Let's Talk Campaign Finance Reform

Getting money out of politics is a noble goal but is it realistic? The recent Cromnibus is an example of what we can expect from Congress. Does anyone seriously think that they want limits on campaign contributions? Back in September of 2014, the Senate actually did try to overturn the Citizens United decision. Fifty-four Senators voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to do just that.(Democrats and Independents) But forty-two Senators, all Republicans,  voted no effectively filibustering the measure. http://www.thenation.com/blog/181590/senate-tried-overturn-citizens-united-today-guess-what-stopped-them#

Now that we have Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate, we won't be seeing any efforts to reform campaign contributions. One writer suggests that real reform is unlikely in Congress but may have a chance at the state level.  Paul Blumenthal reports in Huffington Post  on those state level initiatives.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/20/campaign-finance-reform-states_n_6357182.html

There are also several citizen led efforts that you might want to look at and support.  Clean up Washington is a grassroots campaign by Public Citizen, a national public interest organization. You can research more about them here:  http://www.citizen.org/Page.aspx?pid=183

Another group to look at is Americans for Campaign Finance Reform.  They have joined up with Fund for the Republic and have this website:  https://www.issueone.org/ Their united effort's goal is to fix the problem of money in politics.

Campaign finance reform is kind of like the weather, everyone talks about it but no one seems to do anything about it. Well, here is a start. If you don't like either of these groups, then find one you can support and do something this year.