Tag: Campaign Finance Reform
Fair Elections Act gets a push
This push to fair elections should be the only issue, until it is passed. We can’t even have political conversations anymore, certainly not in Congress, and the dysfunction is largely driven by huge sums of private money from large organizations that are corrupting our law-makers. Thus, it was good news to hear of a new push to campaign finance reform:
In a push to implement a publicly-financed election system and curb moneyed interests in politics, a pair of good-government groups is launching a television ad campaign with a noteworthy price tag. Common Cause and Public Campaign, two organizations known for exposing the murkier influences on legislative and electoral processes, are staking $8 million to try and burnish Congress with the willpower to pass the Fair Elections Now Act. And they’re willing to spend as much as $15 million on their campaign-season gambit.
What is the essence of meaningful campaign finance reform? Bill Moyers explains:
Dick Durbin gives the insider’s point of view.
Time to Change Congress – - again.
Change Congress? Didn’t we just change control of Congress? Well, we did change the party that controls Congress, but we haven’t yet changed the money that controls the politicians who control Congress. Barack Obama will have an uphill claim, guaranteed, because politicians are not going to judge his proposals based on their merits. There is always the money, which feeds their cravings for reelection.
What if all federal politicians learned that potential donors took this pledge: “I’m pledging not to donate to any federal candidate unless they support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded.”
This link will take you to a speech by Lawrence Lessig, who explains the urgent need to “Change Congress.”
As long as members of Congress keep themselves in a position where they can be influenced by large contributions of money, we shouldn’t trust them.
Single Issue Anyone?
With the possible spoiler of Mike Huckabee, it’s clear that John McCain is set to be the candidate the Democrats need to beat in November. The irony of the ongoing battle between Hillary and Obama is that, policy-wise, they just aren’t that different. There were some real differences between the Republicans, but those differences are [...]
Why did Obama win in Iowa?
Why did Obama win in Iowa? This video gives you a good idea of why. Obama adopted, as his motto, “The fierce urgency of now.” Obama is not a mere speech reader, as you can see from this speech he gave on November 10, 2007. He really hits some solid notes along the way.
Why is Big Money (The Wall Street Journal) so interested in smearing little people?
Whenever we take the time, we are better able to see that all issues are anchored by deep issues. That’s the kind of day it was for me today. I’m in Washington D.C., attending the Consumer Rights Litigation Conference sponsored by the National Consumer Law Center. NCLC is an invaluable resource for those of us [...]
Fake Democracy; Fake freedom to choose.
I wish I could have taken credit for writing an article I just read: The presidential primary scam: Why the game is rigged, and why true democracy is only a secondary factor in the nation’s rush to nominate the next president. The author is Michael Scherer. Here a taste of the article: The whole stinking [...]
George Carlin on those who really own America
It’s called the American Dream because “you have to be asleep to believe it.”
I’ve rarely agreed so many times in four short minutes.
American Politicians: Not the best or the brightest
The great thing about America is that anyone can step up and run for high office. This is technically true, at least. The horrible thing about America is that most sane people wouldn’t dare run for any high office. I’ve been watching a bit of the ongoing campaign for President. I’ve been disappointed and saddened, for [...]
Don’t hold your breath that good things will just happen
E.g., Don’t hold your breath that the Democrats will save us. Or that anyone will. It might take something far more dramatic. Perhaps something revolutionary. But it’s going to require far more than sitting around watching our TV’s to make it happen. Marty Kaplan is a really smart media-reform and political-reform guy who tells it like [...]
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