CAUSES THAT REQUIRE ACTION NOW

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Dear Supporter,

The campaign we ran for U.S. Senate taught us a new way to campaign in Ohio.

That's why I'm not done, and I hear from so many of you that you are ready for the next challenge. That's why we're forming an organization to help candidates, especially those outside of the special interests that have dominated campaign funding for years. We know that women and people of color and differing national origins, sexual orientation and gender identity have not typically been afforded easy access to the mainstream of campaign funding, even though they are increasingly moving into the mainstream of our communities.

We are in a time of profound social change and seeing it in health care reform, banking regulation reform and immigration reform. These are tough issues. With new challenges like the Citizens United decision that allows corporations to become directly involved in candidate campaigns, the stakes for preserving real democracy are even higher. It's important that our government "look like us" and represent the diversity of our experiences.

New candidates who step up buoyed by a passion for public service to solve problems of our complex communities can no longer sustain the established ways that force money to the top of all the issues in a campaign. Candidates must be able to run consistently with their values. When candidates actually spend time with voters and supporters, both in person and virtually through online communication and video, everyone benefits. Voters can see and hear directly from the candidate, and the candidate better understands their needs. In the end we all get better, people-centered government. So, let's get started.

I'm working on closure for my Senate primary campaign and will be transitioning activities to a new organization called, "CouragePAC." We call it CouragePAC, because candidates who are willing to push through the trappings of big money and the naysaying of established machine politics will need a little courage. We want to help them.

But first, I need a little help to get closure on my Senate race. We have a modest debt to be paid so we can move forward and help others. Will you chip in? Your contributions were so helpful in making our grassroots campaign strong and to prove there is a new way to campaign. Just a little more, and we can help others do this, too. The contribution limit is $2400, but we're happy with $5 or whatever you want to contribute. Your contribution will help us quickly pay off primary election debt so we can move forward to help other candidates get started.

Thanks for your help,

Jennifer Brunner

This email was sent to richtriple8@yahoo.com.
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Get Corporate Money Out of Politics

In President Obama's State of the Union address last night, he spoke about the grave threat our country faces from the influence of corporate money in politics.

The President spoke specifically about last week's Supreme Court decision in the case Citizens United vs. FEC, which overturned over a century of precedent and opened the floodgates for unlimited amounts of corporate money to flow into our political system. Shockingly, the court's decision may even allow foreign corporations and large multinationals to manipulate our elections.

Progress on any issue we care about depends upon our ability to stop the corporate takeover of our electoral process. If we do nothing, this ruling has the potential to undermine the very foundation of our democracy.

Click here to demand that Congressional leadership enact strong laws to save our democracy from the influence of corporate money.

Representative Alan Grayson has been one the most forceful voices in responding to this crisis. He has introduced a number of bills as part of a "Save Our Democracy" initiative to blunt some of the worst implications of the Supreme Court's decision.

These bills would include a 500% excise tax on corporate contributions to political committees, prevent for-profit corporations that receive government money from making political contributions, and apply antitrust law to industry Political Action Committees. Click here for more information.

Without these types of laws, it will be even harder for candidates and elected officials to stand up to big business. Even before the decision, we too often saw the interests of Main Street subverted in favor of the interests of Wall Street. But with the Citizens United decision now law, large corporations have the power to spend unlimited amounts of money from their general treasuries to buy elections.

To put things in perspective, the roughly $745 million Barack Obama raised to run for President (which was the most money raised by any candidate ever to run for office in the U.S.) is dwarfed by the $45 billion in profits a single company (ExxonMobil) made in 2008.

We have heard that the Democratic leadership in the House and the Senate will be deciding in the next few weeks upon a legislative package to push in response to the Citizens United decision. We need to ensure they respond boldly.

Click here to tell the leaders of Congress that you support legislation to stop the flood of corporate donations in the political process.

Thank you for working to build a better world.

- The Change.org Team in partnership with CREDO Action