Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN)
Newly-elected Rep. Rick Nolan (D-MN) appeared on MSNBC today to explain his frustrations with the broken state of democracy in the United States. He told host Chuck Todd that he was told he needed to spend 30 hours each week fundraising instead of governing, and that this is one of the reasons we need to get money out of politics:
NOLAN: We’re told here, two things, one is the one with the most money gets the most vote, and number two, you should be spending 30 hours a week in fundraising and call time dialing for dollars.
TODD: Let me stop you there […] They want you to spend 30 hours a week making phones calls?
NOLAN: For money. And you know I’m not going to do that, I haven’t done that. I’m here to govern. But the fact is my last election contest years ago I think I spent $250,000. The total amount of money in my election contest this year was well over $20 million. You know, back when I was here before that was more than was spent in the presidential contest! We need to change the way we do politics. We need to take money out of politics, and Ai??the Congress needs to go back to work governing.
Watch it:
This is to recommend pursuing in parallel a rapid approach to get money out of politics:
Filing multiple lawsuits challenging the Santa Clara (corporate personhood) and Buckley (“money is speech”) Supreme Court decisions, but stopping short of challenging Citizens United.
Chief Justice Roberts recently voted to preserve Obamneycare. Similarly, in ruling on the proposed lawsuits, one of the five conservative Justices may want to “pull a Roberts” and be recognized in history as a great American patriot for saving the nation from continuing to go down the tubes because of the legalized corruption and bribery of our elected leaders.
Recent polls indicate that about 80% of the citizenry are disgusted with the obscene amounts of money-in-politi cs, hence I infer that there will be widespread public support for these lawsuits as they wend their way to the Supreme Court for consolidation and resolution.
Assuming success in reversing those absurd, Orwellian decisions, the liberated dysfunctional Congress, no longer corrupted by money-in-politi cs, would be enabled to enact urgently needed legislation in the public interest. Such as to pave the way for public financing of elections, free airtime for congressional candidates, universal health care, raising essential revenue from those who can best afford to supply it, and exerting world leadership in preventing and mitigating global warming.
Contact me at r.cohen@ieee.org
You cannot legislate safety, you cannot legislate criminlas to stop using illegal guns, but you would deny me my fights under the constitution to try? look at the facts by studying Chicago Ill. and Washington DC who, until New York passed it’s unconstitutional gun law had the toughest gun control laws in the country, and they had the highest gun crime of all areas. Also the FBI stats on HOMICIDE placed 2011 at near 15,000 homicides, included in that number is all police officer shootings. Did you even know that when a police officer shots a criminal he is relieved of duty and is investigated as a suspect in a homicide? When he/she is cleared of any wrong doing their shooting is then counted as a JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE still counted in the total numbers. Why would you make law abiding citizens pay the price for what criminals do? You people are crazy, and so ignorant it isn’t funny. Look at it this way, You and your spouse are sleeping, you hear your front door crash open as someone kicks it in, the two masked men come in shouting orders and pointing their illegal guns, what will you do? Go on dial 911 that is a good thing to do, and about the time the dispatcher answers the first shots ring out near your kids room, then you hear them coming for your room, and the police still have not arrived, and will not get there in time to save you or your family, but I promise that they will do a thorough investigation of your death and your families death. I heard this question asked one day, “Why do you carry a gun?” The person answered, “Because a whole policeman won’t fit in my pocket.”