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People Really Care About Campaign Finance Reform. The FEC Needs to Listen.
People Really Care About Campaign Finance Reform. The FEC Needs to Listen.
2/20/2015
Author: Ann Ravel is the newly appointed chair of the Federal Election Commission and former chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
BillMoyers.com is proud to collaborate with Every Voice on a series of op-eds featuring ideas from a variety of viewpoints for making our democracy one that is truly of, by and for the people. Each week day over the next two weeks, visit BillMoyers.com to discover ways to fight back against our broken campaign finance system. It’s a fight we can win.
I am the chair of the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with administering our nation’s campaign finance laws. Before my tenure, when the FEC considered rulemaking after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United v. FEC, only five people appeared at the hearing. When we hold public meetings, they are routinely attended by less than a dozen people, most of whom are inside-the-Beltway election lawyers. The public is not coming to us, and we are not reaching out to them.
Congress created the FEC in the wake of Watergate to ensure fairness in campaigns and full and fair participation in the political process. The agency was charged with enforcing campaign finance laws, including limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions. The creation of this small, independent and important agency to oversee and enforce election laws was meant to restore the public trust that was lost as a result of a campaign finance scandal that ended a presidency.
But in recent memory, the FEC has been notoriously deadlocked and unable to perform its basic functions. The agency has struggled to make any decisions of consequence to the American public. It is a sad irony that the agency dedicated to increasing transparency in the political process is now cloistered and closed off from the public. The FEC exists in a walled-off echo chamber.
As the chair, I believe it is my duty to not only open the commission’s doors to the public but also to hear from citizens all across the country their views and concerns about campaign finance. I have commenced a listening tour across the country, visiting schools and community groups, as well as hearing from experts and academics, to learn what people have to say about money in politics....
http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/02/20/people-really-care-campaign-finance-reform-fec-needs-listen/
2/20/2015
Author: Ann Ravel is the newly appointed chair of the Federal Election Commission and former chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
BillMoyers.com is proud to collaborate with Every Voice on a series of op-eds featuring ideas from a variety of viewpoints for making our democracy one that is truly of, by and for the people. Each week day over the next two weeks, visit BillMoyers.com to discover ways to fight back against our broken campaign finance system. It’s a fight we can win.
I am the chair of the Federal Election Commission, the agency charged with administering our nation’s campaign finance laws. Before my tenure, when the FEC considered rulemaking after the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United v. FEC, only five people appeared at the hearing. When we hold public meetings, they are routinely attended by less than a dozen people, most of whom are inside-the-Beltway election lawyers. The public is not coming to us, and we are not reaching out to them.
Congress created the FEC in the wake of Watergate to ensure fairness in campaigns and full and fair participation in the political process. The agency was charged with enforcing campaign finance laws, including limits on and disclosure of campaign contributions. The creation of this small, independent and important agency to oversee and enforce election laws was meant to restore the public trust that was lost as a result of a campaign finance scandal that ended a presidency.
But in recent memory, the FEC has been notoriously deadlocked and unable to perform its basic functions. The agency has struggled to make any decisions of consequence to the American public. It is a sad irony that the agency dedicated to increasing transparency in the political process is now cloistered and closed off from the public. The FEC exists in a walled-off echo chamber.
As the chair, I believe it is my duty to not only open the commission’s doors to the public but also to hear from citizens all across the country their views and concerns about campaign finance. I have commenced a listening tour across the country, visiting schools and community groups, as well as hearing from experts and academics, to learn what people have to say about money in politics....
http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/02/20/people-really-care-campaign-finance-reform-fec-needs-listen/
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