Today, the Committee on House Administration passed landmark legislation aimed at putting our elections squarely where they belong: back in the hands of voters.
The committee passed the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 6116/1826), legislation that would take members of Congress off the fundraising treadmill and let them focus on their constituents.
Chairman Bob Brady and his colleagues on the committee, Reps. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.), Susan Davis (D-Calif.), Charlie Gonzales (D-Texas), and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), must all be commended for their leadership on passing this legislation today.
This is an historic vote, and would be the most sweeping reform legislation since Watergate.
The Fair Elections Now Act would allow candidates for Congress to run competitive campaigns for office by relying on small contributions from back home. Candidates would collect donations of $100 or less from residents of their state, which would then be matched four-to-one with Fair Elections funds. Fair Elections would be funded by the sale of unused broadcast spectrum, ensuring that in this time of debt and deficits, it wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime.
With Fair Elections, constituents don't have to wonder if their elected officials are standing up for them or their big money donors when casting their votes on Capitol Hill. Congress would be accountable to them, not wealthy donors or lobbyists.
Now that it's passed in committee, the legislation can head to the floor. To help our push for a floor vote before Congress adjourns just days from now, I've joined with the Campaign for Fair Elections in releasing new television ads that will air in several key Congressional districts praising lawmakers for supporting this legislation.
Every day, we see a steady stream of news reports of fundraisers with lobbyists, ongoing ethics investigations, and millions of dollars in outside secret spending. It is no wonder if we're angry ... or alienated.
The Fair Elections Now Act. Congress should make its passage a priority -- now.
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Afghanistan and Iraq run cleaner elections than the U.S.A.
All that money hidden in front groups, PACs and 501c and whatever clever ploy they create.
I really appreciate that you get it and are doing something abut it. Please stay with it and let us know how we can help.
Thanks again.
(I also think a little free campaign airtime on the broadcast networks might not be such a bad idea. They are the public airwaves, after all.)
As Billboards Pop Up In Wisconsin, Tea Party And GOP Accused Of Voter Suppression
The Wisconsin Republican Party claims to have shelved an elaborate plan to coordinate with other conservative groups to root out purported voter fraud in the state's upcoming election.
The original plan, which was revealed in a document obtained and made public by a progressive group in the state, would have designated Tea Party groups as investigators in the field looking for fraudulent registrations -- looking through the white pages to authenticate voter addresses, pulling up homes on Google Maps and even driving by houses and apartments to conduct visual checks.
Under an earlier draft of the plan, Tea Party volunteers would then send complete reports to a Wisconsin GOP official, and were instructed to delete all copies of the data and required to sign a confidentiality notice.
The Wisconsin GOP confirmed to Talking Points Memo that documents released by One Wisconsin Now this week outlining a coordinated campaign between the party, a Tea Party group and the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity .
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/09/as_billboa
They are going to pull every dirty trick in the book this election !
...those robots are still out there, and they still feed on the medicine of old people!
(little SNL joke, there, guys)
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer
Pathetically lazy.
There are in fact, good dems.
The same is not true of the republicans.
Every single one is a liar, even Paul.