Campaign Finance Reform & Small Donor Public Financing

The campaign finance system is dominated today by billionaires, millionaires, lobbyists, bundlers, Super PACs, dark money nonprofits and special interest PACs. Most officeholders are dependent on and obligated to these influence-seeking funders. Political money corruption in Washington cannot and will not be curbed until we provide officeholders with an alternative way to finance their campaigns.

Democracy 21 developed and is fighting to enact a new, alternative way to finance presidential and congressional campaigns, based on matching small contributions with public funds.

The system would match small individual contributions up to $200 with public funds at a ratio of 6 to 1. Thus, a $200 individual contribution would provide $1,400 to a candidate using the system.
The new system would empower ordinary Americans and make their contributions far more valuable to federal candidates. The system would free officeholders from the iron-grip of influence-seeking, big money funders.
The new system is financed not by taxpayers but entirely by corporate lawbreakers and wealthy tax cheats who pay a surcharge to the government on the penalties, fees and settlements they provide o the government for breaking the law.
There is a growing, nationwide citizen demand for elections free of the taint of influence-buying, special interest money. More and more states and municipalities — from Seattle to New York City to Maryland to Connecticut to Maine — have adopted successful small-donor campaign finance systems.
The small-donor, public matching funds system (H.R 1) passed the House in 2019 and has 47 sponsors (S. 949) in the Senate.

Small Donor Revolutionaries

Hear the stories of women from across the country who have used small donor financing systems to run for office and win.

Hear their stories

Reform Groups Urge Senators to Oppose Sen. McConnell’s Efforts to Sneak Campaign Finance Revision into Appropriations Bill

December 1, 2014|Press Releases |Money In Politicsby Diane

Fred Wertheimer for Huffington Post “2014 Election Confirms Citizens United Decision Based on Fundamentally Flawed Premises”

November 7, 2014|Op Eds |Money In Politicsby Diane

Campaign Finance Reform & Small Donor Public Financing

Small Donor Revolutionaries

Omnibus Bill Returns Huge Corrupting Contributions to National Parties

Reform Groups Urge Members to Vote Against Omnibus Appropriations Bill With Destructive Campaign Finance Provisions

Breaking: Omnibus Bill Returns Huge Corrupting Contributions to National Parties

Reform Groups Strongly Oppose Any Appropriations Riders That Will Increase Opportunities to Corrupt Members of Congress

Reform Groups Strongly Urge Opposition to Republican Efforts to Use Appropriations Bill to Damage Campaign Finance Laws

Reform Groups Urge Senators to Oppose Sen. McConnell’s Efforts to Sneak Campaign Finance Revision into Appropriations Bill

Fred Wertheimer for Huffington Post “2014 Election Confirms Citizens United Decision Based on Fundamentally Flawed Premises”

FEC Issues Seriously Flawed Regulations Today to Implement Citizens United, Nearly Five Years After Decision

Former Supreme Court Justice Stevens Criticizes Supreme Court Decision in McCutcheon Case

Fred Wertheimer – “Did Chief Justice Roberts Dissemble or did the Chief Justice Have no Idea What He Was Talking About?”

Fred Wertheimer for SCOTUSblog on McCutcheon & the Supreme Court

Fred Wertheimer “The Consequences of Today’s Disastrous Decision by the Supreme Court Majority in the McCutcheon Case”

Fred Wertheimer Statement on McCutcheon vs FEC

Fred Wertheimer on MSNBC: “Did Citizens United Corrupt Elections?”

Fred Wertheimer: Citizens United and the 2012 Election: A Disaster for Democracy

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