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Wowee! Is Money in Politics Moving Forward in California!
The California Voters Right to Know Act is revolutionary
. This
statewide ballot measure will give Californians the state constitutional right to know the true sources of political spending. The Voters' Right to Know Act, which will appear on the ballot in November 2016, is a first-of-its-kind political reform measure that will establish California as the national model for campaign finance disclosure. Listen to their campaign manager and find out what you can do at our general meeting on Sunday, November 22 in Pleasant Hill. (See upcoming events below.)
Proposition 49, the Overturn Citizens United Act,
which hopefully will be on the ballot in 2016, asks the public if they would like to overturn Citizens United. Last year the CA Senate and Assembly approved it and it was held up by the CA Supreme Ct. Just recently on Oct. 6 at 8:00 am more than 100 of us attended a rally as well as the hearing which began at 9:00 am. It was exciting and educational and most importantly hopeful. We should know by January what the justices decide. Check us out in the picture above and it's 8:00 am. Please write a letter to the CA Supreme Ct. and keep the momentum going. http://www.moneyoutvotersin.org/restore49
The California Free Act of 2016 allows for citizen funded elections and the strengthening of the Fair Political Practices Commission. Read more here.
Gov. Brown signs AB990 allowing for better disclosure on mailers. Read more here.
CA FPPC passes strong anti-coordination rules for candidates and outside groups. Read more here.
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FOLLOW US:
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MoneyOut! PeopleIn! Coalition & Contra Costa /MoveOn
Public Meeting - Plans for 2016
Sun. Nov 22 - 1-3 PM, Pleasant Hill Cohousing Community Room
* Speaker - Voters Right to Know Act's Campaign Manager,
Shane McLoud
* Student Panel - What Lights Our Fire & What We Need
* Proposed Actions for 2016
* Decide final actions from 5 of Robert Reich Teach-in areas -
Getting Big Money Out of Politics - Ending Corporate Welfare -
Making Polluters Pay - Taming Wall Street - California's Prop 13
* More in the works
This meeting is all about getting the fire-in-our bellies for 2016. California is truly taking the lead, and it will need all of us to get major initiatives on the ballot. Also, the question always comes up about how to get students more involved. Well, why not ask them!
Much is still in the works. Music and snacks, of course. $5 donation appreciated but not required. Please contact
[email protected]
with questions and/or to make a reservation.
Directions to Pleasant Hill CoHousing: From 680 South, turn right onto Monument Blvd. From 680 North, turn left onto Monument. After the first stoplight, turn right before the "76" gas station onto Marcia. Immediately turn left onto Lisa Lane. Go to the end of Lisa Lane, cross the Iron Horse Trail, and park in the small area at right or the larger gravel lot at the left. Pleasant Hill Cohousing is the mango colored, blue roofed building directly opposite the entrance to the school. There is a small amount of visitor parking in our lot. Total parking in these areas is 20 - 25 cars, so carpooling helps. Call 925-878-9288 if you need help.
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ROBERT REICH: "Saving Capitalism - for the Many, Not the Few"
Thursday, November 12, 7:30 PM
First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley
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$64,000 Democracy for All Video Contest - Deadline Dec. 2
How do we get our Democracy back?
Some might say that's the $64,000 question
See 8 winning entries to date by clicking here
On August 12 the contest was launched. Each week starting September 2 through December 2 one of the 30-90 second videos submitted in the previous week will be chosen as the best of the week and receive $1,000. In the final selection there will be a grand prize of $25,000 and 5 category prizes each for $5,000.
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Robert Reich Big Picture Teach-in - September 27
Five of Robert Reich's 3-minute videos - all about money in politics - were the centerpiece of a well attended gathering in Lafayette on 9/27 that included a stimulating presentation by Dr. John Lee about Thomas Pikkety's economics and the money in politics problem.
See his slides by clicking here.
Gordon Miller spoke about the Powell Memo. See Gordon's slides by clicking here. We then broke into 5 groups where enthusiasm reigned. Each group came up with actions that will be finalized at our meeting on November 14.
Click here to view the powerful charts that were on display.
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Proposition 49 Rally and Supreme Ct. Hearing - October 6
Description in opening article & photo
Very important to send a letter to the Supreme Court to let them know how the constituents are behind Proposition 49. Click here for letter.
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CA DISCLOSE Act Update
Time ran out in efforts to get the DISCLOSE Act passed in 2015 due to stiff resistance by organized labor. However, all is not lost. The bill's sponsoring organization, the California Clean Money Campaign (CCMC) and authors Assembly Members Jimmy Gomez and Marc Levine got it changed to a two-year bill, and are close to agreement with opponents on its provisions. It is the intention of CCMC to resume its legislative campaign, starting in 2016.
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East Bay Move to Amend Receives Commitment from
Cong. Lee to Co-sponsor HJR 48
There are 3 resolutions before the Congress - 22, 23 and 48. Proposition 48 includes the Move to Amend position about money and speech and corporations and people.
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Recommended Articles
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CA Voters Right to Know Act Will Revolutionize
Disclosure of Campaign
Considered to be the most sweeping state political reform since Watergate
Please read the opening of the Editorial at the top of the newsletter and hear the campaign manager at our general meeting on Nov. 22 described under upcoming events.
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"Finding Common Ground" -
A Money in Politics Debate on Capitol Hill - Well Known Speakers IncludingTrevor Potter, Tea Party Members & More
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94% of Republicans Want Campaign Finance Reform
In the article linked below you'll find that 94 percent of Republican voters said that "special interest money has too much influence in American political campaigns," and 81 percent agreed that "the system for funding elections needs fundamental reform."
Click here for the article.
