Hey, Congress: We're On Strike!

I just pledged not to donate to my all-time favorite representative. Not one thin dime, at least, not until he throws his support to campaign finance reform. Which I'm reasonably sure he will.

Change Congress has a "donor strike" campaign going to give some impetus to legislation that will give corporate special interests a boot in the arse. It looks mighty fine:

The bipartisan Fair Elections Now Act was offered last Congress, and will be offered again this year by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Reps. John Larson (D-CT) and Walter Jones (R-NC).

Under this legislation, congressional candidates who raise a threshold number of small-dollar donations would qualify for a chunk of funding—several hundred thousand dollars. If they accept this funding, they can’t raise big-dollar donations. But they can raise contributions up to a certain amount (such as $100 or $250), which would be matched several times over by a central fund. This would create an incentive for politicians to opt into this system and run people-powered campaigns.

No new taxpayer dollars would be required. TV broadcasters, who currently get access to our public airwaves for free and make billions of dollars as a result, would pay a fee that would be the source of revenue for the central fund.

It’s a great bill. You can help pressure Congress to pass it by joining the donor strike today.

Now, I love my senators and my Congressman. I do. They're good Dems, they work hard for us, and I'm proud of them. But they haven't jumped on board with this legislation yet, so it's time to prod buttock (thank you, Terry Pratchett) and get them moving on campaign finance reform.

Especially in light of this:

These people have no shame. The Huffington Post is reporting that the CEO's who received billions of tax payer dollars to save their asses are using the money to organize a massive attempt to block the Employee Free Choice Act.

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

[snip]

This is outrageous. It's bad enough to see these Bozos still try and buy private jets and hand out massive bonuses with our money, but to actively attack labor with it should be a criminal offense.

It's not, and alas not likely to ever be, but we can put a serious crimp in their power by reducing their ability to buy politicians. Time for a wee bit of a message to be sent.

Not only are some of the most non-trusted companies in America blatantly trying to buy off Congress, but they're using our bailout money to do it. Enough!

If there was ever a time to join Change Congress's political "donor strike" in support of fundamental campaign finance reform, this is it.

Click here to join the fight for reform.

We need a theme song. I have just the thing.




Simply pledging to withhold my donations may not be enough. Perhaps I should threaten to perm my hair, put on blue eye shadow, and lip-synch this song outside their offices whenever they're back in town. That should lead to a near-instantaneous change in behavior, doncha think?