MoveOn.org’s Fight Washington Corruption House Party

Thursday, July 15, 6pm – MoveOn.org Fight Washington Corruption House Party

If we’ve learned anything since President Obama took office, it’s that the fundamental changes we all want for America will be impossible until we end the stranglehold that big corporations and lobbyists have on our democracy. We know the solutions to the big problems. But most of these solutions aren’t even on the table in Washington, because an army of corporate lobbyists stands in the way.

To fight back, we need to go big. We need a massive new movement to kick corporate lobbyists out of D.C., hold our elected officials accountable, and fix our democracy to make Washington work for the 98% of us who don’t have corporate lobbyists. This summer, we set our reform agenda—the Fight Washington Corruption Pledge—and now we’re working to make Washington listen.

As we head towards the 2010 Congressional elections, the goal of our summer push is to pressure candidates for office and elected officials to support our reform agenda–or to hold them accountable if they choose to stand with the corporate lobbyists rather than with their constituents. We’re calling on politicians to show whose side they are on with a major rally at the beginning of the Congressional recess. We’ll publicly thank those who support our reform agenda, and we’ll turn up the heat on politicians who choose to stand with corporate lobbyists.

Over the past few weeks, nearly 200,000 MoveOn members endorsed our Fight Washington Corruption Pledge. We’ve gotten the attention of over 450 members of Congress by going to their offices and asking them directly to sign on. Members of Congress and candidates across the country signed on last week, but it’s going to take a lot more pressure to get critical mass in Washington.

Here’s the “Fight Washington Corruption” Pledge:

Overturn Citizens United: Amend the Constitution to protect America from unlimited corporate spending on our elections by overturning the Supreme Court’s decision giving corporations the same First Amendment rights as people.

Fair elections now: Pass the Fair Elections Now Act, providing public financing to candidates who are supported by small donors so they can compete with corporate-backed and self-funded candidates.

Lobbyist Reform Act: Pass legislation to end the overwhelming influence of corporate lobbyists by: prohibiting individuals from switching from corporate lobbying to government service, or vice-versa, within a 5-year period; stopping corporate lobbyists from giving gifts and providing free travel to government officials; and posting online the attendees and content of all meetings between lobbyists and government officials.