Former White House green jobs czar Van Jones on Tuesday declared that the nation was in the midst of a historical political period in which a liberal protest movement woud sweep the nation.
“This is a big deal,” Jones said. “We’re about to shake up politics.”
Activists plan “days of action” over the next few months, bolstered by the Wall Street protests, that they say will culminate on Nov. 17th, the day before the Congressional “super committee” on deficit reduction is due to vote on its final proposals.
“We have identified Nov. 17th as a date,” Jones said. Inspired by the Arab Spring and viewed as a counter to the Tea Party movement, Jones predicted, “From Sept. 17 to Nov. 17, that is the American Autumn…That is when you are going to see a rising tide of protests in this country.”
Jones was speaking at the liberal Take Back the American Dream conference in Washington, DC. Leaders of activist groups led by Campaign for America’s Future, MoveOn.org, and unions including the SEIU and the AFL-CIO have embraced the creation of the American Dream movement. Their Contract for the American Dream calls for higher taxes, more spending on infastructure and “green” energy and socialized health care.
The mantra of the movement is “jobs, not cuts.”
“The people who consider themselves great patriots, they had something to join – it’s called the Tea Party,” Jones explained. “And even though they represent a small percentage of America, well organized, they took the whole country off track. Well now the rest of us, the majority of us, have something to join – and that’s called the American Dream movement.”
As part of the movement, they said they plan to run 2012 “American Dream” candidates for office in next year’s elections.
“People are going crazy about a few hundred people in Wall St,” Jones said, but explained that the groups planned to dispatch one million activists throughout the nation.
“Now it’s our turn,” he said. “The 99 percent of us who watched and sat back and watched, and hurt and cried and mourned, but never had the opportunity to stand together.”
He encouraged all reporters at the conference to, “Save your notes. First draft of history. This is a big deal. This is a big deal.”
