Democracy Wire

Then-Representative (and now Senator) Chris Murphy (D-Conn) penned an op-ed with this title in 2008 lamenting the vast amounts of time Members of Congress have to spend fundraising. If he thought things were bad then, he had no idea how awful the permanent money chase would be now. The Citizens United decision in 2010 opened the door for corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections, and the SpeechNow decision shortly after paved the way for super PACs, both creating the need for Members of Congress to do more fundraising.

I, ____________, solemnly pledge to devote each session day of the month of February 2015 to the official duties of my office as a member of the United States House of Representatives, without the distraction of electoral fundraising or other political campaign-related activities.

Last week, Senator John Thune and allies proposed new telecommunications rules known as Title X. But taking a closer look, this bill falls far short of what we need to protect the Open Internet.

In the five years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision allowed unlimited amounts of money to pour into our political system, more than 5.4 million Americans have voted to support a constitutional amendment to eliminate corporate personhood and to restore constitutional rights and fair elections to the people.

In a shocking, but not unexpected development, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested today and indicted in federal court on bribery and corruption charges. The Speaker Silver’s arrest further reveals the crucial role the Moreland Commission played in bringing corruption in New York State government to light, a role which Common Cause/NY helped to encourage through our Moreland Monday series of reports .

Hours after he delivered a 70-minute State of the Union speech laden with specific plans for re-balancing the tax code, reining in college costs, raising the minimum wage, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, and safeguarding information online, the President on Wednesday could manage just six innocuous sentences – and no specific plans – about fixing our democracy.