[Sosfbay-discuss] [Fwd: Official Launching Event for The Political Reform Initiative of 2008]

[Gerry Gras]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Official Launching Event for The Political Reform Initiative of
2008
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:41:33 -0700
From: "The Committee to Reform Democracy in California"
<countyorgs at committeefordemocracy.org>
To: "Santa Clara County Gree" <santaclara at cagreens.org>



THE COMMITTEE TO REFORM DEMOCRACY IN CALIFORNIA
<http://committeefordemocracy.org/index.html>

INVITES YOU TO ATTEND A PARTY TO KICKOFF OUR  QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY IN
CALIFORNIA:

The Political Reform Initiative
<http://committeefordemocracy.org/initiative.html> of 2008

Dear Santa Clara County Greens,

Hi. We are a grassroot group trying to end open bribery?s domination of
California politics. Our tool is an Initiative we crafted, and are
attempting to qualify for the Nov. ?08 general election. We invite you
to check it out, introduce it to your membership if you see fit, and
assist us in spreading the word among all Santa Clara County Greens, if
ya?ll approve of our efforts.

         Our initiative prohibits direct contributions from non-voters.
The initiative forces all outside money contributed to politicians
through the parties, and limits the parties contributions to canidates
to no more than 30% of the total contributions of local voters.

         Our initiative puts the local voters back in charge of OUR
politicians. Our initiative allows outside money into OUR elections, but
subordinates it to the money of the local voters.

         We request you check our our initiative, and tell us what you
think about it. A copy of the initiaitive is appended after the
invitation to our kick off event.

         We are holding the official kickoff event for our initiative on
the 4th of July. If any of you are near by, please come by and meet us.
If you have any friends or associates near Oakland, please tell them to
come by and check us out.

         If you have any questions or comments, please give us a call, or
shoot us an email.

Thanks,

Alex



Contact info follows the invite, and the initiative follows the invite.



WHEN: July 4th, 2007, High Noon.

WHERE: Kat and Nicks Backyard, 4276 Howe, Oakland, Ca.

Google Map
<http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=4276+HOWE,+OAKLAND,+CA&sll=37.0625,-95.677071&sspn=146.908064,90&ie=UTF8&ll=37.827074,-122.247448&spn=0.024745,0.040169&z=15&iwloc=addr&om=1>: 

Bart and Busses are close by, but call or email if you need a ride,
have a ride, need further directions, or if you have any questions or
suggestions.

WHAT: Official Launch of the Political Reform Initiative of 2008.

Read the Initiative <http://committeefordemocracy.org/initiative.html>:
Inform yourself, decide what it means to you, and ACT!

WHY: The initiative is designed to drive political Corruption out of the
center of California Politics, and push it back into the shadows, where
corruption belongs, in honor of the 4th of July!



HOW: We are having a birthday party for the Declaration of Independence.
We are inviting individuals, organizations, and the media to join our
fight to restore freedom and democracy in California.

This will be Unlike any other Independence Day you have experienced.
This Independence day we invite you to join us in forming, and giving a
gift to our state to get us back to the Revolutionary Spirit started in
1776.

You are invited to join us in launching the Political Reform Initiative
of 2008.



THE GOAL: To Change the Way Politics Work in California. Join with
friends and kindred spirits of democratic freedom over a few Burgers,
Beers, Bunting, and Speeches, to launch a Revolutionary Political Reform
Initiative for California.

The Main Event is a Signing Ceremony, where we will invite 25 Citizens
to sign the Initiative, as required by law, and submit it to the Office
of the Legislative Counsel.

This is the First Offical Step to get the Initiative rolling towards the
NOVEMBER, ?08 GENERAL ELECTION.



CAN YOU HELP? Participate! Would you like to speak? Do you know anyone
who might be interested? Invite them.

Contributions to support the Keg and Burgers gladly accepted. Help with
obtaining decorations and a small platform for speeches gladly accepted.

Have a favorite media outlet? Tell them about the event. We are working
hard to announce the Initiative to every major news outlet in California.



Are You Down?

