Latest News
“Congress can’t function on the great national issues of the day under the system we’ve got. The time is now to go to voluntary public funding.”
- Alan SimpsonFormer Senator from Wyoming
ACR Chair
News Articles
Simpson Takes On George Will
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011
I was proud to testify at the April 12 hearing on Sen. Dick Durbin’s campaign finance bill about which Will wrote last week. I spoke in support of reform that has everything to do with values he has long espoused: free speech, citizen participation and accountable government.
Boehlert/Houghton: Restore ethics to Albany through voter-owned elections
Monday, April 18th, 2011
As former members of Congress, we were honored to represent the people of upstate New York in Washington, D. C., for many years. But as we look at our politics today, we are deeply troubled by the corrosive role that private money has come to play in Congress and Albany alike.
Video: Dan Weeks On The Young Turks
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
ACR President Dan Weeks talks about money and politics on The Young Turks, a web broadcast hosted by Cenk Uyger.
Whitman: Too much money in politics
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
As a lifelong Republican concerned about government accountability, electoral competition and freedom of speech, I can think of no more urgent need for Congress today than citizen-funded elections. Making Washington work for the American people is at least one issue both sides can get behind.
Weeks: Making Washington Work Is a Bipartisan Job
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
The symptoms of this big-money problem are clear, and they are hardly limited to one political party or the other: a senior Democratic Congressman under investigation for accepting donations to pet projects from groups with business before his committee; a Republican leader raising large donations in a “cash-for-speaker” scheme that promises personal meetings and “much more” for heavy hitters; and a leaked fundraising call by a longtime subcommittee chairwoman requesting financial support from a lobbyist on the basis of “my major work … in your sector.”
Kerrey: Time for a Campaign Finance Transplant
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
The corrupting influence of big money in politics did not begin with the Supreme Court ruling. For years, we’ve been
applying Band-Aids to a system of special-interest-funded elections that’s rotten at the core. New limits will not change the fact that politicians continue to rely on millions of dollars from Wall Street banks, pharmaceutical companies, Big Oil, labor unions and other wealthy interests to run for re-election.
Speth: A cleaner Earth starts with cleaner elections
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
The energy industry, including oil and gas, electric utilities, mining, and waste management, contributed an astonishing $455 million to candidates for the House and Senate between 1990 and 2006. Members of the Senate and House received an average of $161,423 and $43,658 respectively in just the first seven months of 2008. To put this in perspective, the energy industry contributed 20 times more than environmental groups between 1990 and 2008.
Is it any surprise that Congress has been unable to shape a sound national energy policy based on scientific evidence and the needs of all our people, not just the monied interests?
Rudman: How to fix the Senate?
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
The Post asked former politicians and others to name one idea — other than reforming the much-discussed filibuster — that might get Congress moving. Below are contributions from Mack McClarty, Norman J. Ornstein, Mark J. Penn, Warren Rudman, Sarah Binder and Forrest Maltzman, Dana Perino, and Rob Richie.
Republicans losing their way on campaign finance reform
Friday, February 5th, 2010
It’s time to return to our roots and take up Teddy Roosevelt’s challenge from over a century ago by enacting the only real and lasting solution I know: citizen-funded elections. Under the proposed Fair Elections Now Act, sponsored by more than 130 members of Congress, money from special interests would be replaced by small donations from constituents and matching federal funds. Matching funds, raised through a fee on large-scale government contracts, would go to serious, hardworking candidates who demonstrate a broad base of public support and who say no to large donations.
What Price Politics?
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
A binge of special interest money seems inevitable unless Congress acts quickly — before this year’s election — to repair the damage from the Supreme Court ruling that ended restraints on campaign spending by corporations and unions.