Forum Post: A Plan to Take the Power of $$$$$ Out of Elections is in Congressional Committee Right Now
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 2, 2011, 4:12 p.m. EST by mtmama
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In order to elect ethical people who represent “we the people” who are not in the 1%, we need to have fair elections. Please support the Fair Elections Now Act. Call, e-mail and text your Congressmen and ask where they stand on this issue.
Senator Durbin reintroduced SB 750 in April 2011, (it didn’t come up for a vote in 2010) and there is a corresponding House Resolution 1404, The Fair Elections Now Act. Check out the bill on Thomas.gov or http://www.fairelectionsnow.org
Opponents of this bill support the majority’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC.
This is promising and I'll contact my Congressmen. However this is only a beginning. I believe we must overcome the overwhelming power that is wielded by the less-than-1% who hold an inordinate amount of wealth. My suggestion is to consider actions such as a massive boycott of surgically-targeted corporation (in particular, one of the too-big-to-fail financial organizations) to force this change. With the power of the internet, it seems that this is doable. For example, if large numbers of people were to move their funds from, say, BofA, to a locally-controlled bank or credit union, I believe that would not only cripple the "target" corporation, but also send a chilling message to the entire financial industry. An industry that is controlled by leaders who I believe are unabashedly arrogant and corrupt but totally legal (thanks to their control of our government leaders). The power of big money has become so complete that, in my opinion, it must be challenged by the collective power from millions of small-money advocates of this cause. I respect the OWS movement and I am on-board (I participated in the 10/5 march in NYC). However, I believe that demonstrating is not enough. In my view, we need to begin taking non-violent action against the powerful (but not invulnerable), "less-than-1%" who have virtually shut down Washington and our democracy. I am willing to devote time and resources to such a venture, but I don't know where to start. Are OWS supporters interested in something like this? (Or maybe it's already underway -- if so, please post a link so I can join the campaign.) Ron Retired USMC Viet Vet in California