CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT…GREAT NEW VIDEO…IDEA OF THE MONTH…MONEY ON MY MIND…”FAIR ELECTIONS”…QUOTES OF THE MONTH…FACTS YOU CAN USE
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT: RUSSELL SAGE COLLEGE
Russell Sage College became an official Democracy Matters chapter in January, but already they have become an important part of our movement. Sage DM students have joined large rallies and lobbying at the NY State Capital for Fair Elections.
At the rally pictured to the left, DMer Tori Bunk, representing young women, addressed a cheering crowd of hundreds of women. She said, “We are students who strongly support public financing and Fair Elections because it will encourage young women to run for office and compete in campaigns. It will push back the cynicism that New York youth feel toward our government.”
Democracy Matters at Sage also published articles in their newspaper, hosted Executive Director Joan Mandle to lecture and teach classes, and made a short video about inequality in funding for higher education they sent to their local press. Go Sage!
Visit their Facebook page.
GREAT NEW VIDEO: THE PROBLEM AND SOLUTION IN FOUR MINUTES
Rootstrikers, a terrific organization also working to get big money out of politics, just released a short animated video that everyone should see! As promised, it outlines the problem of wealth dominating our political system and the solution of public financing.
Watch the video and send it on to as many people as you can.
ORGANIZING IDEA OF THE MONTH: ANNUAL APRIL “WEEK OF ACTION”
This year’s Democracy Matters “Week of Action” will highlight the exciting introduction of Congressional public financing bills in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives:
“Government By The People Act” in the US House of Representatives.
“The Fair Elections NOW Act” in the US Senate.
From April 7-11, Democracy Matters chapters will be pulling out all the stops to protest the harmful role of big private money in our democracy and to endorse the new public campaign financing Congressional bills. From teach-ins, tabling, and flyering to improv skits, class raps and poster campaigns, DMers will broadcast their message loud and clear.
Read about these bills at demos.org and publicampaign.org.
MONEY ON MY MIND
This month, Jay Mandle discusses Thomas Piketty’s important new book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” Piketty’s analysis confirms that the alarming growth of economic inequality in America results from purposeful government policies that are supported by and benefiting the super-rich.
Read the full article and explore other issues of MOMM.
“FAIR ELECTIONS”
After months of promises to clean up Albany and pass publicly financed Fair Elections, Governor Andrew Cuomo and NY state legislators once again caved in to big money interests and failed to pass what the NY Times last Saturday called “the most fundamental reform.”
Actively involved in the broad-based coalition fighting for Fair Elections, Democracy Matters members in New York are deeply disappointed that the flood of political money that is undermining democracy everywhere was not beaten back in New York.
We will continue to spread the message that the 1%, not the 99%, are calling the shots in Albany and elsewhere, and that public campaign financing is the only way to create political equality and give all of us a voice.
Read more.
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
“First, powerful and wealthy donors seek to buy as many leaders as they can through contributions. Then, the politicians bankrolled by those donors advance legislation that will suppress the votes of people who might object,” Kim Keenan, NAACP
Sierra Club President Michael Brune added, “It’s the 1 percent of the 1 percent of the 1 percent. These are the [campaign contribution] limits that apply to an amount of people who couldn’t even fill a high school gymnasium, and a good number of them are oil and gas and coal executives.”
Read more.
FACTS YOU CAN USE – THE POWER OF LOBBYISTS
The top 25 federal lobbyists have contributed a total of $1.85 million in just the first half of the 2014 election cycle. There’s little doubt that their generosity helps wedge open the doors to congressional offices.
The major clients of the top 25 lobbyists include household names like General Electric, Caterpillar and Microsoft. Fifteen of the top 25 represent firms in the Insurance Industry, while 14 count Pharmaceutical Firms among their clients.
Federally registered lobbyists have together spread $18 million among over 100 candidates and members of Congress so far. These donations tilt to the right, but both parties are raking in the cash: $7.4 million to Democrats, $8.35 million to Republicans.
93% of lobbyists’ spending has gone to incumbents, concentrated on just a few veteran lawmakers in the leadership.
5 Top Recipients of Lobbyist-Donors, 2014 cycle thus far:
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) $281,301
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) $278,380
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) $221,450
Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) $204,400
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) $194,300
Read more.
To honor our 2013 activists, we list ten Democracy Matters chapters in each E-News:
Union College…University of Mary Washington…University of Minnesota Twin Cities…University of Pittsburgh…University of Puget Sound…University of St. Francis…Vassar College…Binghamton University…Brown University…Colgate University…
More Campus Chapters.