Fair Elections Now Talking Points:

PRIMARY FRAME: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEND TOO MUCH TIME FUNDRAISING AND TOO LITTLE TIME WORKING ON SOLUTIONS TO THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS

1.    Instead of focusing on jobs and the economy, bringing health care costs under control, and dealing with the mortgage crisis, elected officials in Washington spend too much time raising money from the wealthy industries they’re suppose to oversee. It’s time to get our elected officials out of the fundraising game and let them do the job we elected them to do.

2.    Under our current system, candidates either have to be wealthy or must spend countless hours raising money from wealthy donors and special interests. Plenty of qualified Americans with good ideas simply can’t compete in today’s money-driven elections. Fair Elections will open the door for those who are the most able, not just those who are the best fundraisers.

3.    The Fair Elections Now Act would allow federal candidates to spend more time focusing on the people they represent and addressing our nation’s challenges, rather than on raising money from high-powered special interests.

4.    People who use Fair Elections are free to do their jobs without regard to who helped pay for their campaign. They work for their constituents, not big money campaign contributors. Since Fair Elections is so dependent on small donations from people back home, members of Congress will actually have to listen to constituents.

5.    The rising costs of Congressional campaigns are unsustainable. There is no end in sight to this escalation in costs, and candidates will have to spend more and more time trying to raise enough money to compete. The Fair Elections Now Act ends the special interest money chase and allows our leaders to do what we elected them to do—focus on our nation’s problems.

SECONDARY FRAME: IT’S TIME TO END PAY-TO-PLAY POLITICS IN WASHINGTON.

Talking Points:

1.    The name of the game in politics today is pay-to-play. We’ve had numerous stories of no-bid government contracts for companies who give millions to politicians.  Just recently the governor of Illinois tried to cash in on his power to fill a Senate seat by seeking campaign contributions in exchange for the job – and he’s not the only one.  The status quo is legalized bribery. The Fair Elections Now Act makes elections about voters instead of big money donors.

2.    Our nation’s capital is awash in special interest money. Politicians are dependent on those who can give and bundle thousand dollar donations, often times from those who have no connection to their home state. Fair Elections will change politics as usual by limiting donations to $100 from members of their community.

3.    Elections should be about voters and not insider special interests. In the present money driven system, elected officials are on a never-ending fundraising treadmill when they should be focusing on tackling the mortgage melt down, out of control health care costs, and the fragile economy. Under the Fair Elections Now Act, members of Congress are freed from the money chase and can focus on what we elected them to do – solve our nation’s problems.

THE BILL:

1.    The Fair Elections Now Act requires that candidates seek small contributions from people in their home state. When they’re in Washington, they will be focused on the people’s business.

2.    Under Fair Elections, candidates can qualify for limited public funding if they raise a large number of small contributions from people in their home state.

POLLING ON FAIR ELECTIONS:

•    According to a recent bipartisan poll by Lake Research Partners and the Tarrance Group, more than two-thirds of voters (67 percent) support providing qualified congressional candidates a limited amount public funding if they agree to take no large contributions.

•    Every major demographic group solidly favors the Fair Elections proposal. This includes support across party lines – 69 percent of Democrats, 64 percent of Republicans, and 66 percent of independents. In addition, there’s virtually no difference across regional lines.

•    Four out of five voters (81 percent) polled believe we need to change the way elections are financed, including a majority (54 percent) who call for “major” changes. Nearly three out of five voters (57 percent) believe that our campaign finance system is getting worse with 28 percent who thinks it’s staying the same. Only five percent think it is improving.

•    Sixty percent of voters say members of Congress are more likely to vote in a way that will please their political contributors, compared to just 20 percent who think that they vote for the best interests of their constituents.

•    Voters believe that the influence of campaign money given to members of Congress was a “major factor in causing the current financial crisis on Wall Street.” Nearly three in four voters (73 percent) said that they thought large campaign contributions from the banking industry led to lax oversight, with 56 percent agreeing strongly with the sentiment.

•    Voters also believe campaign contributions will impede Congress’s progress on major legislation. Nearly four in five voters (79 percent) thought large contributions would prevent Congress from tackling big current issues like the economy, health care, and global warming.