Change Congress March 23
I just signed up for Change Congress… Lawrence Lessig’s (of creative commons fame) new initiative to change the way congress operates. From their site:
About Change Congress
Our Principles
Change Congress is a national movement to end corruption in America’s
congress. We’re organizing citizens to push candidates to make four
simple commitments:1. No money from lobbyists or PACs
Congresspeople should be beholden to citizens, not special interests.
By committing not to accept money from lobbyists or PACs, candidates
give us confidence that their votes won’t be swayed by big money. This
pledge was most prominently advanced by Senator Edwards in his
Presidential campaign. To read more, click here.2. Vote to end earmarks
Earmarks allow congresspeople to explicitly decide who should get the
money our government spends. Because of the earmark economy, money
that is supposed to go to our schools, our soldiers, and our citizens
is instead diverted to political donors and pork-barrel projects like
the “Bridge to Nowhere”. We can’t clean up Congress until we end this
blatant system of corruption. Republicans have recently pushed
prominently for changes such as these. To learn more, click here or
here.3. Support publicly-financed campaigns
It’s not enough to just push particular candidates to stay out of the
system of corruption; we have to reform the system itself. Publicly-
financed campaigns will stop the cycle of campaign finance reform
loopholes and ensure that big money stays out of Congress forever.
Public financing has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats.
For prominent campaigns, see here and here.4. Support reform to increase Congressional transparency
Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and we would all benefit from a
cleaner Congress if more of its proceedings, and the proceedings of
its members, were public. This pledge calls for changes in the law and
rules of Congress to get all members to be more public about meetings
and contacts, including changing the rules so lawmakers post weekly
updates of their campaign contributions, meetings with registered
lobbyist, their latest earmark requests and significant changes in
their personal wealth. To learn more, click here.
