Publicly Funded Elections Pennsylvania

A majority of Pennsylvania's Members of Congress have indicated support for publicly funded elections.
CLEAN ELECTIONS AND YOU

A majority of Pennsylvania's Members of Congress have indicated support for publicly funded elections.

CLEAN ELECTIONS AND YOU


Ordinary citizens do not have lobbyists working for them. We don't buy tickets to $2,000 political fundraisers; we may not even know anybody who does. We're busy with our jobs and our kids and our lives. We don't have the time or the energy to follow the goings-on of the various commissions and legislative committees and subcommittees and regulatory bodies in Washington and Harrisburg. But we know that there are decisions being made in those meetings that have a direct and important impact on our taxes, our jobs, our health care, our pensions, our families' well-being - decisions affecting many parts of our lives. There was a time when people understood that, even if they didn't pay close attention to what our elected officials were doing, they could expect to be treated, more or less, fairly because our system, our democracy, is a fair system. But right now our democracy in not working. People rightly feel that their government no longer belongs to them - that their representatives are no longer working for them. Bringing Clean Elections to our state and national governments is the first step toward re-establishing our democracy. In Arizona and Maine, Clean Elections are already working, providing limited, voluntary, public financing to candidates and breaking the hold that incumbents and their self-interested private campaign financers have on our democracy. CLEAN ELECTIONS allows citizens who can demonstrate substantial support in their communities to have the resources to run a competitive campaign for public office. CLEAN ELECTIONS breaks the dependencies that politicians have on the lobbyists and the self-interested private campaign financers. *How can we bring Clean Elections to Pennsylvania?* Clean Elections came to Arizona and Maine because the citizens voted for it in statewide referendums. Our state and federal constitutions do not permit the citizens to put referendums on the ballot. Bringing Clean Elections to Pennsylvania will require the State House and State Senate and the Governor to agree to make it happen. On the national level, Congress and the President will have to agree to establish Clean Elections for Congress. Politicians who are already in office (the incumbents) benefit tremendously from the current system of private funding because they have the ability to vote in Harrisburg and Washington on issues of tremendous concern to the small group of self-interested lobbyists who supply much of the campaign money in our privately funded campaign finance system . If incumbents can gather enough campaign money they are almost sure to win re-election and many incumbents raise so much money that no other citizen will even challenge them this election or the next. Yet, these elected officials are the very people who must agree to change the system! *How can we get our elected officials to vote for Clean Elections?* Some incumbent legislators are already inclined to support Clean Elections. They do a good job and they are not afraid of competition. They dislike "Dialing for Dollars", that is, calling up the self-interested private campaign financers to discuss how they can "help" each other. These legislators like honest Democracy, too! Many elected officials don't like being indebted to the self-interested financers who paid for their last election and they don't like being fearful of the same group as the next election approaches. If these legislators see that the public supports Clean Elections, they will support it, too. And many elected officials dislike the amount of time they spend raising money. They would rather spend that with their families. Legislators who don't want Clean Elections need to answer the question "Why not?". And "Privately funded elections work great for incumbents like me." isn't a good answer!.

Ordinary citizens do not have lobbyists working for them. We don't buy tickets to $2,000 political fundraisers; we may not even know anybody who does. We're busy with our jobs and our kids and our lives. We don't have the time or the energy to follow the goings-on of the various commissions and legislative committees and subcommittees and regulatory bodies in Washington and Harrisburg.

But we know that there are decisions being made in those meetings that have a direct and important impact on our taxes, our jobs, our health care, our pensions, our families' well-being - decisions affecting many parts of our lives.

There was a time when people understood that, even if they didn't pay close attention to what our elected officials were doing, they could expect to be treated, more or less, fairly because our system, our democracy, is a fair system.

But right now our democracy in not working. People rightly feel that their government no longer belongs to them - that their representatives are no longer working for them. Bringing Clean Elections to our state and national governments is the first step toward re-establishing our democracy.

In Arizona and Maine, Clean Elections are already working, providing limited, voluntary, public financing to candidates and breaking the hold that incumbents and their self-interested private campaign financers have on our democracy.

CLEAN ELECTIONS allows citizens who can demonstrate substantial support in their communities to have the resources to run a competitive campaign for public office. CLEAN ELECTIONS breaks the dependencies that politicians have on the lobbyists and the self-interested private campaign financers.

How can we bring Clean Elections to Pennsylvania?

Clean Elections came to Arizona and Maine because the citizens voted for it in statewide referendums. Our state and federal constitutions do not permit the citizens to put referendums on the ballot. Bringing Clean Elections to Pennsylvania will require the State House and State Senate and the Governor to agree to make it happen. On the national level, Congress and the President will have to agree to establish Clean Elections for Congress.

Politicians who are already in office (the incumbents) benefit tremendously from the current system of private funding because they have the ability to vote in Harrisburg and Washington on issues of tremendous concern to the small group of self-interested lobbyists who supply much of the campaign money in our privately funded campaign finance system .

If incumbents can gather enough campaign money they are almost sure to win re-election and many incumbents raise so much money that no other citizen will even challenge them this election or the next. Yet, these elected officials are the very people who must agree to change the system!

How can we get our elected officials to vote for Clean Elections?

Some incumbent legislators are already inclined to support Clean Elections. They do a good job and they are not afraid of competition. They dislike "Dialing for Dollars", that is, calling up the self-interested private campaign financers to discuss how they can "help" each other. These legislators like honest Democracy, too!

Many elected officials don't like being indebted to the self-interested financers who paid for their last election and they don't like being fearful of the same group as the next election approaches. If these legislators see that the public supports Clean Elections, they will support it, too.

And many elected officials dislike the amount of time they spend raising money. They would rather spend that with their families.

Legislators who don't want Clean Elections need to answer the question "Why not?". And "Privately funded elections work great for incumbents like me." isn't a good answer!.