Make Corruption Your Issue

In just six weeks, Lawrence Lessig's TED talk We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim has reached more than 800,00 people. Now, he's decided it's time to pass the torch, and it's up to us, Rootstrikers, to take it the rest of the way.

Lessig is retiring his TED talk, which means that this will be the last you see of it coming from his mouth. Instead, he is challenging Rootstrikers to ensure it builds the movement it demands by making it their own. If Lessig's talk moved you to take action against the corruption that cripples our government, then now it's up to you to move at least five friends to do the same.

Here's the deal: We want you to pledge to take Lessig's message, make it your own, and share it with at least a handful of people [the more the better].

At minimum, that means adding your name to the form at the right and sending a message to at least five people.

At best, that means using our remixing tool Corruption Is My Issue to bring another level of awesome to this effort:

• At "find materials" you'll be able to access the original source files for Lessig's TED talk on Slideshare.
• At "join projects" you'll find Rootstrikers' Pipeline, where others are already working on projects together, and where you can start one of your own.
• And this is the fun part: All you have to do is combine your personal story about why corruption matters to you and mash it up with Lessig's talk about the systemic problem. Make a Prezi, create a powerpoint presentation, write a poem, or make it into graphic/live/storytelling art of some kind. Then just share it with everyone you know.

We can't stop the corruption until at least a million people are behind us, so that means that we, Rootstrikers, have some work to do. Lessig reached over 800,000 people. If each of you reached just five, we'd have spread this critical message about corruption to well over a million.

151 pledges

Will you pick up where Lessig left off, and help Rootstrikers build the movement needed to reclaim our Republic? Add your pledge to the right. 

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FEC Petition: The Second Strike

In phase one, we got FEC Chairwoman Weintraub to agree to hold a hearing on super PAC regulation. Now the stakes are higher, but we're that much closer to getting the hearing the people deserve. Sign and share the petition below.

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As our federal budget goes into yet another crisis, the Federal Election Commission must consider how our political process got us here. For nearly 90% of Americans, the answer is obvious. So should it be to the FEC.

Many of us are beginning to realize that campaign finance lies at the root of the problem.  Special interests – including businesses, unions, foundations, academic institutions and other nonprofits – directly or indirectly receive money from the government, rather than earn money by selling goods and services in a free market.  These special interests lobby for government contracts, programs and other expenditures, and contribute generously to political parties and “independent” political expenditures, to back up their lobbying efforts. 

Meanwhile, special interests get special access to key decision makers in return for political expenditures.  According to a recent story in the New York Times a $500,000 contribution to one particular “independent” organization is enough to get a meeting with the President of the United States.  Meetings with other federal officials presumably come with a lower price tag.  The organization, set up by alumni of the President’s reelection campaign, is poised to fundamentally influence Administration policy over the next three and a half years, and is actively soliciting “donations” at the same time. 

This “pay to play” problem is not unique to the present Administration. This problem grows as campaign expenditures grow in size and scope, and as all branches of government grow, as well.  It is clear to many observers that there has been an enormous increase in the size and cost of government and in the cost of political campaigns over the past few decades.  For many of us, this is an explainable correlation, and not a mere coincidence.

During a recent conference at Willamette University FEC Chairwoman Weintraub acknowledged the danger that candidate-specific super PACs pose to our democracy.  Chairwoman Weintraub explained that the FEC's bipartisan composition was intended to find compromise. But this is not a partisan issue; both parties are part of this problem just as both parties are to blame for big and expensive government.  Both parties have become dependent upon the campaign funding of special interests, many of which in turn thrive at taxpayer expense.  “Pay to play” means special interests and politicians play the campaign finance game while the rest of us pay. 

1,692 signatures

Will the FEC acknowledge this corruption on both sides of the aisle? Will you call for a hearing to discuss candidate-specific super PACs and other abuses?

We hope so.  The FEC must act now to address the corruption of our political process that erodes public trust and, among other dangers, is driving our government toward financial ruin.

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Rootstrikers build and share tools that make it easy for anyone to recognize corruption's imminent threat to our Republic, and volunteers are crucial to what we do.

Below is a list of our current needs, but don't worry if you don't see one that fits! There are several ways to support the cause.

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Petition to the FEC on Super PAC Regulation

**Update** March 28, 2013 — FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub agreed to our request, saying "sooner would be better." Please add your signature to our second, bipartisan petition targeting the remaining members of the commission.

FEC Chairwoman Ellen L. Wientraub recently acknowledged the potential corruption of candidate-specific super PACs, but her remarks said nothing of a plan to address this. Please join Rootstrikers in demanding that the FEC hold a public hearing — the first it will have held in almost a year — regarding super PAC regulation.

Click here to read the full letter Lawrence Lessig sent to Chairwoman Weintraub. >>

In 2012 the commission provided much needed clarity on issues such as internet fundraising and texting contributions. Important work still needs to be done to determine:

• Whether a super PAC can use candidate footage, or a candidate can fundraise for a super PAC, and that super PAC still remain independent;
• If the "magic words" cited in Buckley v. Valeo are the only ones subject to regulation as express advocacy;
• Are there any statutory standards to prosecute independent groups who produce ads that are not "coordinated" under FEC regulations;
• Can a super PAC be run by a candidate's past campaign staff or family members?

The FEC's first and only act in 2013 has been to raise contribution limits to $2,600 for individuals and $123,200 in aggregate. Are we to understand that the FEC's priority is to increase spending, not regulate it?

1,834 signatures

Will the FEC acknowledge the deeply rooted corruption that grows along both sides of the aisle, and call for a hearing to discuss the regulation of candidate-specific super PACs?

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