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<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><FONT size=2 face=Tahoma>----- Forwarded Message ----<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Congresswoman Anna Eshoo <Congresswoman.Eshoo@address-verify.com><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> carolineyacoub@att.net<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Tue, February 14, 2012 10:01:02 AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> The Solution for a Broken Campaign Finance System<BR></FONT><BR>
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<P class=style1 align=left>Dear Friend,</P>
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<P class=style1 align=left> Two years ago, the Supreme Court's <I>Citizens United</I> decision cast aside a century of settled law and dealt a serious blow to our electoral process. In a shocking 5-4 decision, the court held that corporations and unions are entitled to the same First Amendment rights as people -- a ridiculous notion that Justice John Paul Stevens wisely called "a rejection of the common sense of the American people."<BR><BR>I support legislation for Congress to pass a Constitutional amendment to override <I>Citizens United</I>, but this could take years. In the near term, there's one critical tool to fight back: full disclosure. Even the author of the Court’s decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy, described the importance of transparency in our political system, saying it "permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way."<BR><BR>In response to the Court’s decision, and with my full
support, Congress attempted to pass comprehensive legislation called the <I>DISCLOSE Act</I>. It prohibited foreign influence in federal elections, banned government contractors from political expenditures, and established requirements for election spending. The <I>DISCLOSE Act</I> passed the House in 2010, but unfortunately fell short in the Senate. I’m pleased to be an original cosponsor of the recently-reintroduced <I>DISCLOSE 2012 Act</I>.<BR><BR><A href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDPghElo_EY" rel=nofollow target=_blank><IMG style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px solid" align=left src="http://media.address-verify.com/3232/Users/13122/Eshoo%20Campaign%20Finance%20Screenshot.png" width=275 height=169></A>After the original <I>DISCLOSE Act</I> failed, I led more than 60 of my House colleagues in calling on President Obama to issue an Executive Order to require every company that
does business with the federal government to fully disclose its political contributions. With federal contract spending totaling more than $500 billion each year, and roughly one-quarter of all Americans employed by a firm doing business with the government, I think my proposal would be a major victory for reform, making transparency the norm rather than the exception. With public dollars comes public responsibility.<BR><BR>I've taken to the floor of the House repeatedly over the last year offering amendments to secure this critical disclosure, only to have them blocked from consideration each time at the behest of powerful business and lobbying groups. The good news is the President can accomplish this on his own. The bad news is he hasn’t yet.<BR><BR>The threat of undue corporate influence over America's political system is neither idle nor new. In 1905, President Teddy Roosevelt demanded campaign finance reform. He signed the Tillman Act banning
corporate contributions in 1907, and the first disclosure rules in 1910. Since that time, Congress has repeatedly supported a ban on anonymous and unlimited campaign spending, culminating in the landmark McCain-Feingold law in 2002, which I was proud to support.<BR><BR>Californians already know the power of disclosure. During the campaign on Proposition 23 (the ballot initiative to roll back greenhouse gas emissions rules), advertisements had to disclose the sponsors. When voters heard that major oil companies were funding the entire campaign, the proposition was overwhelmingly rejected.<BR><BR>Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and two years after <I>Citizens United</I>, disclosure remains the best available weapon to combat the corrosive effects of the Court's decision. Corporations are not people and shouldn't be treated like them. The President can and should use his authority and issue the long-awaited Executive Order straight away. Disclosure puts
voters in the driver's seat, and it's time to hand over the keys. <BR><BR>Let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing from you. </P>
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<P class=style1 align=left>Sincerely,<BR><IMG src="http://address-verify.com/mailings/eshoo/images/annasig.gif" width=150 height=70><BR>Anna G. Eshoo<BR>Member of Congress<BR><BR>P.S. You can follow my activities and legislative work online at my <A href="http://www.facebook.com/RepAnnaEshoo" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Facebook</A> and <A href="http://www.twitter.com/RepAnnaEshoo" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Twitter </A>pages. Electronic communications save a considerable amount of taxpayer dollars and are environmentally-friendly. </P></TD></TR>
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<TD vAlign=top><STRONG>DISTRICT OFFICE</STRONG><BR>698 Emerson Street<BR>Palo Alto, California 94301<BR>(650) 323-2984<BR>(408) 245-2339<BR>(831) 335-2020<BR>(650) 323-3498 fax</TD>
<TD vAlign=top><STRONG>WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE</STRONG><BR>205 Cannon Building<BR>Washington, D.C. 20515<BR>(202) 225-8104<BR>(202) 225-8890 fax</TD>
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<P><STRONG>WEB SITE</STRONG><BR><A style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" title="Click here to visit my website" href="http://eshoo.house.gov/" rel=nofollow target=_blank>eshoo.house.gov</A><BR><A style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Congresswoman-Anna-Eshoo/174979964227?ref=ts" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Facebook<BR></A><A style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" href="http://youtube.com/user/RepAnnaEshoo" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Youtube</A><BR><A style="COLOR: rgb(0,0,0)" href="http://twitter.com/RepAnnaEshoo" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Twitter</A></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; COLOR: rgb(204,204,204); FONT-SIZE: 10px">If you wish to contact me, please do so at <A style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-DECORATION: none" title="Click here to visit my website" href="http://eshoo.house.gov/" rel=nofollow target=_blank>http://eshoo.house.gov</A>. Please <STRONG>do NOT reply</STRONG> to this message.<BR>If you do not wish to receive future emails from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, <A style="COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); TEXT-DECORATION: none" title="Click here to unsubscribe" href="http://email.address-verify.com/q/3EH_xyrbahQoEEgA2xrJEG0aSLGZsGoZ-3HSvlM6k5rdh1QBsypLfNLdp" rel=nofollow target=_blank>unsubscribe here</A>.</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><MAP id=Map name=Map><AREA title="Click here to receive my RSS feeds" href="http://eshoo.house.gov/index.php?option=com_bca-rss-syndicator&feed_id=2" shape=rect alt="Click here to receive my RSS
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