnant and relentless pursuit of the almighty dollar, Capitalism. For our entire lives we have been fed lies that lead us to assume such absurdities as the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer and there is simply nothing to be done about it. We are told our fates will be better off in the hands of soulless, faceless, and socially irresponsible corporations.

We're told cutting education and expanding our prison systems are the sure fire treatments of our social ills. The heart of Democracy now has more people in prison per capita than any other nation in the world. And we are told this is the land of the free.

Through the lobbying system, corporations have been able to not just influence, but completely hijack our government. We have been stripped of our liberties, we have been stripped of our property, we have been robbed of our freedom.

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Survivors Village, a community group of former St. Bernard public housing residents and their allies, joined forces on Dec. 6, 2011 with recently evicted Occupy NOLA protestors to successfully disrupt a Sheriff’s sale of foreclosed properties. Delaying the sale for two hours, the protestors chanted:

“This auction is illegal and immoral. It is a way to steal homes, redistribute wealth and prevent the right to return. The sale of blighted property is the city's attempt to remove poor homeowners who have already suffered tremendously from economic and natural disaster. Blight has become an excuse to gentrify. Charging poor homeowners outrageous fees in order to steal their homes is an underhanded way to keep people displaced. Stop capitalizing off of crisis! This process is corrupt! You are stealing homes! Stop now!”

The sale was scheduled to begin at noon. At approximately 1:45 pm, after several potential buyers had already left, the police arrived and threatened the nonviolent protestors with arrest. Before declaring that the remainder of their protest would be silent, the protestors announced their intention to physically defend any properties sold: “We will be in court. We will be in the streets. We will be in the houses--defending them, boarding them up, and occupying them.”

Protestors specifically identified two properties and successfully urged buyers not to purchase them. The Fight Back Center, a long-time community center in the St. Bernard neighborhood in New Orleans’ 7th ward was slated to be auctioned at the sale despite city personnel having acknowledged that there were numerous legal problems with the process. “This is community space and we will fight to keep it that way,” protestors declared.

The Fight Back Center is currently being redeveloped and rebuilt by Survivors Village, which began in 2006 as a tent city of public housing residents who were locked out of their homes after Hurricane Katrina.

The protest was also carried out in solidarity with a call from Occupy Wall Street, who declared December 6 a day of action on the foreclosure crisis.