December 2010 Enews

IN THIS ISSUE: 
DM SUMMIT…CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT…ADONAL’S HOLIDAY MESSAGE…MONEY ON MY MIND…ACTIVIST BLOG…FACTS YOU CAN USE 

REGISTER NOW FOR THE DM SUMMIT
It’s time to register for the FANTASTIC 10th Annual Democracy Matters Student Summit! Network, hear from experts, share your own organizing stories and strategies, dig deeper into the critical issues of the day, and spend an exciting weekend with DM staff, alums, and other committed activists. 
The Summit will be January 28-30, 2011 in Albany NY. Students from all Democracy Matters chapters will be there, as well others interested in starting DM chapters on their own campus. Join Us!

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT – VASSAR COLLEGE (Poughkeepsie, NY)
Vassar College Coordinator, Andrea Worby, took over Vassar DM as a Freshman and has been building membership for the last three years. All her hard work has really paid off! This fall the Vassar chapter collected over 200 signatures on their petition for Fair Elections Now, recruited active new members and organized a successful teach-in focusing on the BP/Gulf environmental disaster and on how huge corporate campaign contributions block both the development of renewable energy and the regulation of oil companies like BP. In the coming weeks, Vassar DM is hosting two film screenings and running a fundraiser with “Charlie Rangel” cookies (NY Congressman Rangel has been involved in a recent political money scandal). And they have educated their campus about DM and money in politics through newspaper articles, including one by John Kenney ’14 – “Corporate Donors Drown Out the Average Voter” (excerpts below).
“The $4 billion donated by Wall Street, Big Oil and other wealthy donors gives a lot of credence to the apathy that I and many others feel. Politicians can say what they want about how they intend to help out the average American, but I sincerely doubt that my well-being matters nearly as much as the wealthy corporation that is providing them with the funding for their next campaign.
I do not want to undermine the importance of this issue through inflated hyperbole about our country becoming an oligarchy, but the fact stands that due to a recent Supreme Court decision – the ruling in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case – regulations on the amount of money special interests can spend on a campaign are gone. While the Supreme Court claims that regulating corporate donations stifles free speech, breaking down these regulations stifles free speech for everyone else.
Fortunately, there are organizations which are working to put control of the government back into the hands of the people. One of these organizations has a chapter at Vassar. “Democracy Matters” is a non-partisan group that allows people of all political affiliations to rally around the idea of keeping government as something that protects everyone, not just Fortune 500 companies.”
Read the full article.

ADONAL’S HOLIDAY MESSAGE
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! And Happy New Year — a brand new year for us to continue the critical organizing work that will make our country a real democracy! Yes, I am completely optimistic about the future despite the flood of money into the recent elections. Why? Because of the thousands of students who are involved in Democracy Matters events every year, because of the growing awareness of and disgust with corporate control of our political system, and because young people are becoming more and more determined to create a future where they have a voice!
So this holiday season, let’s celebrate and renew our determination to get big money out of politics and people back in.
Here are three “Merry Actions” everyone can do!
High School Revisited: Go back to your high school to talk to a class in history, civics, government, etc. Discuss the reasons for your political activism and the importance of voting, of speaking out, and of working to create a government that is truly of, by, and for the people. You can even encourage them to start a high school DM chapter.
Holiday Cards With A Message: Get your friends and family members to join you in sending holiday cards with a message about money and politics to representatives in Washington and state legislatures. Make your own or add a note to a card, urging them to stop the corporate takeover by big campaign donations! (Calls and emails work well, too!)
Holiday Dinner Sign-Up: Start conversations over the holidays that gently raise the importance of being politically engaged. Tell your friends and family what you’re passionate about and why.
More ideas? Send me your own creative ideas: afoyle@democracymatters.org. And don’t forget: YOU are the leader we’ve been waiting for!

MONEY ON MY MIND
In this month’s column, Mandle explores the contradiction between the vote for small government that the recent elections demonstrated and polling results indicating that most Americans (including Republicans) believe critical problems like climate change can only be solved by an activist government. Passing public financing of campaigns, he suggests, is a way out of the “small government” trap.
Read the full article and explore other issues of MOMM.

ACTIVISM BLOG
Democracy Matters students and their friends create fabulous ideas and projects to spread the word and get others involved. Like this cartoon, that was created by a friend of DM member Melissa Balogh at Iona College. The artist told Melissa that he “got really interested in money and politics” after she asked him to draw a cartoon for the election!
Check out the Activism Blog on the website for the latest ideas and events from Democracy Matters chapters. Read about “Potty Politics,” DM’s homecoming parade float, water balloons, Dirty Laundry, Art Exhibits, a DemROCKracy concert, and more…
Read the Activism Blog.

FACTS YOU CAN USE
Despite all the bad election results, here’s some great news!
2010 “Clean Elections” Winners Across the Country
Voters again showed strong support for candidates running under “Clean Elections” (public financing) programs across the nation. The recent midterm elections saw roughly 335 publicly financed candidates elected to statehouses, the judiciary, and statewide positions in six states. Citizens in Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Hawaii voted for a diverse mix of Clean Elections candidates from across the political spectrum.
Hawaii County Council’s inaugural run with a Clean Elections system was a big success, with four of the nine winners using the program. Connecticut’s Citizens’ Election Program (CEP) was available for statewide offices for the first time and all five statewide winners used the program – including Governor-elect Dan Malloy (D). More than 75 percent of the Connecticut General Assembly will consist of CEP candidates come January. In Maine, Clean Elections officials will hold 79 percent of seats in the state legislature.
These successes demonstrate that citizens want voters – not big money donors and corporate special interests – in the driver’s seat of our democracy. (Source: www.publicampaign.org)
Read more.

To honor our 2010 DMers we list 10 DM chapters in each E-News.
University of Arts & Sciences of Oklahoma…University of California Berkeley…University of California Los Angeles…University of Chicago…University of Minnesota Twin Cities…University of Notre Dame…University of Virginia…University of West Virginia…University of Wisconsin River Falls…Vassar College…to be continued)
More Campus Chapters.