Money in Politics – Represent.Us Unveils The American Anti-Corruption Act

November 13 – Sweeping campaign reform legislation called the American Anti-Corruption Act was unveiled today by a bi-partisan group that includes legal scholars, political experts, consumer advocates, Tea Party supporters and Occupy Wall Street activists.

The campaign was introduced by a panel of key supporters: Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and a former senior advisor to Sen. John McCain; Theodore Roosevelt IV, an investor and the great-grandson of President Roosevelt; Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School; Richard Painter, chief White House ethics officer for President George W. Bush, and consumer advocate Josh Silver, who is the campaign director.

The American Anti-Corruption Act will be introduced first to the American people – not Congress. This is a dramatic departure from past attempts at campaign reform, which for decades have focused largely on Washington. The grassroots campaign to pass the act is called Represent.Us.

Represent.Us is action-oriented. The campaign aims to enlist one million “citizen cosponsors” over the next 12 months, building an unprecedented, grassroots, right-left constituency in support of an overhaul of campaign finance, lobbying and disclosure laws. The group plans to introduce the Act to Congress with bipartisan support in late 2013, and will seek to unseat members of Congress – from both major parties – who refuse to co-sponsor the Act.

According to Mr. Potter, one of the key architects of the Act, the 2012 elections “demonstrated the dramatic failure of our current system of campaign finance and disclosure. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent by supposed independent groups which were in fact closely tied to candidates and parties – and in many cases we do not know where the money came from.”

Josh Silver, Represent Us campaign director, agrees: “Congress is too broken to fix itself, so it’s up to us – the American people – to lead reform as citizen cosponsors, and force Congress to follow.”

The American Anti-Corruption Act, almost two years in the making, has attracted a broad coalition of supporters, representing a wide mix of political views. They include:

The Act is far-reaching in its effects. It would completely re-write and overhaul the rules of campaign finance, lobbying and disclosure. Key provisions listed below.

The Act would:

The campaign will keep a hard checklist of Members and Senators who support the Act, and those who don’t, and will work to make that a front-and-center issue in future election cycles. Our goal is to get the measure enacted by 2016, and vote out those who oppose us.

As The New York Times reported this week (November 11), “the growth of unlimited fund-raising and the move of outside groups to the mainstream of politics. . . have changed how incumbents and challengers alike campaign and raise money, altered how voters experience politics, and expanded the influence of a small group of large donors on the policies and messages espoused by candidates.” (Byline: Nicholas Confessore)

The urgency of the Represent.Us campaign is driven by our shared concern for the future of America. Decisions made by our elected leaders impact nearly every issue that voters care about — from taxes and education to the environment, Social Security, national defense, health care, gun control, immigration and international relations. Yet, special interest groups continue to step up with serious cash – billions — to make sure decisions go their way. The net result: A few get special treatment, while the many don’t.

Where does that leave the average American?

Out in the cold.

This year’s election illustrates the problem. Though final figures are being tallied, the Center for Responsible Politics estimates that a record $6 billion was raised, and largely spent, for the sole purpose of supporting preferred federal candidates. Almost half of that – around $2.6 billion – was spent on the race for the White House, the group projects.

Only about one-third of 1% of the entire U.S. population contributed $200 or more in the 2012 election cycle, the Center for Responsible Politics says. That means just 930,000 or so people, and the special interest groups they represent, accounted for the biggest outlays of cash. That’s a lot of influence for a relatively few, especially when you consider the size of the entire U.S. population – around 310 million. (Source: www.OpenSecrets.org)

Campaign finance isn’t just about money, or even special interests — it’s about who we are as a people, and what we stand for as a nation. It’s about the quality, credibility and integrity of the issues that get argued, hashed out and decided every day in Washington – issues that impact the entire country, and the 300 million-plus people who live here. It’s about what we can do, as voters, to make sure everybody gets a fair shake. Not just a few, or those with deep pockets – everybody.

Because the money problem is getting worse with each political season, and unless somebody steps in with a viable solution, that runaway train will never slow down. That has serious implications for the quality, integrity and character of future American elections – and by extension the future of America.

The Act, in our view, represents a new push and a clear direction on an issue that’s been relegated to the back-burner in Washington for far too long now. We think it’s time to turn up the heat. And with the support of Democrats, Republicans, Independents and others who truly care about the direction of America, that’s exactly what we intend to do.

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Represent.Us is spearheaded by United Republic, a non-partisan, non-profit whose mission is to challenge undue influence of money in U.S. politics. (Motto: “Democracy Is Not For Sale.”)