This letter was originally drafted and posted by Common Cause on Jan 21st, 2010. This was in response to the sellout of the US Elections to big business and powerful special interest by the US Supreme Court. Regrettably the special interest and big business  won a major milestone against the needs of small business owners and local communities.  Since BizCloud was established to support the needs of small business and local communities it would be fitting for this issue to be featured in our blog. BizCloud executives, management and the respected business community members fully support the content of this letter and the actions of Common Cause in regards to Fair Election Now Act.

The Honorable Harry Reid
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Re: Citizens United and the Fair Elections Now Act (H.R. 1826 & S. 752)

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

We write to you at an extremely troubling moment in the history of our democracy. The recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has opened the door to increased election spending by the deepest pocketed political interests in American politics. The corrosive influence of special interest money already impairs our government’s ability to address our nation’s most critical problems. We cannot continue down this path.
As business leaders, we believe the current political fundraising system is already broken. The Supreme Court decision further exacerbates this problem. Members of Congress already spend too much time raising money from large contributors. And often, many of us individually are on the receiving end of solicitation phone calls from members of Congress. With additional money flowing into the system due to the Court’s decision, the fundraising pressure on members of Congress will only increase.
Congress needs to spend its time working on the leading issues of the day, from reviving our economy to addressing our nation’s energy crisis to reforming the healthcare system. And on those issues, Americans must have full confidence that Congress has acted in the best interests of the public, swayed by the merits of policy without regard to the interests of campaign contributors.
We believe Congress must address both the Citizens United decision and the problems of the current campaign finance system by passing the Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752 and H.R. 1826). This measure would enact a voluntary alternative system for financing federal elections, giving candidates the option to run for office on a mixture of small contributions and limited public funds.
Under the leadership of Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.), the bill is moving forward. We have significant momentum in the House, with 128 cosponsors joining Representative Larson. With a strong public financing system in place, candidates will be not be consigned to a system in which constant fundraising creates conflicts of interest and leaves Members little time to do the job they were elected to do.
We hope in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision you will support the Fair Elections Now Act so that Congress can act effectively on the people’s business.

Signed,

For the complete list of over 40 executives that have signed this letter please see www.commoncause.org

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