| This call for a General Strike is a non-violent, peaceful, and powerful means to send a message to D.C. It is not meant to hurt the country in any way but to remove those who have. | |
9/11-15/08 
Stay informed Daily updates:
Impeachment Forum: Post/Comment
Get off the internet, I'll see you in the streets!
CLEAN ELECTIONS FACTS & LINKS
Fair Election Now Act: (S.1285) authored by Senate Majority whip Richard Durbin (D-IL) & Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA). To bring public funding to elections.
Clean Elections is a practical, proven reform that puts voters in control of elections. Rather than being forced to rely on special interest donors to pay for their campaigns, candidates have the opportunity to qualify for full public funding which ends their reliance on special interest campaign cash. Being freed from the money chase means they have more time to spend with constituents, talking about issues that matter to them. When they enter office, they can consider legislation on the merits, without worrying about whether they are pleasing well heeled donors and lobbyists.
In the U.S. Congress, Sens. Dick Durbin (D_IL) and Arlen Specter have introduced the Fair Elections Now Act which provide full public financing for Senate candidates. A companion bill in the House is also expected soon. Clean Elections is law in seven states and two cities: Arizona; Connecticut; Maine; New Jersey; New Mexico; North Carolina; Vermont; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Portland, Oregon. Activists in 28 states are working to advance full public financing.
Voters in Arizona & Maine approved "Clean Elections" laws in the late 1990s allowing candidates to recieve full public funding for their campaigns. The goal of these systems is to give more average citizens a political voice & allow them to forgo private funding & it's negative associations with special interest groups.
Maine & Arizona had a chance to test their systems in 2002, proving that candidates can run successful campaigns on full public spending. In that year, 39 of Arizona's elected candidates were "clean"- 22 Republicans & 17 Democrats. The states voter turnout went up by 10%. In Maine, three-quarters of the state Senate & half of the state House are elected officials who recieved full public funding.
Scandals are rocking our nation’s capital. From former Rep. Tom DeLay’s indictments for shady campaign finance dealings to former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunnigham’s bribery conviction, to Rep. William Jefferson’s $90K in “frozen assets,” The public has had enough. Tell your senators and representative that enough is enough and you want Clean Elections for all federal races now! Take action!
- LINKS: to Organizations Working To Advance the Cause of Clean Elections:AZClean.org: This is a site run by the Arizona Clean Elections Institute (www.azclean.org) .CampaignMoney.org: Is committed to holding elected officials accountable for special favors they do for their political donors (www.campaignmoney.org).Clean Elections in AZ: This is the official State site for clean Elections in Arizona (www.ccec.state.az.us).Center for Government Studies: The Center for Government Studies has everything from studies on broader participation & the effects of finance reform (www.cgs.org).CommonCause.org: Common Cause has chosen to focus on passage of the McCain Feingold bill (www.commoncause.org).CongressWatch.org: This is Public Citizens division that focuses on campaign finance reform (www.congresswatch.org) (see www.WhiteHouseForSale.org).ElectionReform.org: Has a variety of election reform issues(www.electionreform.org).Just6dollars.org: Seeks to acheive full public funding of elections on the federal level, at a projected cost of just $6.00 per American citizen (www.just6dollars.org).MainePeoplesAlliance.org: (www.mainepeoplesalliance.org).OpenSecrets.org: Has information on how big money flows into our campaign system. (www.opensecrets.org).PewTrust.org: The Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit activities in the area of culture, education, the environment, health & human services, public policy & religion.Publicampaign.org: Public Campaign is the nonprofit, nonpartisan national organization who pioneered the clean elections movement on the state level. (www.publicampaign.org ).Center for Public Integrity: The mission of the Center for Public Integrity is to provide the American people with the findings of investigations & analyses of public service, government accountability & ethics related issues.News Item:McCain had applied for public financing for the primary but backed out this month. Though he did not secure his loan with the public money, loan records show that the bank, Fidelity Trust & Bank, had insisted that if McCain lost early primaries he would have been required to participate in the federally financed system. McCain had been entitled to at least $5.8 million in public funds.By accepting the money, however, McCain would have been required to limit his spending for the primary to about $54 million — an amount the campaign is close to surpassing now.McCain reported raising $11.65 million in January, bringing his overall fundraising from individual donors to more than $49 million since the beginning of 2007. That amount, while sizable, pales in comparison with the more than $130 million that Democrat Barack Obama is expected to report raising through January since the start of his campaign.McCain, a leading advocate of limits on campaign finances, is turning down government matching funds for the primary to free him to spend more money as he prepares for a general election contest. But he has also said he would accept public financing for the general election if his Democratic opponent choses to do the same.Obama, who last year promised to also accept public money in the general election if his GOP opponent did so, has since hedged on that vow.
In the midst of these pleasing ideas we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.
John Adams, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1797
