Right now, there's some very exciting, sudden momentum on a crucial issue -- campaign finance reform -- taking back our democracy by getting big money out of our political system.
This is a Minneapolis issue because it affects so many issues that affect the city. Our Representative Martin Olav Sabo could make a big difference on this, but our chance may be brief. Please call NOW, before the House goes home. Representative Martin Olav Sabo DC Phone: 202-225-4755 Be sure the staffers know you're a constituent, and urge your Representative to: "Please sign the Discharge Petition for the Shays-Meehan bill on Campaign Finance Reform before you come home." Detailed Issue background included at end of this message. In addition: SAVE THE DATE for a rally for reform to tell Minnesota Representatives to support reform NOW! It will be at the State Capitol on January 10: Details to follow, or call 1-800-926-1064 (ask for Grassroots) or check on www.commoncause.org If you are interested in hosting a meeting sometime between January 5 to 11, or having a Common Cause staff person speak to your organization or class, please call (202) 302-5179. Much of this message supplied from email alert form MoveOn.org http://www.moveon.org I have already sent an earlier version (without rally info) this message to 80-100 MN folks I thought might be interested / followup. (sorry if this is a second copy to you...) I hae had several response for people who have called. The staffer I spoke to could not explain why Sabo has not yet signed the petition. Fred H. Olson Homewood Neighborhood (part of Willard-Hay in Near North) -- Nbhd-tc list is being revived! Fred H. Olson Minneapolis,MN 55411 (near north Mpls) [EMAIL PROTECTED] 612-588-9532 (7am-10pm Cent time) List manager of Cohousing-L & Nbhd-tc Ham radio:WB0YQM More info: http://www.mtn.org/~fholson/sig-detail.htm --- ISSUE BACKGROUND --- The discharge petition is the key to forcing a fair vote in the House on campaign finance reform, because House Speaker Hastert has refused to schedule one. Martin Olav Sabo is one of a small handful of Representatives who hold the key to success, as a past supporter of reform who has not yet signed the discharge petition. The situation is described in a New York Times editorial, below. Here's why we're asking you to call now: * Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas has just signed the petition. Johnson chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, which is relevant because many members of the Caucus have not yet signed. * Congressman Alcee Hastings of Florida, a Black Caucus member, signed yesterday. * Newly elected Congressman Steven Lynch of Massachusetts signed a month ago. * Representatives Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and Frank Wolf of Virginia signed on September 10th. * Congressman Richard Neal of Massachusetts has promised to sign. Things are really moving our way. We need just six more signatures, so your Representative could put this campaign over the top. Please do call now if you possibly can. Thank you. Sincerely, - Peter Schurman Executive Director MoveOn.org December 20, 2001 ----- Wavering on Campaign Reform Editorial, The New York Times, December 10, 2001 In the closing weeks of this year's Congressional session, lawmakers who say they are for campaign finance reform have a chance to prove that they mean it. Only seven more signatures are required to force the Shays-Meehan soft-money ban to the floor of the House, where it has passed twice. The House speaker, Dennis Hastert, has said he will not bring the bill out of committee until 218 signatures, or a majority of House members, are on the list. Two groups, one of Democrats and one of Republicans, are conspicuously not going along. Their refusal cannot be excused any more. The Shays-Meehan bill would ban campaign donations of unregulated soft money from corporations, unions and rich individuals. It is the companion for the already passed McCain-Feingold bill in the Senate. On the Republican side, attention ought to be focused on six Republican supporters of reform who also daringly voted last summer to defy Speaker Hastert on an unfair parliamentary maneuver designed to kill the bill. Two are from the New York area, Sherwood Boehlert of upstate New York and Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey. Also holding out are Charles Bass of New Hampshire, Greg Ganske of Iowa, Tom Petri of Wisconsin and Fred Upton of Michigan. But Republicans are not the only ones holding out. Eleven Democrats are in a similarly untenable position. They have not only voted for the Shays- Meehan bill in the past, but also actually signed a petition in 1999 to force the bill to the floor. These holdouts are Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Rick Boucher of Virginia, Corrine Brown and Alcee Hastings of Florida, James Clyburn of South Carolina, Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, William Lipinski of Illinois, Martin Olav Sabo of Minnesota, Ronnie Shows and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, and Albert Wynn of Maryland. There is no excuse for any of these Republican or Democratic lawmakers to withhold their signatures. They cannot cite their respect for the prerogatives of the House speaker, because they have challenged those prerogatives in the past. Do they want to tell their constituents that they will stand up for reform only when it does not count? They need to clear up whether they are for or against a cleanup of the campaign fund-raising system. They also need to do it now. [End of NYTimes editorial] _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