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158 Families Fund Primary Campaign
Click
here to read article
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Challenge to SEC Pay-To-Play Rule Rejected by DC Circuit
On August 25, 2015, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals turned back a challenge brought by the state Republican parties of New York and Tennessee to an important rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prevent pay-to-play practices in state investing in New York Republican State Committee v. SEC. The Campaign Legal Center, joined by Democracy 21, filed an
amici brief
in the
case in January of this year, urging the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reject the challenge to the SEC rule.
Click
here to read article
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First Republican Senator To Co-sponsor Voting Rights Act of 2015
On June 2015-the second anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision gutting the Voting Rights Act (VRA)-congressional Democrats introduced ambitious new legislation to restore the VRA. Last night, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska became the first Republican to cosponsor the bill, known as the
Voting Rights Advancement Act
of 2015. The bill compels states with a well-documented history of recent voting discrimination to clear future voting changes with the federal government, requires federal approval for voter ID laws, and outlaws new efforts to suppress the growing minority vote.
Read the whole article
here.
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ALEC Wants an Image Makeover
The Koch brothers-backed group that helped launch the push for voter ID laws and "stand your ground" statutes has a new project: defending the anonymous "dark money" in politics.
At least 125 campaign finance reform bills - many of them dealing specifically with disclosure - had been introduced in 33 statehouses in the first half of the year, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics. And a recent New York Times/CBS poll found that three-quarters of self-identified Republicans support requiring more disclosure by outside spending organizations.
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Fix the FEC - New Bipartisan Legislation to Address a Dysfunctional Agency
The Restoring Integrity to America's Election Act, introduced in June 2015 by two Democrats and two Republicans, Points the Way Forward for Bipartisan Cooperation
Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chair Ann M. Ravel describes her agency as "worse than dysfunctional" and says "the likelihood of [federal campaign finance] laws being enforced [in the 2016 election] is slim."
[1]
On June 25, 2015, Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Jim Renacci (R-OH), John Carney (D-DE) and Lou Barletta (R-PA) introduced
H.R. 2931
, "Restoring Integrity to America's Elections Act," a bill that seeks to restructure the FEC.
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Petitions
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Bring Back the Voting Rights Act
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Time is Now for Executive Order on Dark Money
As fundraising for the 2016 elections continues to gain steam, there is an action President Obama could take to stem the tide of "dark money." The President could issue
an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending. Contractors are consistently among the biggest political spenders, and receive hundreds of billions a year from the federal government.
Sign the Brennan Center's
petition at Change.org
urging President Obama to issue an executive order to get government contractors' dark money out of elections.
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Get Off Shore Corporations to Pay Their Fair Share
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How about ending tax breaks for CEO bonuses
With a shrinking middle class and rising inequality, no corporation should get a tax break for shelling out giant bonuses to CEOs. We urge you to take action to close the performance pay loophole.
Instead of making deep cuts to the programs that build a stronger middle class, why doesn't Congress close this loophole that gives extra incentives for excessive CEO pay?
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Block the Revolving Door Between Washington and Wall Street
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Sign the petition telling the Assembly to pass AB 990 so voters can actually see who pays for political mailers!
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Tell Congress: Oppose the Schumer-Portman corporate tax giveaway
"Oppose the Schumer-Portman international tax proposal, a massive giveaway to corporate tax dodgers that would permanently disadvantage companies that create jobs in the U.S.A."
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Calendar
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Thurs. Nov. 12, 7:30 PM
Robert Reich "Saving Capitalism for the Many"
First Congregational Church, 2348 Channing Way, Berkeley
or call 800-838-3006
Tues. November 17, 7:00 PM
"Less Equal Than Ever" - a conversation about inequality with Katrina vanden Heuvel, Robert Reich, Van Jones and Ai-jen Poo -
Herbst Theater in San Francisco
Or by calling 415-392-4400.
Cost: $35 non-members, $25 members, $10 students (limited number)
Sun. Nov. 22, 1-3 PM
MOPI Coalition/ MoveOn Annual Mtg
Pleasant Hill Cohousing Community Room
2016 Plans & You - Speakers, Reich Teach-in Actions -- See details under Events
Monday, January 21, 2016
Citizens United Anniversary - watch here for actions
Ongoing
1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 10 AM -12 Noon
MoveOn/Coalition meetings
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Volunteer Needs
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 You are needed! We do our best to find a way to participate that fits your interests and time. We invite you to join with us in any of the following areas:
Speakers Bureau- speak and/or help find organizations to whom to speak
Support the webmaster - needs Nation Builder assistant
Help on the CAP (Corruption Awareness Project) which is simple and will be very powerful if we can get it to spread
Tabling
Hold a movie house party
Be a caller for the telephone tree
Help with Letters to the Editor
Attend rallies
Join the Core organizing team
Please send an email to
[email protected] with Volunteering in the subject line and our Volunteer Coordinator, Loretta Matthieu, will get back to you.
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Who Are We?
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MoneyOut! PeopleIn! was created by Central Contra Costa and Tri-Valley MoveOn Councils when we decided that we wanted to put most of our energy into getting big money out of politics. We put the word out and in no time had 15 groups that support our mission. In addition to the two groups mentioned above we have an active working committee made up of representatives of most of the following groups: CA Clean Money Campaign, Move to Amend, Common Cause, 99Rise, Sunflower Alliance, Represent.us, Free Speech for People, Public Citizen, Courage Campaign and MOPI. We are always looking for more supporting groups as you can see on our website. We all have the fire in our bellies to get our Democracy back.
Sheilah, Gordon, Joe, Karen, Loretta, Joan, Ann, Loretta, Jennifer, Judy, Tye, Brodie, Cindy, Lawrence, Ron and many more.
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