TCAN

TCAN, as a member of Clean Elections Texas, a collaborative effort of several statewide and national organizations, is launching an effort to bring the issue of Publicly Financed Elections before the 81st Texas Legislature by initiating the presentation of Clean Election proposed bills during the month of February.
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USA Today’s editorial touts clean elections citing pretty much the same reasons we do. The key point from their editorial:

Clean election systems cost from $2 to $6 per year for each voting-age resident, a bargain for trimming costly special-interest influence. In North Carolina, for example, the clean-election option has virtually ended an outrageous special-interest bidding war for seats on the state’s top courts.

Read the full article here:
Our view on elections: 5 reasons for public financing States, cities lead with clean-money alternative to a seamy system.
USA Today Editorial 12/10/07

Join with other Texans interested in Clean Elections. Meet-up groups help people get involved and plan local activities to meet the goal of publicly financed campaigns. If you want to change the way democracy is controlled by “Big Money” private interests and special interests, then sign up for one of these meet-up groups. If there isn’t a local group near you, think about starting your own.

Groups have formed in Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. Get involved with one of these local groups:

• Austin
• Dallas
• Houston
• San Antonio

Imagine a Texas that surprises the nation by becoming a leader in electoral reform. Where activists (who have witnessed first-hand what happens when special interests control state government) have stepped up and created opportunities for average Texans to run for office and WIN. Where enthusiasts have restored democracy by talking about Clean Elections at work, home, school, and religious institution.

That’s my vision for Texas and it’s why I volunteer my time at TCAN.

My confidence comes from a simple fact. I’ve asked around, and I haven’t found anyone I know who doesn’t agree that We the People need our government to once again work for us. Since almost everyone knows that special interests control politics right now, any Clean Elections purveyor of good news finds a very receptive audience.
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We love this new web-doc we found on Quantum Shift TV, and we think you will too. In just under nine minutes, renowned author Frances Moore Lappé examines campaign finance reform through the eyes of Deborah Simpson, a smart, civic-minded former waitress and single mother who ran for a seat in Maine’s legislature under that state’s Clean Election law, and won! Comments by everyday Americans despairing over our Big Money-dominated political system are juxtaposed with Simpson’s inspirational story.

Video courtesy of Quantum Shift TV; based on Lappé’s new book, Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad. Check out both the video and the book — and pass them on.

The State Comptroller’s office now has more detailed information available on its website about where, how, and for what purposes the Texas government spends its resources. You can check out which services and programs get the biggest share of Texans’ investment in the common good here.
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Our good friends at Public Campaign, the national umbrella group that promotes public financing of campaigns in every state, have made this excellent video available through YouTube. Now you can watch it right here. Narrated by Bill Moyers and featuring testimonials from both Republicans and Democrats who’ve run under the system, it makes a great case in just 15 minutes. Check it out, and pass it along to your friends and favorite candidates!

By now you’re getting used to our diatribes about the influence of Big Money in Texas politics. Well, thanks to our friends at Texans for Public Justice, here’s a perfect example of what we were up against during the past legislative session — and what all advocates for good government will continue to face until we clean up the system:

TXU and its suitors spent up to $17 million in lobbying expenditures during the recent legislative session. An 83-person-strong lobby force roamed the capitol halls on behalf of the utility to successfully fight off rate rollbacks and oversight. The $17 million spree does not include political contributions or money spent on public relations consultants.

Read more fun facts and serious analysis in TPJ’s latest Lobby Watch.

The Good

Responding to widespread voter anger over dozens of lawmakers involved in corruption scandals, the House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed the most sweeping ethics overhaul in more than three decades.

Approved this week by a vote of 411-8, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act mainly aims to curb the huge influence that lobbyists have on legislators, a much publicized issue highlighted by recent scandals in which a prominent lobbyist (Jack Abramoff) and two congressmen (Randy “Duke” Cunningham [R-California] and Bob Ney [R-Ohio]) were sent to prison on corruption charges.
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The New York Times published an editorial this morning calling for Congress to pass crucial electoral reform before their August recess, specifically HR 811 which would mandate a voter-verified permanent paper record or hard copy of a voter’s ballot that would serve as the official ballot of record. I couldn’t agree more. Why is this important to Texas?
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