This is a kickstarter campaign for a filmmaker who is focused on the electoral college, gerrymandering, proportional representation, and the two-party system.
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
C: 410-624-6095
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
“Before 2010, 23 states had bans on corporations and union funding of outside spending. As a result of the court’s ruling, these states had to change their campaign laws. We can then compare the changes before and after Citizens United in these 23 states with the same changes in the 27 states whose laws did not change. The effect of the court’s ruling is then simply the differences between these two before-and-after comparisons.
“We find that Citizens United increased the GOP’s average seat share in the state legislature by five percentage points.”
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
C: 410-624-6095
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
https://www.ft.com/content/5060844a-0420-11e7-ace0-1ce02ef0def9
The $2 billion spent in the 2016 federal election cycle doesn’t count their research and support staff or the dark money that Wall Street firms or individuals may have contributed or spent.
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
C: 410-624-6095
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
It has been quite a start to 2017, and I would like to devote this "insider update" to the recent news surrounding our victory in South Dakota, and the resulting repeal.
What happened
Last month, South Dakota legislators did something so brazen it boggles the mind: they repealed the Anti-Corruption Act that voters passed in November -- in the state ranked the 4th most corrupt in the nation. They did this without feedback from communities they represent, and by adding a bogus "emergency clause" which fast-tracked a vote in the House and Senate, and kept the Anti-Corruption Act from being referred back to the ballot. While our members and allies were able to put substantial pressure on lawmakers, the repeal passed anyway. This garnered attention from multiple national and local media outlets, and led to an outpouring of support for South Dakota from across the country.
South Dakota's response
South Dakotans are mad as hell, and they're letting their politicians know. Hundreds of residents from across the state showed up at the capital, Pierre, for multiple actions with chants of "respect our vote" before a climactic final vote. And because of the tremendous support of our donors, you, we were able to provide support transportation, help with communications, and we captured all the action with cameras for use in future inspiration and organizing. South Dakotans are continuing to show up at town hall meetings with elected officials to express their outrage that the will of the people was overturned. In just the past month, Represent South Dakota has formed four energized chapters -- that's a lot for a state with very few people!
What's next
The House and Senate have introduced a series of laws to "replace" the Anti-Corruption Act piecemeal, including a lobbyist gift ban, an increase in the time allowed between serving as an election official and working as a lobbyist, and establishing a "Government Accountability Task Force," which would study government, campaign finance, lobbyist restrictions, and ethics. While these are positive steps, we are watching them get riddled with loopholes, and some are actually making the corruption problem even worse. We are issuing press releases, and dogging legislators, and when the legislature adjourns on March 10, we'll know what the replacement laws actually look like. Rest assured, we have ideas of how we can have the final victory in South Dakota, and I look forward to providing more details to you next month.
The attack on the people of South Dakota is not just South Dakota's problem: it's our problem. We will continue to fight by supporting our volunteers on-the-ground, by spreading the word, and by holding those elected to represent us accountable to do just that.
As always, thank you for your support,
| Halley Gmeiner |
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/republican-success-opens-door-amending-us-constitution
A good, neutral assessment of how Republican victories in states relate to convention prospects. Also, this on the history of the drive for a convention on Balanced Budget amendment:
The movement peaked at 32 states when Missouri passed a resolution calling for a convention in 1983, then dipped to about half that as numerous states rescinded their resolutions. The tally began growing again after Republicans swept into control of many capitols in 2010.
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
C: 410-624-6095
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
https://www.archives.gov/amending-america
Of 11,000 amendment proposals, only 27 have been enacted, but expanding democracy is a major theme of the successful ones. GMOM had a tour conducted by co-curator Chrstine Blackerby. On display at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC from March 11, 2016 – September 4, 2017.
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
C: 410-624-6095
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
Charlie Cooper
H: 410-578-8291
C: 410-624-6095
“We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” – Louis Brandeis
