Deborah Cochran wrote why she wants to GetMoneyOut of US politics – it’s the best yet as far as a tactical list goes. Please click on that link and sign the petition. Then add your reasons for wanting the money out of US politics.

I began this campaign last year by posting on AlterNet and the Thom Hartmann Show. I’m so glad you, Mr. Ratigan, have taken up the cause as well. I don’t care WHO gets it done, as long as it does. Here are some other suggestions for the law

1. ALL candidates for public office must take public funding. (The public already pays for corporations and special interests and lobbyists to get their way through exaggerated consumer prices and worker’s wage and benefit cuts, etc., all of which equal profits to spend on skewed elections. We may as well spend our money on fair elections.)

2. ANY CANDIDATE found taking outside money or using his or her own shall be disqualified from the election process immediately and shall suffer an immediate 5 year ban on running for ANY public office. He or she shall also be subject to criminal prosecution for bribery (consequences and replacement/reappointment policy will need to be fleshed out). Or, if he/she is found guilty after election, he/she shall be removed from office and a replacement will be assigned by the sitting mayor, governor, or House Majority leader, depending on the Constitutional rules of succession.

3. Campaigns shall begin NO SOONER THAN 6 WEEKS before the election.

4. ALL candidates shall receive the same amount of public money and shall have an equal amount of free TV/media time. ALL TV/Media must give equal time to ALL candidates or no time to any one candidate. Media that participate according to the law shall receive compensation in the order of a federal Fair Election grant. Those who do not follow the law will be charged no more or no less that one-third of its revenues for one fiscal year. Cost of the fine cannot be passed on to consumers or employees. Fines must be proved to be surrendered by stockholders or from previous years’ profits. Penalties for not paying fines accordingly will put at jeopardy broadcasting licenses and any and all public money/funding for a period of no less or no more than 3 fiscal years.

5. A NON-POLITICAL ELECTED GROUP shall check all political ads for FACTS before airing.

6. NO political ad shall slander another candidate. The content of the ad must contain content that describes the candidate’s position only and vetted facts.

7. REPEAL the recent Supreme Court case Citizen’s United. Corporations are NOT people.

8. County, state, and federal election entities will police this process, through a non-political federally funded elected group. No private business shall have involvement in any stage of the election process.

9. Eliminate the Electoral College: one person, one vote.

10. ALL citizens of the United States shall have the right to vote—even those incarcerated and those prohibited by current laws and barriers. (A way must be found to make certain every legal US citizen of voting age has a vote—one vote.)

11. Eliminate electronic voting, which is open to subversion, unless a paper trail can be established (reference number 8 above).

12. Anyone holding office (and all members of their family: parents, children, siblings, and siblings’ children) shall divest themselves of ALL corporate stock in order to hold office. [Let’s turn public service back into PUBLIC (rather than self-)service.]

13. There shall be a 5 year ban on elected officials taking a paid position with a company/business/subsidiary for which that official has voted for legislation or heard cases that have favorably benefitted said company/business/subsidiary. (Punishment to candidate and company/business/subsidiary will need to fleshed out.)

14. There shall be NO gerrymandering of districts to favor one party over another.

Sincerely,
The Revolutionary Granny