November 2010 Enews

IN THIS ISSUE:
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT…HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING IN CRISIS…RALLY FOR SANITY…MONEY ON MY MIND…FAIR ELECTIONS NOW UPDATE…FACTS YOU CAN USE

CAMPUS HIGHLIGHT – IONA UNIVERSITY
Jesse Ouellette, a senior at Iona University in New York, was determined to make a real difference in his last year in college. Frustrated at widespread political apathy, he has organized a dynamic Democracy Matters chapter that has electrified both faculty and students with their activism and creativity! In early September, they celebrated Constitution Day with a campus-wide lecture on the importance of political activism and the role of money in politics. Then they convinced one of their political science faculty to “star” in a very funny video about voting on November 2nd that went viral on YouTube. And at Homecoming they reached even more people, raising awareness by tabling with a “pin the tail on the party” game and lots of information about Democracy Matters.
On October 30 since most Iona students couldn’t make it to Washington for the Jon Stewart rally, Iona DM organized a party to watch a live stream of the event. All this in addition to a voter registration campaign, informational posters about the mid-term election, and organizing for the school’s mid-November “Week of the Peacemaker” event, this year featuring Democracy Matters’ Jay Mandle. To help with recruitment, Jesse even distributed a flyer pointing out the advantages of getting politically active at Iona!
Congratulations to Jesse and the Iona Democracy Matters students!
Video for Mid-Term Elections at Iona College.

HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING IN CRISIS
As college costs rise and state budgets are slashed, college students are hurting. According to a report from the Project on Student Debt, college seniors who graduated in 2009 had an average of $24,000 in student loan debt, up 6 percent from 2008. “This consistent growth in debt over the last few years really adds up,” said Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success. The report also points out that paying back student loans is likely to be especially difficult for graduates. The unemployment rate for college graduates ages 20 to 24 was 8.7 percent in 2009 – the highest annual rate on record.
Furthermore, the quality of education for current undergraduates is threatened. Many universities, like the State University of New York’s with 464,000 students, are seeing their state funding dry up as politicians’ support for education dwindles. In the last three years alone, $33.5 million has been cut from higher education funding by the New York state legislature – a 30% decline! The SUNY campus at U-Albany (where Democracy Matters has a chapter) has even been forced to eliminate departments and programs.
Students everywhere are beginning to realize that these issues are political. With big money dominating election campaigns at both national and state levels, education is a lower priority than the interests of corporate funders. We need to change the way campaigns are funded so ordinary citizens can run for office and make education a priority. We need Fair Elections reform in our Congress and in our states.
Read the report.

 
RALLY FOR SANITY (FEAR?)
Democracy Matters students and alums were out in full force in Washington DC on October 30th at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally for Sanity and Fear!” With the help of our allies at Public Campaign and Common Cause, DM students and alumns distributed thousands of flyers calling for a Congress accountable to people, not corporations. In addition to leafleting the crowd, they gathered names and email addresses of supporters agreeing that big private money should not have a role in a political democracy.
Read rally news.

MONEY ON MY MIND
The vast corporate money flooding the mid-term elections is appalling (see “Facts” below). Jay Mandle’s column this month not only decries the bias that big private money has created in our political marketplace of ideas. He also offers suggestions of how we could construct and fund a democracy of equality.
Read the full article and explore other issues of MOMM.

FAIR ELECTIONS NOW UPDATE
Now that the mid-term elections are over, advocates of creating a Congress accountable to the people are even more determined to reform our shameful “pay to play” election system. We are calling for an immediate House vote on the Fair Elections Now Act; insisting that members to stand up for political equality. Add your voice to the 165 House co-sponsors and thousands of our allies from unions, environmental, civil rights, student, women’s and civic organizations in demanding a vote this month.
Write to Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner today.

FACTS YOU CAN USE: THE MID-TERMS AND THE MONEY
“Money is a dagger pointed at the heart of our democracy.” Bill Moyers addressing the 40th Anniversary Celebration of Common Cause:
The final reckoning of how much the election has cost (the Center for Responsive Politics estimates over $3.7 billion) is yet to be done. But we do know some things. For the first time in a midterm election, outside groups outspent the official Democratic and Republican parties. Insiders on both sides believe the big money will have a significant affect on the outcome. “The reality is that American elections are financed by a very small number of people,” said David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch, which favors public financing for elections. “There aren’t that many people who can play at that level or who can engage at that level, which means they have an inordinate amount of power.”
Of the six individuals who gave $1 million or more to so-called 527 political committees in the third quarter, five gave to conservative groups and one donated to a non-partisan committee (Center for Responsive Politics). When the list of individuals who gave more than $100,000 to a 527 between July 1 and Sept. 30 is examined, a total of $11 million went to identifiably conservative groups, $2 million to liberal groups, and $1.15 million to non-partisan groups.
One of the largest of these groups is American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS (associated with Republican operative, Karl Rove) which have reportedly blown through their initial goal of raising $50 million to spend on the 2010 midterm elections. Much of that money comes from corporations and wealthy businessmen, including Texas home builder Bob Perry, famous for his financial support of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ($7 million), and Trevor Rees-Jones, the president and chief executive of Chief Oil and Gas ($2 million). And on October 23, CBS reported that American Crossroads had spent nearly a quarter million dollars per day during October, largely for ads benefitting conservative candidates.
Read Moyers’ full remarks.

To honor our 2010 DMers we list 10 DM chapters in each E-News.
St. Lawrence University…St. Michaels College…St. Olaf College…St. Rose College…SUNY Geneseo…SUNY Oneonta…Syracuse University…Towson University…Union College…University at Albany…(to be continued)
More Campus Chapters.