Too much to say, too little time. Making YouTubes is hard and TIME CONSUMING! Lesson learned.
I won’t repost the article but I highly recommend people check it out on Air America’s Web site. I heard some of it was shown on Rachel Maddow’s show tonight but I don’t have cable. Let me know if you saw it.
More to come folks. My experience at “The Purple Ball” was much more positive. I got a chance to interview musician Herbie Hancock and actor Ed Harris. Stay tuned.
When was the last time someone asked you NOT to give them money? Not recently, right? Now, when was the last time a non-profit asked you NOT to give money?
In our new economy, every penny counts, but in politics, every penny counts more – especially at the federal level. Lawrence Lessig and the team at Change-Congress.org have come up with the perfect marriage of NOT spending money and making our lawmakers accountable to us, instead of those who … um, well, have all the money.
How does it work?
It’s easy: You go to the Change-Congress.org (note the hyphen) web site and pledge NOT to donate to federal candidates, unless they pledge to support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded.
Here’s what the pledge looks like:
I’m pledging not to donate to any federal candidate unless they support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded.
Simple, right?
Change-Congress.org keeps track of how much money is being un-pledged to each lawmaker, and lets lawmakers know how much they’ll lose if those lawmakers don’t take the pledge.
The way things work right now, our leaders keep coming up with legislation that favors Goliath over David. And we’re David. This is largely because, if they want to get elected, they need millions of dollars every few years, and most of those dollars come from … not us. If we can change that one thing about our political system, we can give David back the slingshot.
As we watch our neighbors lose their jobs and homes (while investment companies are given billions of our tax dollars to fund corporate bonuses and office upgrades); as we hear about the state being unable to meet its Unemployment Insurance obligations; as we learn that food pantries are running out of food; the problem becomes crystal clear. The political system has become steeply tilted, and not in a good way.
So, spread the word about Change-Congress.org, and citizen-funded elections. You can help level the playing field, and it won’t cost you a penny.
P.S. – Congressman Welch has already signed the pledge, so be sure send him a note of thanks.