MESSAGE FROM ADONAL…RESTORE DEMOCRACY…DM SUMMIT…DM SOCIAL MEDIA…MONEY ON MY MIND…CONGRESSIONAL NEWS…QUOTE OF THE MONTH…FACTS YOU CAN USE…
MESSAGE FROM ADONAL
Welcome to the 2015 monthly Democracy Matters E-News! Students from Massachusetts to California have already begun implementing their DM chapters’ plans, mobilizing their campuses to get big money out of politics and people back in.
The critical problems we face – the prison-industrial complex, student debt, growing economic inequality, climate change, and more – are inextricably linked to the wealthy 1% takeover of our political system. We are fighting for a democracy that works for all of us!
Join me by reading our E-News each month. Celebrate our victories, check out our latest happenings, and help us create a government that is truly of, by and for the people.
RESTORE DEMOCRACY – DM’S NEWEST PROJECT
Our exciting Restore Democracy project began this summer with DM interns fanning out across Iowa and New Hampshire. They followed and questioned all the Presidential candidates about their positions on big private money in politics. Three of them – Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders – responded by criticizing Citizens United and by endorsing the public financing of election campaigns! And both Sanders and O’Malley publicly signed our Restore Democracy Pledge. Sign the DM Pledge.
The second stage of Restore Democracy is beginning right now. DM campus chapters across the country are adding to the hundreds of “Restore Democracy Pledges” collected this summer. And throughout the year, DMers will continue to work both on and off campus, creating effective ways to raise the critical issue of money in politics in the 2016 Presidential elections.
During a campaign event in Iowa, Bernie Sanders congratulated Democracy Matters students for their work! Watch the video.
THE FANTASTIC DM SUMMIT
It’s not too early to register for the 15th Democracy Matters National Student Summit. We will gather on November 20th and 21st in Albany, NY to strategize, network, share ideas, and be part of exciting workshops and plenary sessions.
Join us!
DM SOCIAL MEDIA
DM Twitter has undergone a complete makeover! Many thanks to the great work this summer of two DM volunteers, Adam Eichen and Sam Beckenhauer.
Follow us now @DemocracyMatrz for all the latest updates on DM victories and money in politics news.
And don’t forget to check out the DM facebook page.
MONEY ON MY MIND
In this month’s column, Jay Mandle connects mass incarceration and police killings of Black Americans to the issue of the political power of wealthy political donors. He argues that changing the political system and the funding of election campaigns is an important part of ensuring that Black lives matter.
Read the full article and explore other issues of MOMM.
EXCITING CONGRESSIONAL NEWS
The Fair Elections Now Act was re-introduced this summer in the U.S. Senate with over 20 co-sponsors. It joins the House of Representatives Government By The People Act that now has more than 150 co-sponsors. Both these bills will change the way Congressional campaigns are funded, with an emphasis on small donors and public campaign financing.
Write to your Congressional representatives and tell them to support these bills!
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Who do you think the candidate is going to listen to – your average taxpayer or the head of a corporation who can write a check for a million dollars?” John Carpenter, retired probation office from Choctaw, Oklahoma.
Read about the “gusher of cash” already flooding the 2016 Presidential campaign.
FACTS YOU CAN USE – WE ARE NOT ALONE
This summer the New York Times reported “deep support among Republicans and Democrats alike for new measures to restrict the influence of wealthy [political] donors.”
In a national poll, more than 80% of Americans stated that money plays too great a role in political campaigns. And two-thirds believed that the wealthy have more chance to influence elections than others. A majority in both parties also said that winning candidates “usually promote policies favored by their donors.”
Republicans in the poll were almost as likely as Democrats to favor further restrictions on campaign donations. In addition, many respondents described political leaders as “a kind of class apart,” and politics as “a province of the wealthy.”
We’re not alone – America is ready for our movement to get big money out of politics!
Read the full article.
To honor our 2015 activists, we list ten Democracy Matters chapters in each E-News:
Boston University…Bridgewater State University…Colgate University…Des Moines Area Community College…Emerson College…Emory University…Gettysburg College…Hampton University…Iowa State University…Marygrove College…
More Campus Chapters.