July 17, 2012 is the date set for the hearing to examine pending constitutional proposals to remedy the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has asked Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to hold the hearing. A number of constitutional amendments have been introduced and will be examined during the hearing.
The most comprehensive and effective is The Fair Elections Now Act (S. 750 and H.R. 1404). Unfortunately, the widely accepted perception is that this bill has no chance and all expectations are for it to be “shelved” during this hearing. It was re-introduced in 2011 in the Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and in the House of Representatives by Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.), Walter Jones, Jr. (R-N.C.), and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine). The bill would allow federal candidates to choose to run for office without relying on large contributions, big money bundlers, or donations from lobbyists, and would be freed from the constant fundraising in order to focus on what people in their communities want. Essentially the bill creates a voluntary system that gives congressional candidates the option to stop raising huge sums of money, giving them more time to work on the people’s business by allowing qualified, legitimate candidates to receive grants, matching funds, and television vouchers to run competitive campaigns based on small dollar donors, not special interest money from lobbyists and corporations. For a more elaborate article on this hearing, please find my Call To Action published on United Republic on May 21, 2012.
Expressing support for this bill to the members of the subcommittee prior to July 17th is the only hope we citizens have for its continuance in the legislative process. If communication is not sufficient, this subcommittee will certainly determine on July 17th not to pursue it further. There are only 11 members – less than a dozen people – who will evaluate the viability of this bill:
Dick Durbin, Illinois (Chairman)
Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont
Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island
Al Franken, Minnesota
Christopher A. Coons, Delaware
Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut
Lindsey Graham, S.C. (Ranking Member)
Jon Kyl, Arizona
John Cornyn, Texas
Michael S. Lee, Utah
Tom Coburn, Oklahoma
OK. I agree. Let’s put congressional (the act of coming together or meeting) back in government. Let’s change our national motto back to “E Pluribus Unum” (many are one) and leave “In God We Trust” out of it. We’ve gotten precious little traction out of that one.
Certainly, Kirby. I agree that without coming together, nothing will get done. I observe average citizens refusing to do this everyday in interactions on social media. This behavior is paralyzing.
If you listen and read what is “out there” you would sincerely believe we are a polarized nation… our new social media simply gives much to great an opportunity to emulate the sensationalism that the money driven media thrives on. I think/hope we are really more moderate in thinking than we post.
I think you are right that a change in how we elect our representatives would change who we elect and get us better service from our legislators. I would take it a step further and take a cue from the Brits… limit election campaigns to 90 days prior to the election. Make our elected reps stay engaged and do the work we elected them to do for 3.5 years, instead of 2. I agree we need to ratchet up the dialog for pushing this legislation.
But I also think the activists (have found a huge audience in social media) who petition to boycott companies advertising with social and political media commentors (who spew misinformation) are important also and becoming more effective. I don’t know how we help these people (legislatively) other than sign their petitions and support their causes. Maybe if ALEC has to survive on it’s dues alone, without the benefit of the likes of Coca Cola and Bank of America, it will raise those dues to a level that meager state senators and representatives can’t afford and ALEC will die an untimely death. At minimum I hope, in future years, to not ever hear of Rush Limbaugh’s insane, Bazaro World, logic again.
What can we do to help?