You may have caught some of the recent circus on TV where executives from Goldman Sachs, the huge Wall Street corporation, were grilled by members of Congress. Goldman Sachs was a major player in the corporate greed that has brought us the economic recession. But while Americans face continuing unemployment, Goldman Sachs has been doing fine — $13 billion (yes Billion) in profits in 2009, and a CEO with a bonus of $9 million last year!
And what is Congress doing about this? So far, nothing! The problem is that Congress as been an “enabler.” It was Congress that wiped out the regulations that had kept Wall Street under control in the past. Why? Because the financial sector is the single biggest contributor to political campaigns. Money from Wall Street oils the wheels of Congress through campaign contributions.
So what can we do? We need to fight for change in how political campaigns are funded – for the Congressional Fair Elections Now Act. Fair Elections would give candidates for Congress the option to candidates could agree to run for office funded by a combination of small donor contributions and public financing. They would have to refuse to take big contributions from special interests or wealthy individuals.
It is true that we need to pass new regulations on Wall Street and continue the fight to improve the recently passed health care bill (watered down by big contributions to Congress from the health acre industry). And the bill introduced today by Senator Schumer and Rep. Van Hollen to increase disclosure by funders is a small step.
But underlying all this is the on-going corruption and influence that the flood of big campaign money has in our democracy. We can only fix that by getting people elected using public financing, so that they are accountable to the voters — not the funders.
Call or write your members of Congress today and urge them to support the Fair Elections Now Act. Click here to sign our petition. This bill is gaining support every day, now with over 148 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. Join in the fight for a real democracy – support FAIR ELECTIONS NOW!
Joan Mandle
Special Projects, Citizen Action of New York
Executive Director, Democracy Matters