Fwd: GMOM - we meet at 7:30 pm with our coalition partners
Charlie Cooper
June 24, 2024
Colleagues,
We're meeting this evening at 7:30 using the usual Zoom link. See the box at the bottom of this message.
Can Congress strengthen democracy?
Looking ahead to the 119th Congress, there may be an opportunity to achieve some of the political equality legislation we have been working toward for the past decade:
- The Freedom to Vote Act. The bill would ban dark money, end gerrymandering, protect the neutrality and security of election administration, and assure that every citizen has an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote counted.
- The John R. Lewis Act to restore preclearance whereby the Department of Justice would have to pre-approve changes in election rules by states that have a history of preventing targeted groups from voting.
- DC Statehood.
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Supreme Court Reform bills would
Expand the number of justices,
Set term limits,
Create ethics and accountability enforcement.
Rep. Sarbanes announced a new small-donor matching bill this past week. Originally, this was a component of his For the People Act, but Sen. Manchin succeeded in replacing the Sarbanes comprehensive public financing program with a pilot program. Reps. Jamie Raskin and Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez announced that they will introduce a bill making Supreme Court justices subject to the same $50 gift limit that applies to members of Congress.
It is a sad fact of our billionaire-dominated political system, that none of this legislation can be passed unless the Democratic Party controls both chambers of Congress. That fact alone, however, would not guarantee success. Millions of voters across the nation will have to send clear messages that this type of legislation is important and must be enacted.
How should we work to promote these bills?
With the announcement that John Sarbanes, champion of the Freedom to Vote Act, is leaving Congress (interview here), we are witnessing a new chapter in the struggle to promote political equality legislation in Congress. We will convene this evening to share perspectives on the situation and consider strategies. I propose that we start contacting some of the leading candidates for Congress with whom we have not built relationships -- Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan for Senate, Sarah Elfreth in District 3, Johnny Olszewski in District 2, and April McClain Delaney and Neil Parrott in District 6. Let's ask them to support our agenda and see what they say. If they are in support, let's get them on public record. If not, let's figure out how to apply people power.
Please brainstorm and bring your ideas to the teleconference.
Top, Angela Alsobrooks, left, Larry Hogan,
right.
Bottom left to right, Johnny Olszewski, Sarah
Elfreth, April McClain Delaney, and Neil Parrott.
Former Congressman John Lewis saw a democracy crisis coming. In the last years of his life he championed the Freedom To Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Join us for rallies across the country for Democracy on July 17 -- the four-year mark of the passing of Rep. John Lewis. Click here to register for the event in Washington, DC.
Associated Press: In the wake of Clarence Thomas filing a report disclosing some of the trips that ProPublica had exposed in its investigative responses, Sen. Dick Durbin, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, has announced that additional unreported trips have been uncovered by the Committee based on information provided by billionaire Harlan Crow. The Supreme Court still has no enforceable ethics code.
The Brennan Center: Despite claims from some that giving by millions of small donors increases political polarization, this analysis from the Brennan Center finds that "small donors give in patterns indistinguishable from those of other classes of donors. And while small donor giving has increased significantly in recent years, big-money spending has grown faster. The few wealthy donors who give the largest amounts have a much greater impact on American politics and prop up more than their share of extreme, norm-breaking candidates."
GMOM and For the People -- Maryland teleconference
Meeting Monday, June 24, 2024
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Onward together,
Charlie Cooper
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Get Money Out - Maryland · Baltimore, MD 21209, United States
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barrie friedland
Hi Charlie,I'm so sorry I forgot to return your call last week. I plan to be on tonight's meeting.Thanks.Stephanie