RSVP: AlexWierbinski at CommitteeforDemocracy.Org
<mailto:AlexWierbinski at CommitteeforDemocracy.Org?subject=4th%20of%20July%20Kickoff%20Party%20for%20the%20Political%20Reform%20Initiative%20of%202008>

2437 Piedmont Ave, #202

Berkeley, California 94704

510-644-1328

CHECK OUT THE COMMITTEE NEWS AND UPDATES FOR:

June 21, 2007 <http://committeefordemocracy.org/Corruption%20Updates.HTML>

Our website:

HOME PAGE <http://committeefordemocracy.org/index.html>    THE
INITIATIVE <http://committeefordemocracy.org/initiative.html>    WHY
<http://committeefordemocracy.org/WHY.html>    THE PLAN
<http://committeefordemocracy.org/plan.html>    HOW TO HELP
<http://committeefordemocracy.org/How%20to%20Help.HTML>

LINKS <http://committeefordemocracy.org/LINKS.HTML>    INITIATIVE
UPDATES <http://committeefordemocracy.org/Initiative%20Updates.HTML>
CORRUPTION UPDATES
<http://committeefordemocracy.org/Corruption%20Updates.HTML>

CONTACT US <http://committeefordemocracy.org/contact%20us.HTML>







THE POLITICAL REFORM INITIATIVE OF 2008:

Prologue: The General Principals

1. Initiative.

1.      This Initiative shall be known and may be cited as the
?Political Reform Initiative of 2008.?

2. Findings and Declarations.

The people find and declare as follows:

1.      State and local government cannot serve the needs and respond to
the wishes of their constituents when outside interests finance their
campaigns;

2.      Costs of conducting election campaigns have increased greatly in
recent years, and candidates have been forced to finance their campaigns
by seeking large contributions from lobbyists and organizations who
thereby negate the constituents' influence over their representatives,
and the governmental decisions they take;

3.      Lobbyists often make their contributions to incumbents, who
cannot be effectively challenged because contributions from outside the
election give the recipient an unfair advantage over competition and
reduce voter support and influence to secondary status.

4.      That wealthy individuals and organizations, which have no
franchise rights in elections, make large campaign contributions, and
frequently extend their influence by employing lobbyists and spending
large amounts to influence legislative and administrative actions by
funding lobbyists? campaign contributions, thereby rendering the
democratic link between the voter and their politicians secondary to the
financial link between the politician and outside contributors;

5.      Previous laws regulating political contributions have proven
insufficient to balance the voter?s democratic rights with the rights of
non-voters to assemble, speak freely, and petition their government.

3. Purpose of Initiative.

The people enact this initiative to accomplish the following purposes:

1.      To restrict the participation of lobbyists, special interests,
and other non-voting entities in elections to their due free Speech and
petitions rights, by preventing their contributions from corrupting the
voter?s local franchise right to democratically choose, among
themselves, their own representatives.

2.      To prevent financial support for candidates or officeholders by
individuals not qualified to vote in the election from exercising
greater influence on election outcomes than the contributions of the
voters in their elections.

3.      To abolish contributions from non-voters which unfairly favor
incumbents in order that elections be decided by the local voters,
rather than contributions from non-voting outside interests.

4.      To prevent public officials from appearing and behaving
corruptly in the electoral and legislative processes.

5.      To provide adequate enforcement mechanisms to public officials
and private citizens in order that this initiative will be vigorously
enforced.

The Main points of the Political Reform Act of 2008:

The First Point:

There will be no contributions to political candidates or officeholders
from any source other than individuals qualified and registered to vote
in the election for that office, except as specified in the second point.

The Second Point:

The contributions of political parties to their candidates for office or
officeholders shall not exceed 30% of the contributions candidates
collect from individuals qualified and registered to vote in the
election for that office.

The Third Point:

Candidates and officeholders in California may not accept any gifts, of
any type, from any sources, except from individuals qualified and
registered to vote in the election for their office, and under the
limits specified in California election law.

The Fourth Point:

The maximum contribution to any political party in California is five
thousand dollars ($5000.) per year.

The Fifth Point:

Political action groups are encouraged to speak freely to the public,
and advance their ideals in petition to officeholders, but are
prohibited from contributing any material aid or remuneration to any
candidate or officeholder in California.



