Archive for 2012

Maine Clean Elections – lives to fight another day!

Thank you to the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee for standing behind Clean Elections!

(Press Release – from 1/4/11)

For Immediate Release
January 4, 2011
Contact: Andrew Bossie, Executive Director
207-831-6223
MCCE Applauds Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee for Unanimously Defeating Partial Repeal of Clean Elections
Maine’s leading citizen campaign finance reform organization today praised a committee decision that effectively kills a bill to repeal part of the popularly supported Maine Clean Election Act. The bill, LD 120 An Act to End Taxpayer-funded Campaigns for Gubernatorial Candidates, received a unanimous “Ought not to Pass” report from the legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee.
“Maine people want to move forward, not backward, in the fight against big-money, special interests in our government,” said Alison Smith, President of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections (MCCE).”The committee action preserves the opportunity for candidates for governor to run for office using Clean Elections. We still have work to do to ensure the system is viable in 2014, but today’s vote allows the conversation to continue. At a time when people all across the country are calling for a separation between money and politics, Maine’s ongoing leadership is more important than ever.”
Today’s vote comes a little more than a month after a majority on the VLA committee voted to strike the matching funds portion of the Maine Clean Election Act in order to comply with a court decision, but did not offer any alternative. MCCE supports the minority report endorsing a proposal recommended by the state’s Ethics Commission in order to keep the system viable.”Maine citizens initiated and passed Clean Elections, and they continue to support the landmark system,” said Andrew Bossie, Executive Director of MCCE, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization. “We are committed to strengthening the law after the court ruling, and we will work with legislators and fellow citizens to make sure Maine people benefit from a robust Clean Election system for both legislative and gubernatorial candidates. This is no time to invite special interests to dominate our elections.”
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(Blog post from Canney Communications 1/3/12)

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.” American Abolitionist Frederick Douglass

The words of Frederick Douglass are something I have held in a small notebook for the better part of two decades. These words continue to resonate today and can rightly be applied to a variety of issues we all face. This week Maine citizens stand to lose a piece of their Democracy.
The Veterans and Legal Affairs committee will vote on whether they want to take away public funding for gubernatorial candidates. Why is it important to have a system that puts public money instead of special interest money behind candidates vying to be decision makers? Because we live with those decisions and those decisions must be in our best interests not the interests of those with the deepest pockets. If the VLA decides to gut clean elections it will be time to take our democracy, our power back on this issue. More than a decade ago it was Maine people who said – Enough. We want our elected officials, legislators and governors to report to us and that is how the Clean Election Act was passed.
More than a decade later, we must make this a call to action. The reasons are everywhere – you can find them on wall street, the housing crisis, in healthcare. It is a complex puzzle of special interests who have influence beyond the reach of the average citizen. When a candidate decides to run clean he or she is making a commitment to the voters. It is the first step toward removing the special interests and putting the power back in the hands of the people.
If the committee members vote to get rid of clean elections they will be doing so against your wishes — against the wishes of 75% of the people according to the most recent poll. You will have to ask yourself, with that many people in support who is the committee representing? The 75%? I don’t think so. Legislators are put into office to represent the will of their constituents. They have a chance to do that on Wednesday but will they? Whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s vote please contact your legislator either to thank them for remembering who they serve or to ask exactly whom they are serving.