[PAA-Discuss] Helping us with public financing

[Tomi Phillips]

I received this from Common Cause, and hope that you will consider doing 
what they suggest.  If each of us do a small part, this will help us get 
candidates understanding that we must fix federal elections!



Dear Tomi,

On Thursday, a federal judge handed down Jack Abramoff's sentence: four 
years in prison for corruption, fraud and tax evasion.*

Abramoff and many of his cronies are in jail, but we still haven't fixed the 
system that leads to so much influence-peddling. And that means that there 
could be other Abramoffs trying to buy off our elected officials.

So next time you get a piece of mail from a political candidate asking you 
to take a survey or make a contribution, send in a copy of our Abramoff 
flyer urging support for Fair Elections public financing.

Get the flyer today at www.commoncause.org/AbramoffFlyer!

It's time to change the way we pay for our congressional campaigns. We need 
comprehensive public financing so that federal elections are about ideas and 
voters' needs, not wealthy donors and special interests.

Common Cause and a coalition of reform groups have called on every 
congressional candidate to sign a pledge to support Fair Elections. Several 
hundred candidates have already signed. But we need your help to keep the 
pressure on. Let's make sure that the men and women who are seeking seats in 
the U.S. Congress know that we're tired of politics as usual.

Fair Elections public financing:

- Would sever the direct link between campaign donations and political 
favors, making politicians accountable to the public interest rather than 
the special interests;
- Allows candidates to spend less time dialing-for-dollars and more time 
focusing on the pressing challenges facing our nation;
- Has a proven track record: it's already working in seven states and two 
cities, and is gaining support across the country.

Download a copy of the Abramoff flyer today! Send it to your congressional 
candidates in the mail, or take it campaign rallies and town hall meetings 
happening in your community.

And if you hear back from any candidate, please let us know by sending a 
message to pledge at commoncause.org.

Thanks for all you do,

Arn Pearson,
and the rest of the team at Common Cause

* Associated Press article, "Abramoff gets 4 years in prison".

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