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Dear MoveOn member,
The daily, devastating images of the disaster in the Gulf are a vivid reminder of the consequences of corporations running roughshod over our democracy. For decades, companies like BP and Goldman Sachs have invested heavily in influencing elected leaders and legislation, so our system no longer works for most Americans.
This isn't news, but the urgency to fix it is growing—we need an economy, an energy plan, and a country that work for middle-class Americans—not just corporate elites.
So how can we fix our democracy?
We think you have the answer.
That's why we're joining with our friends at "The Other 98%"—a new web-based movement to reclaim our democracy—to draw up a bold agenda for returning control of our government to the people who elect it. We're particularly looking for ideas that are new, creative, catchy, and easily understood, so we can challenge candidates to back them this fall.
Can you submit an idea (or two!) for how to "change the rules" to make our democracy work for the other 98% of us?
Thousands of us will help suggest, rate, and vote on ideas, and then refine them into a comprehensive blueprint. But to get the ball rolling, we need some great ideas from you.
Here are some ideas we've received so far:
- Close the revolving door between K Street and the capitol by making it illegal to lobby for 5 years after leaving office
- Enact a Constitutional amendment to remove virtual personhood of corporations
- Increase transparency by requiring all appointment books of all elected officials to be posted on line
In the next two days, we'll collect as many ideas as we can about how we can root out corporate influence on our democracy and of our elected officials. Then, later this week, we're going to ask the entire MoveOn membership to rate the ideas we collect and help refine them into a blueprint that we'll ask politicians and candidates to commit to in the upcoming election season.
We're looking for any kind of changes we could enact that would make elections more fair, reduce influence peddling in Washington, or force politicians to listen to their constituents.
Too many of the ideas for reclaiming our democracy are so technical and hard to understand that they're very difficult to build public support around. So this is an attempt to tap our collective wisdom to come up with some new ideas that will make a big difference, and are the kind of thing you could explain to your neighbors while standing in line at the market.
Reclaiming our democracy can seem like a daunting task. But we have one important thing on our side—we're the majority. Something is wrong when our government mostly works for the 2% of the population who benefit from corporate lobbying. The Other 98% campaign lets the rest of us join together to fight back. And that starts by collecting ideas from as many people in this movement as possible.
Submit your ideas today so we can start building our agenda this week.
Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Milan, Jodeen, Matt, and the rest of the team.
Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to eddie alfaro on June 8, 2010. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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