Subject: Is corrupt money in politics the ONE issue that can unite Americans?
Date: Mon, Mar 24, 2014
Msg: 100845
From: List for transpartisan leaders and innovators [mailto:TRANSPARTISAN@LISTS.THATAWAY.ORG] On Behalf Of Evelyn Messinger Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 12:25 PM To: TRANSPARTISAN@LISTS.THATAWAY.ORG Subject: [TRANSPARTISAN] Is corrupt money in politics the ONE issue that can unite Americans?
Briefly: my name is Evelyn Messinger. I am a television and web producer whose work focuses on bringing citizens into the policy-making process by leveraging their opinions via media - see our website below my signature.
If there is one issue that unites left and right in fundamental agreement on a problem and a solution, it is the corrupting influence of money in politics. The transpartisan movement could look at this issue as a case study and perhaps a way to seek practical avenues to engage the public.
This post is inspired by a new campaign from http://Represent.us - which sponsors an "Anti-Corruption Act" among other things - to hold a nationwide march on April 15 to "turn tax day into representation day." This is the group most likely to have a real impact using a grass-roots approach, because they are dedicated and professional, as this video shows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGECjjoJ3KE#t=137
Liberals and conservatives emphasize different aspects of this problem, with conservatives focusing on the venal actions of politicians and liberals on the greedy demands of corporations, but there is surprising agreement on both sides, even among many elected leaders, that the rules of campaign finance should be changed. See this video we produced at both the Republican and Democratic 2012 Conventions on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDIkiD3irBA&list=PLC4B2F48B04494A6A (disclosure: we worked with Represent Us on this project).
You would think that this degree of support would lead to change, but there are two problems: extremely powerful vested interests in maintaining, and even expanding, the current system; and the fact that money in politics, a root cause of many concrete problems, is more abstract than the problems themselves (my mortgage is under water, my kid's college tuition is going through the roof, I pay for 3000 TV channels but spend most of my viewing time watching commercials.)
Is this the one issue that our transpartisan community could united behind?
Thanks and regards,
Evelyn -- Evelyn Messinger http://citizenschannel.org +1.415.377.6278
############################
To unsubscribe from the TRANSPARTISAN list: write to: mailto:TRANSPARTISAN-SIGNOFF-REQUEST@LISTS.THATAWAY.ORG or click the following link: http://lists.thataway.org/scripts/wa-THATAWAY.exe?SUBED1=TRANSPARTISAN&A=1
