Saturday, February 09, 2019

Dear MoveOn member, It hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw this week that Susan Collins received $1.8 million in donations after voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court—by far the most she's ever raised in a quarter.1 The fact that there's a financial incentive for a senator to confirm a justice to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is an insult to democracy.

Robert Reich<moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
To  Dear MoveOn member,
It hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw this week that Susan Collins received $1.8 million in donations after voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court—by far the most she's ever raised in a quarter.1 The fact that there's a financial incentive for a senator to confirm a justice to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court is an insult to democracy.
But there's reason to keep our heads up! H.R.1, the Democrats' sweeping anti-corruption and pro-democracy bill to rein in the influence of money in politics and expand voting rights, is wildly popular with voters—across the political spectrum.2
And Republicans are terrified.
Republicans in the House rightly said this week that the impacts of the bill would be "chilling," and Mitch McConnell believes it's a "power grab."3,4
You betcha! A power grab for the people.
But here's the thing: Just as the bill is starting to gain momentum, the GOP is launching a smear campaign, calling it a threat to free speech.5
We have to fight back, Alfred, and no group is more savvy and capable than MoveOn at countering this right-wing narrative and building grassroots support for this critical piece of legislation.
So what exactly does H.R.1 do that Republicans find so horrifying?
  • It creates a national system for automatic voter registration and expands early voting and same-day registration.
  • It makes Election Day a holiday for federal employees and encourages private businesses to also take the day off to encourage voting.
  • It requires "dark money" groups to make their donor lists public and mandates that Facebook and Twitter disclose the source of funding for political ads that appear on their platforms.
  • It institutes public financing for political campaigns.
  • And it beefs up ethics rules to fight corruption in government.6
Well sure, that would certainly terrify me if I were a Republican in the pocket of monied interests and terrified of actually facing a fair election.
And now, Republicans have developed a new line of attack against H.R.1: They are calling the proposal "Russian government policy."7 Excuse me? I can think of nothing more American than protecting the right to vote, getting Big Money out of politics, and reforming our broken system.
We must meet these vicious attacks blow for blow and make sure that the American people know the truth about H.R.1—namely, that it will give everyday people power in our political system again.
It disgusts me that any political party in the United States would so abandon the principles of our democracy to keep their coffers filled and their ultra-rich backers happy. The Republicans rallying against this legislation have turned their backs on democracy, showing their true colors as shills for special interests and billionaires.
H.R.1 is not a controversial proposal, and if Republicans actually believed that their policies were best for the American people, they would support it wholeheartedly. But they know that the only people that Republican policies help are the ultra-rich, the corrupt, and corporate powers dedicated to keeping their workers down.
We have lived under this system for too long, and it is about time something was done to end it.
Together, we need to build a groundswell of grassroots support for H.R.1, relentlessly shine a spotlight on the problems of Big Money and corruption—as well as the promise of real solutions that would improve our democracy—and bring millions of people together to demand action.
Thanks for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "Collins brings in most money of her career after Kavanaugh vote," Bangor Daily News, February 1, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63048?t=5&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
2. "New polling shows voters—including independents—want Congress to pass an anti-corruption bill," Vox, January 3, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63049?t=7&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
3. "House Republicans Warn That Bill Combating Big Money in Politics 'Resembles Russian Government Policy,'" The Intercept, February 7, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63050?t=9&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
4. "Mitch McConnell calls House Democrats’ anti-corruption bill a 'power grab,'" Vox, January 18, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63051?t=11&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
5. "Lobbyists are already mounting an opposition strategy to Democrats’ anti-corruption bill," Vox, January, 29, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63052?t=13&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
6. "House Democrats officially unveil their first bill in the majority: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal," Vox, January 4, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63053?t=15&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
7. "House Republicans Warn That Bill Combating Big Money in Politics 'Resembles Russian Government Policy,'" The Intercept, February 7, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/63050?t=17&akid=226688%2E38417624%2EOpXAN5
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back towards sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it MoveOn needs your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?
Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. This email was sent to Alfred Johnson on February 9th, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

No comments:

Post a Comment