Buckeyes, Please help with this!!!!!!

[shirlden]

I just rec'd this e-mail alert. Please read and get active.

Dear Friends,

Senator Fedor needs your help now. She knows how hard it is to effect change in our government, but she wants you to know that the work you have done on fair and accurate campaigns does makes a difference. Senator Fedor is asking for your help on another important issue that demands your full attention.

WHY?

Governor Bob Taft has called a special session of the Ohio Senate with the express purpose of passing campaign finance legislation. This is a bad bill, however, that makes it easier for big business to give big cash to candidates, makes it harder for union members to support campaigns, and increases the personal contribution limit 400%. Senate Bill 1 increases the amount a person can donate to a campaign from $2500 to $10,000.

Senator Fedor and her colleagues in the Democratic Party believe Senate Bill 1 will remove the average citizen from participation in our elections and make Ohio’s process a playground for big business interests and money. Their campaign finance bill increases corruption in the State of Ohio allowing our state’s democracy to be sold to the highest bidder. Senator Fedor fears that if Senate Bill 1 passes, many voices throughout Ohio will be suppressed for ever.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Senator Fedor is calling on all of you to organize as you have done so successfully in the past to the fight against Senate Bill 1. We need to tell the Republican Leadership to stop this bad bill and enact real reform in Ohio. To make a difference, you can:

o Call Governor Bob Taft at 614-466-3555
o Contact the Bill’s sponsor, Senator Randy Gardner at 614-466-8060 or by e-mail at [e-mail]
o Contact Senate President Doug White, who is chairing the committee in which Senate Bill 1 is being debated, at 614-466-8082 or by e-mail at [e-mail]

o Contact your State Senator and Representative. You can find contact info by going to http://www.legislature.state.oh.us

o Send letters to the editors of all newspapers in Ohio - please do not overlook your small local and alternative newspapers.

o Attend the hearings and session on this bill:

- Hearings: Tuesday, December 14th, 9:00 a.m. and Wednesday, December 15th 9:00 a.m. in the Senate Finance Hearing Room of the Statehouse

- Session: Wednesday, December 15th at 10:30 a.m.; Thursday, December 16th at 10:00 a.m.; and, Friday, December 17th at 10:00 a.m. in the Senate Chambers

- Come prepared to testify and ask the hard questions (To find out more about this bill please see the attached PDF)

Without your help big business will take over our state government. Senate Bill 1 will allow the foxes to watch the henhouse and the people of Ohio will have no say in how they are governed. Please help us and feel free to contact our office with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,
Greg Lestini



Gregory J. Lestini, Esq.
Legislative Aide
State Senator Teresa Fedor
Ohio Senate - 11th District
Statehouse
Senate Annex, 2nd Floor, Rm 226
Columbus, Ohio 43215
[phone]
[e-mail]

[GOTV]

1. My letters

=============To my representatives in Columbus =============

Dear ....

I'm writing you concerning Senate Bill 1 which is under discussion today. It's a large bill and I can't say I've read the whole thing but the part that troubles me, and it troubles me a great deal, is the prospect of raising the campaign contribution limits from $2,500 to $10,000.

This change will allow the wealthy of Ohio to increase their influence on government at the expense of average Ohioans. Most Ohioans cannot afford to give even the $2,500 maximum and so this change benefits only the already powerful corporate elite. We should be reducing the influence of money on elections not increasing it.

Please do what you can to stop this change.

... followed by full contact info ....


=============To the governor=========================

Mr. Taft

Regarding Senate Bill 1. I'm very surprised, and troubled with some aspects of this bill. Most notably your plan to raise the maximum contribution an individual may give a candidate from $2,500 to $10,000.

How many Ohio residents have run into the $2,500 maximum that you feel the need to increase it? Who do you think this change is meant to serve?

With this change you, and the bill's sponsor Senator Randy Gardner, are marginalizing the voices of the vast majority of Ohio residents who cannot afford to contribute even the current $2,500 limit.

Only the tiny minority of Ohio's corporate elite will be able to take advantage of the higher limits to buy their way to the front of the line and put their concerns ahead of the concerns of average Ohio residents.

You must rework this bill so that it works to help Ohio government work for all Ohioans - not to increase four fold the power of the already powerful.