Democracy 21 Joins with Reform Groups in Releasing Reform Agenda for 2016 Candidates
Today, Democracy 21 joined with eleven other reform groups in releasing “Fighting Big Money, Empowering People: A 21st Century Democracy Agenda.”
The Agenda sets forth a comprehensive policy agenda developed by the groups to advance reforms that are vital to addressing fundamental problems in our political system.
The Agenda is based on the concept that the next President of the United States should commit to five principles of democracy, including: everyone participates, everyone’s voice is heard; everyone knows who is trying to influence our views and our representatives; everyone plays by fair and common-sense rules; and everyone is held accountable with enforceable penalties to deter bad behavior.
The Agenda for “Fighting Big Money, Empowering People,” sets forth specific reform proposals to accomplish these principles for the next President to advocate that include:
– providing incentives, such as public matching funds, to encourage the participation of small donors in our elections;
– ensuring the ability of all eligible voters to have equal access to the ballot box;
– providing voters with campaign finance information they have a right to know;
– overturning the disastrous Citizens United decision;
– creating a new effective system to enforce the nation’s campaign finance laws; and
– shutting down individual-candidate Super PACs used to circumvent and eviscerate the candidate contribution limits enacted by Congress to prevent corruption.
The Agenda calls on the next President to “commit to make this democracy reform agenda a national priority from Day One in office.” According to the Agenda:
In the past, presidents have made campaign commitments to prioritize campaign finance reform and then, once elected, have failed to take action. In addition to proposing a specific and comprehensive reform plan, the next president should publicly take these reforms to the country and Congress as a national priority, convening community leaders and activists from around the country to build support at every level, and create a White House task force to promote the reform agenda.
Reform groups will ask for meetings with the Presidential candidates to discuss and urge support for the Agenda and grassroots organizations will raise the Agenda at forums and events in early Presidential primary states.
According to Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer:
It is clear that the public overwhelmingly rejects the dominant role that big money is now playing in our elections. The agenda set forth by reform groups represents a national and grassroots effort to engage and empower citizens in the political process and to restore the integrity of our democracy and political system. The battle by citizens to achieve these goals will continue for as long as it takes to enact the reforms essential to restoring the preeminent role of citizens in our constitutional system of government.
The groups releasing the Agenda for “Fighting Big Money, Empowering People” include the Brennan Center for Justice, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Democracy Matters, Demos, Every Voice, Issue One, Mayday, People for the American Way, Public Citizen, Represent.Us and U.S. PIRG.
