Website      About Us       Member Organizations      Our Actions       Media Center     Contact Us      Join
MOPI Newsletter
May 2015
 

Cynicism or Hope - 
Here Are a Few for Hope

 

 * Who said this? "Well, Citizens United has gotta be fixed. ... You're gonna need a constitutional amendment to fix this problem. ... Eventually we're gonna destroy American politics with so much money in the political process." I bet you didn't guess Republican Senator Lindsay Graham.

 

 

*  125 DISCLOSE Act supporters (some from LA) drove to the Capitol in Sacramento on April 29 making a strong message as each of us spoke to the Elections Committee that voted  4-2 move the bill along. Please read how you can help. 

 

*  Move to Amend's WE THE PEOPLE AMENDMENT was introduced in the 114th Congress!  The We the People Amendment -- House Joint Resolution 48 -- is the only amendment that deals with both Supreme Court doctrines that grant constitutional rights to artificial entities and that define spending money as free speech. 

FOLLOW US:
Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter
Links
ProjectsProjects and Events 
Disclose

The DISCLOSE Act, AB 700, Is Off and Running

 

On top of testifying before the Elections Committee (there were 125 total and 12 of us from our area) there were 50 lobbying visits made and the bill gained some new co-authors.  An amazing stack of 33,800 signatures for AB700 were delivered to Assemblymember Gomez, who is the co-author and last year was one who voted no to cause it to fail.  AB700 requires ballot measure ads be clear about the top 3 donors - the real ones. No PACs.


Next Steps

The Elections Committee was the first of steps for AB 700 to get through the legislative process, but it was a big step.  Next up is the Assembly Appropriations Committee where we'll have the advantage that our lead author, Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez, is the chair.  We may need people to come to Sacramento to help pack that hearing, too, which could happen as early as a couple of weeks.

 

What You Can Do

Thousands of signatures make a big impression.  Please download petitions and materials

here: http://www.caclean.org/materials/print.php  and get your friends and family to sign them.  Also, if you would like to be on the list for possibly going to Sacramento for the future hearings, contact the Joe Ely, who is the East Bay Coordinator, at j.ely@comcast.net.

ACT

Local Anti-Corruption Act Teams Choose 

3 Cities for First Steps

 

At the April meeting in Walnut Creek of the local Anti-corruption Act team, the group decided to focus on 3 cities - Walnut Creek, Oakland and Richmond - to do the preliminary research to decide which cities to pursue and to decide if we want to work toward a resolution or to create a proposal  that would appear on the ballot in 2016.  Since the exciting vote in Tallahassee in 2014 similar actions are taking place in dozens of cities and counties across the country.  Voters in Tallahassee, Florida, made history by approving the first city Anti-Corruption Act in the United States by an overwhelming 2 - 1 margin.  A small but dedicated group of progressives, conservatives, and independents put aside their differences to wage an historic battle against corruption in their community, and they won. 

 

What You Can Do

Attend our next meeting on Saturday, May 14, 1:00-3:00 PM, Walnut Creek Library on Oak Grove.  Check out the how to on the website - https://represent.us/action/pass-a-local-anti-corruption-act/

 

Be a supporter and circulate to your friends simply by signing on the home page of represent.us.

Contractors

 

500,000 petition signatures were delivered to the White House on April 2 while Walnut Creek and 50 Other Cities held rallies asking President Obama to issue an Executive Order Requiring Federal Contractors to Disclose Campaign Contributions.  

 



What You Can Do

Call the White House to encourage President Obama to take action now. 

1-855-980-5638 

You'll reach the White House Switchboard. 

Please use the text below as a sample script to call the White House.

 

Dear President Obama,  In your State of the Union address, you said secret billionaire and big business "dark money" is pulling "our politics into the gutter."  Please do something about this right now and issue an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending.  We deserve to know how much corporations are spending -- either backing politicians who may help them get lucrative government business -- that our tax dollars pay for or -- attacking politicians who do not. 

 

ArticlesofNote
Articles and Videos of Note

SHOULD MORE MONEY = MORE SPEECH? If you agree that more money shouldn't equal more speech and that a small number of wealthy interests shouldn't control the fate of our country, then please join us and support The Most Influential Man in America campaign. 

  • A Special Delivery for Congress

 Watch inspiring video of postal worker flying his homemade Gyrocopter into White House lawn, sending the message - Getting Money Out of Politics. A must see. 

Petitions
Petitions and Letters

CADiscloseAct

 

PoliticalSpending*Elizabeth Warren did it.  Bernie Sanders did it. Al Franken did it. So did Sheldon Whitehouse and Tom Udall. Those five senators just asked President Obama to require companies that do business with the federal government to disclose their political spending.

Sign here if you want Senators to help drag secret corporate political spending out of the shadows.
 

LettersToEd*Click here for help in sending letters to the editor in support of Obama issuing an Executive Order requiring federal contractors to disclose their campaign contributions.

 

TPP-Transpacific*TPP - the Transpacific Partnership -- needs all the challenge to it that we can deliver. It is often referred to as NAFTA on steroids.  Watch the following YouTube video, then sign and forward the petitions.

 

"TPP: The Dirtiest Trade Deal You've Never Heard Of."  

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ebaypaypal-ceo-donahoe?source=s.fwd&r_by=420154

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/congress-dont-renew-fast

Calendar
Calendar

Volunteers needed to table and more at many of the events shown below.  Please contact moneyout_peoplein@yahoo.com if interested in any of the actions below.

 

Next Sacramento visit for DISCLOSE Act - contact Joe at j.ely@comcast.net if interested.

May 11 - 1 pm and 7 pm - Peacock Hall Movie Theater, Rossmoor, showing  "Pay 2 Play"

Directions:
At the Rossmoor gate just tell the attendant you're attending the movie. No reservations are required. Once you've passed the gate, drive to the first right hand turn which is Golden Rain Road. Make an immediate left into the Gateway Clubhouse parking lot and park in that lot. The theatre is to the right of the clubhouse as you face it. You will walk into the Plaza where the tables are located. The Peacock Movie Theater is directly in the center of the of the Plaza and is well marked. It is easy to locate and it would be difficult to get lost in the Plaza.
 

May 16 - 1-3 pm - Next Anti-corruption Action meeting focused on 3 cities.  All are invited.              Walnut Creek Library on Oak Grove Rd. 

May 27 - Chevron Shareholders meeting, San Ramon - possible action.  Want to be             involved?

May 29"Pay 2 Play" documentary viewing and discussion at Judy Finch's home in Walnut Creek. 7 pm.  Popcorn too. Please contact Judy at judyfinchlaw@yahoo.com if you're interested.

June 17 - Money in Politics Coalition working committee meeting.

July 4 - Fourth of July Parade, Danville - We have a great time.  Join us!

July 30 - Medicare 50th Anniversary - National Day of Action, 11 am, Frank Ogawa Plaza - we'll table and connect Medicare issues to big money.

September 13 - Solano Stroll, Berkeley/Albany, 10-6 - We table.

Volunteer
Volunteer Needs
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 moneyout_peoplein@yahoo.com with Volunteering in the subject line and our Volunteer Coordinator, Loretta Matthieu, will get back to you. 
WhoAreWe
Who Are We?

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.  
 
 

To contact us email moneyout_peoplein@yahoo.com or call 925-878-9288. 

 

Sheilah, Gordon, Joe, Karen, Eloise, Jennifer, Jim, Tye, Matthias, Brodie, Lawrence, Ron and many more. 

STAY CONNECTED
Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter
Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.