I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised at how many positive comments I received about the idea for Democrats to back bold campaign finance reform as a response to the growing number of corruption scandals coming out of DC.
The number one question I got in the hundreds of emails I received was, "What can I do to help make this happen?"
Well, it's time to get out of our PJs, and keeping our opinions to ourselves on the comment threads, and take this one to the streets! Here are some suggestions on what you can do to make Clean Elections reform part of the Democratic campaign message.
First, join a group around you that is fighting for Clean Elections. There are groups in every state, with organizers in most counties. Visit Public Campaign at www.publiccampaign.org and click on "State Action" to find out who is organizing in your state. Give that group a call and see if they need some help. I bet they do. You also may want to check out this "Cleaning Up Our Statehouses" Conference in May.
Second, write a letter to the editor. Letters to the Editor are the most read section of the newspaper, so your letter will get noticed by a lot of people. Letters are more likely to be printed if they are tied to what is in the news, so use the resignation of Tom DeLay as the hook, and say this is why we need Clean Elections in this country, at every level. You know who has a nifty tool for writing letters? The DNC. You can use their tool by clicking here.
Third, for goodness sake, tell the Democratic Party and the Republican Party that it's time they get serious about proposing bold solutions to problems -- especially on corruption. Tell them that you would like to see them adopt Clean Elections as one of the highlights of their campaign message. Here's an easy way to send a message to Congress for ethics reform.
Fourth, tell your friends to do the same! There's a reason the saying "strength in numbers" became cliché, you know?
So what are you waiting for? Let's make this happen!
While I agree that we need serious lobbying reform, I also beleive that lobbying can be a good thing; it depends on what you are lobbying for and who is doing the lobbying. When I was a poltical action director for my teacher's association in PA, I taught the teachers how to talk to and inform their legislators about what was going on in their classrooms. If legislators are going to mandate what happens to education and students, then who better to tell them about it, than teachers!
Dr. Susan Furey
Posted by: Susan CFurey at May 10, 2006 11:42 PMHere's a solution for our dollar-distorted electoral system:
The MAP-SEAM: The Messiah Amendment Party-Solutions for Earth and AMerica
Amendment I: The Messiah Amendment aka A PL+ S Ethics:
The Amendment for Political Legal + Societal Ethics:
Section One: Political Ethics
A) PEACE:
Public funding free Equal Air/print all
Candidates every Election.
- no private funds, large donors of previous
elections required to donate to public
funds shared equally by all candidates
- media sources fulfill civic responsibility
by donating free/equal air/print to all
candidates
- first election narrows field to two
second determines winner
B) NORME:
NO Registration/Mail-in ballots for Everyone
- make voting as important as taxes
- give all a week to return ballot
- members of every party, campaign, media
at counting centers
- make fraud penalty comparable to that of
tax fraud: jail or stiff fine
- recounts simple and quick
C) ACORBOB:
Adult Citizenship the Only Requirement to
Be On the Ballot
(Levin,The MAP-SEAM: The Messiah Amendment Party- Solutions for Earth and AMerica, 2006).
Six months ago, as the details of the Jack Abramoff scandal emerged, ethics reform was all the rage. Now, it's "all but forgotten." Both the House and the Senate passed weak bills, and that effort "shows no signs of resulting in a conference committee producing anything with teeth." From the Tennesean
Posted by: Flavia at August 7, 2006 02:07 PM