Hi Doogie – You’ve raised a lot of points but I’ll hit on as many as I can without getting too long (I’ll fail miserably on that). I’m not trying to “convince” you of anything but just giving you an “on the ground” perspective from Texas.

We were able to introduce HCR-25 because Rep. Lon Burnam is truly a man of the people. He’s not afraid to propose legislation that he believes in, and, like Cenk & Prof. Lessig, he believes that the only way we can fix the problem is by forcing Congress to act. They aren’t going to do it by saying “Pretty please, fix yourself.” If we’re successful (and we will be, I have no doubt) he will be recognized as the man who took the first real step.

Actually, from what I understand, the political dynamics are exactly the reverse from what you assert. The populist tea party here in Texas is being steamrolled by the corporate wing of the GOP and they’re the ones who want to level the playing field. The support we get from the GOP on this will almost certainly come from the populists and those who understand that this affects every facet of policy making and economic growth. For example money buys non-competitive, overly complex regulation which stifles startups and small businesses. The microbrew industry is a prime example of this.

Texas might be the first state to introduce a Wolf-PAC bill but it’s premature to say we’ve got traction. We’ve got interest, for sure. We have to turn that in to traction. We’re going to have to work hard on that and build a coalition of people who may not have a lot in common except the certainty that big money in politics is destroying our democracy. Whether it comes from the left or the right, corporations, unions or individuals, corruption is corruption.

Texas is notorious for egregious jerrymandering by whatever party is in power. That’s why the fed had to step in and make it less awful not too long ago.

As far as state referendums… uh, Montana? Basically the Supreme Court has said state’s rights are tolerable when it comes to some social issues but when it comes to rigging the system, no sir.

Finally, calling a convention through our State Legislatures is essentially the “national referendum” you want. This is exactly the intended purpose of Article V!

We (and Prof. Lessig) believe that the threat of a convention will force Congress to adopt an amendment acceptable to the People that will address all the concerns you raise about the mechanics of how we fix this problem. If the amendment doesn’t represent the will of the People the Convention can proceed. This was the intent of the framers of the Constitution; that’s why they put Article V in there. If a Convention were to happen that’s where a viable solution will emerge, through discussion and consensus. I’m reading Madison’s journal from the original Convention and it’s fascinating. One might contend, perhaps rightly, that the framers were of a different intellect and motivation, but a primary reason for the original Constitutional Convention was essentially the same: the union was basically non-functional due in large part to corruption and self-interests, large and small.

Having this dialog is what’s going to move this forward. That’s what formed the original Constitutional Convention. It’s what makes us stronger. It’s what’s going to save our republic.

Nate Glenn, sorry I meant state referendum and not national referendum. I wish there was a national referendum. Also it’s doogie, not Doggie. =)

Mr. Glenn, I’m suggesting that the reason Texas of all places is the first state to gain traction on this is because I think that is where the establishment party is being most hurt by the Citizen’s United decision. In some cases they are getting outspent in primaries and they are being forced to out radical the radicals. So yes, in this particular case I think the establishment is somewhat supportive of this kind of reform because they want to limit democracy, not strengthen it. I’m not saying that what wolfpac is doing is bad, I’m just saying this is probably why they’re finding support in Texas. Ironic perhaps but then again, isn’t creating a superpac to fight money in politics a bit ironic? Like I said, I’m just saying…

And by the way, even if we successfully restricted campaign financing (and I agree we should btw) it would still not stop corruption. As long as you live in a system where money is power then people will find new and creative ways to circumvent the rules. Or remove them altogether as Texas did with the non-partisan redistricting plan in 2002.

I still need to be convinced that what wolfpac is doing is not a band-aid solution. I think the system itself needs to be more democratic so that even if someone wanted to buy out the government they wouldn’t be able to succeed. I mean take the presidential election. If they spend $1 billion or $500 million they’re still just spending that money in 3 or 4 swing states while ignoring the rest of the country. What have you solved really?

But if there were an alternate vote system, for example, a candidate might still be able to win the general election as a third party candidate even if they lost their primary. Joe Lieberman did this in 2006 but we all know winning as a third party candidate is very difficult. A proportional system (like what many European parliaments have) would be even more devastating to the establishment because it would now empower even more minority opinions. And you’ll notice that marijuana and same-sex marriage was legalized this year in several states through national referendums. Meaning a popular vote. You can’t buy the entire population. We should be looking to increase democracy, not limit it. I would support such a pac (if one existed) that sought to do such a thing but instead all I find these days are knee jerk reactions and short sighted solutions.

And by the way, yes, I think that to some extent repealing Citizen’s United is limiting free speech (which was what the Supreme Court ruled). I don’t think corporations are people but what about limiting the contributions of individuals? Websites cost money. Bumper stickers cost money. I support limiting free speech in this way to some extent because I’m pragmatic and honest enough to say it.

Doggie, are you trying to say that this campaign is to limit democracy?! That makes no sense. If you want competition, then you’re telling me that you want to go toe to toe with major corporations and see who has more money?! Is that what you’re saying? No, we don’t need to compete with major corporations to buy democracy, we need to take democracy off the market and have it be about votes, not dollars.

Someone needs to convince me that Wolfpac is the right way to go about this. I agree campaign contributions need to be limited, but wouldn’t a voting system that actually permitted competition be a better solution? An alternate vote or proportional representation system would result in more competition without punishing voters and then the amount of money one needs to spend to basically buy the government is going to increase to the point where it’s very difficult to do.

This is happening in Texas as an attempt to limit democracy, not strengthen it. There are a number of “business Republicans” who are struggling to match funds against “Tea Party Republicans” and the traditional Republicans don’t like the competition. Just saying.

I live in Mansfield. I’ve been in contact with Rep. Zedler and Sen. Davis, but haven’t gotten a definite commitment from either. Let me know what else I can do to help.

echo fixed

I live in Fort Worth, TX. I wish to help in anyway possible.

I live in Texas and would like to help in any way possible

Anybody who can’t make the call but would like an audio MP3 file recording of it email me and I’ll be happy to send it to you.
mike@wolf-pac.com

I have to work at the time this conference call will be running. Any way I can get a transcript of the call? Perhaps a video recording? I want to help, if I can….

big up texas

Elimisteve, you can certainly help in Texas from out of state by calling and leaving messages, this is a national issue we are working on. Join the conference call on Saturday and you’ll understand a lot more. And email me at mike@wolf-pac.com and I’ll tell you how you can get started in your state.

this isn’t a democrat or republican agenda, it is the american peoples agenda

finally a good call from our state :-D

It’s not clear to me whether non-Texas citizens can do anything to help. Is that the case?

What can we do to get our own states to file a Wolf PAC resolution?

YEEEEHAAAW