May, 2010
IN THIS ISSUE:
DEMOCRACY MATTERS INTERNSHIP APPLICATIONS… CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT…CONGRATULATIONS!…MONEY ON MY MIND…OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS…GREAT NEW BOOKS…FACTS YOU CAN USE
DEMOCRACY MATTERS INTERNSHIP APPLICATIONS
Democracy Matters is taking applications for its class of 2010-11. If you or someone you know is an undergraduate interested in political organizing on pro-democracy issues including money and politics, apply today. Interns work on their own campuses educating and mobilizing faculty, students, and their surrounding communities. They receive training, materials, on-going support from DM staff, attendance at the DM Annual National Summit and more. Many internships carry a financial stipend as well. Send a resume and cover letter to joanm@demomcracymatters.org
Read more about our Internship Program.
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT – NEW YORK DMers TESTIFY
When the New York Senate Elections Committee held public hearings last week on a bill to establish a public financing option for campaigns, DMers from Union College, the University at Albany, Hartwick College, Colgate University, Vassar College and New York University weighed in, explaining why New York desperately needs public financing.
Here are two excerpts from testimony before the committee:
Jackie Joslyn from U Albany: “Since corporations can usually afford to make larger donations than the general public, the latter are apt to feel a sense of powerlessness and suspicion. Indeed, many are deterred from getting involved in political matters at all. In spite of this, a genuinely democratic system is possible. This bill is a reminder to us of what democracy was intended to be and a means for us finally to follow through on those intentions.”
Brendan Truscott from Union: “On both sides of the aisle, proposals have been quashed not because they lacked merit but because they were opposed by those funding and controlling political campaigns. Students are concerned because we find ourselves displaced by the rising costs of elections. A public financing campaign system would allow elections to be about raising ideas – not raising money.”
Learn more about the Committee hearings.
CONGRATULATIONS ALL AROUND!
Adonal Foyle, Democracy Matters Founder and President, will be honored in San Francisco this summer when he is inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame. Congratulations Adonal!
Congratulations also to all of Democracy Matters’ great graduating seniors: Melissa Ann Porter (Allegheny); Sarah Finn & Mollie Reilly (Colgate); Shanna Reulbach (Geneseo); Kevin Rowe (Hamilton); Peter Prunty (Hartwick); Eric Pond and Claire Niemet (Marquette); Adam Garfield (New Paltz); Amy Zeller (Penn State); Joe Bindert (Rutgers); Trish Hoen (UNC); Brendan Truscott (Union); Scott Trumbull (UVA); Doug Paladino (Wake Forest).
And congratulations to the Democracy Matters activists who made the “Fair Elections Week of Action” such a great success. A few highlights: hundreds of calls, letters, postcards, and emails went to members of Congress urging support of public financing; Professor Larry Lessig spoke at Brown University and the YesMen visited New Paltz; DM sponsored concerts at Penn State and Georgia State, and Notre Dame launched their Democracy Matters video.
Watch the Notre Dame video.
MONEY ON MY MIND
Despite the high levels of American’s distrust of government, Jay Mandle argues that only government action can successfully tackle three urgently needed reforms: regulating Wall Street and the financial sector; downsizing the military budget; and providing significant public funding for renewable research and development. In this month’s column, he argues that we need a fresh start – with publicly funded campaigns – to tackle these critical issues.
Read the full article and explore other issues of MOMM.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
YOUNG PEOPLE FOR
Young People For is a great leadership-building organization. We will be partnering with them this coming year. They are presently taking applications for their undergraduate fellowship program. The deadline is May 3rd. Visit www.youngpeoplefor to learn more about becoming a fellow.
CAMPUS PROGRESS
Check out the sixth annual Campus Progress National Conference on Wednesday, July 7 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. For more information visit www.campusprogress.org/2010ConferenceApp
Read more about the Young People For fellowship.
GREAT NEW BOOKS
Hot off the press are two new books we highly recommend:
Jay R. Mandle’s latest discussion of democracy, money and politics is Creating Political Equality: Elections As A Public Good (Palo Alto: Academica Press, 2010). See also his Democracy, America, in the Age of Globalization (Cambridge University Press, 2008).
Paul R. Loeb’s revised edition of his inspirational Soul of A Citizen: Living with Conviction in Changing Times (NY: St. Martin Press, 2010) Loeb is a strong supporter of public financing of election campaigns.
Additional recommended reading
FACTS YOU CAN USE: MONEY, MONEY AND MORE MONEY
Huge amounts of money have flowed into Congressional campaigns as representatives not only look to the November elections but consider urgent legislation. Campaign spending in the 2010 election cycle is expected to top $3.7 billion. This is a huge increase (more than one-third) over the last mid-term elections. Does your representative even have time to consider issues when he/she is dialing for all those dollars? Are members thinking about you when voting? Or about… how much money this vote will add to their campaign treasuries?
The $3.7 billion doesn’t even include the millions spent on hired lobbyists. That number is simply incredible! Just two examples:
• Leading the fight against Wall Street reform and climate change, the U.S. Chamber of Coommerce, representing business interests, once again ranked at the top of the list of big-spending lobbyists. In just the first three months of this year, the Chamber and its subsidiaries spent nearly $30.9 million on federal, state, and grassroots lobbying activities. No company, trade association, union or other group reported spending a figure near that ballpark.
• During the first quarter of 2010, a single investment bank, Goldman Sachs (now famously under investigation for fraud), spent $1.15 million on lobbing, a more than 70 percent increase from its spending during the first quarter of last year.
But don’t forget, lobbyists only get in the doors of power because of their employers’ campaign contributions: Goldman Sachs has long been one of the biggest campaign contributors to members of Congress.
(Source: Center for Responsive Politics www.opensecrets.org)
Read more.
To honor our 2010 DMers we list 10 DM chapters in each E-News.
Syracuse University…The Long Trail School…Towson University…Tulane University…Union College…University at Albany…University of California Berkeley…University of California Davis…University of North Carolina Wilmington…University of San Diego…(to be continued)