TEXT. THE POLITICAL REFORM INITIATIVE OF 2008:

(The changes in the laws below are changes in the Political Reform Act.
The full text of the Political Reform Act may be accessed at:
http://www.fppc.ca.gov/index.html?id=51. This is a rather large PDF
file. This is the full text of California's campaign finance laws. The
changes below attempt to be an index of the regulations on the sources
of contribution. Every effort was made to conform the text of the
initiative to change the law to voter-only sourced contributions.)

This initiative is designed to change the legal definition of
contributors from ?persons? to ?People qualified and registered to vote
in the election of the candidates to which they contribute.? The goal is
to prohibit all contributions to political candidates except from voters
qualified and registered to vote in the election for that office.

The reform Initiative of 2008 will make the following changes to
California Elections Codes. Bold underlined sections are the changes the
Initiative makes to the Codes.

Chapter 5. Limitations on Contributions. Article 3. Contribution
Limitations.

85301. Limits on Contributions from Persons.

85301. (a) Shall now read:

A person, qualified to vote in the election for that office, other than
a political party committee, may not make to any candidate for elective
state office other than a candidate for statewide elective office, and a
candidate for elective state office other than a candidate for statewide
elective office may not accept from a person, any contribution totaling
more than three thousand dollars (3,000) per election.

85301. (b) Shall now read:

Except to a candidate for governor, a person qualified to vote in the
election for that office, other than a political party committee, may
not make to any candidate for statewide elective office, and except a
candidate for Governor,?(the text continues unmodified to the end of the
paragraph.)

85301. (c) Shall now read:

A person, qualified to vote in the election for that office, other than
a small political party committee may not make to any candidate for
Governor, and a candidate for governor may not accept from any person
other than a small contributor committee or political party committee,
and contribution totaling more than seven thousand five hundred dollars
($7,500) per election.

85302. Limits on Contributions from Small Contributor Committees.

85302. (a) Shall now read:

A small contributor committee may not make any contributions to any
candidates for elective state office. Small contributor committees are
restricted to issue advocacy.

85302. (b) is deleted.

85302. (c) is deleted.

85303. Limits on Contributions to Committees and Political Parties.

85303. (b) Shall now read:

A person may not make to any politicaly party committee, and a political
party committee may not accept, and contribution totaling more than five
thousand dollars ($5,000) per calendar year for the purpose of making
contributions for the support or defeat of candidates for elective state
office. Political parties may contribute, and candidates may receive, no
more than 30% of the candidate's total contributions received from
qualified voters in the election. Notwithstanding Section 85312, this
limit applies to contributions made to a political party used for the
purpose of making expenditures at the behest of a candidate for elective
state office for communications to party members related to the
candidate's candidacy for elective state office

Chapter 5. Limitations on Contributions. Article 7. Additional
Contribution Requirements.

85702. Contributions from lobbyists.

85702. Shall now read:

An elected state officer or candidate for elected state office may not
accept a contribution from a lobbyist, and a lobbyist may not make a
contribution to an elected state officer or candidate for elected state
office. (A period is added here and the rest of the paragraph is deleted.).

Chapter 9.5. Ethics. Article 2. Gifts.

89503. Gift Limits.

89503. (a) Shall now read:

No elected state officer, elected officer of a local government agency,
or other individual specified in Section 87200 shall accept gifts from
any source other than persons qualified to vote in the election for that
office they hold, and shall not accept gifts from any single source in
any calendar year with a total value of more than two hundred fifty
dollars ($250).

89503. (b) Shall now read:

(b)(1) No candidate for elective state office, for judicial office, or
for elective office in a local government agency shall accept gifts from
any source other than persons qualified to vote in the election for that
office, and any single source in any calendar year with a total value of
more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (The text continues
unmodified to the end of the paragraph.).

89503. (c) Shall now read:

No member of a state board or commission or designated employee of a
state or local government agency shall accept gifts from any (single)
source in any calendar year with a total value of more than two hundred
fifty ($250) if the member or employee would be required to report the
receipt of income or gifts from that source on his or her statement of
economic interests. (The highlighted text is deleted from the original
text.)

Chapter 9.5. Ethics. Article 4. Campaign Funds.

89510. Acceptable Contributions.

89510. (c) This section, section (c) is an addition, and Shall read:

A candidate for elective state office may only accept contributions from
people qualified to vote in the election for that office. Only voters
registered and qualified to vote in an election may contribute to
candidates in that election.