LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

DRAIN THE SWAMP

DRAIN THE SWAMP

DRAIN THE SWAMP

PUBLIC FINANCING OF CAMPAIGNS

You said you were for it; now you have no more elections ahead of you, do something about it. Propose legislation, shout it from the bully pulpit, take hostages and clamp down till it thunders. It’s the one and only way to free us from the stranglehold the corporations and special interests have on government. We do NOT have a democracy- we are going under because we are ruled by an oligarchy. You work with these people so I know you know that 90% of Congress has gone over to the dark side- has taken the big bucks and molded their perspective to suit their paymasters; you dance with them that brung ya.

Every single issue that troubles the U.S. has been impeded or warped or is neglected because of PRIVATE CAMPAIGN CASH. I know you know this. The obscene pentagon budget, the deficit, the oil wars, the drug war, crazy higher ed debt, inept and disparate public schools, spotty or nonexistent public transportation, no paid maternal leave or paid sick days, no affordable or subsidized child care, crumbling infrastructure, a shameful minimum wage, shocking infant mortality rates, inexcusable child poverty, shrinking longevity and people dying needlessly for lack of medical care. Growing inequality, no affordable housing, no public option, lobbyists writing regulations, private prisons lobbying for harsher laws and more prisoners, the ballooning trade imbalance, the arms manufacturer funded NRA scuttling all gun control, Palestine, trade deals that enrich a few and impoverish most, manufacturing unprotected and disappearing, climate change ignored, factory farms with unregulated manure lagoons, fracking poisoning wells all over, tax breaks and givaways to highly profitable industries, the alternative energy industry is  developing elsewhere, private timber companies clear-cutting public forests paying less than the cost of access roads funded by the public, no instant runoff voting, no 3^rd party ballot access, speculators driving up food and energy costs, bankers stealing homes through fraud, unpunished. Millions in foreclosure, etcetera, etcetera…

It’s too much for one person to even begin to address because the foundation is rotten. Your impact on our future can be maximized by one simple reform. Public financing of campaigns for public office will enable good people, with good ideas- not beholden to big money backers- to run for office and win. You want Citizens United to go away, here’s how. Corporate Personhood problem- solved. We will get honest, sincere, quality candidates when congress ceases to be a millionaire’s playground. Without public financing, we are on a course of self destruction, paralysis, unsustainable choices, and eventual collapse. The American ideal is slipping away, but you can stop it. This one foundational reform can save us; without it there is no hope.