New Mexicans know money in politics is out of hand. They want a government that works for all people, not just powerful billionaires. That's why this Thursday, October 13 at 5:30 p.m., I'll lead a discussion at the Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse in Santa Fe titled, "Returning Democracy to We the People: A Discussion About Money in Politics."
I invite you to join me, along with Viki Harrison, executive director of Common Cause New Mexico, and Bruce Berlin of Santa Fe, author of the book “Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America," for a conversation about how we can put our democracy back in the hands of the American people.
League of Women Voters New Mexico President Meredith Machen will moderate our discussion about the urgent need to reform our nation’s campaign finance system, including a complete overhaul of our broken campaign finance watchdog, the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
So far, super PACs have spent over $1 billion in dark money to influence this election, and groups have reserved or purchased over $500 million in television ads to air in just the final month. The Supreme Court's flawed Citizens United and subsequent decisions unleashed this flood of spending into our election system.
On Thursday, we'll discuss how big money donors have been able to grow in influence in our elections, why that matters in this election — and in future ones — and how we can take action to return our elections to "we the people."
I hope to see you there.
