1
Stop politicians from taking bribes
Prohibit members of Congress from soliciting and receiving contributions from any industry or entity they regulate, including those industries’ lobbyists. Prohibit all fundraising during Congressional working hours.
Members of Congress who sit on
powerful committees get extraordinary amounts of money from special
interests regulated by those committees. Politicians routinely host
fundraisers, and invite lobbyists to contribute to their campaigns. The
result is a Congress made up of politicians dependent on those special
interests to raise the money necessary to win reelection. Politicians
are forced to create laws that are favorable to those interests, often
at the expense of the public interest.
2
Limit super PAC contributions and “coordination”
Require SuperPACs to abide by the same contribution limits as other political committees. Toughen rules regarding SuperPACs’ and other groups’ coordination with political campaigns and political parties.
The Supreme Court's Citizens United
and subsequent court cases ruled that SuperPACs have the right to raise
and spend unlimited money influencing elections, so long as the
SuperPACs do not coordinate with the candidate campaigns. Since Citizens
United, we've seen tremendous coordination between campaigns and their
SuperPACs, making a mockery of the "independence" that the courts
thought would exist. SuperPACs have become extensions of the campaigns,
and allow mega-donors to exert undue influence on election outcomes.
3
Prevent job offers as bribes
Close the “revolving door” where elected representatives and their staff sell their legislative power in exchange for high-paying jobs when they leave office. Create a “cooling off” period on private employment that will last 5 years for all Congress members and all senior staff (currently 2 years in the Senate, 1 year in the House, and 1 year for senior staff.)
Today, politicians routinely move
straight from Congress to lucrative lobbying jobs on K Street, in order
to influence their former colleagues and friends. Senior staffers who
work for congressmen do the same thing. This corrupts policymaking in
two ways: members and their staff anticipate high-paying jobs with
lobbying firms, and routinely do favors to their future employers while
still in Congress; and once out of congress they enjoy undue access and
influence to members of Congress. The biggest spenders hire these
influencers, and win policy as a result.
4
Call all people who lobby, lobbyists
Significantly expand the definition of and register all lobbyists to prevent influencers from skirting the rules.
Today, the definition of who is a
lobbyist—and who is not—is weak. The result: members of congress and
their staff end up working as “historical advisors” (for all intents and
purposes as lobbyists) to skirt the law while receiving big money to
influence policy. Lawmakers are not subject to accountability since the
public does not know all the people they meet with who try to sway them
on policy decisions.
5
Limit lobbyist donations
Limit the amount that lobbyists and their clients can contribute to federal candidates, political parties, and political committees to $500 per year and limit lobbyist fundraising for political campaigns. Federal contractors are already banned from contributing to campaigns: extend that ban to lobbyists, high-level executives, government relations employees, and PACs of federal government contractors.
Lobbyists currently must abide by the
same contribution limits to electoral campaigns as everyone else: $2500
per election. Lobbyists "bundle" these $2500 contributions with other
lobbyists, and individuals working for special interests that seek to
influence politicians. This adds up to serious money and political
favors in return.
6
End secret money
Mandate full transparency of all political money. Require any organization that spends $10,000 or more on advertisements to elect or defeat federal candidates to file a disclosure report online with the Federal Election Commission within 24 hours. List each of the donors who gave $10,000 or more to the organization to run such ads. This includes all PACs, 501c nonprofits, or other groups that engage in electioneering.
Elections are being flooded with
secret money funneled through "501c" organizations that are not required
to disclose the names of donors. 501c's either spend money directly to
influence elections, or make unlimited contributions to SuperPACs. This
allows secret political donors to flood elections with money and, thus,
influence outcomes.
7
Empower all voters with a tax rebate
Build up the influence voters by creating a biennial $100 Tax Rebate that they can use to make qualified contributions to federal candidates, political parties, and political committees. Flooding elections with small-donor contributions that will offset the huge spenders. Candidates and political groups will only be eligible for these funds if they agree to a set of contribution limits: they will only accept money from small donors (giving $500 or less a year), other groups abiding by the limits, and the Tax Rebates themselves.
Nearly $6 billion was spent on the
2012 elections, and the vast majority came from big special interest
donors. In 2008, less than 0.1 percent of Americans contributed $2,300
or more. Politicians are dependent on this tiny percentage of the
population. To change this, we need to dramatically increase the number
of small donors to politics, so that politicians become dependent on
everyday Americans and not moneyed interests. That's how we get
politicians who actually fight for the general public.
8
Disclose “bundling”
Require federal candidates to disclose the names of individuals who “bundle” contributions for the member of Congress or candidate, regardless of whether such individuals are registered lobbyists.
9
Enforce the rules
Strengthen the Federal Election Commission’s independence and strengthen the House and Senate ethics enforcement processes. Provide federal prosecutors the additional tools necessary to combat corruption, and prohibit lobbyists who fail to properly register and disclose their activities from engaging in federal lobbying activities for a period of two years.
Federal agencies routinely fail to
enforce the anti-corruption rules that already exist because their
leadership are appointed by those they are supposed to regulate. The
result is an elections system where even lax rules can be skirted or
broken with impunity.
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