On this day of protest in New York City, I'd like to point out an alternative for those who didn't march, either out of support for the aims of the war, or ambivalence, or you just couldn't get here. The problems with our government can be traced back, in a large part, to the influence of corporate money in politics. We won't have a truly representative democracy until candidates without multimillion dollar corporate-backed campaigns are put on even footing with those who do have them. The message below describes the problem, and proposed legislation that addresses it.
The PIRG (public interest research group) has a website that makes it easy to email your senators
supporting the bill. Go for it.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=22&id4=ES
Also the website for the "Free Air Time" campaign:
http://freeairtime.org/
Dear U.S. PIRG supporter,
In 2002, candidates, parties and issue groups spent approximately $1 billion on TV and radio ads. Broadcasters make billions of dollars in profits every year from publicly owned airwaves. In exchange for this free use of a public good, broadcasters are required to act as trustees of our airwaves and operate them in the public interest. Unfortunately, the amount of substantive campaign coverage has been dwindling each decade and is now pitifully low.
Senators McCain, Feingold and Durbin plan to introduce a bill that will require broadcasters to provide substantive coverage of candidates and campaigns during election season and will provide qualified candidates with earned airtime vouchers that can be used to "purchase" TV or radio time.
Please take a moment to urge your senators to cosponsor the McCain-Feingold-Durbin free airtime legislation. Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail your senators.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=22&id4=ES
BACKGROUND
More than 90% of the candidates who raised and spent the most money won their 2002 Congressional elections. Candidates are raising the vast majority of this money from a small pool of wealthy donors. Specifically, 83% of all itemized individual contributions to candidates, parties and PACs came from 1/9 of 1% of the population who contributed at least $1,000 in aggregate. This means that without personal wealth or access to a network of wealthy donors, grassroots candidates are locked out of contention for federal office.
Research shows that candidates are spending a large percentage of the money they raise on TV and radio ads. In 2002, candidates, parties and issue groups spent approximately $1 billion on ads. Broadcasters make billions of dollars in profits every year off of our publicly owned airwaves. In exchange for this free use of a public good, broadcasters are required to act as trustees of our airwaves and operate them in the public interest. Unfortunately, the amount of substantive campaign coverage has been dwindling each decade and is now pitifully low.
Senators McCain, Feingold and Durbin plan to introduce a bill that can help grassroots candidates be more competitive and require broadcasters to fulfill their obligations to the public. The legislation will require broadcasters to provide substantive coverage of candidates and campaigns during election season as a condition of their licenses. It will also provide qualified candidates with earned airtime vouchers that can be used to "purchase" TV or radio time. And it will close loopholes in a provision in existing law intended to prevent broadcasters from charging candidates exorbitant advertising rates.
Please take a moment to urge your senators to cosponsor the McCain-Feingold-Durbin free airtime legislation. Follow the link below to go to a web page where you can e-mail your senators.
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=22&id4=ES
Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
U.S. PIRG Executive Director
GeneK@uspirg.org
http://www.USPIRG.org
Posted by madadam at March 22, 2003 06:27 PM