[CRNMC] Another direction in which to go

[edward Oberweiser]

Hi Charles,

The anti corruption act sounds like a good second step for CRMNC.

Ed

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 8:50 PM, Sandra Marshall <san.marshall at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I like the anti corruption idea Charles.  I sounds clear and simple.  I
> for one, don't yet understand the county charter and the need for one, and
> the connection between charter and local bank.  I'll do some reading.
>
> See you tomorrow,
> Sandy
>
> On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 9:40 AM, Charles Cresson Wood <ccwood at ix.netcom.com
> > wrote:
>
>> Hello community rights friends,
>>
>> Another direction that CRNMC could pursue at this point in time is an
>> “anti-corruption act” (ACA). This exciting recent development – manifest in
>> a law just passed in Tallahassee, Florida – was brought my attention by
>> Michael St. John. The intention of these laws is to get corporate money out
>> of politics. These laws prevent lobbyists, PACs, or any other
>> representative acting on behalf of corporations from donating any money to
>> politicians. These acts also mandate full transparency, ending secret
>> money. This for example means that “bundlers,” those who combine money from
>> various sources and then make a donation to a political campaign, must
>> disclose all sources of the money. Limits are also placed on the amount
>> that can be donated to politicians seeking to get reelected.
>>
>> These laws have been reviewed for Constitutionality, and at least so far,
>> they appear to be Constitutional (so far as I can tell, no court cases
>> yet). A model act that we could use was drafted by former Federal Election
>> Commission chairman Trevor Potter, working in conjunction with democracy
>> reform leaders and constitutional attorneys from across the political
>> spectrum. The act enjoys support from both progressives and conservatives.
>> This might be a “mom and apple pie” (just about everybody wants it)
>> unifying way to bring together many different segments of our county.
>>
>> Given all the current public anger about the economy (how the Federal
>> government refuses to prosecute big banks for mortgage fraud, hands over
>> our tax dollars to bail out Wall Street firms that took outrageous risks,
>> provides very little help for the growing number of homeless, etc.), we
>> could probably capitalize on this anger to get a Mendocino County ACA
>> passed. If we seek to dethrone the corporations, taking away their ability
>> to influence politicians via money is a good place to start. If politicians
>> are less beholden to corporations, in the future we should see fewer laws
>> intended to favor corporations.
>>
>> This ACA law was very popular when it came time to vote. Some 67% of the
>> voters in Tallahassee voted YES on the law (isn’t that our magic Measure S
>> number?).
>>
>> Four-minute video:
>> https://represent.us/action/tallahassee/
>>
>> About the model law:
>> http://anticorruptionact.org/
>>
>> /s/ Charles
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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