Super PAC for the People

[Orangepeel]

Last edited Wed Feb 15, 2012, 08:10 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-john-sarbanes/super-pac-for-the-people_b_1274677.html

Rep Sarbanes is a great, progressive voice.
https://johnsarbanes.zissousecure.com/grassroots-donor

Edited to add some text. It was late when I first posted and I forgot.


Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go on the Up with Chris Hayes Show on MSNBC to talk about the issue of money in politics and what we can do about it. These days, the air is thick with cynicism about whether Congress can operate independently of the special interests that are pouring huge sums of money into political campaigns and bankrolling an ever-expanding army of lobbyists in Washington.

My effort to build a grassroots donor network is modeled after the Fair Elections Now Act, a public financing proposal that was introduced in Congress four years ago. Under this legislation, a candidate who assembles a high volume of grassroots donations ($100 or less) is rewarded with access to a public matching fund. Recognizing that the Fair Elections Now Act is unlikely to become law any time soon, I decided to use my own campaign to demonstrate such an approach. We raised two challenge funds from a group of traditional donors and I pledged not to touch those funds until we could build a grassroots network.

The first Challenge Fund of $500,000 can only be unlocked when the campaign has secured donations from 1000 grassroots donors. The second Challenge Fund of $250,000 will be unlocked when the amount raised from the grassroots totals $50,000. However you want to look at this - Super PAC insurance, as Larry Lessig calls it, or plain old citizen empowerment -- it's a way to start taking our democracy back from the special interests. To learn more, go to www.grassrootsdonor.com.