Wisconsin is now challenging the consitionality of their campaign finance laws. The Government Accountability Board have suggested that the state lifts the ban on coporate and union donations. As mentioned in the blog below, this is the beginning of many states who will change their campaign finance laws to allow for coporate and union donations by the masses.
http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/article/id/40957/group/News/
Monday, March 22, 2010
Colorado Campaign Finance Laws Deemed Unconstitutional
When the Supreme Court made it's decision in Citizens United v. FEC, it would only be a matter of time before campaign finance laws would be challenged at the state-wide level. Well, The Colorado Supreme Court has knocked down the state's campaign finance laws citing the recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. I'm sure many more states will soon do the same.
More information can be found here:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14732136
More information can be found here:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14732136
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
R.I.P Granny D
Yes, Doris "Granny D" Haddock passed away this year on March 10. Granny D was a warrior for campaign finance reform and was a political activist till the day she passed. The folks at Democracy Now have put together a little remembrance video here:
For anyone who has never had a chance to listen to Granny D, check out this video:
For anyone who has never had a chance to listen to Granny D, check out this video:
A Taste Of The 2010 Season
Time Magazine put out a great article about how the health care fight in Washington, and the ads going along with it, are giving us a little taste of what's to come. Time reports that almost $200 million has been spent from both sides of the aisle trying to convince you what side to take. What's worst? Well, many of these advertisements have little to no disclosure at all. This means we don't even know who is trying to convince us to do what. Unless something changes, get used to it. So with that being said...
Welcome to the 2010 election season!
Check out the Time article at http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1972364,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Welcome to the 2010 election season!
Check out the Time article at http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1972364,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Calls For A Constitutional Amendment On Campaign Financing
Harvard law professor and political activist Lawrence Lessig, is calling for a constitutional amendment. Lawrence wrote in an article for The Huffington Post
"But in my view, the greatest danger of Citizens United is distraction. There are fundamental problems with America's democracy. An overly diverse speech market is not high on that list. And while the decision in Citizens United -- if things stay as they are -- could create a critical threat to American democracy, that is not because corporations get to speak. The danger in this decision is that it will further cement the corrupting dependency on private funding of public campaigns that already infects our Congress. The problem in our democracy is not diversity; the problem is a Congress dependent upon the fundraisers. The problem is not corporate speech. The problem is the fundraising Congress."
Mr. Lessig has launched a movement called "Call A Convention" which can be found at http://www.callaconvention.org. The organization calls for an amendment with the following:
"1.Congress shall have the power and obligation to protect its own independence, and the independence of the Executive, by assuring, through citizen vouchers or public funding, that the financing of federal elections does not produce any actual or reasonably perceived appearance of dependence, except upon the People.
2.Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to restrict the power to limit, though
not to ban, campaign expenditures of non-citizens of the United States during the last 60 days before an election.
3.Courts shall defer to factual judgments about an actual or reasonably perceived appearance of dependence when such judgments are made by independent, non-partisan commissions whose Members pledge not to enter elected office for a period of at least 10 years after service on the commission."
This is an interesting twist to the whole campaign finance movement. Lawrence Lessig is also the co-founder of fixcongressfirst.org which is working to enact the Fair Elections now Act.
"But in my view, the greatest danger of Citizens United is distraction. There are fundamental problems with America's democracy. An overly diverse speech market is not high on that list. And while the decision in Citizens United -- if things stay as they are -- could create a critical threat to American democracy, that is not because corporations get to speak. The danger in this decision is that it will further cement the corrupting dependency on private funding of public campaigns that already infects our Congress. The problem in our democracy is not diversity; the problem is a Congress dependent upon the fundraisers. The problem is not corporate speech. The problem is the fundraising Congress."
Mr. Lessig has launched a movement called "Call A Convention" which can be found at http://www.callaconvention.org. The organization calls for an amendment with the following:
"1.Congress shall have the power and obligation to protect its own independence, and the independence of the Executive, by assuring, through citizen vouchers or public funding, that the financing of federal elections does not produce any actual or reasonably perceived appearance of dependence, except upon the People.
2.Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to restrict the power to limit, though
not to ban, campaign expenditures of non-citizens of the United States during the last 60 days before an election.
3.Courts shall defer to factual judgments about an actual or reasonably perceived appearance of dependence when such judgments are made by independent, non-partisan commissions whose Members pledge not to enter elected office for a period of at least 10 years after service on the commission."
This is an interesting twist to the whole campaign finance movement. Lawrence Lessig is also the co-founder of fixcongressfirst.org which is working to enact the Fair Elections now Act.
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