In a move that did not receive much publicity, House Republicans voted last week to gut the voluntary check-off system to fund presidential elections.  Click here for more details.  We all know that this is, at best, a completely outdated system.  We could even call it anachronistic and pretty much irrelevant.  Those of us who want to make sure our democracy works for everyone yearn for a system that can truly work and reduce the impact of big money from electoral politics.  However, as irrelevant as the House vote was last week (it has no chance of passing in the Senate), we should all care for several reasons.

1. It tells us where the Republicans are coming from.  As much as they talk about being conservatives, caring about liberty, and wanting “small” government, they want to make sure they have a government that works for those who can most afford it.  True conservatism would demand that they make sure that the government is working for the people irrespective of how much they spend.
2. The vote last week was cast as a “sneak attack” without any discussion or deliberation.  After all, the presidential election public funding was put into place after the Watergate scandals as a means of restoring trust in our government.  Rather than having any discussion of the underlying reasons, they just voted to end it.
3. The vote is also a signal to “Big Spenders” that Republicans are on their side.  This will keep the money flowing.
4. Most importantly, it is a signal to those of us who see the impact of money in our politics as a threat to our democracy that we need to work much harder than we have in the past.  We need to engage the public, and let them know that there are ways to reduce the effect of money in our politics.  We need to be armed with facts and logic to let them know how voter-owned elections can work and why it works for them.

So, I hope you respond to this post with your ideas and comments about how to engage the public – our friends, neighbors, leaders of our communities – to get more of a groundswell of will to achieve what we all want, Voter-Owned Elections.  If we don’t own our elections, those with money will buy them.  A democracy should not be for sale.